[marsh_of_mists]

Romney’s a schmuck, but that’s a disgustingly biased headline.

[VictoryGal]

> Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today that he “wept with relief” when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announced a 1978 revelation that the priesthood would no longer be denied to black people.

Sooooo Mitty... the fact this religion banned them in the first place didn’t give you a clue that they were a bit wacky?

[BlessedBeGod]

Related, with 221 comments: Mitt wept when church ended discrimination

[camerakid400]

Why would any grown man cry about this?

[P-Marlowe]

So much for his macho image:

Wept? Does anyone actually believe that?

[Saundra Duffy]

Many Mormons cried that day. It was a great day for the LDS Church. By the way, Gladys Knight is a Mormon.

[TBP]

If Romney were a Dimmycrap, tht headline (for the SAME story) would be “Romney Welcomed African Americans Into Priesthood.” They figure most people just read the headlines.

[Ronin]

Why do I have a very hard time believing this?

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

Romney is an ass. He is also very disingenuous. I can’t vote for this person.

[TheDon]

The split between the Northern and Southern Baptist organizations was over slavery and education of slaves, and by the 18th century, about 40 percent of Southern Baptist preachers in South Carolina owned slaves. At the time of the split, the Southern Baptist group used the curse of Cain as justification of the practice. In fact, most 19th and early 20th century Southern Baptist congregations in the southern United States taught that there were two separate heavens; one for blacks, and one for whites.

The doctrine was used to support a ban on ordaining blacks to most Protestant clergies until the 1960s in the U.S. and Europe. The Coptic, Ethiopian, Orthodox, Thomasite and the Catholic church did not recognize these interpretations and did not participate in the religious movement to support them. Certain Catholic Diocese in the Southern United States did adopt a policy of not ordaining blacks to oversee, administer sacraments to, or accept confessions from white parishioners. This policy was not based on a Curse of Cain teaching, but was justified by any possible perceptions of having slaves rule over their masters. (Dictionary of African-American Slavery)

Baptists and other denominations including Pentecostals officially taught or practiced various forms of racial segregation well into the mid-to-late-20th century, though all races were accepted to worship services after the 1970s and 1980s when many official policies were changed. In fact, it wasn't until 1995, that the Southern Baptist Convention officially renounced its "racist roots." Nearly all Protestant groups in America had supported the notion that black slavery, oppression, and African colonization was the result of God's curse on people with black skin or of African descent through Cain or through the curse of Ham, and some churches practiced racial segregation as late as the 1990s, including Pentecostalism. Today, however, official acceptance and practice of the doctrine among Protestant ogranizations is limited almost exclusively to churches connected to white supremacy, such as the Aryan World Church and the New Christian Crusade Church.

[Darkwolf377]

This is the kind of thing that’s going to sink Romney’s ship. It is so blatantly intended to appease, rather than lead.

[SpringheelJack]

Host Tim Russert asked if “it was wrong for your faith to exclude them for as long as it did.” “I told you exactly where I stand,” Romney said. “My view is that there’s no discrimination in the eyes of God. And I could not have been more pleased than to see the change that occurred.”

One thing that worries me is how stiff and defensive Romney gets whenever he's asked a question that his prepared response doesn't really cover. Especially on subjects of religion; I'm thinking of his shaky "I believe in the Bible" when asked for a followup on his answer during the YouTube debate.

Whether it's what he thinks or not, the impression I get is that while he approved of the change when it occurred, he wasn't exactly disapproving of the exclusion of blacks when it was the policy either. "God must have a reason for it," or something, was his rationale.

He could have done himself better if he'd said "It was wrong, Tim, I believed that in my bones, and I'd prayed for some time that God would reveal to the church leadership this basic truth." What he actually said undercut his message a little.

He needs to work on this, because in the event of his nomination stuff like this is going to hurt.

[Zakeet]

For what it is worth, the question of Mormonism's history of racial prejudice was abundantly discussed today on the following threads:

Mitt wept when church ended discrimination

Mormonism, Romney and Race

The Mormon Church has an appalling, indefensible history of bigotry as abundantly documented here:

Mormon Racism

The Curse of Cain? Racism in the Mormon Church

And as you can see on the prior threads, LDS members have no response other than to say, "We stopped in 1978."

Without question, the liberal MSM is going to have a field day on this issue if Mitt gains the GOP nomination.

[fso301]

Gag me with a spoon.

[cowdog77]

Will the U.S. race for the president ever divorce itself from talk of dogma, faith and stripe of religion?”
_________________________
I hope not....speaking as a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third.

[Tribune7]

I don't trust guys who cry that easy.

OK, Crazy John is now my first choice.

[Fred]

The main reason the Mormon church had this so called 'revelation' was because they were told by the federal government, if they did not allow Blacks into their priesthood, they would lose their TAX EXEMPTION!!!



HOW CONVENIENT!!!