The presidential election and the M-word

[matriculated]

It's the subject that not even the media wants to touch: Willard's religion. When he speaks about his faith, he sticks to safe platitudes and general pronouncements of how America needs a president of faith, never once actually mentioning the M-word. He obviously sees the same polls that his rivals see and knows that a large chunk of Americans has reservations about his religion, and a good chunk wouldn't vote for a Mormon, so he avoids the actual word itself like it's poison. At the same time, he's a person who is very important in the Church of Latter Day Saints, having been a bishop (or whatever the Mormon equivalent is) himself and continuing to give 10% of his income to the church, as required by doctrine. He was a missionary in France for 3 years during the Vietnam war (conveniently). I came across this interesting documentary on the topic produced by BBC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... djYmyumHKs#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;!

It's an hour long, so decide if you want to watch the whole thing. Some claims made in the documentary jump out at me. There seems to be a consensus among Mormon apostates that the Church basically punishes them for apostasy by encouraging their family members and their community to shun them, leaving them feeling isolated and alienated. They've even formed these little support groups for ex-Mormons to help each other cope. A woman in the documentary claims that some 30 years ago when she became pregnant out of wedlock and went to talk with Willard, who was a bishop-figure at the time, he basically told her to give the baby up to the Church or face excommunication. The issue of the special undergarments (more popularly known as "magic underwear") is raised. Apparently Romney wears them. I don't know much about Mormonism, but apparently they believe that Jesus came to America at some point. On the issue of apostasy, all the apostates claim that the Church is actually a cult. Even Willard's 2nd cousin, Park Romney, claims that the Church engages in brainwashing. And there's the issue of postmortem baptizing. Apparently the Church has baptized many Jews killed in the Holocaust. Some big Church honcho in the documentary says they realized that was offensive and stopped doing it. And there are also allegations of racism within the Church doctrines and hierarchy, with black people not being allowed to become bishops until only some 30 years ago (that's not in the documentary, but I've read about that elsewhere). Here's pastor Rick Warren, basically saying that Mormons aren't Christians:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rick-warren- ... n-beliefs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I believe that this will become more of an issue as the election draws nearer. We all know that the Constitution forbids religious tests for office, but we also know that there is a de facto test by the voting public. Americans have proven themselves willing to deviate from the WASP presidential standard, first with the election of a Catholic, and most recently a black man. In 2008, we began by asking: Is America ready for a woman president? The question turned into: Is America ready for a black president? I suppose the question now is:

Is America ready for a Mormon president?

[apostate]

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[matriculated]

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I don't mean to discuss the merits of the Mormon faith. My intention was to open up a discussion of how Willard's religion will affect his chances of being elected president. I personally don't care about anybody's religion, but polls show that many people do. Purely politically speaking, I see that as another liability for Willard. I think he doesn't stand a chance in the general and that Republicans are making a mistake giving him the nomination. If you watch that documentary, you'll see a couple (a Republican couple) who say they'll stay home if it's Romney vs. Obama. When asked if any of their friends would vote for Romney, they say no. How many Republicans will stay home if Romney's the nominee?

[jmra]

How many Republicans will stay home if Romney's the nominee?

Only the stupid ones.

[matriculated]

How many Republicans will stay home if Romney's the nominee?

Only the stupid ones.

Will that number be large enough to sway the election? BTW, the couple in the documentary did not look stupid to me. They looked like fine folks, but as the woman said, she just "couldn't vote for him [Romney] in good faith."

[jmra]

How many Republicans will stay home if Romney's the nominee?

Only the stupid ones.

Will that number be large enough to sway the election? BTW, the couple in the documentary did not look stupid to me. They looked like fine folks, but as the woman said, she just "couldn't vote for him [Romney] in good faith."

It's called the lesser of two evils. Do I die of cancer or do I take chemo to put the cancer into remission until a cure can be found?