I agree with you.
I was also accused of some breach of Chhrstian behavior should I compartmentalize politics and my Christian beliefs. I thought “Render unto Caesar” clearly applies here - but evidently not.
I’m now wondering if I should stop going to my Jewish haberdasher, or my Hindu grocer, or my agnostic money manager, or the Muslim donut shop, or (GASP!) my Mormon dentist!?
Of course, just as my choices in each of those areas are guided by how each performs compared to other choices available, so is my vote informed by the performance (or actions) of the candidates, not by their religious affiliation. I don’t dislike Obama because of his Muslim upbringing, it is one thing that gives me pause, but if he implimented Reagan type policies, it wouldn’t matter to me. Heck, I wouldn’t care that he was friends with Bill Ayers, if he were like Reagan!
I do have a pretty clear understanding of the...shall I call it “obsession”? I perceive that most of these anti-ISMs are former Mormons. I too left a cult in which I was raised, and for several years I was impassioned about the “wrongness” of the teaching and of what was done to my family. I played the same tune on a different fiddle. The time came that I realized that my life, my salvation and my happiness could no longer be touched by the leaders of the cult - and I was finally free. Free from fear and anger and, most importantly, free to forgive.
In this thread, I asked a few simple questions - intended to discern the underlying motives of the poster. I got my answer, which confirmed my guesses - but then was beset by relentless badgering that implied some nefarious motivation for my questions - devolving into questions (the all important “?”) of the sincerity of my beliefs, my position (or the fervor thereof) on abortion and on and on and on. Frustrating for me, one who enjoys the rigors of a good, honest debate.
I have enjoyed your posts on this thread - which is why I posted to you in the first place.
Oh?
You really don't care about the DIFFERENCES; just the agenda?
You know; this is how I feel about Mitt; too!
I, however, do not have the confidence that he WOULD be very Reaganesque.
I could be wrong - I have been before.
I’m not aware if the anti-mormon folks are all former mormons. I find their reactions to be simplistic at best. Very child like. Yes, I know they will read this and post an answer to every sentence. Clever things like, “but I’m not a child so how can my viewpoint be that of a child?” Or “Here is the definition of ‘child’ from 10 Bible verses, so you must be wrong because I do not fit God’s definition of a ‘child’”.
There is a fine line between their extreme devotion and fanaticism. We have folks here who go on and on “proving” every point with Bible passages and their interpretations of those passages. They are blind to the possibility of being wrong. But let me tell you folks, as the old joke goes “this is 16 plus years of Catholic education speaking” and you can be wrong.
I don’t believe in Mormonism (meaning I don’t believe it is the truth, Elsie, I know it exists). But I also don’t believe in Elsie. I further go the extreme step of not worrying what Elsie says regarding the Pope’s supposed views on my posts here. It’s like an alternate universe here in which people are playing Pope.
However, there is a real world. In that world, people don’t give much of a good darn about Mormonism, Mormonism is not much of a threat to Catholicism, and there is no evidence that Mitt Romney is going to govern the USA as a “Temple Mormon”.
I post here in an effort at dialogue, and also to give some voice to the many Freepers who find these views to be extreme. But hey, it’s a free country and I could be wrong.
So Islam apparently "gives" you "pause," and that's "a-Ok" to effect an eval of a POTUS candidate; but not Mormonism...
And that's not religious "bigotry."
Yeah. We get these finest-line distinctions.
NOT.
[also...we note you don't go on the Obama threads accusing anybody of bringing up his Muslim ties of engaging in religious "bigotry..." (that's what I meant by your lopsided aps here)]