Posted on 11/30/2009 6:01:03 PM PST by delacoert
I’ll just leave this here…
Before a defense of any kind of religious discrimination, one ought to make all of the necessary disclaimers: of course I oppose government-sponsored discrimination, and I certainly would not support the kind of absurd treatment described by Steven Reinhart in his piece featured below. That being said, there is a legitimate case to be made for judging any candidate for office by his religious convictions.
In late 2007, Mitt Romney made his somewhat-famous speech on religion, where he spoke the following words:
“Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.”
Similarly, Romney has stated: “I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it…my faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs.”
If freedom requires religion, if his Mormon faith sustains his life and he will be true to those practices, then I’m at an utter loss as to why we should ignore Romney’s religious beliefs when evaluating his fitness for the White House.
We ask plenty of questions of any Evangelical Christian candidate: what do his beliefs about the nature of God, the nature of the cosmos, and the meaning of man’s life mean for his potential tenure in office? But for whatever reason, these questions are looked at as unnecessarily piercing and prejudiced when asked of a member of a minority faith.
When Sarah Palin gave her fumbling answer about Israel’s settlements, several commentators jumped on her faith, wondering whether she subscribed to the bizarre but potent sect of modern Christianity that believes in the imminence of the End Times. Will anyone ask Mitt Romney about the oddities of the dogma of the Mormon Church? There are plenty of Mormon doctrines that may strike people as a bit odd — and rightly so. It is established in the church that the devout can reach the upper echelons of heaven and eventually become gods themselves, able to create their own universes and govern them as they see fit (all while supervised by the One True God). Why is it that when I bring this up to Romney fans, I am dismissed as a bigot?
As an atheist, I both understand and accept that in a predominantly Christian society, my thoughts on religion are necessarily going to open me up to questions. If I were to ever run for office (don’t count on that, by the way), I would not expect my supporters would try to ward off any questions about my atheism with the victim-card of discrimination. One’s philosophy of religion contributes profoundly to his worldview and thus is a completely valid criterion by which to partially evaluate a candidate’s fitness for office.
I view all religions as equally bizarre and irrational. But mainstream Christianity is often adopted as a cultural guise, meant for purposes of assimilation with the majority. Probe most self-described Christians and you’ll find plenty of deviation from standard dogma. Devotion to Mormonism, which is completely outside of the American mainstream, requires a certain level of commitment. To what extent will Romney’s faith influence his decision-making? I ask that question of devoted Evangelicals and judge them accordingly, and I will do the same of a Mormon. And I am not going to apologize for that.
Come to think of it I don't have a “brown” shirt to speak of.
I will answer the rest of your ignorant blather later...
Similarly, Romney has stated: “I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it…my faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs.”
______________________________________________
“the faith of my fathers...”
Polygamy, entitlement and anti-US government right down to his Dad, George...
the holidays!!
____________________________________________
Christians call this time of year, CHRISTMAS
Only a leftist would equate a difference in opinion as “hate.” Sheesh.... Let the political correctness begin.
We want our country to be led by someone who is well grounded in Christ. We don’t believe that Mormonism teaches Christ who is God and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity. Mormonism does not teach nor believe this and so we who are Christian, must choose as a leader, someone who reflects our belief and hope for this nation. THAT IS THE BASIS OF FREEDOM! We are free to choose whatever criteria we wish to base our vote upon.
While Mormons can be nice people who do good, and can be fantastic businessmen, so can Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists. But I must choose who to vote for. As for me, I’ll vote for a Christian, thank you very much. ;)
I have a pair of brown shoes...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
The US Army wore brown shoes during WWII...
I’m good...
:)
Fixed it for you.
Besides, no one said anything about *hating*. That's just the same tired old canard that gets whipped out every time someone exposes Romney's liberal politics. Opposing someone is not *hating* them. What whining.
Why did Joseph Smith hate the PRESBYTERIANS?
Yes and the General also has prostate cancer.
Next I see him as a charlatan of a politician, deceiving those unable to distinguish between conservatism and liberal-socialist masquerades.
He is a gullible and deceived deceiver deceiving the gullible and deceived.
Other than that he's a nice guy.
It has to do with priorities. As important as worldly things are, such as who is the next POTUS, the most important has to do with eternal things, such as eternal life. Nations and governments rise and fall. If you believe that Mormonism is a false religion that leads to eternal death, then Mormonism is a greater threat than Islam. Do not fear those that can destroy the body, but fear Him who can destroy body and soul. There are many social issues in which I share with Mormons, such as pro-life and conservative principles, but these do not out weigh the most important issue, namely that Mormons worship a different God than Christians do. There is no similarity between the two.
Nonsense.
You just never get tired of the absurd lies, do you Nana?
Amazingly enough, you probably believe your own BS.
Do you know just how simple it is for anyone who cares to check, just how laughably false your rantings are?
You're becoming a sad joke.
He did not hate the Presbyterians.
You're pulling the tired old, "Why haven't you stopped abusing your children?" type of "argument".
Muslims worship a different God than Christians and they desire all to worship their god or die.
Muslim before Mormon? LOL.
“posted at 10:30 pm on November 30, 2009 by Allahpundit
curious: not one of the initial publicly identified signatories of the Manhattan Declaration is Mormon…
“That degree of commitment might seem to entitle you to a seat at the table. But no. The framers of the Manhattan Declaration say they ‘act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God.’ Mormons do not accept the concept of God as three-in-one…
“The next wave of social conservatism is presenting itself as a particularly Christian cause, with Christian defined in a way that would exclude not only Mitt Romney, but also the man who created Tiny Tim and Ebenezer Scrooge. (Charles Dickens was a Unitarian, not a Trinitarian.) For that matter, neither George Washington, nor John Adams, nor Thomas Jefferson, nor Abraham Lincoln was a believer in the Trinitarian God of the Manhattan Declaration…
“Mormon America has provided leadership and support for conservative politics out of all proportion to its numbers. If there’s a test for conservative identity that excludes Mormons, it’s not a good test. And if conservatism has shrunk too small to contain conservative Mormons, it is not only Mormons who will search for something bigger.”
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/30/quotes-of-the-day-212/
As a fully recovered ex-mormon, where Romney goes to church is way down the list of things I find unacceptable in his candidacy for any office. At the top of that list is the stark reality that, aside from age, there isn’t alot of difference between Romney and McCain, and we all know how that worked out.
At least people know that Muslims are not Christian. Does everyone know that Mormons are not Christian? Martin Luther once said that he would rather have a wise Turk (Muslim) for a prince than a stupid Christian. The point that he was making is that you do not have to be a Christian in order to be a secular ruler, such as a prince or a POTUS. There is a difference between the two kingdoms. My reservations about voting for a Mormon for POTUS is not based upon whether a Mormon is wise or not, but my concern is about those that might be lured into believing that Mormons are Christian.
FOCUS kid..
Charles Dickens is dead and was English born and therefore ineligible to be POTUS..
George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln ...all Americans but dead...
None of them will be running for POTUS in 2012...
Williard Mitt Romney OTOH is old but still alive...glued together by Botox and hair dye...and is running for POTUS...
He is not a conservative...never has been...
He is not pro-life...never has been...
McCain at least was pro-life...
And I dont remember reading that Dickens, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, or Lincoln ever pushed abortions like Romney
or grabbed anyones guns like Romney,
or were draft dodgers like Romney,
Would you accuse General George Washington of being a draft dodger like Romney and his family ???
Romney is nowhere near the league of those honorable men...
I’m astounded that you would mention that craven coward and butcher Romney in the proximate of the names of men who were real men and patriots and who all had guts...
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