This poor misguided boy has listed all kinds or irredeemable folks on his cute sandwich board and it does bear further examination. Sex Addicts and Mormons appear to be at the top of Gods hit list. As recent and not so recent news items tell us, the leaders of a variety of evangelical churches have been caught in a mind boggling array of sexual and drug fueled liaisons, which appear to get forgiven by god and the congregation, far quicker than those who commit the same acts, but are not church leaders or members. These "child molesting homosexuals" get 'cured' at a remarkable rate using only prayer and seemingly endless tears.
Atheists, of which I am one, are tiny by comparison. In fact are the smallest graphic on his board. Witches, racists and liars are a close second.
However, it is the Mormons who for some unknown reason, really get under skin of the (self) righteous. They have been called everything from Devil worshipers, to aliens and coming from a group whose entire belief system is based on ancient mythology, is curious to say the least. A Mormon is now running for Republican President. Given that the Republicans are run by severely right wing Christian fundamentalists, this is causing quite a stir.
IS AMERICA ready for a Mormon president? A few months ago the political commentariat of Washington was convinced that the Mormon former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, would remain a bit player because of his religion. Mormonism is still seen by some as a cult rather than a mainstream creed, despite its 6 million members in the US alone.
This was despite Romney's matinee-idol looks, sharp intellect, $US300 million ($A342 million) personal fortune and Wall Street background. The last two were acquired while he headed Bain Capital, now one of the five largest US private equity firms.
But Mitt Romney has defied gravity and may well be the dark horse of the 2008 race.
In recent weeks, he has overtaken Senator John McCain — once seen as the strongest Republican candidate, and has been steadily gaining on former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Last week a strategist in the Romney campaign claimed his boss was really the frontrunner in the Republican race.
Mr Romney's strategy — one that has been used successfully in the past — is to win at least one of the early primaries, in Iowa or New Hampshire, giving his campaign the momentum and credibility for the major primaries on February 5 in California and New York.
Winning Iowa worked for Jimmy Carter in 1976. He went from being a non-entity to winning the Democrat nomination. A win over Bob Dole in New Hampshire also revitalised then vice-president George Bush senior's campaign in 1988.
Aside from the polls, Romney appears to be winning the fund-raising race. He has led Republicans in the last two quarters, raising over $US40 million so far.
But the question of his religion continues to dog him just as it did John F. Kennedy, whose Catholicism was seen as a handicap in his presidential run four decades ago.
In a recent Pew survey, 30 per cent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon candidate.
The Romney campaign also tacitly acknowledges it remains an issue. Yesterday, Mr Romney announced he was planning a speech to explain his faith and its role in his life — a task that is fraught with political danger.
Whether that will be sufficient to overcome the prejudice among the evangelical base of the Republican Party, which he is courting, and the broader community, remains to be seen.
A month ago Mormonism came up during one of Mitt Romney's frequent community meetings in Iowa.
Mary Van Steenis, a teacher at a local Christian school, took the microphone at an "Ask Mitt Anything" forum in Pella, Iowa. She wanted him to say where the Book of Mormon would figure in his presidential decision-making. "Where would the Bible be?" she asked. "Would it be above the Book of the Mormon, or would it be beneath it?"
"This is a nation where people come from different faiths, different doctrines, different churches," Mr Romney said.
"But, unlike the people we're fighting over in the Middle East, we don't have a religious test to say who should be able to run our country. It's over there where people say, 'You don't go to my church, you can't run our country.' "
There was resounding applause from his audience.
The role that the Book of Mormon plays in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, the church's formal name, is a fundamental difference between Mormonism and other Christian faiths. Mormons believe that the Christian church lost its way in the first millennium.
This wasn't rectified until 1820 when by God's power, Joseph Smith translated the book from an ancient record written on gold plates. Based on these prophesies, Mr Smith founded the Mormon religion, which is said to be the true course of Christianity.
This would be controversial enough but Mormons are still battling to distance themselves from the practice of polygamy, which the church banned more than 100 years ago.
The church's efforts haven't been helped by the HBO series Big Love which portrays a man who belongs to one of the breakaway cults in Utah, dealing with the none-too-pleasant realities of polygamy.
No comments:
Post a Comment