The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 4 of 11)

br> Re: W. James Antle III's The Religion Test : /p>

Thank you to James Antle for a thoughtful piece and I agree with him but I think in making his argument, he is pointing out the larger problem with Mitt Romney and it isn't his faith.

When a candidate becomes a President, no matter how conservative he claims to be, he is immediately besieged by the left, the media and all sorts of loud special interest groups and inevitably governs more to the left than conservatives would like. Paying attention to this pressure and polling data instead of governing from principal is how we get a GWB falling for this global warming myth and extending free prescription drugs to seniors or a Reagan raising taxes. So we now have Mitt Romney, who instead of running forward on issues and principals, begins to bend to a small and insignificant criticism of his faith. Unless I've been missing something, I haven't seen or heard a huge groundswell of criticism of Mormonism or Romney's faith. His over-reaction to this little bit of concern is telling. Can we expect a similar speech by Rudy on marital infidelity or a Fred Thompson diatribe on taking weekends off? I think not.

Antle's most telling statement is "All this can easily be overstated." Indeed!! I can see someone on his staff breathlessly reporting some poll that shows concern over his Mormon faith, quoting an article in some obscure evangelical publication and advising a response. The same guy that would race in to the oval office to frantically urge a President Romney to raise taxes, ignore pro-lifers or appoint a Supreme Court nominee that won't offend anyone, especially Democrats.

p>I'm Catholic and I could care less what a candidate's faith is. The more serious criticism of Romney is that his basic principals can apparently change depending on the position he's running for. My fear is if he bends to this little bit of public pressure, what will he do when he gets to the big leagues? His response to this does nothing to waylay those fears. br> -- Pat Bruen /p>

For quite a while now, I have been determined to stay out of the argument over Romney and his being a Mormon. One reason is because I consider myself a born again conservative Christian. I, therefore, consider that if I am not exactly an evangelical, I am at least on their side, an ally in their battles, so to speak. Another reason is that Romney is not my first choice for a candidate for President. I watched from New Hampshire when he ran against Ted Kennedy, and it was one of the worst run campaigns that I had ever seen. I then watched as he ran for, and won the Governorship in Massachusetts. The Dems often allow a Republican to be Governor because it gives them someone to blame for things that go wrong, like the Big Dig, even though the solid Dem legislature is the real power and the real governing body. Now he is a neighbor running for POTUS.

The argument, however, has taken a turn, and reached a pitch that I can no longer ignore. There is a determined effort on the part of many of the leaders of the more fundamental sects of Christianity, aided and abetted by many GOP activist elites to deny Gov. Romney the nomination on the basis that he is NOT a Christian. This is patently absurd and bigoted.

While I am not a subscriber to the tenets of Mormonism, to say that a Mormon is not a Christian is quite simply an ignorant, bigoted, lie. If Mormons are not Christians, then I would assume that Seventh Day Adventists are similarly not Christians. I am not one of them either, but I know that they are Christians. What about the Russian Orthodox and other Eastern Rite churches that don't celebrate Christmas and Easter when most "regular" Christians do? They also have some other differences with the more accepted "brands" of Christianity. Are they also not Christians? What about Roman Catholics? There is a difference in the books that are part of their Bible versus a Protestant Bible. What about the so-called mainstream Protestant sects that have completely corrupted the biblical teachings on homosexuality, and on the issue of life and abortion, and on same sex marriage, and on issues of the family? It would seem that a good case could be made that they are not Christians.

Look, folks, can we talk? What the leaders like Dobson, Wildmon, and others are really saying is that he is not one of "us," and therefore he must not be allowed to win until he agrees to come in, kneel, and kiss our ring. It is all about power. It is all about who is allowed to be a kingmaker. It is also about money. If the LDS church were to gain an adherent or two, some other sect might lose one, and that is bad news in the collection plate on Sunday, or Saturday. We simply must admit that Jesus did NOT go around preaching that the Roman governing bodies must be overthrown because the did not follow Him. The Bible tells us to render unto Caesar those things that belong to Caesar, and unto God those things that belong to God. This bit of wisdom was propounded at the time of the ascendancy of the Roman Empire. There was no admonition that we should stop a good and just man from becoming a governing head simply because he did not follow Jesus. Besides, can we tell the truth? Mr. Romney, aside from his particular brand of Christianity, follows the teachings of the non-Mormon Bible a heck of a lot closer than Rudy G, or any of the Dems. The other GOP candidates we haven't heard enough about on the Christianity scale. What about Huckabee, the Baptist preacher and ex-Arkansas Governor (think Bill Clinton)? How is he on the issue of excessive pride. Are we sure that there are no similarities to Jimmy Swaggart, or Jim Bakker.

topics:
Taxes, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Bill Clinton, Business, Religion, Abortion, Global Warming, Books, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Iraq, Iran, Russia, NATO, Immigration, Nuclear Weapons, Energy