They aren't talking about jobs or the economy or the war in Afghanistan............. Religious bigotry on display By Jennifer Rubin Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex., who has a knack for stacking the crowd and the vote, won the Values Voter Summit this weekend with 37 percent of those casting ballots. Herman Cain (who delivered a stemwinder on Friday night) came in second. And third, with another surprise showing (he came in fourth in the Ames straw poll this summer), was Rick Santorum. Texas Gov. Rick Perry was down in the pack with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) at 8 percent. Perry, once again, was unsuccessful in garnering support from the segment of the GOP essential to his success in the primary race. But the big news was not the vote itself. On Friday, the appearance of Pastor Robert Jeffress set of a chain of events that may be remembered long after the vote results are forgotten. Jeffress in his introduction of Perry voiced his previously known anti-Mormon views. Afterward, he doubled down in remarks to reporters. First the speech: Do we want a candidate who is skilled in rhetoric or one who is skilled in leadership? Do we want a candidate who is a conservative out of convenience or one who is a conservative out of deep conviction? Do we want a candidate who is a good, moral person or one who is a born-again follower of the lord Jesus Christ? Then he told Politico: Texas evangelical leader Robert Jeffress, the megachurch pastor who introduced Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit, said . . . he does not believe Mitt Romney is a Christian. Jeffress described Romneys Mormon faith as a cult and said evangelicals had only one real option in the 2012 primaries. That is a mainstream view, that Mormonism is a cult, Jeffress told reporters here. Every true, born-again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian. Asked by Politico if he believed Romney is a Christian, Jeffress answered: No. The Christian leader warned that in a general-election race between Romney and Obama, he believes many evangelicals will stay home and leave the GOP nominee without their votes. Jeffress said that he himself would vote for Romney. He also said that he had not spoken with Perry about his views on Romneys faith and was in no way speaking for him. The initial response by the Perry team was pathetically insufficient. Perry spokesman Mark Miner threw out this bit of moral vacuity: The governor doesnt judge what is in the heart and soul of others. But what about the words? Is he mute on expressions of overt prejudice? Does he reject the comments as bigoted? Miner e-mailed me on Friday afternoon: As I said, the governor does not believe Mormonism is a cult. The governor doesnt get into the business of judging other peoples hearts or souls. He leaves that to God. The governors campaign is about uniting Americans of all backgrounds behind a pro-growth, jobs agenda for this country. In other words, when presented with such overt prejudice (and the potential loss of evangelical support), Perry went mute. While Perry did not select Jeffress to introduce him, he did approve the choice. Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, on Friday afternoon, tweeted: A number of my close personal friends are Mormon. I find Pastor Robert Jeffriess intro of Gov. Perry totally offensive and repugnant. That was the voice of moral clarity sadly missing from Perrys response. On Saturday one of the social conservative and intellectual eminencies of the conservative movement, Bill Bennett, took matters into his own hands at the summit: Bennett told the crowd of evangelicals Saturday morning, Do not give voice to bigotry. Im thinking of the words of Pastor Jeffress. Do not give voice to bigotry. In endorsing Perry on Friday at the Values Voters conference, Jeffress said he doesnt believe Romney is a conservative and thinks Mormonism is a cult. From the stage Saturday morning, just minutes before Romneys arrival to speak to the group, Bennett said that Jeffresss remarks stepped on the message of Perry and the other Republican presidential hopefuls who spoke Friday. You did Rick Perry no good sir, in what you had to say. I asked Bennett about the reaction he received. He emailed me: I thought it was generally positive in the hall and I had a lot of good comments walking through the hotel. I think this whole business might occasion a needed discussion, and I would trust most of these folks to come out on it right in the end. Later on Saturday, Romney called out religious bigotry, referencing yet another speaker at the event: Romney aimed his criticism at Bryan Fischer, a controversial official at the American Family Association who was scheduled to follow Romney in the program. Fischer, a leader at the Mississippi-based AFA, has blamed homosexuals for the Holocaust, suggested banning Muslims from serving in the military and has strongly attacked Mormonism. He argued only days ago that the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion doesnt apply to Mormons, declaring: The purpose of the First Amendment is to protect the free exercise of the Christian religion. Romney didnt address Fischer by name or specify which of his remarks were offensive. But the message was unambiguous. Our values ennoble the citizen and strengthen the nation. We should remember that decency and civility are values too, Romney said. One of the speakers who will follow me today, has crossed that line, I think. Poisonous language doesnt advance our cause. Its never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. He continued: The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate. The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us let no agenda narrow our vision or drive us apart. A Romney adviser confirmed that his remark about poisonous language was referring to Fischer. Although the candidates other than Romney were reluctant to address the issue of religious bigotry, some prominent conservatives were frank and outspoken. Gary Bauer, perhaps the most influential Christian conservative, told me late Saturday that Jeffress had made a fundamental error. For years I have urged Christians to be active engaged citizens. Our country desperately needs more citizens who understand that our liberty comes from God and that only a virtuous people can be free. He continued: Picking a candidate for public office is not the same thing however as selecting a pastor or rabbi. Politics is about picking someone who shares your views on public policy. Millions of Americans who do not worship the same way as I do none the less agree with me on the sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, Americas role in the world and fiscal responsibility. As for Romney in particular, Bauer had these words of counsel for his fellow conservatives: The attacks on Gov. Romneys faith this weekend will only bring comfort to the Obama political machine and their radical secular allies who oppose virtually everything evangelicals and Mormons believe. continued. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ry-on-display/2011/03/29/gIQAkdH9VL_blog.html
basically, it is that the wingnuts are going to weed out the wingnuts kind of like the right and left wing wingnuts of the ME divide; they will destroy each other. How many have ever observed the Mormon literature? I like the idea of family. I like the idea of teaching the children how to live the farming life. I like the idea of storing supplies for the rainy days. I like the idea of commitment to the moral aspects of the commandments. But that idea that jesus can walk on water and eventually that he came to america is pretty far fetched. What i am beginning to realize, is perhaps sometime within the meetings of the christianic beliefs and the indigenous, he (joseph smith) came to realize that the 'hammer' was going to be from 'the america's'. (pahanna/queszalcoatl) need i say more? what i did use the temple in UTAH for was a lineage check and from the bishop(s) i was in contact with, my lineage tree went further back then, and i quote, "anyone i have ever seen" I drew quite the crowd and have lots of people who took pictures of little old me. I was not happy that I could not enter the main temple but i did get a kick out of the fact that the golden moroni on the top of the temple is pointing towards taos (approx). The political BS of the dividing repubiclican party over theological differences is actually kind of hilarious. Next the baptist and catholics can argue, then imagine the protestants and evangelicals going at it.
Mormons don't bother me at all.. They work hard, believe in family and are largely good citizens. The evangelicals, rapture ready fundies do bother me.
what if i said, you are being 'raptured' as you sit? ie... what if you are awakening to knowledge (being born again)? could that be like a 'rapture' in the sense of having a euphoria, if and when YOU personally comprehend what is real i mean, if you began to realize that you personally can warrant your ever lasting based on what you do and realizing it is in fact true, would you be 'raptured'? would it be beyond the comprehension of any from ever before? would it be immediate and from where you sit? (forget the magical ideas of the religious wingnuts; this is between you, me and reality) If you were enabled to comprehend the principles of life, grounded to the absolute of fact, could it actually be 'the rapture' as spoken of old? remember, what them old books had to say, had good stuff in it, just comprehending it as grounded to reality is what 'we the people' can do, NOW! This is our time.......... give yourself a chance to know!
The Mormon Church poured millions into TV ads (which were blatant lies) to get Prop 8 passed in California, denying million of Californians their constitutional right to marry. Thats not being 'good citizens'.
Well.. just like other American citizens .. they have a right to their opinion. For the record. ... I think same sex marriage is a civil rights issue.
Well, the truth is he is right. The problem is that we should not pick our leaders based on their religion. Barrack bin Hussieni O'Bama was elected even though he is actually an African closet Islamo and an Irish Commie leftist America hating racist leftist loser, not an African American as he claims. But yet, people voted him as president, go figure. Mitt has nothing to fear. I support Cain, warts and all.
I think it's great Romney called him out. The pastor believes in a lot of claims that cannot be proven one way or the other, and is founded on ONE man that they all supposedly follow without question. No real right there to keep your own religion out of the mix when referring to a cult.
