Posted on 08/08/2007 8:00:00 AM PDT by greyfoxx39
Mitt Romney's own Republican Party has made religion fair game, and Romney will be asked how his faith would affect his policies.
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But Mitt Romney is a serious contender in 2008, rich and disciplined, and he's running in an era when presidential candidates are virtually expected to parade their religiosity. This is particularly true in the Republican camp, where religion and politics are now routinely intertwined; indeed, candidate George W. Bush upped the ante in 2000, when he said that his favorite philosopher was Jesus, ''because he changed my life.''
So it's no surprise Romney is facing questions about his lifelong devotion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the breakaway theology that considers itself humankind's ''one true church.'' He had hoped to stonewall this issue, insisting in a TV interview 18 months ago that ''I'm never going to get into a discussion about my personal beliefs.''
But today word is circulating that Romney will discuss his faith in an autumn speech - and seek to disarm the skeptics much the way John F. Kennedy in 1960 dampened fears that a Catholic president would take orders from Rome.
Romney is dealing with potential hostility, fair or not, on several fronts. Many Christian fundamentalists, particularly southern Baptists, dismiss Mormonism as a cult (thereby imperiling Romney in the GOP primaries, particularly in pivotal South Carolina). Many secular voters are uncomfortable with the church's passion for proselytizing and its superior attitude, particularly its scriptural insistence that all nonbelievers are worshiping ''the church of the devil.'' Pollsters say that at least 30 percent of voters won't back a Mormon.
Romney's biggest problem is that skeptics are simply weirded out. They cannot quite envision having a president who believes that a man named Joseph Smith dug up a book of golden plates, long buried in a hillside, with the help of an angel named Moroni in 1827; that these plates, written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, spelled out the precepts of the true Christian faith; that Smith translated these hieroglyphics by wearing decoder glasses and burying his head in a hat; that Jesus visited North America after the resurrection; that the Garden of Eden was really in Missouri.
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Some questions do seem appropriate. First, the Mormon faith puts a high premium on ''faith-promoting'' information, sometimes at the expense of unpleasant facts. As a high-ranking Mormon leader said in a famous 1981 speech, ''Some things that are true are not very useful.'' Would Romney be able to assure swing voters that he would not merely perpetuate the faith-based thinking, and the rejection of empirical reality, that has trapped us in a ruinous war?
Second, since the Mormons consider themselves stewards of ''a quintessentially American faith'' (Romney's words), and since Mormons believe Jesus will return and rule the world from U.S. territory, does this suggest that a President Romney might wave the flag a bit too fervently, at a time when we need to repair our relations around the world? The Mormon faith is heavily rooted in what is commonly called ''American exceptionalism,'' the belief that we are special and we know best. Would Romney govern accordingly, and, if so, would that be a help or a hindrance in the war on terror?
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What matters, in other words, is not whether he really thinks Joseph Smith met an angel in 1827. The crucial issue is whether, or how, a devout Mormon would apply his faith on the job in 2009. His supporters have suggested that any such questions are symptoms of religious bigotry, but it is the Republican Party, over the past several decades, that has put religion front and center. They have made Mitt Romney fair game.
No, they're accused of that when they put him on the spot with loaded questions about Mormon theology. He's running for president, not pastor.
I think they deserve Rudy. Let them have him. They seem to prefer a real liberal like Rudy to Mitt. It is only a two man race as Thompson seems to be imploding.
Thank-you
Yes, but he was #300 only because he was previously deferred due to college and his mission duty...When he was first eligible for the draft we didn't have the lottery. I know this because I also faced the draft and am the same exact age at Mitt Mutt.
No, the question was about Romney being consistent with his faith. What good is any faith if it is not put into practice?
Thanks n00b.
Are you saying that anyone who has adult offspring who don't enlist is being unpatriotic?
They have a Catholic division as well. We call them the FR Living Lay Magisterium. They issue pronouncements of condemnation which override Popes and Cardinals. They're active on a thread right now and God help you if disagree with them.
The answer is here
Eisenhower was no more JW than I am a Mormon. He had parents who were Jehovah Witness. He was a Presbyterian while he was President.
Eisenhower was baptized, confirmed, and became a communicant in the Presbyterian church in a single ceremony on February 1, 1953, just weeks after his first inauguration as president. He hadn’t been JW for years and years, if at all.
Do you have to distort history to bolster your position?
LOL!
And your evidence of Salt Lake's absolute control over Mormon politicians is, of course, Mitt's previous pro-choice stance on abortion, right? Oh, and we all know LDS Democrat Harry Reid "takes his cues from Salt Lake".
This whole, scary anti-Mitt strategy is just absurd.
Please explain the supposed problem.
Excellent point.
Believe me, the bashers can't wait to put the rope around their own necks to show us what true martyrs they are. They're just as crazy as the Left.
So, FastCoyote, when did you stop beating your spouse?
However, there is more to the office of the Presidency than military service. Duncan Hunter served and his sons currently serve. He isn’t moving in the polls. Military service is only a fraction of what most Americans consider as qualifications.
You just can't help yourself, eh? Apparently the millions of Americans who have Mormon neighbors and friends and trust them completely just have more self-control than you.
...or maybe they put more trust in their own experiences with real Mormon people than in the second or third-hand rantings of the Church's enemies. Could that be it?
Mormon Derangement Syndrome (MDS)
That's what I call it.
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