Can Fringe Anti-Mormon Fundamentalists Bring Down Romney?

Can Fringe Anti-Mormon Fundamentalists Bring Down Romney? & Mormons

Against Romney

Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on so many of the major issues in today's

politics,

Don't ask me why, but I'm on the email list of several extreme

Christian fundamentalist groups. And lately I've received a couple of

warnings from them: watch out for Mitt Romney. He's a Mormon.

On Thursday, Romney is scheduled to give (finally) what's being called

his "Mormon Speech." Romney recently said, "I can tell you I'm not

going to be talking so much about my faith as I am talking about the

religious heritage of our country and the role in which it played in

the founding of the nation and the role which I think religion should

generally play today in our society."

No one really wants to hear Romney expound on the history of religion

in the United States. The issue is whether he can persuade

conservative conventional Christians that he, as a Mormon, is as good

a Christian as they (and Mike Huckabee) are. Why is he delivering such

a speech just weeks before the Iowa caucus? Obviously he and his

advisers have decided he has no choice, especially with Huckabee, the

former Baptist minister, surging in the polls in the Hawkeye State.

There are Christians who consider Mormonism a heretical cult, but

there's no telling if the fundamentalists who are gunning for Romney

will have any influence on GOP Iowa caucus-goers, a relatively small

slice of Iowans dominated by social conservatives.

One outfit called Godvoters.org has put out an email decrying Romney.

It notes that

At the core of Mormonism is the belief that Jesus and Satan used to be

human blood brothers in a distant planet - Jesus behaved well

according to Mormonism and became a deity in our planet system, while

Satan behaved badly and became the devil. Moreover, Mormonism teaches

that good conduct as per Mormonism in this life will enable Mormons to

become God in a different planet system someday, just like Jesus a

generation ago.

A religion which teaches that Jesus - our perfectly pure and holy God

and Lord - is the blood brother of Satan - the perfectly evil and

sinful creature - is an abomination, and the idea that a creature can

become the Creator is precisely what turned Lucifer, the angel of

light, into Satan, and is therefore Satanic by nature.

How significant is this group? Its website claims five dozen "bible-

based" churches in Iowa are working with its effort to have all the

presidential candidates answer a questionnaire that includes such

queries as "Do you believe only those who obey Jesus as their master

will go to heaven?" and "If you had to choose between God and country,

which would you choose?"

Godsvoter.org declares, "Christians are not interested in a history

lesson from Governor Romney....Neither are we interested in a sound

bite commercial on Mormonism. What we want to hear and what will put

our votes into play in his favor is a sincere, unequivocal and genuine

repudiation of Mormonism." It wants the former governor of

Massachusetts to answer these questions:

1. "Do you believe that Jesus and Satan once were human brothers as

Mormonism teaches?"

2. "Do you hope to become God someday as Mormonism teaches that you

can become?"

3. "If not, will you at this time renounce Mormonism and sever all

ties to it?"

Romney sure ain't going to walk away from his church, and this

organization has "fringe" written all over it. But the issue is

whether such sentiments are creeping through the GOP electorate in

Iowa. Remember, it was a bunch of nobody creeps in South Carolina in

2000 who spread a series of false rumors about John McCain (he had

sired a child out of wedlock, he had been brainwashed in Vietnam, his

wife was a doper) and who sank his campaign. A similar sort of crusade

is not impossible in Iowa. Via emails and whispers, anti-Mormon

fundamentalists need only sow doubt among tens of thousands of Iowans

to tilt the election.

In the face of that, can Romney's speech create a theological

firewall? Perhaps--if it's a helluva speech.

Posted by David Corn on 12/05/07

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/12/6431_can_fringe_anti.html

Mormons Against Romney

Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on so many of the major issues in today's

politics, it's clear that his behavior isn't a series of changes-of-

heart. It's a fundamental willingness to do and say anything to be

president. So maybe it's not surprising that Romney is waffling in

small but important ways on his own religion. Nevertheless, some

Mormons are pissed.

Here's why Romney has drawn their ire, according to Josh Patashnik in

TNR.

(1) In a TV interview, Romney disputed the claim that Mormonism

differs from evangelical Christianity by believing that Jesus will

return to America instead of the Middle East. Romney said that "the

Messiah will come to Jerusalem... It's the same as the other Christian

tradition." Except it's not. Mormons do believe Jesus will return to

the Middle East, but they also believe that Jesus will establish a new

Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri. From Jackson County, Jesus will

rule for 1,000 years. That's a fairly significant period of time for

Romney sweep under the rug.

(2) In a Newsweek interview, Romney attempted to downplay the

significance of baptism for the dead, a fundamental Mormon practice

that allows the deceased to enter heaven.

(3) On the campaign trail, Romney refers to Jesus as his "personal

savior," in the habit of the protestant evangelicals he is attempting

to woo. Mormons don't use the phrase "both because it implies a born-

again experience not central to Mormonism and because church doctrine,

like Catholicism but unlike evangelical Protestantism, maintains that

faith in Christ must be matched with good works in order to attain

salvation," according to Patashnik.

(4) Romney has said, "I can't imagine anything more awful than

polygamy." Mormons recognize that polygamy is part of their history

and usually treat it with more sensitivity.

And then there's the Mormons who just plain don't like Romney's

pandering to the members of the Religious Right who for so long have

tried to ostracize and demonize Mormons. Take this man, for example:

"I understand he has to appeal to them for political purposes, but it

makes me, as a Mormon, feel very, very queasy to see him doing it,"

says Greg Kearney, a computer programmer in Casper, Wyoming. "These

people hate us, and they are so vitriolic--they think they get to

decide who's Christian. I don't know if it's worth it."

It's tough being a man with no driving force other than his own

ambition, ain't it?

Posted by Jonathan Stein

Raymond wrote:

> Can Fringe Anti-Mormon Fundamentalists Bring Down Romney? & Mormons

> Against Romney

>

> Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on so many of the major issues in today's

> politics,

>

> Don't ask me why, but I'm on the email list of several extreme

> Christian fundamentalist groups. And lately I've received a couple of

> warnings from them: watch out for Mitt Romney. He's a Mormon.

>

I read an article on Mormonism that promised essentially what Islam

does. When you die, you can have any many wives as you want. I guess

after polygamy was banned because of the excesses of Joseph Smith, the

Mormons built this little story into their religion.

Also, the Book of Mormon refers to the desire of the original writer,

Joseph Smith to get "more money. It should be called the Book of Mammon.