Today’s Reading List – January 18, 2007

Posted by: John Schroeder at 06:50 am, January 18th 2007 — Comment on this post »

Obamamania and religion. I had no idea, but he is appealing to some Evangelicals, but not likely for long. His church has a "value statement" - it is racist. Not gonna go over well with most Evangelicals. I thought God was color-blind.

One of my favorite bloggers, Amy Ridenour, has a Washington Examiner piece reviewing a book on the "coming coup by the religious right." Does a Mormon candidate fuel or dispel such fevered nonsense?

Lowell: The book Ridenour reviews is called “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.” The use of "fascist" to describe anyone whom a left-liberal writer considers very conservative is a time-honored rhetorical excess. Or should I say, name-calling tactic? And don't worry, during the Romney run the term will be used to describe Mormons– many times.

The Washington Times profiles Pentecostalism. They are a branch of creedal Christianity. It's of interest here because I would say they are closer to Mormons in many branches of theology than Evangelicals are to Catholics in most such branches.

Lowell: For what it's worth, it occurs to me that John Ashcroft is one of the most famous Pentecostal politicians, and when I listen to him I hear much of the cadence and language that I have heard in my own church all my life. (Ashcroft, of course, was famously pilloried for being a politician who dared to be openly religious.) Also, as John suggests, the notion of being guided by the Holy Ghost in one's own life is central to both Pentecostalism and Mormonism. Mormons do not, however, wholly trust the more spectacular spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues. We do believe in spiritual gifts, as our Seventh Article of Faith states.

Some blog commentary on the Hewitt piece I found fascinating.

When church and state tie up too closely, the state can tell you who can go to your church school.

Christians are being persecuted throughout the rest of the world. Do we want to do so here at home by excluding a candidate of a different religion?

John Piper is one of my favorite Christian authors and probably the leading writer in the Reformed (Calvinist) branch of creedal Christianity today. He took the occasion of MLK Day to publish three exhortations:

Exhortation #2

Christians should not be guilty of stereotyping groups, recognizing that stereotyping is different from the just and loving use of generalization.

I really think that applies to most creedals' views of Mormons. We tend to deal in stereotypes that distort reality.