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.
I believe this was officially called the “Faith in America” speech. Weren’t we taught as children in school that our forefathers and mothers came here for freedom of religion? That freedom is part of the very foundation of our nation. And although the Founding Fathers recognized GOD as over all, they also provided for separation of church and state. It is essential for an effective American leader to understand that. Romney demonstrated that he did. Under no circumstances do we want anything resembling theocracy. That is the muslim way.
In other words, get your own house in order before you try and set someone else straight.
You should see where the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, was born. It was a humble stable.
You should see where the savior Jesus Christ died. It was a roughly cut cross.
But the salvation that Jesus died to give anyone who believes in Him. Priceless.
He choked kittens with his bear hands!
You are monomaniacal.
If you hold anyone of a minority anything to the same standards as white Evangelical Christians, you'll be accused of haaaate......
Not sure why there should be a double standard.
A person chooses his or her faith. It says a lot about that person.
LOL, OMG! an opinion now is considered getting on a high horse?
That sounds just like the nonsense we hear about obama.
So what if he can talk good?
If he's a gun grabbing, open borders, pro-abortion liberal, we don't need him, no matter how sweet tongued he is, and we don't need to acknowledge that he made a good speech, that I'm guessing could have had a speech writer write.
I judge politicians by their core beliefs - which may or may not be “faith” based.
Romney has shown he has no conservative core beliefs.
Therefore I cannot and will not support the man for anything beyond dog catcher.
When Mickelson brought up the Second Coming, an exasperated Romney explained, “The Church says that Christ appears and splits the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. That’s what the Church says. And then, over a thousand years of the millennium, that the world is reigned in two places, Jerusalem and Missouri…The law will come from Missouri, and the other will be from Jerusalem.” In spite of himself, Romney had been drawn into doctrine.
Great now we will have to ride licenced ten speeds.
My problem with Romney’s religious beliefs is that if he were elected as POTUS that would be used as a tool by the Mormons to seduce others to join their cult. It would be an attempt to show that Mormonism is mainstream Christianity. I would vote for a Muslim as POTUS before I would vote for a Mormon. At least everyone knows that a Muslim is not a Christian. I could never see myself voting for an Atheist for POTUS since our government is founded upon the belief that our rights come from God. An Atheist would have to deny that we have natural and inalienable rights since they deny the existence of God. I want someone to defend and preserve my natural rights, not deny them.
Then you better look at his record in massachusetts - a mirror of 0bama with a better hair style.
“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.”
Yup
-—>Atheist!
A young woman teacher with obvious liberal tendencies explains to her class of small children that she is an atheist. She asks her class if they are atheists too. Not really knowing what atheism is but wanting to be like their teacher, their hands explode into the air like fleshy fireworks.
There is, however, one exception. A beautiful girl named Dolly has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different.
“Because I’m not an atheist.”
Then, asks the teacher, “What are you?”
“I’m a Christian.”
The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Dolly why she is a Christian.
“Well, I was brought up knowing and loving Jesus. My mom is a Christian, and my dad is a Christian, so I am a Christian.”
The teacher is now angry. “That’s no reason,” she says loudly. “What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron. What would you be then?”
She paused, and smiled. “Then,” says Dolly, “I’d be an atheist.”
When Morons say this/believe/teach this-—>
“The Church says that Christ appears and splits the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. That’s what the Church says. And then, over a thousand years of the millennium, that the world is reigned in two places, Jerusalem and Missouri…The law will come from Missouri, and the other will be from Jerusalem.”
God will judge them accordingly!
What, spread manure?
“What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron. What would you be then?”
She paused, and smiled. “Then,” says Dolly, “I’d be an atheist.”
Ha ha ha. :)
I was thinking she would say, "Then I'd be a Mormon."
My two cents:
-As for politicans I do not care what religion he is as long as he gets the job done.
-I’m not a fan of President Obama but he is NOT a Muslim! He is either some liberal Protestant or an agnostic/atheist.
-Mitt Romney is my top choice for 2012 unless David Petreaus runs.
There are different schools of thought on that.
I think he is. Too many little slips and inconsistencies.
I think he's biding his time.
-Mitt Romney is my top choice for 2012 unless David Petreaus runs.
What's a liberal like you doing on a conservative website? Don't count on a long run on FR. Being a Romneybot is not a good way to last here.
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