Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Reasons to not Support Mitt Romney: Number 1: Mainstreaming Mormonism


 
by Steve C. Halbrook
(posts in this series: part 1part 2part 3part 4part 5)


1. Supporting Mitt Romney contributes significantly to making the anti-Christian Mormon cult mainstream

With the highest political office in the land comes enormous power and influence. If elected, Mitt Romney will be able to use this power and influence to further the Mormon cause. This can either be done actively (whether overtly or behind the scenes), or passively (via popular influence). 

Indeed, a president's enduring "role model" status alone has more than enough potential to legitimize his religion – not just while he is in office, but throughout succeeding generations.
 
It should go without saying that a nation's acceptance of its ruler is an acceptance of that ruler's religion (which is why nations should only elect qualified Christians). As far gone as this nation is, it still would not accept an atheist or a Satanist in public office, regardless of how mainstream his political platform is. Americans are still to some extent repulsed by these religions; deep down they know that character (which is molded by religion) matters. The so-called dichotomy between a politician's character and his public policy is patently false.

But it is a bad sign indeed that a large number of Americans are willing – or at least considering – voting for Romney. If enough Americans decide to support him and he is elected, then a national stamp of approval has been given to Mormonism. Even though many may not have supported him, the national inhibitions against Mormonism would have been officially removed, with the result being that many of his opponents may find themselves desensitized to the Mormon threat over time.

Of course, even if Romney doesn't win, his supporters could already do enough damage. The following from a recent article in the Wall Street Journal is most disturbing:
Members of Mitt Romney‘s church praised his role in publicizing Mormonism in a positive light as they attended a service with the Republican presidential candidate Sunday.
 
“There has never been as much positive attention to the church, thanks to the wonderful campaign of Mitt Romney and his family,” said J.W. “Bill” Marriott, chairman of hotel chain Marriott International Inc. and a member of a prominent Mormon family said at church in Wolfeboro, N.H., Sunday. “Today we see the church coming out of obscurity.” ... 

“I think he’s a marvelous ambassador of who we are,” said a member of the Archibald family, another prominent Mormon family. ...

Mr. Romney spoke about his faith openly in his 2008 presidential bid, including delivering a speech on Mormonism. But after he failed to secure the nomination that year, he and his campaign advisers opted for a streamlined 2012 message on the economy.

As a result, Mr. Romney rarely spoke about his religion, except to occasionally share stories about his time as a lay pastor. Recently he and his campaign switched gears again, emphasizing his community service and ties to the church at the Republican National Convention.[1]
Christians, then, who support Mitt Romney in any capacity should repent immediately and withdraw support completely. 

It is a package deal; the Romney political campaign is simultaneously a Mormon propaganda machine. To back the former is to back the latter; to support Romney is to oppose Christ. One is either with Christ or against Him.


For the basic beliefs of Mormonism, see Mormonism 101 by Kevin DeYoung

Notes
____________________________

Sara Murray, "Fellow Mormons Praise Romney," The Wall Street Journal (September 2, 2012). Retrieved September 3, 2012.

photo credits: 

Mitt Romney
© Gage Skidmore  / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY -SA 3.0)

Salt Lake City Mormon Temple
© Ricardo 360 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY -SA 2.5)



6 comments:

Christianna Hellwig said...

I certainly agree that Mitt Romney is promoting Mormanism, but there are a lot of other issues to consider. If we do not vote for Romney then we are voting for Obama, who is promoting Islam! which one is worse? As citizens of the United states and as Christians we should be doing out best to purge evil from the land. As Romney is slightly better than Obama, then by working to replace Obama with Romney, we are purging a little of the evil from the land that Obama has let in. There are other candidates but they have no chance, it is one thing to vote for a candidate that has a chance, but to vote for one that has no chance, what evil are we purging from the land by voting for one who can not win and ultimately helping Obama on his road to victory. Right now Obama has the majority. If we do not vote, we take away another vote that could cancel out one of the ones for Obama. It is good to vote for one that has our values but this time we do not have that choice. We have only to vote for the best, who, unfortunately, is Romney

Steve C. Halbrook said...

Hi Christianna,
You are correct that Obama is also a bad candidate. Although I'm not so sure Islam is worse than Mormonism, as the wolf inside the camp is worse than the wolf outside the camp; nevertheless, they are both evil and provoke God's wrath. As for the pragmatic arguments that one has to vote for a lesser evil, I address those thoroughly in this article: http://theonomyresources.blogspot.com/2011/12/no-christians-should-not-vote-for-ron.html

Thanks for your thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Barack Obama is not a Muslim. He is a member of the United Church of Christ. I am flabbergasted that as self-professing Christians you would not want to be accurate in your description of the President's faith. I would direct you to this recent article in Christianity Today on the President's faith. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/juneweb-only/barack-obama-evangelical-in-chief.html

I teach political science at a Christian university and am dismayed that Christians would not be accurate about describing a fellowe believer's faith, whether they support the president's policies or not.

Kathryn Lee

Steve C. Halbrook said...

Yes, I don't think Obama would identify himself as a Muslim. Some might think though that he is a Muslim sympathizer. For whatever it is worth, here is an interesting analysis of Obama's views on Islam
http://townhall.com/video/ex-plo-terrorist-turned-israeli-sympathizer-obama-is-culturally-a-muslim

Although to call Obama a fellow believer is quite a stretch
http://www.calthomas.com/index.php?news=2288

His fruit alone says that he is anti-Christian.

Christianna Hellwig said...

I have actually seen a video of Obama proclaiming that there is one true faith: Islam. I would trust the words I have actually seen fall from his lips, rather than an article written by someone else. Watch this little clip and you will see what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCAffMSWSzY
As for the previous issue, I believe that by voting for the lesser of the two evils is indeed working to purge out the evil from the land. I don't agree with Romney in much, but I do feel he is better than Obama, as Obama is an open supporter or abortion, and Romney is not. Obama is a supporter of the united nations arms treaty and also, Government health care, which Romney is not. Those are three ways in which Romney is better than Obama. And I think that yes we should vote for someone who is qualified, we don't have that choice this time. As Christians and as American citizens, since one of these two is going to be our next president. Should not we try to put the better one into office, instead of sitting passively by while unbelievers rule the voting booths?

Christianna Hellwig said...

Here's another one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-V_ilJu0w&feature=related
Obama openly mocks Scripture.