It occurs to me that a matchup between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney would mean that quite a few wingnuts would be convinced that there was no Christian candidate in the race. Obama’s father was an atheist, but he was born a Muslim. And the president’s Christian church had a crazy, radical pastor. Besides, he renounced that pastor. And does the black church even count? Anyway, he’s probably a Muslim. As for Romney, he’s a Mormon, whatever that is. Mormons aren’t Christians, even though their church is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whatever that means. Some charlatan stared into a hat, and I’m supposed to be impressed?
I don’t think you can get people to agree to what it means to be a Christian. Obviously, if you say you’re a Christian, you ought to be taken at your word. Are Mormons really Christians? Does it really matter? Joseph Smith taught that the Christians of his day were apostates and he rejected the Nicene Creed of the Trinity. If people are cool with that, that’s their business. I have other problems with the religion, but then I like to keep my religious opinions far away from my political ones.
I wouldn’t rule out voting for a Mormon for president. But the fact that I think they hold really bizarre religious beliefs means that they start out at a big disadvantage with me. However, this disadvantage is softened by the fact that I think all the major religions are kind of strange, each in their own way.
I wouldn’t vote for Romney or Huntsman because they’re Republicans. But I’d be less frightened of the impact of their religious beliefs on the country than I would be by Mike Huckabee or Michele Bachmann’s religious beliefs. I mean, there’s crazy, and then there’s CRAZY.
Boo:
Thanks for making me have thoughts of that Crazy Eddie guy(remember his commercials?).
“His prices are IN-SANE!!!”
I’ve already stated that I refuse to vote for a Mormon that was brought up Mormon. I cannot, as a Black person, believe that they were unaffected by growing up in a RELIGION that said, IN MY LIFETIME, that I was going to HELL..
not because of anything I did…
but, because of MY EXISTENCE.
sorry.
and nothing in the public life of Mittens when it comes to ‘ diversity’ has disproven my stance.
Yeah, that’s a giant red light. But then in my lifetime the Catholic Church held that nonCatholics walked in error and had no right to exist. The Bachmann/Perry/Palin cults even today deny gays human status, and unlike Mormons and Catholics, have not renounced that assertion. There are many examples of born and bred southern racists who have done a genuine 180, so I suppose there’s no reason to assume a Mormon couldn’t do the same. Still, I share your lurking suspicion in the absence of a really ringing denouncement of the recent doctrine.
Yeah, there’s the candidates that think we’re all descended from space aliens, or something — they’re the ones who are sober and statesmanlike — and then there’s the REALLY crazy ones.
I’m more and more coming to think that the late, great international dominance of the USA was more than anything else an accident of geography.
Lol, you’re just now coming to that conclusion?
LOL. Within the last 30 years, yes.
I’d vote for a Jon Huntsman before I’d vote for Jim Matheson. And I consider all religions whacked out crazy, Mormonism just happens to be less widely accepted.
The only religion that I put on pariah is Scientology. Not for any of their whacked out beliefs, but because of what their church has been guilty of in the contemporary.
…and then there’s PERRY.
Well, there’s patriarchy, and then there’s PATRIARCHY.
I’m not a betting girl; way to conservative with my money. But I’d bet a lot that Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman won’t be the nominee for the Republican party.
And it’s because they’re Mormons.
That’s the sad truth, IMO.
I wonder how many US voters are even aware that Romney is a Mormon. I mean, of course we all do bc we actively seek information, but I’ve heard and read next to nothing in the msm about Romney’s Mormonism, or for that matter Harry Reid or even Orrin Hatch. It’s treated like something everybody knows and doesn’t need to be talked about, quite unlike JFK’s Catholicism back in the day.
I suppose though that if he gets the GOP nom, the subject will find its way to the table. If he is the candidate, the GOP is going to have a real problem with the fundie base. I don’t even think a VP Bachmann could compensate.
My sister is a Mormon; and, I have found her religion to be run by a bunch of sexist pigs. I will not vote for a Mormon at all. I hate it when they come to my door to try to convert me to Mormonism, which they do a lot. The other reason is that my sister was crazy before she became a Mormon. Now, she’s even crazier. People’s relationships with their God are none of my business. And, I have no patience for someone who tries to shove their God down my throat, which includes most religions.
I would have absolutely NO trouble voting for a Mormon for any position. I have known hundreds of them over the years and NOT ONE of them has ever brought their religion into the workplace, tried to use their position in proselytizing, or even brought their church’s “values” in to the workplace or allowed it to effect policy.
That’s really impressive. For example, people pick on Mitt Romney for being pro-choice and flip-flopping to pro-life. He’s not bringing his Mormon values in to this. Those are private to Mormons. He was not forcing his values on anyone. He was just being an opportunistic politician doing what he thought the majority of those he represented wanted.
Compare this to Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry, etc.
Also note that the Mormon Church does not excommunicate their politician members for not pushing church doctrine in policy, like the Catholics do.
Don’t get me wrong. I can’t stand the views of the Mormon Church. Especially their position on homosexuality. So many young gay Mormons commit suicide because they have no outlet. Sad.
But Mormons know to separate their personal or religious beliefs from their policy work in government. Example: Harry Reid. His (Mormon) church shuns gays and he may not agree with the gay rights agenda personally, but he is a fighter for gay rights as a Democrat. And he is proud when he can satisfy Lady Gaga’s demands for gay rights, even though he may not personally agree with her lifestyle.
I am sure that he is also personally pro-life. But he fights for abortion rights as a Democrat because that’s his job. And he has no problem walling off his religion from his job.
See if any Christian Fundamentalist P.O.S. can live up this level of professionalism.
I lived in Salt Lake City and, believe me, the air I breathed in my workplace was dominated by the LDS. I don’t know who these hundreds you knew were–were they on the down-low in predominantly mainstream Christian or secular workplaces? Yeah, my boss and coworkers were fairly tolerant of my not “embracing their faith” but they absolutely never stopped trying to convert me, looked down on me in pity for my damnation and made me very aware of not being a member of “the club.”
There was a situation with the tech team where I was right about a problem and the four guys were wrong. I was flatly told, “You’re a woman, your opinion doesn’t count.” Later, when my solution was the correct one, they couldn’t get over being pissed off at me and making my job more difficult until I had to complain to the boss–also a Mormon. He gave them a talk about how sometimes God directly inspired “outsiders”. No shit! I didn’t have superior tech experience–I’d gotten a divine revelation! Well, that allowed them to still feel dominant over me and they treated me better because I was, after all, a lowly tool who had been used by God to help them! Crazy patriarchal-religion nuts! And, ya’know, I needed the job and played along with this crap. All my female Mormon coworkers were on Prozac! Seriously.
And there was not a single black or gay person in the entire workforce. The men outnumbered the women 3-to-1 and, my job excepted, all the women were secretaries and assistants. I sure did learn fast how to ACT like an underling! After that showdown, I passed my suggestions to my nearest male coworker and let him take the credit for my ideas. He was a convert and not “born Mormon” so he knew the game we played and took advantage of it.
Nope, I’d never vote for a Mormon. They can look so reasonable but they are not!
Wow. Just Wow.
I’ve worked in a nearly identical environment as you described with nearly exact situations all over the place. But the people were these freaky “Christians” who expect everyone to be “really active in their church” <– That was code.
When I explained I’m not only not “active in my church” but that I don’t have much respect for any church and that they had better not push their bullshit on me, they found ways to push me out of the company within 6 months. They were really proud of themselves for pushing out the atheist.
But my experience with Mormons (they always were the minority) is that they were very accommodating and friendly and tolerant of all things.
I guess it’s more about who’s in the majority vs. the minority. And atheists always get screwed.
I don’t know to smile or to cry, but it is funny that he is really a morron.
who?
Well, if I lived in NV, I’d vote for Harry Reid.
Not without holding my nose, for some of the GOP-accommodating positions he’s taken in the Senate, but nothing to do with his religion.
I have to agree with RandyH in terms of his take on Mormons vs The Mormon Church. There are so SO many weird bits of religions, mainline or otherwise, that you can always find something to boggle about.
Mormons aren’t as personally nuts as Scientologists.