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.
LOL!
Well said my friend! Well said indeed!
“Attacking someone’s religion is really going too far.” — Mitt Romney, responding to fellow Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s question, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
When Mitt Romney says that we must not attack his religion, he’s saying that we must not criticize his religious politics. A presidential candidate who believes that the foundation of his politics should be beyond criticism is a candidate who is unworthy of the office of the Presidency.
When it comes down to it, if Mitt Romney’s religion cannot withstand a little criticism, then it isn’t much of a religion.
(Source: Associated Press, December 12, 2007)
Yes, she works for the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation.
Hey, big guy. Nice to hear from you. Hope everything is well with you and yours.
(Imagine trying this line on the Democrats & MSM in '08, especially as we get closer to the general election: "You can't critique my religious politics." What do they think their response will be, "Oh, whatever you say.")
When it comes down to it, if Mitt Romney’s religion cannot withstand a little criticism, then it isn’t much of a religion.
But that's what happens when you have a brittle one-man foundation based on a vision he had as a 14 year old. Brittle must be handled with extreme care (emphasis on extreme).
Ok, I’m part of the right wing Christian plague.
And proud of it.
Now as for the Atlanta Journal constipation.
You just gave a litany of Catholic bashing, sir. It’s impolite to bash what one doesn’t understand. It’s sure nice of you to “tolerate” us Catholics. You must be fun to live with. Have a nice Christmas.
Pax
Those opposing what we see as heresies in Mormonism are not demanding Mormonism Apologists be squelched at FR, nor are we calling for banning or their posts be forbidden at FR. You, on the other hand, are coming very close to such a talibanesque approach to silence exposure of the peculiarities in Mormonism. Get you liberal candidate nominated, then see what your blind sycophancy strategy of cry bigotry to cover Mitt's liberalism will accomplish.
This from a Marxist Pagan who supports murdering millions of innocent Americans many of whom are black.
Everything is fine here IJ! I hope the same is true for you and that you have a VERY Merry Christmas!
Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson holding rallies in the southern states and repeating Oprah's words. Can Mitt win without the south?
The possibilities are endless. And even if Hillary wins the nomination, SOME high profile black can and most probably WILL make that speech.
You heard it here first.
I will take exception to that remark- No one is looking for a saviour in the religious sense, but rather are looking for a candidate who is sure to uphold the Judeo-Christian ethic that is the basis of Western morality, and certainly the foundation of the culture of the United States in particular. To accuse Christians of looking for a "saviour" in any other than Christ is to be oblivious of the essence of Christian thought, by the very nature of the accusation.
German history should be instructive, as it was socialism that brought forth it's fruit in fascism, *not* adherence to the faith of her fathers. Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.
People who won’t vote for someone who doesn’t share their specific religious dogma are intolerant, closed-minded bigots. Plain and simple. These people are also not true Americans.
A statement born of ignorance, no doubt. Philosophy and religion are the same thing, and to suppose one would vote for something opposed to (or even indifferent to) what one believes is truth is an absurd statement. That the candidate's beliefs (philosophy) are akin to one's own would be a matter of paramount concern, as that belief predicts the candidate's actions.
To accuse Christians of intolerance is an asinine position. The Christian heritage of the Western world is the root of freedom. Of course one is intolerant of those wishing to cut off that root. Without it there is no sustenance. Freedom and Justice will wither and die. One may as well accuse us of being bigoted toward murderers and rapists, which of course, we are. It is a specious and inaccurate skewing of the concept, to say the very least.
Their highjacking of the Republican party brought us to incompetence and catastrophe that is the Bush administration.
The incompetence and catastrophe of the Bush administration is based in it's sojourn into socialism and globalism, and you must note that the Christian Right were among the first to pull support away when the administration strayed. In fact, his efforts toward globalism are still widely supported by all except the Conservatives, who have rejected such attempts outright. Those Conservatives are largely made up of the Christian Right.
Most of W.’s decisions may have been right, but the execution seems to be mostly faith-based. That doesn’t work in the real world.
All decisions are based upon faith of one form or another. A leader who would humble himself and subject himself to the will of Almighty God is less likely to enforce his own will with the aspirations of empire. Certainly a plus in my book.
One’s religious beliefs do not qualify one for anything other than to be a member of that religion.
That is not your decision. That is decided by the aggregated citizens of the United States, eighty-five percent of whom are Christians.
Your position is without merit.
Don't forget, Huck is a huge threat to Mitt's grand plan.
yep
Exactly right.
Will she also do an “analysis” of how a certain minority group and a “sexual orientation” group now plague the Dysfunctional Democrats?
LOL!
“ignorant and stupid, but wholly revealing about how the other side thinks.”
A good summary of Tucker and her “article”
I don't think so. You must remember that most are not as politically inclined as you or I. They are voting for the Christian because he is the only evident Christian in the field. As they become more informed, I expect Huck's numbers will begin to wane.
Lets hope Hunter and/or Tancredo are more visible by that time so the Christians have somewhere to go...
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