Posted on 06/13/2012 6:05:21 PM PDT by Grig
This may be the post that gets me zotted, and if so, so be it, but it would be a nice sign of respect for free speech, and just plain old maturity if that doesn’t happen. I won’t lose sleep either way though.
All through the Clinton years FR played a key role in helping me really come to appreciate the wisdom of the founding fathers as Clinton violated their principles in so many ways. I found here a large community of wise, informed posters from a diverse background that added depth and clarity to the news of the day. It was here on FR that I found out about the WTC attack. Being Canadian, the second amendment always seemed kind of silly to me, but through FR I learned how wrong that view was and now wish my country had such a right for it’s citizens.
That was then, now more and more it has felt like FR has dwindled into an insular, nearly feral, group of political and religious thought police whose mission is to ferret out anybody who doesn’t fit their orthodoxy and get rid of them, while propagandizing against anything the disagree with. At times it feels more energy is spent attacking those who should be seen as allies rather than the true enemies. I used to spend a fair bit of time here each day, now perhaps a quick look once every few weeks because of this change in climate. I know many have left because of it, many have already posted their concerns about it, and their wise observations and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.
I do feel I have a small measure of responsibility for the change (but no guilt). When FR started to fail to live up to it’s own rules about not bashing religions (when it came to my religion) we Mormon posters decided that instead of being party to the creation of long threads filled with contention that made it hard for the moderators see the difference in our behavior and theirs, we decided instead to simply post articles putting forward our position and leave the critics to show their true colors. (see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2013341/posts). Not only did the anti-Mormon posters oblige us and demonstrate the level of hate and bigotry in their hearts, but so did the anti-Momons within the leadership of FR. And thus began the decent of FR from a vibrant ad-hoc conservative think tank into an echo chamber of yes men with a loud group of religious bigots leading the way. It is sad to see it come to this, and I hope that the day comes when sanity returns. Something that needs to happen for that day to come is for the majority of people around here to face this reality: If you are not supporting Mitt Romney, you are playing into Obama’s hands. Any hopes of a brokered convention or third party conservative super-candidate are nothing but delusions fueled by a denial of reality. It comes down to either Mitt or Obama, and if you are not supporting Mitt you are helping Obama. Deal with it.
And don’t try to hide behind the idea that Mitt losing will be good in the long term for conservatism. That is putting your partisanship above your patriotism. Obama has done massive damage to the USA, and if you give him another 4 years you may not have a USA left at the end of his term. What good will this theoretical transformation of the GOP then? Truth is that if Mitt loses, no matter how conservative or liberal his campaign and policies are, the media will blame it on him being too right-wing and drive the GOP to the left as much as they can. Also, the good of the country should come first if you want to call yourself a patriot, and having Mitt in the White House will be much better for the USA than having Obama there.
While Mitt is not perfect (nobody is) I find many of the attacks on him so over the top, so full of exaggeration and fear mongering that ignores contrary evidence or any sense of proportion that I can’t help but suspect they hyperbole is just a mask for darker motives. The fact that in many cases these attacks come from those who also display great hostility towards Mormonism says it all. Deny it all you want, it is easy to see. For a satirical look at it, check this video I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG68yz-mMgE
I am going to make some predictions I would like to make, and I hope this thread stays around so that in years to come you can all look back and see how it turned out:
- every conservative you respect will vote for Mitt, all of them (perhaps a couple excepts, but not many) will even endorse him and perhaps campaign with him
- Mitt will become the next POTUS in a landslide victory,
- President Romney will do very well on the economy and on foreign affairs/national security
- President Romney will conduct himself with honor and integrity both in office and in his personal life
- He will be a better president than either Bush was
- You will hear conservative pundits call him this generation’s Ronald Reagan, or Ronald Reagan’s 3rd term or something along those lines
- President Romney will be re-elected in another big victory
- His Vice President will become POTUS after his second term
- If there is an assassination attempt on him, it will either be by the Chineese, or by some religiously motivated nutjob (Islamic or Evangelical)
And for those of you anti-Mormons out there, I have some prediction for you too. And these apply even if Romney is not elected as POTUS:
- Your grandchildren will call Mormons Christians, and look at Mormonism as the third branch of Christianity alongside Catholicism and Protestantism
- All the attacks against Romney that stem from the anti-Mormon garbage you have bought into will result in the attacker either apologizing, or in their loss of credibility. The more anti-Mormon attacks are made in the mainstream media, the worse the attackers will look.
- Your grandchildren will likewise look at such attacks as being as bigoted and wrong, even when they come from you.
- Some of your grandchildren or great-grandchildren will become Mormons, and after you are dead they will have temple ordinances performed for you, and you will be glad at the time that they do.
I dare you to post your own predictions of what a Romney presidency will result in.
I dare FR to leave this thread open and available for comments and to not delete a single comment from it.
I dare FR to start respecting freedom of religion by not playing favorites towards one religious group as is currently done by disallowing Mormon caucus threads, and if that is too big a challenge for you, the do away with the Religion Forum altogether.
I dare you all to give Mormons and Mormonism the respect it deserves to have as the 4th largest denomination in the USA, stalwart defender of traditional values, glowing example of Christian charity at home and around the world, the most conservative people of all religious groups, and staunch defenders of the principles of the constitution and values that built the country. No matter how much you disagree with us on religious matters, we are and should be treated as valuable conservative allies. Until FR does that, all they do is shoot themselves in the foot.
Dont’ bs me reaganaut.
I’ve seen many of those threads. Most of those posters were attacked on multiple fronts by you flying monkeys until they got mad and said something stupid.
Your ping list has gotten very good at trapping opposition posters into zots.
- - - - - - -
ROFL. It ain’t BS at all. It is not our fault they posted what the did. Many were given many, many chances - just ask JR. None of the FI’s have zotting power. Don’t blame us for their support of non-Conservative views or inability to police their own posts.
We didn’t need to ‘trap’ anyone, they did it all on their own, Mormons tend to be highly emotional simply because they do not base their faith on reason, but strictly on feelings.
You keep making these broad,sweeping, statements that are entirely wrong...you need to do your research.
I look at that as an opportunity to open up the most recent scientific material to those guys ~ so why chase them away. I've noticed in the last few years that more people here are open to archaeology despite their internalized 6 thousand year limit.
Used to be they wouldn't consider such materials worth discussing. Even caught some of them thinking hard about Neanderthal ancestors ~
I already said I should have used Mormonism instead of Mormon in that post.
However, it is not unusual to see hatred of individuals arise from hatred of their lifestyle or belief.
It happens.
Democrats have hated Romney since before he was Gov of MA. HES A RETHUGLICAN!
- - — - - - - - -
And Christians have been speaking out against Mormonism, and ex-Mormons like myself and grey have been telling the truth about their beliefs since the 1830’s.
I have been against Mormonism since before Romney was Govenor, and I have been against Romney since he was Gov.
If the shoe fits...
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Davidians, Scientologists, or any of a hundred other splinter religions?
- - - - - -
I have never been one of those. I was a faithful, believing Mormon for many years. That is who I am called to witness to.
I dont’ think Davidians are still around, I do witness to JW’s but they are apolitical and aren’t on here.
And I do this full time in ministry (Counter cult ministry - all cults), not just here on FR.
I also expose and defend the faith against ‘liberal Christianity’ that does similar things as the cult groups.
Some muslim groups proselytize, not all.
We didn't get any missionaries for a while ~ must have been a convincing story so the coordinator didn't want to lose any more missionaries.
My neighbor down the way is a Moslem missionary ~ he's converted others.
We always have fun when it comes to religion in this neighborhood ~
This is a self-defeating prophecy. If enough conservatives band behind a Virgil Goode, a Tom Hoefling, or anyone else for that matter, you can give YOURSELF someone who can take the lead from Romney. That's how the Tea Party was built -- individuals banding together to make a positive electoral difference.
To make it work, though, you have to think outside the box of the traditional Grand Old Plantation. Is it a long shot? Absolutely. But no cause worth winning was ever handed to anyone. It had to be earned.
In short, put your shoulder to the wheel and help instead of waiting for victory to come to you. If you know "Romney stinks", as you say, what do you have to lose?
Just a side note that I will put in the thread vs. a private comment - you need to cease viewing Islam as a religion and view it as a totalitarian political system that uses religion as a beard and as a means of control of the masses. Everything makes much more sense at that point.
I am in favor of a Constitutional amendment to formally delist Islam as a religion due 1A protections.
Nice picture of the Republican politicians.
Sorry, I missed the adjustment. Duly noted.
As for hatred of beliefs bleeding over to hatred of persons, perhaps. But I actually think it is fairly rare. I’d like to see a way for either of us to prove the assertion one way or the other. Anecdotally, of the theologically orthodox Christians I know, not one of them would fall into that confusion. I do know my non-Christian relatives routinely bash me for rejecting homosexuality, global warming, abortion rights, any number of other orthodoxies of the left. It can be hurtful to know in your own heart that you really do care about someone, but they’ve locked themselves away in a place you can’t reach through a false sense of persecution created by third parties. It can make for some pretty awkward family gatherings.
It is plainly evident to anyone that posts or lurks regularly.
I've got a question for you...why do you and your cohorts need to ping so many to individual posts? I've always understood ping lists to threads, but ya'll ping fifteen or twenty posters at a time to comment on an individual's answer on a thread.
I'll just tell you why...you are a bunch of flying monkeys and you are very good at trapping posters into a zottable misstep.
I stand fully by my accusation. Its dirty pool, and worthy of libs...not conservatives.
There were a couple of other things that should have incurred a ZOT, but that one was really, really, outre!
Romney became a Republican on Oct 13, 1993.
How long was that before he became governor?
And why on earth would dems “hate” Romney.
When he ran for governor he was active pro-abortion (their sacrament), planned parenthood praised him for his abortion stand in 1994.
I still want him to be puttin’ some skin in this game, and if he’s zotted he’s outta’ reach, but I know he’s reading.
Romney was never the conservative alternative to McCain.
Romney is not now or has he ever been a conservative.
A recent scientific study demonstrated people read the first and last letters of any word first, so “darn” works ~ it tricks the brain.
300 years ago, Christians were burning women at the stake in the name of God,
_______________________________________________
130 years ago, Mormons were raping underage women in the name of the mormon god...
should current Mormons who agree with polygamy be held responsible for that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.