Mitt Romney: can a Mormon take the White House?

Archbishop Cranmer: His_Grace ^ | June 3, 2011 | Archbishop Cranmer

[Colofornian]

Mitt Romney has confirmed that he is to make another bid for the White House in November 2012. He will base his campaign on the assertion that ‘Barack Obama has failed America’. His focus will be the economy, hammering home the message that ‘the Government under President Obama has grown to consume almost 40 per cent of our economy’ which apparently means that the US is ‘only inches away from ceasing to be a free-market economy’.

The problem for Mr Romney is that whatever he attempts to make the political focus or the central message of his campaign, he will be confronted at every turn with an almost innate American suspicion of his Mormon faith. For most Trinitarian Christians (by no means just the Evangelical ‘Christian Right’), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a cult whose theology is heretical and whose customs are anachronistic (to say the least). The Southern Baptist Convention firmly categorises Mormons with Scientologists; among those sects who have blasphemously added to Scripture and are under the control of false prophets. This is not insignificant for the Republican Party, whose evangelical base constitutes almost a third of the party's electorate and can wield considerable power in primary states, most notably South Carolina.

In an attempt to neutralise this, Mitt Romney has said that America is choosing a commander-in-chief not a pastor-in-chief. He is attempting to echo the reasoning of John F Kennedy, the first Roman Catholic to take the White House, who placated Protestant church leaders with the declaration that he was ‘not the Catholic candidate for President’ but instead was ‘the Democratic Party's candidate for President, who happens also to be Catholic’. He went on to allege (as Mitt Romney is doing) that those who play the religion card have something to hide. He said:

But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured - perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again - not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me - but what kind of America I believe in. Well, it worked for him, even if it didn’t end well.

But Roman Catholics are Trinitarian and share many of the social concerns of America’s Evangelicals, particularly on the family, abortion, civil rights and poverty alleviation. And while the US Constitution affirms that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust’ (Article VI), it must be observed that Republican candidates are invariably asked at some point if they believe the Bible to be the inviolable Word of God, and none has ever quoted Article VI in response. It appears that one only becomes President of the United States by the adoption of the American Creed and with the majority assent of the American Church.

Certainly, Mitt Romney can (and probably will) say that he believes that ‘Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the savior of mankind’. But the theological ambiguities will not be expounded (and ‘ambiguities’ is putting it politely). The Mormon god is not spirit, but a mortal, material being of flesh and blood who progressed to deity, as all men may. If believers are good and faithful, each will be given a planet of their own to rule. The Mormon god lives in heaven in a polygamous relationship with multiple wives, and sexually reproduces. In common with Eastern religions, there is a variation on reincarnation as Mormons believe in the pre-existence of all people in heaven before they were born on earth.

While Mitt Romney worships Jesus Christ, this is not the Jesus revealed in Scripture. The biblical Jesus was with God in the beginning and was God: the Mormon Jesus was conceived and born in heaven first as a ‘spirit child’ by God the Father in union with one of his wives. Jesus was the first-born spirit child, and Lucifer was his second. Thus Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. The orthodox Christian teaching is that God became man and was born of a virgin. For Mormons, the heavenly man-god came to earth and had sexual relations with Mary, and Jesus was the result. Mormons do not believe in the eternal deity of Jesus: he became a god only after living a virtuous life on earth. He then appeared before the council of gods that meet near a star called Kolob, who declared him to be a god in the pantheon of gods. It is a religion of salvation by works, which even the Son of God has to earn.

What would Christopher Hitchens or doctors Richard Dawkins and Evan Harris make of this? It’s bad enough for them when politicians believe in virgin births, the resurrection of Nazarene carpenters, papal infallibility or the verbatim dictation by the Archangel Gabriel of a book in perfect Arabic. Not that Evan Harris is in the same league as the other two, you understand. But he tends to pop up with tedious regularity whenever religion dares to encroach into the public sphere, spluttering his hard-line secularism.

John F Kennedy had to persuade the sceptical American people that the White House would not become an embassy of the Vatican, and neither would the US President do the Pope’s bidding. But, for a nation born out of the struggle for liberation from religious tyranny, his words frequently rang hollow: the prejudices were only overcome by oratorical skill. At times, the communication of his dreams and visions were redolent of Martin Luther King Jnr:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute - where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote - where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference - and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him. That speech was made in 1960, yet 50 years later the land of the free still does not permit all men to be equal. The inequalities may no longer be based upon race or gender, but they are manifest and legion when it comes to religion. Barack Obama knows only too well how damaging even a whiff of Islam can be.

To win the White House, Mitt Romney has to become mainstream; he has to overcome the widespread perception that in office he will be the mouthpiece of a cult that wants the White House in order to realise a particular celestial heaven. To achieve this, he will need to detoxify the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, and persuade America that it is not a cult that seeks to do harm, but a bona fide religion; a positive, respectable and beneficial spiritual force. And yet the moment he attempts to do that, he will be accused of being a proselytising apologist for his theological cause.

There are, of course, too many relativist considerations in the present age for terms like ‘harm’ and ‘beneficial’ to be expounded. Even the democratic primacy of ‘mainstream’ is undermined by the deference displayed to every fragmented religious minority interest, for fear of causing offence. In the final analysis, every cult is now a religion because no-one is perceived to have the political right or the spiritual authority to tell anyone else what they should or should not believe, or what they may and may not do. Liberty has become a deity.

Since we are now obliged to respect all religious beliefs and revere every spirituality, perhaps Mitt Romney would make the perfect postmodern presidential candidate. All men may not be equal, but all religions certainly are. Islam is as great as Judaism and as noble as Christianity, which are just as worthy of respect as Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and any and every other spiritual ‘-ism’ which emanates from the mind of man. Mormonism? Well, why not?

[Colofornian]

Archbishop Cranmer is a highly rated UK blogger who promotes a conservative perspective. Religiously, he promotes the Church of England. (Obama's White House even includes this blogger on his White House press release list)

Here, he points out that Romney's Mormonism is deemed a cult just like Scientology:

From the article: The problem for Mr Romney is that whatever he attempts to make the political focus or the central message of his campaign, he will be confronted at every turn with an almost innate American suspicion of his Mormon faith. For most Trinitarian Christians (by no means just the Evangelical ‘Christian Right’), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a cult whose theology is heretical and whose customs are anachronistic (to say the least). The Southern Baptist Convention firmly categorises Mormons with Scientologists; among those sects who have blasphemously added to Scripture and are under the control of false prophets. This is not insignificant for the Republican Party, whose evangelical base constitutes almost a third of the party's electorate and can wield considerable power in primary states, most notably South Carolina.

This line above -- and are under the control of false prophets...is not to be overlooked. A Mormon POTUS in the White House would place the White House squarely under the authority of the false prophets.

Romney took a Mormon temple oath like all Mormons. He swore that he would "consecrate himself, his time, talents and EVERYTHING he now has, or WILL HAVE IN THE FUTURE, for the building up of the Kingdom of God here upon the earth, and FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ZION."

Allow me to define "Zion" as the LDS PR Web site (lds.org) defines its primary meaning: "membership in the [LDS] church."

[Colofornian]

Ping invite comment on temple oath.

[Colofornian]

From the article: There are, of course, too many relativist considerations in the present age for terms like ‘harm’ and ‘beneficial’ to be expounded. Even the democratic primacy of ‘mainstream’ is undermined by the deference displayed to every fragmented religious minority interest, for fear of causing offence. In the final analysis, every cult is now a religion because no-one is perceived to have the political right or the spiritual authority to tell anyone else what they should or should not believe, or what they may and may not do. Liberty has become a deity. Since we are now obliged to respect all religious beliefs and revere every spirituality, perhaps Mitt Romney would make the perfect postmodern presidential candidate. All men may not be equal, but all religions certainly are. Islam is as great as Judaism and as noble as Christianity, which are just as worthy of respect as Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and any and every other spiritual ‘-ism’ which emanates from the mind of man. Mormonism? Well, why not?

Bingo. A great British analysis of the post-modern multi-culturalism plaguing the West. I've seen it embraced even by many so-called “conservative” FREEPERS. And hey, why not? They are products, too, of the liberal multi-culturalism taught on high school and college campuses!

As this blogger says, so many are in fear of causing offense...hence ”every cult is now a religion because no-one is perceived to have the political right or the spiritual authority to tell anyone else what they should or should not believe...Liberty has become a deity.”

Bingo. Too many FREEPER conservatives bow down to the god of licentiousness, who often masquerades as the god of 'liberty.'

Repeat emphasis from the article: Since we are now obliged to respect all religious beliefs and revere every spirituality, perhaps Mitt Romney would make the perfect postmodern presidential candidate.

Excellent analysis: Romney is the candidate of the post-modern voters! And post-modern influenced voters are often the ones who even if Romney is not their first choice, they see no problem voting for him if it comes down to that.

Repeat emphasis form the article: ll men may not be equal, but all religions certainly are. Islam is as great as Judaism and as noble as Christianity, which are just as worthy of respect as Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and any and every other spiritual ‘-ism’ which emanates from the mind of man. Mormonism? Well, why not?

Yup. Numerous times over several years I have posted the following in response to FREEPER post-modern-like comments: ...no wonder people slide down a religious Bahai-like pathway where they run everything together about God and begin to conclude a fundamentalist Mormon-is-a-Mormon-is-a-Christian-is-a-Jonestownite-is-a-Branch-Davidian-is-a-Heavens-Gate-ian-is-a-Urantia believer-is a Church Universal & Triumphant-is-a-Wicca-Witch-is-Voodoo practioner-is-a-New-Ager-is-a-whirling dervish-is-a-Hindu-is-a-Sikh-is-a-Muslim!

[Doc Savage]

Hell,...a COMMUNIST took the White House! A MUSLIM took the White House after only 7 years since they killed 3,000 Americans!

[Colofornian]

From the article: Certainly, Mitt Romney can (and probably will) say that he believes that ‘Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the savior of mankind’. But the theological ambiguities will not be expounded (and ‘ambiguities’ is putting it politely). The Mormon god is not spirit, but a mortal, material being of flesh and blood who progressed to deity, as all men may. If believers are good and faithful, each will be given a planet of their own to rule<./u>. The Mormon god lives in heaven in a polygamous relationship with multiple wives, and sexually reproduces. In common with Eastern religions, there is a variation on reincarnation as Mormons believe in the pre-existence of all people in heaven before they were born on earth. While Mitt Romney worships Jesus Christ, this is not the Jesus revealed in Scripture. The biblical Jesus was with God in the beginning and was God: the Mormon Jesus was conceived and born in heaven first as a ‘spirit child’ by God the Father in union with one of his wives. Jesus was the first-born spirit child, and Lucifer was his second. Thus Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. The orthodox Christian teaching is that God became man and was born of a virgin. For Mormons, the heavenly man-god came to earth and had sexual relations with Mary, and Jesus was the result. Mormons do not believe in the eternal deity of Jesus: he became a god only after living a virtuous life on earth. He then appeared before the council of gods that meet near a star called Kolob, who declared him to be a god in the pantheon of gods. It is a religion of salvation by works, which even the Son of God has to earn.

The Mormon god was a man-become-god. He wasn't god always. (That's who a Mormon POTUS would appeal to in a national crisis...Hey, all...good “luck” with that)

A Mormon POTUS would believe that Lucifer is his elder brother. Hmmm...

[onyx]

A Quaker, Richard Nixon, won the White House twice, so why not a Mormon?

But the Mormon won’t be WILLARD MITT ROMENY.

[Keith in Iowa]

Dittos.

[troy McClure]

Mormon’s are a cult.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gm6JYFdnD8

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

I think that Glenn Beck never saw that far into the future in Mitt Romney entering the race.

Obviously he couldn’t support the romster while working

for FOX

[RC one]

His Mormonism doesn’t bother me. It’s his liberalism. I have known plenty of good Mormons.

[ansel12]

For most Trinitarian Christians (by no means just the Evangelical ‘Christian Right’), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a cult whose theology is heretical and whose customs are anachronistic (to say the least). The Southern Baptist Convention firmly categorises Mormons with Scientologists; among those sects who have blasphemously added to Scripture and are under the control of false prophets. This is not insignificant for the Republican Party, whose evangelical base constitutes almost a third of the party's electorate and can wield considerable power in primary states, most notably South Carolina.

Romney being nominated will be an epic mistake and set back for America. His support is coming from the same GOP establishment machine that has been riding behind the left as they battled the conservative American culture since at least the mid 20th century.

[onyx]

Romney and Huntsman are both too progressive for Glenn Beck.

[Steamburg]

Being a Mormon is the least of the problems for this “Obama-lite”.

[Colofornian]

From the article: For most Trinitarian Christians (by no means just the Evangelical ‘Christian Right’), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a cult whose theology is heretical and whose customs are anachronistic (to say the least).

Ansel, you were making a similar point to this earlier this week.

[EGPWS]

can a Mormon take the White House?

I don't see why not as long as he brings it back in a reasonable period under risk of imprisonment if he doesn't.

[ansel12]

Beck, who left Christianity to practice Mormonism, does support Romney.

GLENN BECK, after quickly dismissing Governor Palin:
“I have to tell you that Mitt Romney could be the only guy that could win, and I don’t know if he could because I think that Americans are going to be I mean, this country is going to be in deep trouble by 2012, and the next term, if it’s not decided this term, the next term will decide our fate. Then I hope that Americans are ready for an adult and are ready for hard news.”

[Colofornian]

His Mormonism doesn’t bother me. It’s his liberalism. I have known plenty of good Mormons.

"Good" Mormons. I'm sure many in Jesus' day knew plenty of "good" Pharisees. Jesus highly complimented their outward behavior; and then turned around called them inwardly whitewashed tombstones, critiquing these legalists more than anyone.

Besides, if you were auditioning for godhood, you'd be on your best behavior, too!

As for his Mormonism not bothering you, while that's representative of many FREEPERS, it's not representative of the other half of Americans.

[Tigen]

Not as long as he believes/ they “MORE-MANS” will be administering the LAW from Missouri while Jesus rules from the Mount of Olives “No way”

[PhilDragoo]

The issue with Romney is not religion--though he and his liberal media cheerleaders would have you think you're a bigot if you don't embrace his candidacy.

WHO twenty-year morning host Jan Mickelson set off the classic Romney paranoid hystery in 2008 when pursuing a clarification of belief.

Of greater moment is the analysis yesterday of The Great One, Mark Levin, that Romney has now attained Three-Strikes status:

1) He destroyed health care in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and won't back away from that;

2) He supports ethanol subsidies (that market thing, plus, we can't afford crony capitalism);

3) He claims there is a human contribution to global warming which must be addressed.

I respect Mark Levin as a man who reveres the Constitution.

Romney the oily politician who'd barter our freedom for another shot at the title--[adult language]

[onyx]

I think he said his dream team was West and Bachmann.