The issue of Romney's Mormonism has come to center stage. If you have not been paying attention over the past two days (who can blame you), you might not know that a "well known pastor" out of Dallas, a supporter of Rick Perry, spoke at the recent Values Summit and took the opportunity to state his belief that "Mormonism is a cult." His name is Jeffress and he pastors in Dallas, a 10,000 member Baptist church in that city. He defended his comments on two levels: first (and this really was a defensive move), he distanced his opinion from that of Perry's, telling reporters after he made his comments, that he did not know Perry's view on the matter nor had he consulted Perry before the incident. Secondly, he had this to say: " . . . .this is not some right-wing extremist view. This is the view of the largest protestant denomination in the country and the world." Not sure about the man's logic, here. Because the Baptists have a lot of members, they can not be regarded as right wind??
Anyway, following his comments, there has been the obvious back and forth on the matter. I do not really care about all that. In fact, I think that Perry's candidacy is over. But there remains the issue of "religion and politics."
I was a kid in the 1050's. I graduated from high school in 1963. I knew about Eisenhower but I remember JFK. Back in the day, there was a great deal of fear mongering about Kennedy's Catholic faith. The talk was that the Catholics were about to "take over Washington." After it was all said and done, none of the chatter had anything to do with reality. That is a historic fact.
Since that time, I have dismissed the notion that religious preference is a qualifier for political office. Let's be honest. Unless you are a follower, your religious belief is, at some point, unique to you. That means that you are the only one who right. Seriously. I mean, if you believed you were wrong about something of faith, you would change your mind, right? Of course you would. If Romney is wrong about aspects of his faith, so is everyone else but you. If issues of faith are the deciding factor for you, there is no one who can qualify.
I am not saying that this is a question of setting priorities; politics first and then religion. I am not saying that, at all. What I am saying is this -- the political arena not as "large" as the religious arena. What is a "president?" He is a military commander (and cannot be a pacifist, for that reason), and, he is a corporate CEO. He is not the national pastor and that is why his faith is not critical to the position (I did not say it was not important, I said it was not critical).
I write several blogs. One is not visited (by me) as often as I should. It is a religious effort called Bart(h) and the Boyz. If Pastor Jeffress knew of my beliefs and I attended his church, he would have me "disfellowshipped." Heck, I have been kicked out of more churches than some of you have driven past. All of them "fundamentalist." None of them accomplished their stated goal. I am still a "fundamentalist," just not a typical fundy. My point? If I had to agree with others on such matters, I wouldn't even be married . . . . forget voting for someone for president. But, my point is larger than this. What I am saying is true for all of us.
Romney, a Mormon. I could not care less. Jeffress, a pastor of a Baptist church? Ditto. Understand this: matters of faith are so not politics.
If you can have a friend who is a Mormon, or a Muslim, or is black or gay, you can have a president who is the same. The question that really matters is this: what do I think he will do as president? If he is gay, will he move to shut me up in my criticism of that lifestyle? Will he force his opinions on my children? If he is black, will he function as a secular progressive? If he is Muslim, will he give advantage to the jihadists? And if he is Mormon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ahhh . . . . . . . . . . . . . I actually cannot think of any concerns I might have simply because he is Mormon. I doubt I disagree with Romney's religious views more than I do with Jeffress, and I attend a Baptist church.
If we conservatives are going to start with our personal opinions as to matters of faith and make them the deciding factor in the coming campaign, Obama will get his second term.
Look, I do not think Obama is a Christian, but that has nothing to do with my opposition to him.
Apparently, Jeffress' god is one who insists that you must be right about what you think. My god is some different and I think I believe in the true God. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. That is why "faith" is so very important. We believe so that we can understand and that existential ordering cannot be reversed if "grace" and the cross figure into your system of faith.
Will Mitt Romney make a good Commander In Chief and CEO? If he wins the GOP primaries, these two considerations will be the only ones that matter. One thing for sure, Obama is disqualified if one puts his presidency into the same context.
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