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.
When Utah Territory was a theocracy/dictatorship ran by “king” Brigham Young the tyrant..
He had anyone that wasnt a mormon or who got in his way or had something he wanted to steal ...brutally murdered...
Nice try. LOL
It’s sad that people cannot be honest.
It’s equally as sad that Mitt Romney had to give this speech.
What about a woman's faith?
Holding hands with Rush wont make that butcher Romney any less sickening...
He inspires me to puke...
BTW do you ever have an independant thought ???
How did you ever survive BR Before Rush...
What about a woman’s faith?
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Romney is a mormon...
A mormon woman’s faith is whatever her mormon husband says it is...
Kinda like the Moslems...
You learn fast.
:-)
I didn’t ask you the question.
Isn’t it time for your chill pill?
Like many, many, many other Rush listeners, Rush simply confirmed what we believed. Rush taught us how politics worked, just as Ronald Reagan did.
It's very nice to see you again. :-)
It’s equally as sad that Mitt Romney had to give this speech.
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Nobody held a gun to his head...
If it was so sad why didnt he just stay home ???
It was sad for us too...
We would have been happier if he had not run as a Republican
Next time he should make hinself happy among his own kind...the democrats
:)
To whomever declares him/herself to be an atheist (and therefore superior to us superstitious peasants because Richard Dawkins says it’s so), I ask,
When it comes to matters of faith and religion, who CARES what you think? And please don’t say your criticism is not about religion, but only about religion’s practical impact upon the larger mostly secular society.
You atheists declare that your individual existence ends with the death of your physical body, and that’s fine with me, so flame away while you yet breathe.
;^)
“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.”
How can anyone believe that someone who thinks they will become a god of their own planet, will not be influenced in their judgement? Indeed, I think Romneycare is exactly the type of policy such an individual would dream up.
Rush taught us how politics worked, just as Ronald Reagan did.
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Kid the Founding fathers taught us how American politics are suppose to work...
Reagan would have told you that too...
And equally wonderful to see YOU!!:)
I do like seeing the Christmas decorations going up. Say, maybe I should get over to the Mormon Temple and see how they are decked out for the holidays!!
Did you need one..
You do seem a bit hot...
So the know-it-all atheist has judged all believers as bizarre and irrational. Our founding fathers were believers and the Constitution was based on religious principals, Christian principals. BTW, what are atheist principals?
A woman's faith too. I used "man" in the second most common usage, that of member of the human species, without regard to sex.
It’s sad that people cannot be honest.
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Yeppers Romney is no Honest Abe
Romney is a lying jerk...
Definitely start with muslims.
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