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Sunday, February 10, 2008

Yearning For Acceptance

This article in today's newspapers is a real jewel. I encourage you all to read it. It's an AP article, so it's in wide circulation.

A few highlights...
Some Evangelicals feared that a Mormon in the White House would draw more converts to his faith.
Maybe because Religion News Service slipped up and posted a quote by an LDS representative a few months ago who was asked a question about this and the reply was that they would, indeed, use a Romney candidacy and presidency as a tool for their evangelism.
"It is prejudice," said Richard Bushman, an emeritus professor at Columbia University, who is a leading historian and devout Mormon. "Underlying all these questions is that these beliefs are basically crazy so you've got to explain them to us."
Well, if you're wearing holy underwear, yes you do. Yes, you also need to be clear about your polytheism.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints anticipated some of the backlash and tried to get ahead of it. Well before the former Massachusetts governor officially announced his candidacy, Mormon officials started traveling the country, speaking with reporters and editorial writers about the LDS church and its political neutrality.
Which confirms what many of us stated publicly, that there was a PR campaign going on behind the scenes, and it was designed to legitimize the Mormon faith by portraying it as just another sort of Christian denomination.
"I was surprised at the level of intensity and sometimes flat out animosity," said Lowell C. Brown, a Los Angeles attorney who is Mormon. "I had no idea. I'm in my 50s, I've been a Mormon all my life, I've lived in L.A. for 25 years, and it floored me."
Welcome to the real world, where Christians still know enough about their cardinal doctrines to distinguish truth from error when Mormons come along. There may yet be hope the apostasy in the American church can be averted.
In just one example of the practices that set Mormons apart, LDS church founder Joseph Smith revised — and in his view corrected — parts of the Bible.

Which sort of proves what we've been saying all along.

Mormons were especially outraged when GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist pastor, asked whether Mormons consider Jesus and the devil brothers. Latter-day Saints say Huckabee's question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.
According to Ensign Magazine, this is certainly something you believe. Perhaps the problem here is that Huckabee exposed the truth, that Mormons aren't just another sort of Christian. Remember, that's the Mormon line. It's false. Had Mormons not made that claim, we'd not be having this conversation. They have only themselves to blame.
"If you're making a decision about whether or not to vote for someone because of their religion, you're flirting with bigotry," said Brown. He monitored the commentary on his blog Article VI, named for the constitutional provision barring any religious test for public office.

Of course, Utah carried Romney. Is it bigotry to vote against somebody because he's a Mormon but not bigotry to vote for a man because he is a Mormon? Of course, the reason many of us did not support Romney is because we put the gospel before our politics. That's my first priority. The other reason is because Romney tried, like many Mormons, to pawn himself off as another sort of Christian. That's a lie. I 've said it before, I'll say it again. I have no problem with a Mormon running for office as long as he doesn't try to pawn himself off as a Christian. Be honest. I'm tired of dishonest politicians. The real irony here is that even Bill Mohr, who I can't stand, realized this. He, on national television called Mormons "shapeshifters." He knows Mormons aren't Christians, and Mohr is no friend of Christianity. He even made the same connection many of us Evangelicals made. Romney is Odo. He'll turn into whatever he must in order to win an election.
"What's going on when his son runs and all of a sudden there's this overt hostility that came out, which did not come out toward his father," said Mouw, who is part of a group of evangelical and Mormon scholars who meet to discuss their theological disagreements. "I'm kind of ashamed of the way that a lot of traditional Christians have handled this."
I guess it still hasn't hit Dr. Mouw that many of us are ashamed of the way he has handled Mormonism himself.
Mormon leaders posted videos on YouTube explaining their faith. A church elder, recently speaking to Mormon college students, urged young people to post about the Latter-day Saints on blogs — a major move for a denomination with a history of quietly answering its outside critics.
Yes, we've seen the cut and pastes on this blog. I hope he reads this article in his newspaper, and Dr. White decides to post the occasional interaction with some of this material on You Tube.
After Romney's Dec. 6 speech in Texas defending his faith, a Mormon leader went on al-Jazeera television, the Quatar-based network, to discuss the church.
This one had me in stitches laughing. Talk about stupidity! Muslims have a hard enough time wrapping their minds around the concept of the Trinity, and they find it an abominable idea that Christians affirm that God has a Son, because they infer from this that Jesus is precisely what Mormons say He is, the literal son of God. That's one of their major problems with Christianity, and one we have to constantly explain and reexplain to them and correct. Now, can't you just imagine what sort of impression they would have if the leader of the free world was a man who not only believed Jesus is the literal son of God, but God has a flesh and bone body and that Jesus and Lucifer are spirit brothers? Do we really need to give the Muslim extremists another reason to destroy America?

6 comments:

  1. Bro. Gene,

    Exactly!

    Instead of answering the objections they complain about them. Then, they try to somehow put some sort of blame on those objecting.

    I guess some LDS are afraid what would happen if they simpled answered the questions with a "Yes, we believe in holy undergarments and that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers." Maybe their afraid of their own beliefs?

    Mark

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  2. I don't think members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are afraid of their own beliefs. Perhaps they are hesitant to share their beliefs with those they know won't listen, or those who will try and tear them down. Have you thought about that? Do you have any idea what that is like? Because judging from your comments, you don't.

    Having been a member for almost 8 years, I can say I love this gospel and believe in it with my whole heart and soul. It has brought light, hope and peace into my life. It has helped me realize that my Savior loves me, that I am of infinite worth and that he has a perfect plan in place... the plan of salvation.

    Now your comments about this election and Mitt Romney, I am still wondering if we are voting for a pastor of some church, or for the President of the United States of America?

    I do not expect anyone to take religion out of the equation. But it is not unreasonable to ask, or rather, expect people to vote on the issues, to take a person’s religion for what it is and recognize that they are electing the leader of this country—someone who will serve a nation of many different faiths. Someone who will become “The President of all Americans.”

    Being a woman, of African descent, who happens to be Mormon, I have tried to keep the issues and the candidate’s qualifications in perspective. I have worked hard to to put affinities aside and focus on the issues. During this election, it does not seem people have studied out the issues and kept things in the proper perspective.

    There is an independent film that just came out titled: "Article VI: Faith. Politics. America." The film was directed by Bryan Hall and Jack Donaldson. It is an intense discussion of the role of faith in politics. The title is taken from Article Six of the United States Constitution: "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." I not only found this film very thought provoking, but I enjoyed how it did not seek to answer questions, rather it simply raised them.

    If you haven't seen the trailer I suggest you check it out:

    http://www.articlevithemovie.com/

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  3. Jess said:
    ---
    I don't think members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are afraid of their own beliefs. Perhaps they are hesitant to share their beliefs with those they know won't listen, or those who will try and tear them down. Have you thought about that? Do you have any idea what that is like? Because judging from your comments, you don't.
    ---

    Are you kidding? We're Calvinists. We're used to everyone trying to tear down our beliefs, not listen to responses, etc.

    Of course, the main difference in this comparison is that Calvinists actually are misrepresented by their opponents, whereas Mormons misrepresent themselves to their opponents.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Be honest. I'm tired of dishonest politicians.

    Ha!

    Don't hold your breath. :)

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  6. Jess,

    Thank you coming by.

    Yes, Jess, we do know what it is like to have our beliefs questioned and "torn down." The default position of this blog is Calvinism. We are a minority these days. I am also Baptist. My Baptist forefathers were heavily persecuted and imprisoned for over a century.

    Having been a member for almost 8 years, I can say I love this gospel and believe in it with my whole heart and soul. It has brought light, hope and peace into my life. It has helped me realize that my Savior loves me, that I am of infinite worth and that he has a perfect plan in place... the plan of salvation.

    With all due respect, Madame, you do not believe the Biblical gospel at all. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone, not by a combination of faith and works.

    Mormons also polytheistic. You affirm that the Father is named Elohim and Jesus is Yahweh, two separate gods, yet you worship only one. Jess, the Bible says that Elohim and Yahweh are one and the same God. If you click the label "Mormonism" at the end of this article, you will be taken to page where you can read the currently archived articles on that.

    I'd also encourage you to read carefully here:

    http://www.answeringlds.org/

    Madam, if you don't affirm the real identity of God, you don't affirm the gospel, and all your feelings of peace aren't going to help you at all on the Last Day. Indeed, warm fuzzy feelings of belonging, peace, and acceptance are not worth anything with respect to knowing the truth. Truth is determined by the Word of God alone, not our feelings. We can feel great and be deceived. Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it?"


    I do not expect anyone to take religion out of the equation. But it is not unreasonable to ask, or rather, expect people to vote on the issues, to take a person’s religion for what it is and recognize that they are electing the leader of this country—someone who will serve a nation of many different faiths. Someone who will become “The President of all Americans.”


    1. Once again, Romney carried Utah. Your logic is reversible. If you were consistent, you'd also advocate depriving Utah residents of their voting rights if they voted for Romney because he is a Mormon,and I can assure you they most certainly did so.

    2. It's Romney who put himself out there, if you'll remember, as "just another sort of Christian." I have said this more than one time, and Mormons here simply ignore it. Please read this carefully:

    We have no problem with a Mormon President. What we have a problem with is a Mormon who tries to pass himself off as another sort of Christian, when Mormons are not Christians at all. Indeed, this is something that Orson Pratt, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many other Mormons would NEVER have claimed. They said clearly that Protestants and Catholics alike were "the whore of Babylon" and doomed.

    So, when we hear claims like those Mr. Romney and many other Mormons make, we hear duplicity. Consequently, we don't trust them. If I can't trust a candidate for President, when he brings the issue up on his own, to tell the truth about the thing that I presume to be the most precious thing in his life, why should I trust him to be the President of this nation and the leader of the free world?

    The title is taken from Article Six of the United States Constitution: "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." I not only found this film very thought provoking, but I enjoyed how it did not seek to answer questions, rather it simply raised them.

    I certainly hope that it pointed out that the intent of that article is consequent on the lack of a state church in the US. The fact of the matter, Jess, is that not all options were live options in the 18th century, and I somehow doubt that you'd feel the same way about a Jihadist running for President as you do about a Mormon.

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