Posted on 11/30/2009 6:01:03 PM PST by delacoert
Ill 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 Im at an utter loss as to why we should ignore Romneys 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 mans 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 Israels 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 (dont 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. Ones philosophy of religion contributes profoundly to his worldview and thus is a completely valid criterion by which to partially evaluate a candidates 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 youll 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 Romneys 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.
Along with the REST of you!
I guess ol' Joe should NOT have 'twist & turn' the facts about PRESBYTERIANism!
(I wonder if that HOT LEAD burnt JS as he was firing away in that jail?)
Yes, it is disrespectful, Elsie.
And childish as well.
Sorry, I call it as I see it.
I am the one attending Church not you I and millions of others have witness what is really is being taught...
the rest of you are just unruly tongues how sad!
I hope you are not really a grandmother because your manners are far from exemplary.
That's how Joseph Smith CALLED 'em as HE saw 'em!
And we all 'see' that you've lost CONTROL of who can and CANNOT post in one of these threads.
Maybe you should start one of your own: control MIGHT be better.
(But ONLY if you put LDS caucus or LDS devotional on it...)
Ok; you win.
LURKERS!
Ignore all of the stuff that the LDS publishing machine has printed over the years.
Listen to RESTORNU only.
Poor ol’ Robert Millet - got PURGED from RESTORNU’s homepage for giving away too much info!
Dang them things said at BYU!
Agreed. Late reply; haven’t had the internet for a couple of days.
Having lived with, worked with, and mingled secretly amongst mohammadans, no one will ever convince me of their piety or goodness. I don’t even trust the women. My wife thinks I’m too hard on all of them, but she’s never seen a modern-day stoning, or listened to the conversations they have in secret. They hide under the veil of religion waiting for any moment to murder the innocent believers of any other religion. If they could do it all now, they would.
too many Thou shalt nots...
- - - - - - - - -
Mormonism has way too many “thou shalt nots”
As my pastor says: “if you worry about the “thou shalts” (love the Lord thy God with all thy might, mind and strength and love one another), the “shalt nots” take care of themselves.
Thanks Resty for your concern about my tongue...
But you dont have to worry...
I dont care what happens to it..
Some say I wont need my tongue...
If Jesus should tarry...
I’ll be leaving it behind in the grave...
But if Jesus returns during my lifetime...
Which it looks like He might...
Imn the twinkling of an eye when we least expect Him...
Well then I’ll go up to meet Him in the sky...
Either way I get a new body and I’ll be spending eternity singing worship songs to Jesus the Lamb of God...
Why dont you come with me ???
Free trip...already paid for ...
Jesus paid the price for you with the blood He shed on the Cross...
All travel arrangements can be found in the Christian Bible...
Thanks Resty for your concern about my tongue...
But you dont have to worry...
I dont care what happens to it..
Some day I wont need my tongue...
If Jesus should tarry...
I’ll be leaving it behind in the grave...
But if Jesus returns during my lifetime...
Which it looks like He might...
Imn the twinkling of an eye when we least expect Him...
Well then I’ll go up to meet Him in the sky...
Either way I get a new body and I’ll be spending eternity singing worship songs to Jesus the Lamb of God...
Why dont you come with me ???
Free trip...already paid for ...
Jesus paid the price for you with the blood He shed on the Cross...
All travel arrangements can be found in the Christian Bible...
your tongue continues to twist & turn others meanings
________________________________________________
Its called straightening out the crooked untruths of mormonism...
DISREPCTFUL.
- - - - - —
Perhaps, but also accurate. I had a Jewish friend while I was LDS who, when she first saw the San Diego temple, asked me:
“Why does the San Diego Mormon Temple look like Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland?”
your tongue continues to twist & turn others meanings
________________________________________________
If youre still on about Hinckley...
You were the one who did the mind reading...
You added something he never said ...
what Hinckley said was plain though not precious...
“There are those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints do not believe in the traditional Christ.
No, I don’t.
The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak.
LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley (LDS Church News, June 20, 1998)
Ain't there a bar?
Internet connection? I can't sing worth a darn.
“Other than this; do you have any problems with any POLICY decisions he’s made?”
Too soft on crime.
Too soft on illegals.
Too much of a nanny-stater.
He’s just another big-gov, compassionate-conservative POS that put the GOP in the position it now finds itself.
Had enough of that garbage, thank you very much.
We are in agreement there...
Elsie !!! For shame !!!
Make Disneyland bigger...
MUCH BIGGER...
Walt Disney was a Conservative...
He deserves to be honored...
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord Psalm 98:4
:)
I'll be in the Valhalla area.
Hunt all day, drink all night. We make joyful noises too.
YEEEEHAAAA!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.