Today’s Reading List – August 13, 2007
Between our being a bit out of commission on Friday and the Ames straw poll over the weekend, our cup runneth over today!
Of course we were out of commission on Friday because of our appearance on the panel in Salt Lake City which got a little press. I hope we sounded a little more eloquent than this piece indicates.
Meanwhile, in Ames . . . .
This pre-Ames bit is just ugly. It attempts to delegitimize Romney's expected victory by conjecturing that Mormons could swamp the straw poll. No numbers mind you, just conjecture. Never let facts get in the way of a religiously-based slam.
But this was the ugliest. Mormons spend a lot of time pointing out the the polygamist FLDS are not genuinely Mormon. The ecclesiastical structure of creedal Christianity does not give me that option, but I can say that people who would urge votes against somebody because of their religion do not really understand creedal Christian doctrines, or the roots from which our democracy has sprung. Marc Ambinder calls it, and some other things, a dirty trick.
The coverage from the UK is not helpful, referring to Romney in the headline, in quotes as "Mitt the Mormon." In the story they claim Romney himself is the source of this sobriquet:
main question marks over Romney concern his religion – an issue he sardonically dismisses as “Mitt the Mormon” – and his past record in Massachusetts in favour of abortion and gay rights.
I will give the reporter the benefit of the doubt here, I am sure the quotation is strictly accurate, but I also am sure Romney used the phrase to name THE ISSUE – NOT HIMSELF. Oh well, when has what someone actually said ever stood in the way of a reporter making an issue where they want one.
Elsewhere…
This is the nastiest form of an attack that has been showing up more frequently. The author attempts to take the high road by saying Mitt's faith is not an issue, and then savages him with misrepresentations, spin, and incomplete sound bites. I am ashamed to say I had missed this possiblity, that someone might try to say the right thing on The Question, and then use that fact for cover to hit way below the belt other places.
Smartest thing Romney has ever said on The Question:
The suggestion by some evangelical Christians that Mormons are not Christian is not an issue Romney said he was willing to debate. "The term Christian means different things to different people," Romney said. "To some it excludes Catholics and Mormons."
And since we're talking about a guy as smart as Romney, that is really saying something!
A column out of Philly that makes a lot of sense.
Brownback's use of religion in this campaign has bordered on shameful. Well, some of his supporters are quite willing to cross the line. Forget religion for a minute, as conservatives and Republicans, we do ourselves no favors when we sound like MoveOn and Kos in our rhetorical style.
I'm not the best judge (Lowell?) but this strikes me as one of the better short form summaries on what Mormons believe from a non-LDS source.
Lowell: It is really excellent. Only one tiny quibble: Mormons do not believe in a "triune" God. What we do believe is summarized here.
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