Last week, Mitt Romney delivered a speech about his religious faith and the faith of all Americans that the values of our beliefs should influence our government. But because of the religious bigotry that exists in the Republican Party, Romney felt he had to do a “JFK” type speech to convince GOP voters that the LDS Church will not dictate the office of a U.S. President.In reality, this was a speech that should not have been given. After more than 200 years of religious freedom and the right to worship as we please, we still find some Americans who cannot accept certain Christian religions as Christianity. Many of the evangelicals in the Republican Party believe that members of the LDS faith are not Christians and believe that the church is a cult. But the description of a Christian is someone that follows Christ. And the dictionary definition of a cult is a system of religious rites with zealous devotion to a person, ideal or thing. In other words, the overzealous practices of the right wing evangelicals may suit the definition of a cult better than the title conservatives give Mormons.
Even though Romney gave a great speech, nothing has changed. In fact, his Iowa poll numbers have dropped his position to third in the GOP Presidential Primary race. The problem Romney has is his party affiliation with the Republican Party. Sadly, the Zealous Right has taken over the GOP and has pushed aside the reasonable, moderate party faithful.
Ironically, this type of discrimination that LDS Republicans are feeling from National GOP members is similar to a political bias in Utah politics. The discrimination in this state has been against LDS Democrats. It is interesting to watch Mormon Republicans wanting the country to accept them as Christians. Yet over the years, those same Mormon Republicans have rejected Mormon Democrats with statements like, “You can’t be a good Mormon and be a Democrat.”
Most Democrats believe that religion should shape the character of a person, but religion should not be used in determining an election. In fact, Romney mentioned Article Six in the Constitution where a religious test is not to be used in any election. However, party affiliation and religion has been a part of voting for decades, especially in Utah. In today’s politics, religious bigotry mostly exists in the Republican Party. An example is Senator Harry Reid. The most powerful elected Mormon Democrat in the country lives in a state where only 7% of the population is LDS. Clearly it is because most voters, especially Democrats, look for someone who will represent the people.
Likewise, Democrats in Utah feel it is more important to represent hard, working families rather than submit themselves to an over zealous group of self-interested attitudes.
Hopefully, Romney’s speech will be a wakeup call for voters. We need to elect competent and ethical leaders rather than vote for one’s religion or political party. The time is now to unite rather than divide our communities.
3 comments:
This, for me, goes up there as a seminal piece of writing (akin to so few others) in the Romney/Mormonism debate. Two thumbs way up.
Our recently lengthy discussions of faith in the presidential campaigns has served more to distract us from issues and leadership concerns, and provided cheap leverage for both Romney and his competition.
How the GOP candidates have used the "debate" over Romney's faith as vapid political leverage and occasion for cheap attacks speaks to their leadership (or lack thereof) on the issues that weigh on the minds of American people. It reminds us they plan to run under no higher standards than they did in 2006, 2004, 2000.
It is unfortunate that Romney would be pressured by his own party to make the speech, indeed, but he has made it. We have heard it. We have digested it. Against the wishes of the Republicans, we need to get back to the urgent issues facing us, and the very important decision we will make in the primaries and general election.
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion This article helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity's theology relating to baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
• Baptism: .
Early Christian churches, practiced baptism of youth (not infants) by immersion by the father of the family. The local congregation had a lay ministry. An early Christian Church has been re-constructed at the Israel Museum, and the above can be verified. http://www.imj.org.il/eng/exhibitions/2000/christianity/ancientchurch/structure/index.html
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continues baptism and a lay ministry as taught by Jesus’ Apostles. Early Christians were persecuted for keeping their practices sacred, and prohibiting non-Christians from witnessing them.
• The Trinity: .
A literal reading of the New Testament points to God and Jesus Christ , His Son , being separate , divine beings , united in purpose. . To whom was Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and Who was speaking to Him and his apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration?
The Nicene Creed”s definition of the Trinity was influenced by scribes translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin. The scribes embellished on a passage explaining the Trinity , which is the Catholic and Protestant belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The oldest versions of the epistle of 1 John, read: "There are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one."
Scribes later added "the Father, the Word and the Spirit," and it remained in the epistle when it was translated into English for the King James Version, according to Dr. Bart Ehrman, Chairman of the Religion Department at UNC- Chapel Hill. He no longer believes in the Nicene Trinity. .
Scholars agree that Early Christians believed in an embodied God; it was neo-Platonist influences that later turned Him into a disembodied Spirit. Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.”
Divinization, narrowing the space between God and humans, was also part of Early Christian belief. St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox) wrote, regarding theosis, "The Son of God became man, that we might become God." . The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views the Trinity as three separate divine beings , in accord with the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts.
• The Deity of Jesus Christ
Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS), Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. Evangelical pollster George Barna found in 2001 that while only 33 percent of American Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists (28 percent of Episcopalians) agreed that Jesus was “without sin”, 70 percent of Mormons believe Jesus was sinless. http://www.adherents.com/misc/BarnaPoll.html
• The Cross and Christ’s Atonement: .
The Cross became popular as a Christian symbol in the Fifth Century A.D. . Members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) believe the proper Christian symbol is Christ’s resurrection , not his crucifixion on the Cross. Many Mormon chapels feature paintings of the resurrected Christ or His Second Coming. Furthermore, members of the church believe the major part of Christ’s atonement occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ took upon him the sins of all mankind.
• Definition of “Christian”: .
But Mormons don’t term Catholics and Protestants “non-Christian”. They believe Christ’s atonement applies to all mankind. The dictionary definition of a Christian is “of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ”: All of the above denominations are followers of Christ, and consider him divine, and the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. They all worship the one and only true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and address Him in prayer as prescribed in The Lord’s Prayer.
It’s important to understand the difference between Reformation and Restoration when we consider who might be authentic Christians. . Early Christians had certain rituals which defined a Christian http://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/207/2070037.htm , which members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continue today. . If members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) embrace early Christian theology, they are likely more “Christian” than their detractors.
• The Need for a Restoration of the Christian Church:
The founder of the Baptist Church in America, Roger Williams, just prior to leaving the church he established, said this:
"There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.” (Picturesque America, p. 502.)
Martin Luther had similar thoughts: "Nor can a Christian believer be forced beyond sacred Scriptures,...unless some new and proved revelation should be added; for we are forbidden by divine law to believe except what is proved either through the divine Scriptures or through Manifest revelation."
He also wrote: "I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among
those who should have preserved it."
The Lutheran, Baptist and Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) churches recognize an apostasy from early Christianity. The Lutheran and Baptist churches have attempted reform, but Mormonism (and Roger Williams, and perhaps Martin Luther) require inspired restoration, so as to re-establish an unbroken line of authority and apostolic succession.
* * *
• Christ-Like Lives:
The 2005 National Study of Youth and Religion published by UNC-Chapel Hill found that Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) youth (ages 13 to 17) were more likely to exhibit these Christian characteristics than Evangelicals (the next most observant group):
1. Attend Religious Services weekly
2. Importance of Religious Faith in shaping daily life – extremely important
3. Believes in life after death
4. Does NOT believe in psychics or fortune-tellers
5. Has taught religious education classes
6. Has fasted or denied something as spiritual discipline
7. Sabbath Observance
8. Shared religious faith with someone not of their faith
9. Family talks about God, scriptures, prayer daily
10. Supportiveness of church for parent in trying to raise teen (very supportive)
11. Church congregation has done an excellent job in helping teens better understand their own sexuality and sexual morality
LDS Evangelical
1. 71% 55%
2. 52 28
3. 76 62
4. 100 95
5. 42 28
6. 68 22
7. 67 40
8. 72 56
9. 50 19
10. 65 26
11. 84 35
Richard:
Well said... You'd make a great Govenor.
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