I Don't Care If He's Mormon

-
Recently, Dr. Robert Jeffress publicly made the statement. "Mitt Romney's a good moral person but he's not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. It has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity. So it's the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian." The implication being that "mainstream Christians" should vote for, fellow Christian, Rick Perry simply because Romney's a Mormon. While I'm no fan of Mitt, this type of reasoning bothers me for the simple reason that it shouldn't matter.

Before I dismiss the statement, it's important to address the basic premise, "Mormonism is not Christianity." Most "mainstream Christians" believe that God The Father, Christ, and The Holy Spirit are three parts of one collective being, God. Mormons, or members The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, believe The Holy Trinity is made up of three separate beings, God The Father, his only begotten son Christ, and The Holy Spirit. If you accept the idea that being a Christian means accepting the definition of God as the three in one being, then Dr. Jeffress's statement holds water. Yet, both groups believe that coming to Christ is the only way to be absolved of sin. Once you factor in the belief in Christ's payment for sin, it becomes hard, at least for me, not to see Mormons as Christians. One doesn't have to buy in to all their beliefs to respect them as an honestly devout sect who are trying to live wholesome lives.

All that being said, it shouldn't matter one way or the other where a candidate does, or doesn't, go to church. Keep in mind, fifty-one years ago people were equally freaked about Kennedy's Catholicism. Opponents were positive that if Kennedy was elected, the Pope would be running the White House. It didn't happen, largely because JFK recognized the fact that he'd been elected to serve Americans, not just Catholics. What matters are a candidate's character and ideas. With that in mind, there's NO WAY I'D VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT.

According to his own site's "issues" section, at http://www.mittromney.com/issues, if elected he would:

Repeal Obamacare and replace it with market-based reforms (Which means nixing universal health care and letting the insurance industry regulate itself),

Reduce corporate taxes to create jobs (Does anyone in post bail-out America really believe that corporations which receive tax cuts will invest the savings in job creation?),

Reduce spending on government programs (This sounds good unless you depend on such programs to buy food, pay rent, or cover prescription costs)

While his positions on gay marriage and a woman's right to choose aren't listed on his site, for obvious reasons, his stances on those issues are well known and deplorable.

I won't not vote for him, because he's Mormon. I'm going to not vote him, because he's bass ackwards wrong on every conceivable issue. Well, there's that plus the fact the I can't vote in the GOP's primary. Nevertheless, my point still stands. In fact, if conservative voters can look past their religious intolerance during the primaries, I think they'll discover Romney to be kind of narrow thinking candidate they're often eager to embrace.

-