printWhatever you say about Mitt Romney, one cannot dispute that this presidential candidate is patrician; Romney is a refined, mild-mannered man. He could have made mincemeat out of Rick Perry for his word-salad during the debate in Tampa, Florida. Romney’s retort was, “Nice try.” That’s all. But a lot of people prefer the boorish Bush clone, Rick Perry. In fact, rumor has it that Perry is behind the latest assault on Mitt’s Mormonism. Via the WaPo:
Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress, a Rick Perry supporter who recently described the Mormon religion as a “cult,” and isn’t backing off that claim in subsequent interviews.
But while the “Mormon Question” was a big one in the 2008 presidential race, there’s plenty of reason to believe its impact has somewhat lessened four years later, as Romney becomes more of a known quantity to voters.
Mitt Romney’s response typified his good manners: “We should remember that decency and civility are values too.”
The country and the “cognoscenti” did this dance in 2007, back when Mitt was forced into publicly defending his faith.
I’ll repeat what I said back then, on 12.07.07:
“I have no dog in the fight over Mitt’s Mormonism … Admittedly, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have some odd ideas. Not so the Mormons I know; they are very fine people. And quite magnificent is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; it’s in fact the finest in the world.”
What gets to me is the absolute Alzheimer’s of the political players involved and their followers.
I would not put it past Bush’s clone (Perry) to have had a hand in this latest anti-Mormon mischief-making.
I don’t believe Perry is behind Robert Jeffress remarks. I think it makes Perry look bad. As a Christian I know that the Mormon religion is not Christian at all. That is not bigotry. This can be proven through doctrine. It is not very difficult at all. Should religion be an issue at all? Absolutely not. I’m a Paul supporter so I will not be supporting Perry or Romney. The pastor should have kept his big mouth shut.
As a Catholic, I do believe Mormonism to be a false religion and Joseph Smith to be a charlatan. That being said, Mitt Romney’s Mormomism doesn’t bother me per se. On the other hand, the power worshiping cult known as neoconservatism, followed by millions of self-professed evangelical Christians, does greatly concern me.
Ron Paul is STEAK. Mitt Romney is WHITE BREAD. Rick Perry is MOLDY RANCID CHEESE.
Christianity requires a dependance on the finished works of our savior Jesus to make oneself accetable to God.
Mormonism does not.
Given a choice between a Mormon, a Muslim, a democrat and a gaian [???] as president of the US, I’d go with the Mormon every single time.
You can correct me if I am mistaken, but the classic definition of “cult” is: a group of people with closely held religious views. If that is the case, any religion can be classified a “cult”. Although I have profound disagreements with regards to “doctrine”, not one Mormon will ever stand before me in judgment.
For those who do not know or who have forgotten, GEORGE ROMNEY, Mitt’s father, ran American Motors and was a GOVERNOR of MICHIGAN. If I recall correctly, Governor Romney was a very reasonable person as Governor. Mitt, I believe, attended a very highly regarded private school in an upscale suburb of Detroit. He has brain power. Their Mormonism meant nothing of importance to me then nor does it now.
I think Mitt would be an asset in Ron Paul’s cabinet and Ron could teach him a few things as well.
I really don’t think it matters if the person running for president is a person that worships seashells. What I want is a person that can administer and lead(?) this country into stability.
H L Mencken said, “We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.” I’m much more interested in whether the other fellow acts honestly and benevolently toward his fellow man. I’ve noticed that no religion has a monopoly on those traits nor has followers that consistently exhibit them.
I still think he should have been a sports broadcaster.
Its simple slander to imply that Governor Perry was behind the Mormon is a cult comment. Perry responded directly that he did not believe the assertion and did so with a lot more conviction than MS Hillary’s own reflection on Obama’s Christianity – “…he is a Christian, as far as I know…”
Intellectual pinheads so want an “articulate, conservative Obama” that they’re willing to nominate someone who supports man made global warming theory, the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, and the assertion that the roots of FDR’s social security scheme are right and just on their face. Not to mention a 59 point central plan for the US economy.
By the way, what if Romney was a Scientologist, would that be relevant?
Ilana, by “gaian” I mean someone who is pushing the environmentalist agenda with such vigour, one would be forgiven for thinking he worships mother earth (Gaia).
Seriously, the “Christian” community embraced George W. Bush almost as a messenger from God because he “professed” to be a Christian. Truth be told most people that claim to be “Christian” are really just Neocons. How hypocritical…embrace Bush and condemn Romney.
As a (Biblical) Christian, my vote will be for Ron Paul…even if only by way of a write-in.
The Christians need to read the old testament to see how God really wants the world to work…how He set up Israel…a truly Libertarian (almost Anarchist) society, no taxes, no official “government”, no coercively funded “police” force, no conscription, no “regulations”, no oink sector…just a group of independent, individual families living THEIR lives without meddling with their neighbors’.
Somewhere along the line the “Christians” stopped reading their Bibles and started looking to the statists for the definition of what a true Christian is. Even going to the point of viewing the old testament as pseudo-canonical, although Jesus affirmed it’s cannonicity at every opportunity.
It’s kinda funny…but even Ayn Rand was closer to Christianity than most of these people are.