Posted on 06/23/2007 1:28:02 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(AP) SALT LAKE CITY -- Mitt Romney said Saturday that criticism of his Mormon religion by rival GOP presidential campaigns is happening too frequently.
“Clearly, any derogatory comments about anyone’s faith—those comments are troubling. The fact they keep on coming up is even more troubling,” Romney said during a fundraising trip in the home state of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Mormon church is one of the fastest-growing religions and claims about 12.5 million members worldwide. But many evangelical Christians in crucial primary states such as Iowa and South Carolina consider the faith a cult.
Romney’s remarks follow an apology from GOP rival John McCain’s campaign for comments about the Mormon church allegedly made this year by a volunteer.
Also recently, Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, issued a similar apology for a campaign worker’s e-mail to Iowa Republican leaders that was an apparent attempt to draw unfavorable scrutiny of Romney’s religion. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani apologized after the New York Sun noted that a campaign aide had forwarded to a blogger a story about unofficial Mormon lore. Legend has it that a Mormon would save the Constitution, the story said. The campaign aide passed the story along with a note: “Thought you’d find this interesting.”
Romney said in a large presidential race there always will be some volunteers or workers who cannot be controlled. But he said the difference between derogatory comments that originated from the McCain campaign and others is that the Arizona senator has not personally apologized to him.
“In the case of Senator Brownback and Mayor Giuliani ... they called immediately. They each spoke with me personally. I don’t have any issue with that at all,” Romney said.
He said McCain “can do whatever he feels is the right thing. There’s no need for me to suggest how people respond to things that go on in the campaign.”
Tucker Bounds, a McCain campaign spokesman, said the McCain campaign has already apologized.
“It’s a very sincere apology. There is absolutely no place for those type of comments in our campaign,” he said.
Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, said he had not spoken with McCain since the last presidential debate, on June 5.
Romney used a fundraiser hosted by Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller to criticize the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. It banned unregulated, unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals to national political parties and federal candidates.
“The bill ought to be repealed,” he said. “It’s been the wrong course for American campaigns.”
Romney said he favors unlimited donations as long as they are immediately disclosed on the Internet.
Romney was attending fundraisers in Salt Lake City and in Logan on Saturday.
Mormon attacks on Christianity is troubling.
People have every right to make negative comments about his religion. It is not, however, relevant to the campaign.
And where praytell have you found any of that from Romney?
Free speech, and all that, but it makes Mr. Romney’s opponents look like immature twinks.
Agreed.
If Mormons would stop claiming to be Christians no one would have to correct them.
I think this problem will be eliminated when some of the more desparate candidates run out of money.Some may feel it their spiritual duty to attack anothers faith,like jihad, but this is demagoguing.I consider such attacks un-American in nature.
Like I’ve said before, it’s not Romney’s religion that I don’t like, it’s his politics.
I posted this on another thread:
Romney and the Mormon apologists say different, of course, but Mormonism is very similar to Islam. Both Joseph Smith, the prophet of Mormonism, and Mohammed were false prophets of the first order.
It will be a sad day if the United States of America elects a follower of a Mohammed-like cult of Christianity to the white house.
Problem is nowadays, American Christianity has for the most part left their Biblical moorings and do not know, or care, what Mormonism really is. Romney is banking on it.
Clearly, any derogatory comments about anyone’s faith—those comments are troubling.
So if we criticize radical Islam, is that troubling? Romney's comment is way too sweeping.
I disagree with many of his positions as well, although he seems not to be a nutcase, at least. His religion doesn’t matter to me in the slightest.
In the same way, I don’t care that Rudy Giuliani is a bad Catholic - I care about his positions on the issues.
It's just a wild guess of mine, that a Bishop would agree with his own church's doctrine.
Call me silly...
Well, I’m not in a position to criticize Rudy’s Catholicism, being severely lapsed myself, but I can criticize him for being out of touch with 80% of his party.
If he keeps bringing it up people will go online to read about it and most of what they read will make it sound quite odd.
Mitt should drop it and hope it dies down and out of the news cycle.
It is the Mormon religion that first attacked Christ and His followers by making many false claims about Him, including that He is the Devil’s brother: Jesus was the spirit brother of Lucifer - according to this doctrine Jesus became the Savior because he came up with a better plan than Lucifer concerning how to get the people on earth to worship God (see Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses, 4:1-3).
Romney defends the religion that teaches this false gospel.
Mormonism is clearly outside the pale of traditional christianity. I find it troubling that any statement rightly identifying this group as a cult is dismissed as bigotry. It is also troubling that many Americans consider this a christian religion.
While I do not think that being Mormon necessarily disqualifies someone from being POTUS, it definitely suggests that Romney's judgment on important matters is somewhat questionable.
whatta joke!
30-40% of americans are not voting mormon.
where do they get such an idea?
from the way mormons treat those around them.
it’s that simple.
What he has experienced so far is nothing. She will defeat him by using his religion against him.
I want to win in 08. With Romney we will definitely lose.
If he keeps bringing it up [Mormonism] people will go online to read about it and most of what they read will make it sound quite odd.
Quite odd, all right. How about this, for instance. God, according to Mormonism, is an extraterrestrial humanoid from a planet near the star “Kolob.” This humanoid had sex (physically) with Mary to produce Christ. Christ, also, like his father, with Lucifer his alleged brother, are allegedly from the same planet.
> If Mormons would stop claiming to be Christians no one would have to correct them.
If Mormons profess to be Christian, then they are Christian. If you as a Christian don’t like that, then take it up with The Boss:
Luke 9:49-50
“49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.”
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