The Republican God-Off
06 December 2007 1:23 pm by Taylor Marsh
The Republican God-Off updated & bumped
Full transcript of the speech.
Religion in America, on
your sleeve or not at all, I guess. In the Republican primary we officially have a litmus test.
Talk about giving a candidate the spotlight. This is a remarkable moment for
this country and I don’t think it says anything good. Because of the Huckabee
factor, Romney feels compelled to talk about his faith, Mormonism. On MSNBC
this morning I lost track of how many times Matthews, Scarborough, Buchanan
and Sally Quinn used the word “cult.” As an Episcopalian and a person
of deep faith and spirituality, we are often considered the mutt of religions.
A woman bishop, a gay bishop, we are more tolerant of people. With all of the
people I know, however, who have no religious faith at all you really have to
wonder what this means for all those individuals who don’t have a particular
faith or even believe in God. Who represents them while all the other candidates
seem to be engaged in the God off?
I will say one thing as someone who has learned about Mormonism first hand.
My husband is a recovering Mormon as I’ve addressed before. As regular readers
know, I had a head on collision with two Mormons who censored this site because
I dared to link to a Jesus’ General post that talked about the Mormon faith.
It caused quite a stir in my world. It also revealed the ritual secrecy of the
Mormon church, some of which is why people feel so uncomfortable about it today. Just writing about it got me censored on my own site.
All religions have their oddities and traditional aspects that make non believers
wince. But very little about the mainstream religions are secret. Scientology
comes to mind.
Frankly, I don’t care about Romney’s religion. After watching him through videotape
my conclusion is that this man has no political compass and will say whatever
is needed, changing what he must with the blowing political winds, even more
than most. That has nothing to do with his religion. It says something about the man. However, his speech today says more about this country, but particularly the Republican party.
Excerpts from Romney’s religion speech, “Faith
in America” are below:
… .. “When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that
oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your president,
I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest.
A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.” … ..… .. “In such a world, we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where
reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty, joined
against the evils and dangers of the day. And you can be certain of this:
Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the
Almighty, has a friend and ally in me. And so it is for hundreds of millions
of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion – rather,
we welcome our nation’s symphony of faith.” … ..
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UPDATE: The comments on the YouTube page are interesting. Some brave journalist should ask Mr. Romney about the Mormon belief that for women to get to heaven they need a man. Oh, but that would likely impede on Mitt’s convenient rhetoric and make him “describe and explain his church’s distinctive doctrines,” which he certainly does not want to do. That would make him have to defend why women in Mormonism are second class citizens, with gays even worse. Of course, this is not unlike the Catholic church either, as well as so many other religions. But those faiths offer open dialogue about their tenets and doctrines. Can’t have anyone daring to demand more information about the Mormon faith. At all costs, that must not be allowed. Why is Mormonism and the beliefs of that church so closely guarded and kept secret? I don’t care what they believe, but why isn’t any non-Mormon allowed entry, if only to learn more about it? It’s troubling. But this whole conversation is, because it leads us to a less liberal and free nation, leaving out the civil rights of modern women, gays and lesbians, as well as non-believers. Backwards we go. If you’re really interested in our country’s foundational religious liberalism, check out this post:
.. No wonder Jefferson has a pious dread of politicized religion and religious politicking. The “irritable tribe of priests,” Jefferson wrote Benjamin Rush, feared his election, and they were right to do so, “for I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” What Would the Founders Do?, by Richard Brookhiser (selected sections between pages 63-73)
