Posted on 11/30/2009 6:01:03 PM PST by delacoert
I’ll just leave this here…
Before a defense of any kind of religious discrimination, one ought to make all of the necessary disclaimers: of course I oppose government-sponsored discrimination, and I certainly would not support the kind of absurd treatment described by Steven Reinhart in his piece featured below. That being said, there is a legitimate case to be made for judging any candidate for office by his religious convictions.
In late 2007, Mitt Romney made his somewhat-famous speech on religion, where he spoke the following words:
“Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.”
Similarly, Romney has stated: “I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it…my faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs.”
If freedom requires religion, if his Mormon faith sustains his life and he will be true to those practices, then I’m at an utter loss as to why we should ignore Romney’s religious beliefs when evaluating his fitness for the White House.
We ask plenty of questions of any Evangelical Christian candidate: what do his beliefs about the nature of God, the nature of the cosmos, and the meaning of man’s life mean for his potential tenure in office? But for whatever reason, these questions are looked at as unnecessarily piercing and prejudiced when asked of a member of a minority faith.
When Sarah Palin gave her fumbling answer about Israel’s settlements, several commentators jumped on her faith, wondering whether she subscribed to the bizarre but potent sect of modern Christianity that believes in the imminence of the End Times. Will anyone ask Mitt Romney about the oddities of the dogma of the Mormon Church? There are plenty of Mormon doctrines that may strike people as a bit odd — and rightly so. It is established in the church that the devout can reach the upper echelons of heaven and eventually become gods themselves, able to create their own universes and govern them as they see fit (all while supervised by the One True God). Why is it that when I bring this up to Romney fans, I am dismissed as a bigot?
As an atheist, I both understand and accept that in a predominantly Christian society, my thoughts on religion are necessarily going to open me up to questions. If I were to ever run for office (don’t count on that, by the way), I would not expect my supporters would try to ward off any questions about my atheism with the victim-card of discrimination. One’s philosophy of religion contributes profoundly to his worldview and thus is a completely valid criterion by which to partially evaluate a candidate’s fitness for office.
I view all religions as equally bizarre and irrational. But mainstream Christianity is often adopted as a cultural guise, meant for purposes of assimilation with the majority. Probe most self-described Christians and you’ll find plenty of deviation from standard dogma. Devotion to Mormonism, which is completely outside of the American mainstream, requires a certain level of commitment. To what extent will Romney’s faith influence his decision-making? I ask that question of devoted Evangelicals and judge them accordingly, and I will do the same of a Mormon. And I am not going to apologize for that.
Like I tried to tell ya TChris, even the most simple dictionary provide the back ground that even you can gather how the term 'professors' was used in the early 1800's. Now go get a cloth and wipe the egg off of your face.
Romney Palin 2012 or Palin Romney 2012? I can’t decide.
I continue to see Islam as a greater threat than that which you mention, because of its size and militancy and what is an even more dangerous form of the 'familial atonement,' you mention. It works on multiple levels, both political and spiritual, and uses the power of the state. There are millions of people stuck in Muslim countries who will never have the chance to awaken to Christianity much less leave Islam for it to face certain death. As painful as a Mormon leaving his faith may be within his community or family, how much more terrifying is that prospect in Islam, where you can be murdered by your own father in an honor killing; where you can be put to death for mere possession of a Bible? Where Christian slavery and even crucifixion still occur (Sudan)? It is this physical threat that condems the spiritual fate of so many. I hope you can see my point.
... also add name calling
I’m getting where I don’t like this website due to Mormon and Romney bashing. There are other places to get news.
LOL
Ironic, huh?
I have torn into my fair share of Mohammedans in debate.
Oddly they don't post here so it would be hard to demonstrate...
You are kidding, right?
I believe reaganaut clarified her point regarding the threat posed by modern gnosticism. But perhaps its more modern manifestations are not as clear to you regarding the full spectrum involved. Today, gnosticism is found under the umbrella of the New Age movement. Practices run the gamut of ‘organized’ gnostic churches to significant components under one of the plethora of NAM groups. Since gnosticism from its general beginning was syncretistic, its current alignment with NAM is understandable as NAM is very flexable and gathers up religious teaching, etc. regardless of actual source.
I believe reaganaut clarified her point regarding the threat posed by modern gnosticism. But perhaps its more modern manifestations are not as clear to you regarding the full spectrum involved. Today, gnosticism is found under the umbrella of the New Age movement. Practices run the gamut of ‘organized’ gnostic churches to significant components under one of the plethora of NAM groups. Since gnosticism from its general beginning was syncretistic, its current alignment with NAM is understandable as NAM is very flexable and gathers up religious teaching, etc. regardless of actual source.
I feel the same way!:)
First solve the finances than solidify the Principles of Liberty
I can’t help but wonder how many of these zealous anti Mormons feel about Glenn Beck’s popularity. It would seem to me that they should be as worried with his following among the social conservatives as being equally destructive to their cause as a LDS POTUS.
Welcome to FR n00b...
Do you just plan to vote for any mormon...
or would you vote for a Christian ???
or a woman ???
Whatever
No
yes
yes
Why are you you being so uptight?
Would you not vote for Glenn Beck if he ran for office? Do you support his massive following? Are you glad he’s doing what he is doing?
Are you worried he is advocating Mormonism? Is this any different than a Mormon in high office?
I understood her points.
Indeed. Merry Christmas to you then.
Zilla and I have run across them already.
Hook line and sinker LDSer with a familiar but hard to place tone.
Ummm yeah.... no.
I think the birds are singing in sunshine over at PMSNBC now that Bush is out of office.
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