Romney will be whatever you want him to be

Recently, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney gave a speech trying to calm fears of the religious right has about his Mormonism.

It’s unfortunate that he should even have had to make the speech.

Many people thought that John Kennedy laid this issue to rest when he ran as the first Roman Catholic presidential candidate. J.F.K.’s words in 1960 are just as pertinent today; “There are the real issues which should decide this campaign. And they are not religious issues--for war and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barriers.”

No one seemed to mind in 2000 when Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, a Jew, ran for his party’s nomination. But Romney wasn’t just have to assuage concerns of fundamentalist Christians who have paranoid suspicions of the Church of Ladder Day Saints. He was trying to sell himself as the best choice of “Conservative-Christian” Evangelicals.

In primary elections candidates try to appeal to their supposed bases. Hillary Clinton wants Democrats to think she is anti-war and pro-middle class, when really she is as pro big business and supported the initial invasion of Iraq as any Republican.

While governor, Romney was pro-choice and pro- gay marriage, and pro-immigrant. Now as a candidate for the Republican party’s political nomination, he’s suddenly pro-life, anti-gay, anti-immigrant. Much to the chagrin of fellow G.O.P. candidate John McCain- Romney also seems to be pro-torture.

I would think that being so progressive in Massachusetts and being a bigger “flip-flopper” than Bill Clinton and John Kerry combined would be reasons for real conservatives not to vote for him.

I consider myself a passionate believer. My faith in Jesus and my relationship with him constitute the core of my being. Be that as it may, the fact that Romney is so shamelessly pandering to the religious right is a bigger reason for me not to vote for him than his Mormonism.

Like it or, the United States is not a theocracy, it is a pluralistic- if not secular democracy. And that is as is should be. Our founding fathers deliberately wanted to avoid the kinds of conflicts that kept Europe mired in perpetual war for centuries.

After Christian Europeans were done killing Muslims in the crusades, they began killing each other. First Eastern Orthodox and Catholic, then Catholic and Protestants, then Protestants took revenge on Catholics and so on. Is it any wonder that atheists so often blame wars on religion?

Those first Pilgrims that came to Massachusetts looking for religious freedom? Were being persecuted by King James- yeah, as in the King James Bible. And while many of those founding fathers may indeed have been “Christians” as fundamentalist right-wingers are so quick to boast, they were also enlightened enough to know that no one denomination or sect should have too much influence lest they might behave very un Christ-like toward all the others.

Maybe when it comes down to it, perhaps our policy on a candidate’s religion should be “don’t ask-don’t tell.”

In the interest of self disclosure, I happen to be a Lutheran. As a child I attended and as an adult I taught in Lutheran schools, but I’ve always believed in the separation of church and state. I believe that when he held up a coin with Caesar’s face on it and told His disciples to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s,” Jesus may have been saying that He does too.

As Kennedy said in his speech over forty years ago, “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”

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WEB EXTRA!
Above was the second version of this column. In the first one, I pointed out my personal concerns about Mormonism and said that from my understanding, it was a religion distinct from Christianity and that Romney is being deceitful by giving people the impression that he's a Christian.

I made it sound like Romney's faith is a reason not to vote for him, but then I end up saying that faith shouldn't be a reason to not vote for someone- which was one of the points he made in his speech. Besides the fact that I should be trying to persuade the entire audience of something, not alienate a large segment of it.

I have no doubt that many Mormons are unaware of their church's deeper doctrines and that they believe in the same true Jesus that Christians do- the LDS church after all, is notorious for it's secrecy, and changing it's official positions for the sake of legal and political expedience.

They taught that minorities were the inferior and damned children of Cain, now they claim to accept people of color. They practiced polygamy and the subjugation of women, but now promote themselves as pro-family.

Of course- The pre-reformation Church perpetrated all kinds of atrocities in Jesus' name, Catholics have the inquisition, Martin Luther was a pretty flagrant anti-Semite, Once the pilgrims got their religious liberty in New England, they proceeded to deny everyone else religious freedom (remember the Salem Witch trials?)... it goes on and on. No World religion or Christian denomination is immune. That's what we Lutherans call "original sin." We're all full of fear and hate.

I guess I still have lots of theological skepticism about Mormonism and trepidations about the possibility of a Mormon President, but that doesn't mean I should recklessly disparage Romney for being Mormon, or every single member of the LDS church.

Will Lutherans and Episcopalians refuse to vote for Mike Huckabee because he’s a Baptist? Or for Rudy Guliani because he’s Catholic? Or for Obama because he’s a member of the United Church of Christ, or for Senators Clinton or Edwards because they’re Methodists?

There's an old joke that goes like this; Guy dies, goes to Heaven, St. Peter gives him a tour. Through one door he hears this wonderful Gospel music, "Who's in there?" he asks, "Oh those are all the AME believers." A ways down the hall he hears shouting "AMENS" and "Hallelujahs!" "In there are the Pentecostals," Peter explains. As they pass another door he smells incense and hear sort of a droning of mumbles and chants. "who's that?" the man asks, "Greek Orthodox," replies Peter. A little further down the hall everything is silent, the man starts to ask St. Peter about it and Peter quickly puts his finger to his lips and whispers- "Shhh- those are the Lutherans, they think they're the only ones up here."

I googled this joke and it turns out that almost every demnomination hads their own version, including Mormons. Point is, we're all capable of tremendous bigotry.

The Lutheran college I attended was Missouri Synod and frankly, there was worse discrimination against kids who belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church than of non Lutherans.

I have to be theologically clear here.

• Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
  
• Orthodox ("orthodox" as in mainstream, not as in Greek Orthodox) Christianity recognizes the Apostle's and Nicean Creeds and does not recognize the Book of Mormon, John warns us in Revelation 22:18-19 "If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."
• But Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that "no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit."
• Romney did say that he believes that "Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of the world." Maybe that's something, of course if what I've been taught in the Lutheran church about Mormonism is true, he also thinks that Lucifer is Jesus' brother and that anyone can become god of their own planet if they're a good enough Mormon...

Guess this is why polite people aren't supposed to talk about sex, politics or religion. No matter what you say, you're bout to offend SOMEONE.

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Want to have some fun? Check out BeliefNet's "God-o-Meter," supposedly it "scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn't guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria."

What Emails Would Jesus Forward?

Recently, I received an Email forward that claimed to be an appeal from radio psychologist Dr. James Dobson asking my help in fighting famous Atheist Madeline Murray O'Hare. The Email claimed that she was responsible for 'Touched By An Angel' being taken off the air, and now she was trying to take all Christian broadcasting off the air.

It turns out this is a hoax. Dr. Dobson has made no such appeal. 'Touched By An Angel' was a successful program that ran for 9 seasons (1994- 2003) and simply ran its course. O'Hare disappeared in 1995. In 2001, authorities in Texas found her remains in a shallow grave.

The Email ended with a "PETITION TO REINSTATE PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS." You're supposed to add your name to the bottom of the list and forward it on to everyone in your address book. The one millionth signer was supposed to Email the whole shebang to President George W. Bush.

The guy doesn't even have Email, he's said he doesn't believe in it. If you were President, would you open any Emails with a Million "Fwd: Fw: Fw: Fw:" in the subject line?

So, who would write these prayers for public schools? Southern Baptists? Methodists? Roman Catholics? Greek Orthodox? Lutheran? These groups are all Christians, yet there are many Evangelical Protestants who do not believe that Coptics, Lutherans and Catholics are true Christians.

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod doesn't recognize 7th Day Adventists as actual Christians because they deny the doctrine of the Trinity taught in the canonical Creeds.
Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are not Christians, although many of them think that they are. What if my child had a Scientologist teacher? Or a Unitarian or a Jew, Hindu, Hare Krishna or Buddhist? Or what about a practitioner of Wicca or some other neo-pagan tradition?

I'm a public school teacher and I don't believe that it's my place to tell my students how to pray, let alone what to believe. If they are Christian, and it's okay with their parents, I would love to encourage, help nurture and mentor their faith. But the time for that is outside of class, not in front of all their classmates during time meant for Journalism, Art or whatever other subject matter. The last line of the Email said this:

"REMEMBER! : Our country was founded on freedom of religion."

Many people these days are proud of the fact that the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth colony for religious freedom. But who were they seeking freedom from? King James I, as in "the King James Bible." Protestants and Christians were killing each other in England in Jesus name for decades. The Puritans weren't exactly known for offering religious freedom to others, heretics, Jews, and of course accused witches certainly weren't.

The Plymouth Company that founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the London Company that founded Jamestown were businesses. America was founded on making money, even if it was Christians who did it.

Please, read Matthew 6:5-7 and rethink your position. Jesus never forces Himself on anyone.

If you want you kids to pray in school, enroll them in a Christian school. May I suggest a few excellent Lutheran Schools- visit http://www.valpo.edu/lutheran/lhsdir/index.htm

The separation of Church and state is the price we pay for our freedom of religion.
I loved the "Touched by an Angel" show, but lets face it, the true religion of America is consumerism. Money makes TV networks turn-round. If your faith in and relationship with Jesus is important to you, turn off your TV and open your Bible. You'll win more souls by being like Him, and near Him than by trying to force a cultural/political agenda on anyone, by TV programming, petitions, prayer in public schools, or Spam Emails.

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." - Thomas Jefferson

Three sides to every issue

This past Christmas season there was a lot of hullabaloo about whether or not it was okay to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” For a couple of years now there has been debate over whether or not the Ten Commandments may be posted in public courtrooms. There is an atheist dad in California who doesn’t want his child to have to recite “under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance in public school. And now people are questioning whether or not the Federal government should provide funds for restoring the Spanish Missions in California because while they represent major historical sites, many are also active Catholic congregations.

So lets see if we can settle this once and for all. Is the United States a “Christian Nation.

The view from the Right: Sure this is a Christian nation. It’s an adjective, a description. By the numbers, the last census recorded that at least 41% of Americans claimed to belong to Christian churches, this is a large plurality. Only 2.2% are Jewish and barely 0.6%- six tenths of a percent are Muslim. According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) conducted in 2001, 77% of Americans call themselves “Christian.” So of course this is a “Christian nation.” What else would you call it?

The Washington Times reported recently that a 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that only 0.5 percent are Buddhist and a scant 0.4 percent are Hindu. Come on, face facts, we’re mostly Christian.

It’s also Christian in it’s heritage. Everyone knows that many of the first Americans fled Europe in search of religious freedom. The Pilgrims wanted the Plymouth colony to be a “city on a hill,” and thousands consider it “the promised land.” And everyone also knows that our laws are based, at least in part on Biblical law, like the Ten Commandments.

And most people know that most of the founding fathers were Christian. The First Amendment provides freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion.

From the Left: No way is this a Christian nation. A 2002 USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that almost half of American adults appear to be “alienated from organized religion.” ALIENATED! The harder we try to force religion on people, the more they feel judged, driven away, and excluded. Only 50% even think of themselves religious- “religious,” not necessarily “Christian.” Maybe 33% consider themselves "spiritual but not religious," whatever that means. And at least 10% say that they’re neither spiritual or religious. You can never make people Christian by an act of Congress. It takes an act of God to do that.

Lets face it, like it or not, this is a secular nation, a pluralistic society. Everyone knows that many of the first Americans fled Europe in search of religious freedom. After the Protestant Reformation European Christians were at war WITH EACH OTHER for over 100 years. The first Americans wanted to be able to live together despite their religious differences. America’s foundation was laid in religious tolerance. The First Amendment guarantees that the government will not establish or promote any one religion of any others as an official religion. We don’t have to pay taxes to churches like they do in other parts of the world. The First Amendment guarantees that we each have the right to practice our own religion without fear of persecution. That’s what free speech is all about.

Most people know that many of the founding fathers were “Deists,” scientific agnostics who were culturally “Christian” but doubted or even denied the divinity of Christ. What’s more, many of them were also members of Masonic temples. I don’t know about Baptists and Methodists, obviously Anglicans/Episcopalians didn’t care, but the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches all strictly prohibit membership in super secret and/or occultist organizations like the Masons. Who knows what Eastern mysticisms and pseudo-philosophical nonsense those founding fathers swallowed hook, line, and sinker.

Christian nation, indeed! The best thing about the founding fathers is that they recognized that they were human and fallible. We shouldn’t turn them into gods by assuming that they were so much more pious than we are today. That’s why they made ours a government of laws, and checks and balances, not of people, parties and churches.

And from the Middle: Well, it all depends on how you look at things. According to the last census, barely 37 % of Americans consider themselves religious. At least 16 % think of themselves as secular.

But more important than that is what do you even call “Christian?” I believe that only God knows what is in our hearts. Of all of the people who sit next to us in Church, how many are hypocrites? How many say that they’re Christian only because that’s all they’ve ever known or because they think it’s the “right thing to do.” How many attend because they think it makes them better than others? How many truly KNOW Jesus Christ in a personal way? How many are willing to make Jesus their “LORD,” and not just their “Savior.” The definition of “Christian” is “little-Christ,” that is imitator of the Anointed Messiah, or follower/disciple of Jesus of Nazareth only begotten Son of Jehovah-God. He was willing to be executed unjustly to save others. Am I? Are all Americans? Is America a single, living, self-aware, sensate being, capable of faith and receiving salvation?

Jesus was born in an occupied territory of the Roman Empire. Sort of a man without a country. The Mormons believe that He visited the Indians in North America after His resurrection. Of course most Mormons consider themselves Christian, but I don’t and neither does the Lutheran Church, of which I am a member.

So is this a Christian nation? Maybe better questions are; Should it be? And if so, how would you suggest making that come about? Two other very interesting questions could be, would Jesus be granted citizenship to the U.S. if He applied for it today? Barefoot, jobless, homeless, long haired, barefoot, itinerate preacher from Palestine. Hmmm. The other one is; If he came today, would America execute Him the same way Rome did? Hmmm.