The bottom line is that it shouldn’t matter, unless there is a concern that the LDS church would try to influence his policy. But he addressed that already, and I haven’t seen any indication of any such thing with LDS senators like Reid.
For me Huckabee not accepting evolution is far more of a showstopper than whatever underwear Mitt wears.
This is the very reason against religious tests. Though a lot of people seem to think that a general religious test (no atheists need apply) is fine, people mostly believe in specific religions, and the general test soon becomes a specific one. It’s time to admit that the Founders were right, and get this wearing of Jesus on your sleeve out of the political arena.
As a Mormon and a feminist, I don’t personally feel mistreated at all, and certainly not like a second class citizen. No, I don’t have the priesthood–I have a bunch of other stuff to do, and my personal opinion is that men and women need each other. It’s like a lock and key; different, but both necessary in order to work. Which is more important?
Some feminist LDS women disagree with me; others wouldn’t identify as feminist if you held them at gunpoint. That’s just IMO. But we don’t go in for wifely submission or anything, either.
I would support a response that left off the first paragraph.
Mitt Romney no more has to justify his faith than Pete Stark has to justify his atheism. And FTR, Huckabee ought to shut his yap about it.
AFAICT, Romney’s Mormonism has been (to say the least) a positive influence on his life. And it would be a positive influence on him if he becomes President. Apart from that, who gives a flying f*ck at a rolling doughnut? It’s not like he is sacrificing virgins in the dark of the moon every third Tuesday.
Some religions are less invasive than others. Mormonism is a life smothering religion with a lot of rules that are objectionable. The fact that Mormonism is a recent creation by a nutzoid is revealing. When supposedly intelligent people are unable to reject such a clearly flawed and weird religion they reveal the inability to make intelligent decisions. The black problem can not be dismissed. It is a fundamental tenet of the religion. That is true for the subservience of women to men. It is Mormonism and to say "well we just quit that 30 years ago and no longer believe it "is a joke. I would suggest there are a lot
of Mormons sticking to their historical roots. All 150 years of it. It is hypocritical to say it is on one hand a religion handed down to gods prophets and then say we will change it for political reasons. The attitude toward blacks and women is a basic block of their faith. It was clearly stated when they were cobbling this “faith” together.
My problem is that Romney should have listened politely to his parents when they were training him to believe and told them it was wrong. He did not. He should come out in public and explain the obvious flaws and reject them. He has not. This religion is not benign.
My issue with Mormons in general, and I’m going to omit (heh) Romney from this as he seems to be a perfectly reasonable guy, is that while they’re the nicest and most respectful group of people on the planet, they are also willing to blindly follow the most batshit of movements and theories.
Utah is the home to dozens, if not hundreds, of multi-level marketing schemes, many of them tied to nutritional “medicines”. Chances are, when you hear of the latest MLM “miracle cure” some company in Utah is selling it.
Secondly, the completely batshit conspiracy theorists that you hear on late night radio or on 500 watt stations in small towns are normal drive time fare on the Wasatch front. I swear that half of the state of Utah has a years worth of survival gear and food and water in a locked and armed part of their house.
I just don’t see this anywhere outside of Mormon country (Utah, N. AZ, ID, Eastern Washington/Oregon.)
Just like when Kennedy was running for president, the charge that his church would manipulate him is a false one made by those who demonize either him or his church (or perhaps demonize both). There is exactly zero evidence that Romney was given orders by his church leaders on how to govern Massachusetts just like there was exactly zero evidence Kennedy’s church dictated to him while he served in any political office. The charge is merely scare-mongering.
Or whatever collar the leadership of his church wears or why male leaders of some churches wear dresses while they preach or…the list goes on and on and, as you say, is irrelevant. The issue is: is he competent in office. Some would say that his track record proves he is and others would say his track record proves he’s not. Only the bigots say his religion proves he’s not.
That is, by far, the best description I’ve ever seen of the rationale for the prohibition in the Constitution on religious tests. Well done.
Or on your shorts, or on your collar, or on your necklace, or…again the list goes on and on.
Thanks for a well-stated and on-pont post, Voyager.
Everything that you say can be said about almost any religion. That these tenets were developed 150 years ago rather than 2000 years ago don’t make them any more or less correct. I live in a town with lots of Mormons, and my daughter even got a special card to go to Mormon dances when she was in high school. Life smothering? Not so I’d notice - in fact they seem to produce more kids than I consider seemly in this day and age. There is a big push to marry within the church, but my grandfather was considered very daring when he had no problem letting his Jewish daughter marry a Catholic in 1938 or so. He cared a lot more that his son-in-law was a Dodgers fan. (Looking back I think he was really an atheist, but he did ignore social pressure.)
I’d love it if all the candidates had the guts to renounce the particular idiocies of their particular religions (and keep the stuff they actually feel is justified.) I don’t see why Romney should be singled out. It would be political suicide for any of them to, and it ain’t going to happen.
In fact, Romney knowing he believes in a minority faith is likely to keep more honest about keeping religion out of politics than Huckabee who thinks he is in the majority. Huckabee is now scaring me.
You know, I always hoped to see a Crusaders issue about how Pope John Paul I was secretly a true BBC and was murdered because he planned to lead the RCC to Jesus.
I just made that up, I’ve never heard even a rumor to that effect about JPI, but it’s just so Chick, don’t you think?