The 'rats carry the plaaague...
But they used to BLAME religion for it!!!
Posted on 12/15/2007 4:44:26 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
For many sophisticated conservatives, Mitt Romney is an appealing presidential candidate. Before he served a respectable term as governor of Massachusetts, he rescued the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. He has also been very successful in business, making millions as the co-founder of a private equity investment firm. Though his hyperpandering to the narrow-minded in this campaign has cost him some honor, he's still smart, accomplished and photogenic.
He's also a Mormon, a biographical note that has caused considerable consternation among the ultraconservative Christians who make up a sizable portion of the GOP's core constituency. Many of them reject Mormonism as a "cult" and would be hard-pressed to vote for Romney because of it. That's the reason he is now under white-hot pressure from Mike Huckabee in Iowa, where hard-core believers have pumped up the Baptist preacher's poll numbers.
It's quite a quandary for those among the Republican establishment who see Romney as not only the most electable among the GOP nominees — he has more intellectual heft than Huckabee and none of Rudy Giuliani's considerable baggage — but also as a genuinely well-qualified candidate.
And they're beginning to fret over those right-wing Christians who have painted Mormons as the children of Satan, a faction that wasn't placated by Romney's recent speech in which he declared his belief that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the savior of mankind."
This curious fracture among the GOP faithful conjures up another bit of biblical wisdom: "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." (Hosea 8:7) For more than two decades, the Republican Party has employed a deliberate strategy of injecting "moral values" and religious beliefs into political and civic life — a strategy that found its apex in the election of George W. Bush, who, during a presidential debate, named "Jesus Christ" as his favorite philosopher.
Though the GOP was historically known for fiscal conservatism and government restraint, party strategists decided back in the 1980s to link arms with Christian zealots to secure the votes of their flocks.
Thus began a long association with such figures as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell, dogmatic, dictatorial and intolerant. Their Christianity brooks no dissent from a rigid and warped reading of the Bible that denounces homosexuality and decries abortion but has little compassion for the poor.
To win Republican primaries, GOP candidates are expected to kowtow to those Christianists, and they have, all the while dismissing as immoral "secular humanists" those Americans who want to protect the wall separating church and state. In recent years, there have been few establishment conservatives willing to stand up to the zealots — and those who did have paid a price. (John McCain, who rightly labeled Falwell and Robertson "agents of intolerance" in his 2000 presidential campaign, comes to mind.)
But with ultraconservative Christians balking at the prospect of a Mormon president, many top conservatives are suddenly annoyed. Earlier this month, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, accusing Huckabee of "exploiting" religion, wrote, "Mormonism should be a total irrelevancy in any political campaign." Trained as a psychiatrist, Krauthammer has never aligned himself with the right-wing religionists, but he has been much more circumspect about Bush's exploitation of religion.
A far stranger spectacle has been the sight of Ralph Reed, former Christian Coalition executive, on the airwaves denouncing voters who would use religious beliefs as a test for political office. "We've really gone over the line in this election," Reed said recently, complaining that presidential candidates are being subjected to "a doctrinal frisk." Wow. You may recall Reed and his former mentor, Robertson, as among those who established the procedure, requiring candidates to assume the doctrinal position they laid out.
Time for these folks to stop invoking Christ's name and start listening to Christ's message. Mitt Romney's candidacy should depend on how he leads, not on how he prays.
Tucker would have been fired long ago where she a peckerwoodess.
That's nuts....folks have full right to vote for folks based on religious beliefs...it's a crucible of who we are.
His post strikes me as from someone who is not religious.
To him religion is like a choice in cars or favorite college team.
That is true, and a fair point made.
Good grief. Now Cynthia Tucker, a flaming liberal, is offhandedly endorsing Mitt Romney. Not a good sign for Mitt.
Why does the MSM make the fact the Bush named Jesus as his favorite philosopher a big deal? What is so earth shattering about that face? I just do not get it.
Please don't misunderstand. I love Catholics, and most all denominations, as Brothers in Christ. I occasionally go to Mass with my friends, even though I feel lost at times during the service.
My point was that I, having been raised a fairly strict Baptist, never understood the tenants of the Roman Catholic Church, and where they came up with some of their traditions.
There was no ill intent at all.
As a youngster in the 50s and 60s, I recall the bickering (for lack of a better word) between many Protestant churches and the Catholic church over many of the things I mentioned.
My point was (is) that if Baptists and Catholics can love and respect each other, why these hate-filled distribes on FR against Mitt Romney for being raised a Mormon.
A pox on both your houses!
This is a famous quote from Romeo and Juliet. As Mercutio dies, he utters this phrase three times, cursing the families whose rivalry led to his death. The phrase is commonly applied to criticize warring factions whose rivalry brings ruin to others.
Most men would be their OWN saviour, than reach out to the Only One who is.
I thought we Christians have been perceived as a plague for the GOP for a long time now.
Of course not!
Don't you know it was the folks who voted ONLY on his political record that brought him to us!
The 'rats carry the plaaague...
But they used to BLAME religion for it!!!
Sure, Republicans should listen to that scumbag Tucker’s advice.
The democrats are oh so happy about the Huckabee candidacy.
If it's Huckabee and Obama, Obama will win in a walk if for no other reason than he doesn't give off powerful vibes of religious intolerance like Huckabee does.
At least you are accurate in identifying that what you have is a personal problem.
When I was in highschool we had a christian principal. He ran off with his secretary. Then we got a principal who had some principles.
Either of you geniuses understand the basic problem with humans such as ourselves living on a Jupiter-sized planet like “Kolob” (original home of the human race in LDS mythology)?
Indeed they do. But that is not to say it is necessarily a wise criterion. Martin Luther was quoted, perhaps apocryphally, to have said he would rather be governed by a wise Turk than a foolish Christian.
To fully appreciate that you have to grasp the Lutheran doctrine of the two kingdoms, a doctrine of which the likes of Huckabee are oblivious.
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