The Fringe Speaks…
This will be short and sweet as we continue to come back from vacation mode, but a commenter sent along this story from the Washington Times.
Prominent evangelical leaders are warning Sen. John McCain against picking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his running mate, saying their troops will abandon the Republican ticket on Election Day if that happens.
They say Mr. Romney lacks trust on issues such as outlawing abortion and opposing same-sex marriage and because he is a Mormon. (Emphasis added.)
That said there are a couple of key things to note. The first is the very next sentence in the piece:
Opposition is particularly powerful among those who supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year.
Well, what does that tell you? The other is, of course, the names of the “prominent evangelical leaders” involved. They include:
- Tim LaHaye
- Rob McCoy
Who? These are names you would know only if you are deep into Evangelicalism. They are names that are religious leaders, but not political ones. The piece then goes on to look at comments, out of context, by people like Phyllis Schafly and David Barton. It weaves their public comments with those of others to paint a picture of opposition where only inquiry and concern exists. This latter group wants assurances on specific issues, but it is other people that have a problem with Romney specifically on those issues.
Clearly this is a piece designed to revive The Question as opposed to report on it. You are not seeing this story in major outlets, which should be a clue. Yesterday, I said briefly:
What a Romney Veep nod would do is marginalize the radically conservative and bigoted Evangelical minority permanently.
Say hello to those to whom I was referring. I am wondering if the Washington Times is not amongst that crowd.
Late addition: The reliably Romney-hating Boston Globe is more than willing to pass on this little bit of bashing, marking the story making the “big time.” (Well, if you can consider a NYTimes-owned newspaper as “big time.”) Please note they pass this on with attribution of the source, and without adding anything new. Tells me they are more interested in bashing Romney and Evangelicals than in actual reporting.
Posted in Religious Bigotry | 2 Comments » | 
Print this post
| 
Email This Post
kc4rzw on 29 Jul 2008 at 8:38 am #
If evangelical leaders are to evangelicals what Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are to blacks in america, then they are not intrested in the truth or in the values or good of america but they only want to perpetuate themselves and they can only do this by holding their people down and feeding their ignorance. We saw this during the recent news gaffe where Jackson was caught saying what he really throught about Obama. The rabid evangelicals are rabid because their teachers teach reformation and not biblical christianity, these creeds teach a different Christ than the Holy Bible. There is a pride that is not christian that they adhere to. But there is a reason that they do this and that is because their trade is priestcraft and the teachings of Jesus Christ destroy priestcraft. They want a kushy job just like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, can’t keep it without priestcraft… so they do all they can to destroy the enemy of priestcraft which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All of this aside, when we come to election time and if McCain does pick Romney as a running mate, will the rabid evanglicals vote in their best interests or in the interests of their priestcraft perpetuating leaders? The answer could be very expensive and painful in many many ways for all of us.
coltakashi on 29 Jul 2008 at 10:55 am #
“They say Mr. Romney lacks trust on issues such as outlawing abortion and opposing same-sex marriage and because he is a Mormon.”
That is about the most irrational sentence I have ever read. Romney is not considered to be trustworthy in opposing abortion and same-sex marriage “because he is a Mormon”?
Anyone who hasn’t had their head stuck in the sand knows that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is actively encouraging its members to not only vote in support of the California constitutional amendment to override the recent California Supreme Court ruling creating gay marriage, but also to contribute funds and time to the campaign. The LDS Church does not get involved in partisan issues, but this is a matter of law that directly affects morality, as well as threatens churches that support Biblical sexual morality with denial of tax exemptions and second class citizenship for their members. In other words, the Mormons and their Church leaders are in the forefront of fighting same-sex marriage! So how can being a Mormon make Romney not “trustworthy” to oppose same-sex marriage? Wouldn’t a logical person conclude:
Mormons strongly oppose gay marriage.
Romney is strongly Mormon.
Therefore Romney strongly opposes gay marriage.
The same thing goes for abortion. The LDS Church has held its members to the standard that no Latter-day Saint should have an abortion except when (a) it directly and significantly threatens the life of the mother, or (b) it is the result of rape or incest; AND (c) the mother AND father have reviewed the matter with their Church leaders and sincerely sought personal guidance from God about the decision. This standard bars abortion as birth control, for economic consideration, or any other reason, which is the vast majority of abortions. What is more, the Church carries on an active adoption program and encourages young women who cannot marry the father of their child to place the baby into adoption with other Church members who cannot have children of their own. When Romney was a local leader of the LDS Church in Boston, he taught this standard and advised the members of his Church to live by that standard. The LDS Church does not demand that the standard it sets for its members be incorporated into law for all people, of all religions or none, in all the 165 nations hwere its members are citizens. But the doctrines that lie behind the standard, about the pre-mortal existence of our spirits as children of God, persuade most Mormons that abortion ought to be limited in law.