Today’s Reading List – November 13, 2007
About John McCain's mother…
Romney himself is quite gracious. But Jay Nordlinger points out something that I should have thought of:
In future weeks — especially if Romney remains strong in the polls — we should expect to hear statements from the other candidates, along the lines of, “I don’t think the governor’s Mormonism should be an issue in this race.” I think of what John Edwards did, in the vice-presidential debate of 2004: He talked about the Cheneys’ gay daughter (he used the word “lesbian”). (At least he didn’t say “lezbo.”)
Question: Was Edwards simply and innocently making a point about gay marriage? Or was he reminding Americans that the Cheneys had a gay daughter?
And when Republican candidates say, “I don’t think the governor’s Mormonism should be an issue in this race,” will they be making a genuine statement about religion and politics — or reminding people that Romney is Mormon?
So what was McCain up to? He has made veiled references before. The phrase "plausible deniablity" comes to mind.
Lowell: So does the phrase "disavowal of your operative's antics." Remember this egregious incident by a high-profile McCain supporter? To this day McCain has never disavowed what Cyndi Mosteller said and did. But David Brooks doesn't seem to know that.
Save me from all the discussion about "The Speech"…
After the weekend's comments, that ball just keeps rolling:
This has become utterly transparent now. There are a couple of things going on here:
- The press is using speech discussion as an excuse to bring up Romney's faith. The issue is slowing down and they are trying to kick start it. For whatever reason they feel compelled to mention it again and again. "The Speech Question" is the journalistic equivalent of McCain tilting his mom up to run her bigoted mouth.
- We mentioned in October that it looked like some campaign staffer was trying to use the press to convince Romney to give a speech. Well now the press is using his latest comments to try and depict a campaign in disarray. Romney's is the tightest run ship I have ever seen, but he clearly has a staffer that needs to be shown the door.
Speaking of excuses to bring up Romney's faith…
Lowell comments: This is awful. Tapper's question reflects both ignorance and laziness. Then Tapper seizes on an ill-advised e-mail and delves into esoteric Mormon doctrine that I GUARANTEE was not on Romney's mind when he made a throwaway comment. What's most disturbing about this post is that such a meaningless comment morphs into such a discussion, which should be left off in the tall weeds where it belongs.
The Daily Wisecrack…
Lowell and I did better when we appeared in SLC.
Going Really Deep…
These links are heady stuff, but worth the effort. Philosophical, theological and theoretical background on religion and political action:
For my Catholic friends, Joseph Naumann.
For my Protestant brethren, Marvin Olasky.
Finally…
As a reminder, there is misunderstanding, bias, bigotry, and then out-and-out, yet very ugly, stupidity. Sometimes it is good to reflect on the fact that we have not found bottom yet.
Lowell: Wow!
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HowellUNC on 13 Nov 2007 at 7:58 am #
While this article first appeared Thursday, October 04, 2007 in Analecta Politica (www.howellunc.townhall.com) I am compelled to run it again. After all Paragraph 3, Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution means nothing to the MSM, or to Chris Matthews, or to the pathetic Keith Olbermann, or to Romney’s rivals.
Paragraph 3, Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution reads, “. . . all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.†– emphasis added.
The Speech, the Speech! Mr. Romney, My Kingdom for the Speech! Thursday, October 04, 2007
Whew, let’s all just calm down. There is no reason for Romney’s “JFK†religion speech. Not yet.
While liberal pundits, the media, and a few Giulianiacs (read Novak) in New York are fixated on Romney’s religion, very few national evangelical leaders oppose Romney on religious grounds. For obvious reasons Catholic and Jewish leaders are rather adamant that there be no religious issue concerning Romney and the 2008 presidential race.
The loudest objections come from the left. Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate, said, “Romney’s religion will become an issue with moderate and secular voters – and rightly so.” His justification comes from a rather strained reasoning that objecting to one’s “religious beliefs is not the same thing as prejudice based on religious heritage . . .â€
What? Late last year Romney met with the prominent evangelical leaders. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall! From the few remarks made by some of the attendees, that meeting must have gone quite well.
Says Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, “Evangelicals know that they’re not electing a theologian in chief, but a commander in chief. If they agree with Romney on social issues, his Mormonism won’t be a hindrance . . .” And Jerry Falwell, who has often spoken in unflattering terms about Mormons said, “There’s no question that there are strong feelings about Mormonism. But we’re not electing a Sunday school teacher; we’re electing a president. I do not believe his church affiliation will hinder his being a viable candidate among evangelicals.”
So just who are these 24 percent of Americans (not 29 percent as reported by Novak.) who would not vote for a Mormon? see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21036143/site/newsweek/
Well, certainly many are liberal and/or secular. In the same poll 14 percent said they would not vote for a woman, 64 percent said no to an Atheist. Even more telling is what Novak did not reveal.
In the same poll 68 percent of Americans said they had a favorable opinion of Mitt Romney while only 13 percent did not. Gee, I wonder what Hillary’s numbers would be.
So everybody, just take a deep breath. After Mitt has secured the nomination there will be plenty of time for The Speech.
A Soft Answer on 13 Nov 2007 at 8:08 am #
Don’t Forget, Mormonism is Not the Issue!
Last week, John McCain was quick to repudiate his mother’s pointed comments on Mitt Romney and “the Mormons of Salt Lake”
“Mormons are great people and the fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon should play no role whatsoever in peop…
Phil T. on 13 Nov 2007 at 8:01 pm #
I sent the following to Mr. Foster on 11/07/07. Looks like it didn’t arrive in time for his 11/12/07 column.
11/07/07
FOXNews.com
Attn: Mr. Martin Foster
Dear Mr. Foster:
Thanks for the enlightening article sharing your struggles to make sense out of events that make no sense at all during a presidential election in the land of the free.
Might I suggest that Mitt Romney is not the victim of the average voters’ religious discrimination but the media’s? Herman Cain from the North Star Writers Group explains it this way. “Media and political prognosticators are constantly trying to put labels and sound-bites on candidates for their reporting convenience, and sometimes, to help create a negative perception of a candidate.â€
To your list of praiseworthy efforts given by latter-day saints (the Mormons) may I add a few more and ask why they are not widely known?
2002 Georgie Anne Geyer, syndicated columnist, reported on the 2002 winter Olympics hosted by the mostly Mormon state of Utah as follows: “How on earth could a largely Mormon state do something so daring as hosting an international celebrity meeting? Would the world come gladly to a state whose dominant religion asks members to abstain from alcohol, tobacco and even caffeine, three staples of international conferences?â€
She quoted Raymond T. Grant, artistic director of the Olympic Arts Festival. He talked of the opening ceremony and said: “You know, 98 percent of the entire cast were volunteers, and that’s huge. In fact, most were not paid at all. This is an extraordinary story, and I’d link it directly to Mormon culture. As a Catholic boy from New York, I found it interesting that Brigham Young, the founder of the Utah settlement of the Mormons, built a theater before anything else.’
“He went on to tally up: The state has six dance companies; more pianos and harps are sold in Utah than anywhere in the United States; the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has [360] members; and the oldest Steinway dealership in Utah … was started as early as 1862. In Utah, their per capita spending on students is one of the lowest—yet they boast high test scores. ‘It has been fascinating for me, having to tap into this culture.’ â€
Miss Geyer concluded her story by writing: “It is simply the mix of a serious and upright religion, of families who foster and insist upon providing the highest levels of culture right along with the highest modern technology, and of generally sensible organizing and governing. In short, it is a modern mix of the old America†(“Salt Lake City and State of Utah Reveal Themselves to the World,†Salt Lake Tribune, 15 Feb. 2002, A15).
2003 President Bush awarded the 360 member Mormon Tabernacle Choir the National Medal of Arts in an Oval Office Ceremony (6 representatives were
present). The National Medal of Arts is the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence. Past winners include Yo-Yo Ma, Kirk Douglas, Itzak Perlman, The Julliard School, Gregory Peck, Maya Angelou, Barbra Streisand, Frederika von Stade, Bob Hope and others.
2004 President Bush awarded the Religion Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on his 94th birthday in a ceremony at the White House for inspiring millions and leading efforts to improve humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and education funding across the globe. Previous recipients include Mother Teresa, Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale.
2005 The magnitude of disasters the world experienced in 2005 is without parallel in recent history – from the severest earthquakes, to the tsunamis, to the hurricanes, to the floods, to the mud slides – 2005 was dubbed the “year of natural disasters†by the World Health Organization. In 2005 and 2006 the Mormon Church responded to emergencies in 67 countries, distributing 1.7 million hygiene, school, newborn and cleaning kits; 7.6 million pounds of food; 260,000 blankets; 1.3 million pounds of medical supplies and 2 million pounds of clothing. Alex Amparo, director of emergency management for the Governor’s Committee on Volunteerism in Florida reported that the emergency relief given by the Mormon Church and its hundreds of volunteers was tremendous during the 8 hurricanes that hit Florida in an 18 month period from 2004 to 2005. He said “from a standpoint of an emergency management official at the state level, I will tell you that the LDS Church’s volunteer program is one of the most structured and effective operations that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve worked with a host of agencies before.â€
‘05/’06 The humanitarian aide the Mormon Church gave to member and non-member victims after hurricanes Katrina and Rita was abundant. The church sent 200 truckloads of commodities and relief supplies for distribution and contributed 5 million pounds of food and water. A total of 10,000 church members from southern states caravanned every weekend for 3 months to help clean up until public services could once again handle the volume. Church volunteers provided more than 42,000 man-days. One newscaster said that 2 of the churches doing a lot of the cleanup were the Mormon Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints (AKA the Mormons). Check out more details on the church’s website (lds.org) in the March 2007 Ensign magazine article entitled Storming Back or try Googleling Mormon Helping Hands.
Perhaps this compassionate service was given because Mormons know from their history what it feels like to be abandoned by the federal government when it failed to protect their religious freedom. Is it any surprise that the church that was in a survival mode in the 1800’s rescuing their own, now knows how to help run a rescue operation in our day anywhere in the world?
Imagine if a non-Mormon presidential candidate became president. Would he/she acknowledge Mormons who help their fellow citizens in their hour of need as described above? Or would he/she wring their hands and say this goes against the anti-Mormon mainstream, there is no way compassionate caravans could have proliferated from covered wagons.
2007 Claremont Graduate University’s School of Religion is establishing a new program in Mormon studies. Stating that the purpose of the school is to study the full breadth of religious experience, the university is hiring a prominent historian and biographer of church founder Joseph Smith to lead the program — starting the first such academic program in California and the second of its kind at a secular school nationwide.
Non-Mormon academics and Mormon Church leaders described Claremont’s appointment of Richard Lyman Bushman, professor emeritus of early American history at Columbia University, as a significant advance in serious scholarship about the religion, which is growing quickly worldwide…. “We consider him to be the single most widely known and highly regarded historian of Mormonism,” Karen Torjesen, dean of the Claremont School of Religion, said in a statement.
How many voters (and reporters for that matter) are surprised to learn of these stories? The national and international recognition received by the Mormon Church over the last 5 years might lead a rational person to believe that the LDS people belong to a mainstream religion and not to a so-called cult. Did I mention they are the fourth largest denomination in the country and the number three humanitarian aid contributor in the world? What size is the cut off to be labeled a cult anyway? This information is vital for the media to know so they can label as cults only those churches that meet the official size/belief system criteria established by holier than thou religious fanatics. Sooner or later the media will reach a tipping point and drop its obsession with the way the Mormon Church spent its youth and begin focusing on the Mormon Church that has reached adulthood in our day. If they don’t, the label of strangers to the truth will describe them perfectly for practicing cover-up journalism.
Mormon bashing has been the lot of the Mormon Church since it was established in the1800’s echoing the scripture in Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.†Freedom of religion for everyone but the Mormons could be the motto for a lot of media outlets. If LDS church members believed all the inaccuracies reported about them, they would be labeled the believers with all the multiple personality disorders.
It seems to me the only parts of the Constitution the media values are a free press and freedom of speech. As far as I know the media has never reported that a presidential candidate’s Article VI constitutional rights might have been violated. Then again the media missed the story about the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that was desecrated when 70,000 Mormon pioneers were forced to journey 1,300 miles to the Salt Lake valley in the mid-1800’s – 6,000 lost their lives during the exodus. If you trample on the religious freedom of one church it sets up the same treatment for all the other churches. Martyred Mormon Church founder and president Joseph Smith recognized this when he said, “If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a “Mormon†I am also bold to declare before heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves.†Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 313
In our age of enlightenment and open dialog maybe the media could cross check with any church about which it is going to run a story to get the facts right and in so doing help preserve religious freedom. As the Mormons have learned from sad experience it is possible to suffer a great deal at the hands of antagonists who are uninformed.
This mini analysis of the media has two purposes. Journalists are the least likely group to judge with any credibility the heart and conscience of a candidate to determine if their religious denomination is suitable for office – there’s only one person who has the know how to do this and He is the judge of us all. Secondly, after years of indoctrination from the media regarding the “evil Mormons†maybe a lot of people will grasp what’s been written here and simply start saying we have been deceived, the Mormons really are an accomplished organization with a lot of class.
One can only hope the media will eventually be a little more open minded about those closed minded Mormons. Perhaps they could begin by referring to the Mormon Church as a religion instead of a cult in their press coverage. The following Mormon Church websites are several places they can find answers to questions about the church and/or answers to questions about spiritual matters only the Mormons have.
lds.org Check out The World Report on the lower left side of the Newsroom
mormon.org
lib.byu.edu/Macmillan/ (Encyclopedia of Mormonism)
All the best,
Phil T.