Presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain both were given point-blank opportunities this weekend to repudiate the words of a Dallas pastor who called Mormonism a “cult” and said that Mitt Romney is not a Christian — and both took a pass.
So in 2012 we could have Black Muslim .vs a cult member for President. How cool would that be? LOL. This gets better each week.
Can’t really fault them for side-stepping it, if you want to call it that. It’s a sideshow distraction by the media (do you really care what a far-right Evangelical thinks of Mormonism?). They’re both correct in their assessment of the non-controversy, and where the focus should be.
Once the cat is out of the bag, ala Obama is a Muslim, you can’t get it back in. If the conservatives think Mitt is in a cult, or hear it often enough, his loses a lot of support and the $$$ will sit out
until 2016. It’s like that little snowball at the top of Everest. Once it starts rolling downhill it’s going to crush everything in its path. Including the truth. Unless of course Mormonism is a cult…
I wonder when we will see a Jewish president…remember (well, I wasn’t born yet but) when Kennedy was elected he had to make a statement about how being Catholic would not affect his office
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catholicism has been likened to a cult for years by the evangelicals.
To any where close to the same extent they think Mormons are. Everyone is about to be in for a real eye opener when they see how much many “good Christians” a irrational assholes about Mormons.
Can’t really fault them for side-stepping it, if you want to call it that. It’s a sideshow distraction by the media (do you really care what a far-right Evangelical thinks of Mormonism?). They’re both correct in their assessment of the non-controversy, and where the focus should be.
I’m surprised to read you write that. I would hope that someone who is running for President would repudiate any hate speech or statements that denigrate any religion.
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Elie Wiesel
Presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain both were given point-blank opportunities this weekend to repudiate the words of a Dallas pastor who called Mormonism a “cult” and said that Mitt Romney is not a Christian — and both took a pass.
So in 2012 we could have Black Muslim .vs a cult member for President. How cool would that be? LOL. This gets better each week.
You would have thought his magic underwear would have prevented this.
I’m surprised to read you write that. I would hope that someone who is running for President would repudiate any hate speech or statements that denigrate any religion.
Realistically, do you expect any candidate, from either party, to jump on anything that may resemble hate speech, when the sentiment comports with the beliefs of the majority of their base? Were you at all surprised that no one jumped at the chance to chastise the debate crowd for their series of ugly responses?
So the guy called Mormonism a cult. Obviously he meant that in an unflattering way vis a vis Christianity, but it also carries a specific meaning beyond mere ill repute:
a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object : the cult of St. Olaf.
• a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister
Honestly, who cares if Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann agree that Mormonism meets that definition (which it does; Mormonism is relatively rare and probably considered strange by the majority of Americans. In Utah, it wouldn’t meet the definition). The media is all over the story because controversy makes for better copy. The correct response by either or any candidate pressed on the issue would be to reaffirm their commitment to protect and defend American’s Constitutional right to free practice of religion, and move on to more important issues.
I don’t think calling a religion a cult constitutes hate speech. Nothing in the pastor’s introduction demeaned or demonized Mormons; his commentary was specific to the religion vis a vis Christianity. I don’t think it’s very helpful to make such comments, but I don’t think we should be surprised, or outraged, when said, or demand repudiation from anyone and everyone linked to it.
If you want to take issue with Perry’s description of the pastor’s intro as “knocking it out of the park,” be my guest. That’s where the focus should be, not how Herman Cain feels about someone’s opinion of Mormonism.
Have you seen all the “I’m a mormon " ads. TV primetime and several billboards on my way to work. I guess this is part of the educational push. I wonder if that counts as towards Romney’s campaign costs or is it just coincidence.
I’ve had to explain to a couple of my hardcore evangelical coworkers that Catholicism was part of Christianity, so it’s not surprising they think Mormonism is a cult. It’s really funny to hear them complain about 'all the crazy stuff Mormons believe” to which I respond 'Pot meet kettle. ’
Wow. I had first read “Romney is a cult, how’d we miss this?”
Oddly enough, I believe both statements.
The problem becomes a little different when you look at the numbers 13 million Mormons throughout the world, who worhship Christ. Evangelicals in the world less than 3 million. By your definition which is the cult?
You can’t compare Mormons to Evangelicals. Evangelicals are much more congruent in their beliefs with traditional Christianity than are Mormons. So the numbers that matter are more along the lines of 2 billion to 13 million.
I’m not saying I’d use the term to describe Mormonism (particularly as a pejorative; I’ve never met a Mormon I didn’t like, or at least find innocuous), and frankly, their beliefs strike me as no more or less implausible than those of mainstream of Christianity. I just don’t think it’s all that big a deal if and when religious crazies say mildly offensive things about other religions. Par for the course.
There is a Dallas radio guy named Mark Davis, seems like the rational Republican radio guy anywhere, who has a great definition of what a cult is,
“A cult is a religion you don’t like.”
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Evangelicals in the world less than 3 million.
Please quote your source. By virtually any account that I can find you are way off (by a few orders of magnitude).
“Evangelicals in the world less than 3 million.”
If you ask the Evangelicals how many who claim to evangelical are true christian you will get the number 1, themselves. The one true Scotsman wins every time.
I have seen the advertisement you mention. I don’t understand the reference above to “magic underwear” though. Can you clue me in?
Not sure where you came up with 3 million evangelicals worldwide, but the correct number is closer to 600-800 million. The Pew Forum study found 26.3% of Americans to be evangelical protestants, which alone would blow your 3 million out of the water. http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations
Once the cat is out of the bag, ala Obama is a Muslim, you can’t get it back in. If the conservatives think Mitt is in a cult, or hear it often enough, his loses a lot of support and the $$$ will sit out
until 2016. It’s like that little snowball at the top of Everest. Once it starts rolling downhill it’s going to crush everything in its path. Including the truth. Unless of course Mormonism is a cult…
who gives a fuck what religion these guys subscribe to?
who gives a fuck what religion these guys subscribe to?
I don’t care what church they attend, I know what their REAL religion is. They all worship government.