The Deseret Morning News reported that Gov. Mike Huckabee is spouting age old talking points from anti-Mormon propaganda when he brought up that Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Yes, it is Mormon doctrine that Lucifer was a fallen son of God and was cast out of heaven before humans lived on Earth. Yes, Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God. But the doctrinal points and differences are less important than the fact that the GOP has a huge anti-Mormon constituency--that even Gov. Mitt Romney has to cosy up to--that will use differences in doctrine to defame Mormons and their beliefs. Look, it doesn't take a Ph.D. theologian to figure out that Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, Jews, Muslims don't agree on religious points of doctrine. We live in a pluralistic society--get over the bigotry!
I worked as a Mormon missionary in Michigan, where I encountered this strange and angered group of people that spent lots of money, energy and time twisting, defaming and maligning LDS doctrines in the name of their beliefs in Christianity. I always thought that if they left the Mormons alone and spent all those resources on advancing Christian principles society would be a lot better off. But I was always amazed at the extent and resources devoted to their propaganda.
When I ran for Congress I had a few Republicans tell me that they agreed with what I had to say and would vote for me except that they just could not support the National Democratic Party's platform. When I asked what it was about the National Democrats that bothered them they would explain that they were opposed to gay marriage or more likely abortion and they thought that the National Democratic Party was in favor of those things.
Now, what affects a Mormon more, gay people living together and advocating for equal protection under the law or a personal decision of a girl or a women about her health and reproduction options or someone who indicts your personal belief system through lies, half-truths and propaganda? I personally find it offensive when someone attempts to lecture me about my religion and its' points of doctrine. No religion or philosophical belief system is void of having untidy history or critiqued tenets according to the prevailing zeitgeist. But I can figure out my belief system without your manipulative propaganda.
My question now to those Mormon Republicans is how can you belong to a political party where the National Republican Party defames your religion? The obvious answer is that there really is no national omniscient political party--republican or democratic. Planks in parties vary by region. But Mormons should think about defending their religion through the political process above and beyond a couple so-called wedge issues that make Mormons think they can't be Democrats.
Look at the polls: Mitt's speech didn't work. Why? Because too many Evangelicals are bigoted against Mormons like segregationists Southerners are against Jews, Catholics and Blacks. But I will tell you one thing: African American and Jewish groups do a lot better job at combating defamation and antisemitism than we Mormons do in combating false propaganda about us.
Getting the facts straight about us starts by looking at the political parties and deciding which party is really is going to advance our personal interests while not supporting groups that make up a political movement that defames our religion. With evangelical litmus tests and their control of the GOP it makes being a Mormon Democrat an easy choice for me.
15 comments:
Amen Rob,
Good points and well written
Mark
Christian -
You nailed it.
Emly
Yes, Huckabee's attacks are cyncial and despicable. Yes, there are a significant number of Evangelicals who are bigoted against Americans.
But that, like most prejudice, is based on ignorance and unfamiliarity. Romney's campaign, if for no other reason, should be seen as a good thing for the Church.
But, Democrats don't get off the hook. Democrats poll as less likely to vote for a Mormon than Republicans. So don't get too harsh on the GOP, as ugly as it has been and is likely to be.
David,
Though you may have some empirical data to diminish my point on an even keeled comparison between Democrats and Republicans with regard to how people vote for Mormons, your point is not very relevant. Republicans use religion as a litmus test for many issues in primary battles. Democrats by and large do not. If a Mormon sought the presidential nomination in the Democratic Party I think the issue would not be relevant. She may be criticized for her Mormon faith with regard to Church doctrine regarding blacks in the priesthood or even women and the priesthood, if at all, but I do not think it is a large issue for Democrats. Democrats, in general, take a pluralistic and dynamic view of society and religion. Republicans, in general, take a dogmatic and perhaps even fundamentalist view of the same. Democrats are more sensitive to political correctness while many GOP players thrive at taunting against it to the point of extreme bigotry. Your point is well taken but is comparing apples and oranges.
Christian,
First, thanks for understanding my typo that some Evangelicals are bigoted towards Mormons, not "Americans." :-)
The willingness of the GOP to seriously consider Giulliani (or McCain) and especially Romney should demonstrate that, while religion is important, it's not the litmus test you describe.
I completely disagree that a Mormon could easily seek the Democratic nomination. For better or worse, the Church's "politics" is identified as conservative and anyone who is identified as a faithful Mormon will be heavily scrutinized.
Of course, I disagree that Democrats are more pluralistic and accomodating of faith. It seems that both sides like religion as long as it agrees with their respective policies.
My perception is that Dems use religion as much as the GOP, but instead of in the South it's in black churches. Obama and Clinton certainly haven't shied away from preaching. More than the Republicans.
Should Romney win the nomination, it will be very revealing to see how the Dems handle his religion (or not all). I'm willing to bet the issue will not go away.
When Harry Reid became Senate Majority leader, we didn't hear anything from the media about his faith. Zilch.
Which means either 1- Dems didn't care that he was LDS or 2- Dems didn't know that he was LDS but most likely 3- Dems didn't know or care.
Salt-
You are right. I might add, the only folks who care about Harry Reid being a Democrat are LDS republicans who have called for his temple recommend to be revoked. They say he isn't worthy to be a member of the church because of his politics. Don't believe me? Browse the FreeRepublic boards sometime and your eyes will be opened.
And to David -- you are wrong if you believe that Democrats apply some litmus test to candidates who are seeking political office. Some Democrats may pander to religious groups, but it is not activist Democrats who want to know if a candidate is "spiritually worthy" enough to be president. For example, it is not Democrats who question Obama's religious faith -- it is the Republicans who have tried to make issue of whether or not he is "Christian" based on where he went to school when he was a small child.
Democrats aren't making this about religion. I have yet to see the Democratic presidential hopefuls bicker for 45 minutes over whether someone is "christian" enough to lead the nation.
David -- lets see, by now it is close to common knowledge that the only Mormon running for high office is a Republican and it is also well known that many Republican religious leaders oppose Romney becuase he is a Mormon, so should you be surprised that in a recent poll Democrats also said they wouldn't vote for a Mormon. The ultra and rabid anti Mormons are Republican church leaders, not Democrats.
Don L. Miller
Don,
Forgive me but I don't follow - Democrats are less likely to vote for a Mormon because (their?) Republican religious leaders are telling them to be anti-Mormon?
Even if that is the case, whose fault is that? Plus, I dispute it's that many religious leaders who oppose Romney b/c of his faith, the obnoxious ones just get the attention.
Emily -
Mormons who judge Sen. Reid's worthiness as a member are clearly out of line and doing their cause more harm than good. If you agree to not use Freepers as an example, I won't bring up what Daily Kos posters think about the Church. Deal? :-)
I never said anything about the Democrats having a litmus test. But, you obviously didn't hear about the Clinton volunteers who were fired for forwarding emails accusing Obama of being a Muslim last week.
I haven't seen GOP candidates bicker for 45 minutes over who is Christian enough either.
Salt -
I agree it's a mystery why Sen. Reid isn't more identified as a Mormon. Of course, he's not in the news as much as Romney and he's not running for President. If Reid was more pro-Life than he is and supported the Federal Marriage Amendement, I bet that would change.
But, I think the main reason why is that the media is lazy and when they get a template, they stick with it.
Romney is Mormon, therefore Evangelicals must hate him.
That makes a great story which they have reported on literally every day this year. It's clearly a factor, but the media's hype has made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Don,
Forgive me but I don't follow - Democrats are less likely to vote for a Mormon because (their?) Republican religious leaders are telling them to be anti-Mormon?
Even if that is the case, whose fault is that? Plus, I dispute it's that many religious leaders who oppose Romney b/c of his faith, the obnoxious ones just get the attention.
Emily -
Mormons who judge Sen. Reid's worthiness as a member are clearly out of line and doing their cause more harm than good. If you agree to not use Freepers as an example, I won't bring up what Daily Kos posters think about the Church. Deal? :-)
I never said anything about the Democrats having a litmus test. But, you obviously didn't hear about the Clinton volunteers who were fired for forwarding emails accusing Obama of being a Muslim last week.
I haven't seen GOP candidates bicker for 45 minutes over who is Christian enough either.
Salt -
I agree it's a mystery why Sen. Reid isn't more identified as a Mormon. Of course, he's not in the news as much as Romney and he's not running for President. If Reid was more pro-Life than he is and supported the Federal Marriage Amendement, I bet that would change.
But, I think the main reason why is that the media is lazy and when they get a template, they stick with it.
Romney is Mormon, therefore Evangelicals must hate him.
That makes a great story which they have reported on literally every day this year. It's clearly a factor, but the media's hype has made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
With all due repect Christian,
Romney's speech didn't work because it was mostly high sounding, meaningless nonsense such as "freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom." As others have noted, Europe's secular democracies are free and among the most nonrelgious countries on the planet and yet they are also the healthiest in virtually all measures such as life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, gender equality, and homicide rates. On the other hand, middle east srict religion-based governments are restrictive and punitive abusers of human rights.
Don L. Miller
MEMO to those of the LDS faith who have been blindly voting for R's: Here's your reality check
1. Over the last 20 years, Dan Jones has quietly done polls every year on the issues most important to Utahns, then laid them up against the agendas of the parties. Guess what, if you wanted your agenda to become policy you needed to be voting for Democrats - and we're not just talking differences within a statistical margin of error. Democrats think like Mormons? There is a great deal of truth to it.
2. Since 1984, the Evangelical Right has taken control of the RNC and has no intent of giving it back to the bulk of the party anytime soon. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and their ilk has entrenched such a drachonian "religious litmus test" for federal office candidates that if Utah were not so predominately LDS, an LDS person wanting to run for federal office would not see the light of day in an election with an R next to their name.
"The party of R wants your money and your support - they don't want you!"
As a Dem who grew up in Utah Valley as also a "non-member," it always amazed me how fanatically the locals down there embraced republicanism then I could see clearly it didn't embrace them.
It's time to embrace choosing a new path Utah!
The Democratic Party in Utah had parity with the Republican Party until the left wing of the Democrats became dominant between the 1968 riots in Chicago during the Democratic convention (this was liberals protesting the Democratic establishment nominating Humphrey) and the nomination of McGovern in 1972. The national party, in the wake of Roe v. Wade, which had taken away from the political process the power to make policy on abortion, decided to make it one of their key principals. The attitude that conventional sexual morality should not be protected by laws has made adoption of the gay rights agenda another belwether of the national party, such that all the Democratic candidates had to sit down with the LGBT organizations on camera and affirm their fealty to their agenda. And of course, the left wing also took on an active anti-military agenda, with the view that the only appropriate function of the armed forces is as job training and college education support for poor people.
If the national Democratic party were not so dominated by this left wing, it could still attract many more Mormons and Utahns. The truth is that Mormons do tend to be more supportive of social welfare support than a lot of conservative Republicans. If Huckabee's campaign to make his own brand of Christianity dominant in the party is successful, I think it likely that he could well lose the electoral votes of Utah and other states where Mormons have been a source of the volunteers that help get out the vote for Republicans. Mormons would be caught between a national Democratic Party that is their enemy on issues of morality, and a national Republican Party that is just their enemy, period.
That being said, we should not forget that many left wing Democrats have also been attacking Romney and Mormons, simply because they hate religion, especially any religion that opposes abortion, gay marriage, and any other unrestricted sexual activity. We have seen anti-Mormon bigotry in Salon, and the bigoted tirade of Larry O'Donnell on the McLaughlin Group was reflective of the thoughts of a producer of the West Wing who lives in the Hollywood milieu and claims expertise because of his connection to Big Love, the HBO series about polygamists. O'Donnell demonstrates that left wingers in the Democratic Party can be just as bigoted toward Mormons as right wingers in the Republican Party. The one group hates out guts because of our moral authority, and the other hates our guts because of our assertions of spiritual authority. It is a confederacy of religious dunces. Mormons should not be dupes for either national party.
Frankly I would like to see the Mormon Democrats and Mormon Republicans in Congress get together and put out a statement condemning the ignorant and bigoted statements about the Church that have come from people in both parties. They don't have to endorse Romney, since his only connection to these religious attacks has been "Romney is a Mormon, and Mormons are (take your pick of expletives)". Our LDS representatives and Senators need to either sit down with their own affiliated jerks and set them straight in private, or denounce them publicly for what they are: religious bigots. Heck, Michael Novak, a Catholic theologian who is involved with consewrvative think tanks has denounced Huckabee for abusing religion as an instrument of partisanship. Why can't Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch do likewise?
Its true that Reid being a Mormon isn't a big issue for Democrats. Liberalism as an ideology values acceptance of people from different backgrounds, while the Republican party thrives on prejudice and exclusion, whether it be on the basis of religion, race, immigrant status or sexual orientation. That has been a defining characteristic of conservatism throughout American history.
When Mitt Romney attacks gay marriage he is fueling the same spirit of prejudice and exclusion that will keep him from winning a single primary in the evangelical South. "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword."
Sad. So sad! Christian I applaud your motives. And yet I would guess you had no clue that your statement would serve to inspire a microcosm that so closely parallels the current religious foolishness occurring in our country (and world).
If only the authors of the Bill of Rights (with a few exceptions) could have foreseen that the intrusion of religion into government (politics), rather than the other way around, was the true danger. If those authors were around today I am quite certain it is religion with regard to political office that would be "Don't ask, Don't tell.", not the military. I for one would love to see that rule enforced and anyone who crossed the line out on their backside so fast it made their head spin.
And how can I resist: Yes, it is the Left Wing and Democrats (while not perfect) who best exemplify that sentiment. Unfortunately it is those who would see religious doctrine dictate the rule of law who undermine Democracy and help to prop up the Republican Party, particularly here in Utah.
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