Ole'
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.
Interesting posting history you have for being here only 3 months......
What do you love about Romney most? His love of mandates or his love of man-dates?
So you think maybe the General is a paid shill or is he a Romney pimp for free?
Supports using human DNA in animals for hybrids and Mitt?
DU suicide run.
Good grief — Romney supports abortion and now the Mormon church now supports same-sex marriage.
What is happening to this man?
Romney does not support abortion.
The Mormon church does not support same-sex marriage.
Another thing — Romneycare in MA is a flop and is breaking the state of Massachusetts. Do we need anything else to judge this man?
Actions speak a lot louder than words.
I have said it before, and I will say it again...
I don’t LIKE Romney because of his politics and flip flopping.
I don’t TRUST Romney because he is Mormon. With the rank and file Mormons still believing that a Mormon will save this country (the White Horse Prophecy) and the LDS temple oaths that place the LDS church above EVERYTHING else, a Mormon in office is just a power grab for the Mormon Church.
However, I do believe that the late LDS “prophet” Gordon B. Hinkley was more behind Romney’s run than the current one, Thomas Monson will be.
It is interesting to note that Romney dropped out of the race right after Hinkley’s death.
if he has good ideas on keeping unemployment and taxes low? promotes a good business environment? is tough on terrorists who want to destroy us?
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NO, NO and NO. Solves that problem. And Romney is just Obama with an “R” behind his name.
Romney’s “inspiring speech” was a load of lies and half truths.
Either that or he is not planning on keeping his Temple oaths.
Those pop-up posts on every thread have videos so you can see it in Romney’s own voice/words about how he supports abortion.
Really? A muhammadan before a Mormon? See my sig.
Romney demonstrated that he did. Under no circumstances do we want anything resembling theocracy
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But that is exactly what the LDS church wants again. A return to the glory days of Brigham Young. It has been prophcied, discussed, written about, and even part of the doctrine of Jesus returning to Adam-ondi-Ahman (Independance, MO) where the garden of Eden was to reign from there.
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.
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Yep. And they need the numbers. People are leaving in droves. You just have to attend any evangelical church in the SLC area or Provo area to see the pews full of ex-mos.
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.
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Yep. And they need the numbers. People are leaving in droves. You just have to attend any evangelical church in the SLC area or Provo area to see the pews full of ex-mos.
That is quite a switch since when i was last active in church. What has caused this? I read your tag line and assume you have thought about this quite a bit.
(ouch)
Ole'
It cracks me up when people say they’ll vote for David Petreaus. Ask them what the man’s politics are and they go all slack jawed.
Not bashing Petreaus, just pointing out the foolishness of voting for a man who’s politics are a mystery.
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