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.
...and everyone knows that if it wasn’t for the massive funding and organizing put forth by the Mormon Church, gay marriage was certainly have passed in California. The Mormon Church more than any other single entity defeated same-sex unions in the Golden State.
Take the lantern...
Its dark out there ...
That outer darkness thingy...
It happens. Others go down swinging at air no matter what.
I stand corrected, this IS the most ridiculous post ever on Free Republic. This is so backwards I don't even know where to begin...
Ask Amoreperfectunion. He at least has had the intellectual honesty to admit he would never vote for a Mormon for POTUS, period. If you don’t believe there are others that believe likewise here, then you probably believe you’re doing a great conservative work in carpet bombing Mormons on a daily basis on the anti-Mormon threads.
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I would never vote for a mormon for POTUS either.
And it is not a conservative work we do on RF, it is a Christian one.
The only “oddness” the author cites about Mormon beliefs concern the afterlife. Why would I care what a politician’s beliefs about the afterlife are? Elections are about selecting people to do jobs in *this* life. So if somebody’s religious beliefs include endorsing terrorist bombings to kill “infidels”, then that’s a reason not to vote for them (assuming you don’t share their beliefs).
If this guy wants to criticize Mormons as a group as being unfit for public office due to their religious beliefs, he needs to cite things about their beliefs that pertain to the world in which they’re running for office. I couldn’t care less if they envision their post-Earth life to include a possibility of becoming gods. For that matter, I don’t really care if somebody believes they’ll be rewarded with 72 beautiful virgins in their post-Earth life . . . until they extend that to believing that blowing up “infidels” is an effective and desirable shortcut to their virgin-filled Paradise.
You are an embarassment to the Catholic faith.
Like hell!
Hit and run....stop in long enough to whine about the poor little persecuted mormons, make veiled and unsupported allusions to the “cabal” being “taken to the woodshed”, then as usual, have a convenient reason to run away.
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I noticed the “hit and run” too. He does that a lot.
Also, you notice that while he claims we have been “taken to the woodshed”, he has never actually provided any evidence to counter us, just insults. Very telling.
And you, La Enchiladita, just lost any and all credibility.
Indeed there are at least two FR members who have been saved from the LDS BECSUE of such efforts.
So we keep trying.
As far as some “going down swinging” some do so because it is hard to deal with being a part of a lie, others because they are dismayed at being lied to and others, the ones who always will continue to swing, because the lie benefits them personally or finically.
“Ask Amoreperfectunion. He at least has had the intellectual honesty to admit he would never vote for a Mormon for POTUS”
TWO HUGE CORRECTIONS!
1. I didn’t “admit it”. I proclaimed it!
2. It wasn’t “intellectual honesty”. It was spiritual conviction that won’t allow my conscience to vote for any
cultist of any kind. It wasn’t Romney specific. Though, if
the magic underwear fits...
ampu
Gee, that would make a great tagline for you, doncha think? I wonder how many of the anti-Mormon bigots here agree with you?
Huh? There are plenty of mixed marriages in which one person is a member of the LDS Church and the other isn't. If a Mormon woman's husband is a Catholic or atheist, that doesn't make her a Catholic or atheist. And if a Catholic or atheist woman's husband is a Mormon, that doesn't make her a Mormon -- the LDS Church doesn't recognize baptisms performed by other churches, so nobody is a member of the LDS Church unless they're baptized into it.
LOL!
Petraeus has prostate cancer?
I had not heard that!
Salvation: Good grief — Romney supports abortion and now the Mormon church now supports same-sex marriage.
Enchil: You are an embarassment to the Catholic faith.
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Confusion City...
Must be one of those twisted mormon mindset thingies...
Well since the Catholic Church hasnt changed its Christian stand against abortion anmd same sex marriage...
While Romney and his mormons support abortion and same sex marriage...
I guess the one who should be embarassed and ashamed is Romney...
I said “should”...
You consider THAT thread us being “taken to the woodshed”?!?!?!
ROFLAICGU. You DO need therapy.
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