In a discussion with a reporter, who happens to also be a scholar in comparative religion, Mike Huckabee asked a question regarding the Mormon faith, and their belief in "spiritual children", namely in their understanding of the relationship between Jesus and Lucifer.Hugh Hewitt, in his blind rage, claimed that this was the last straw, and the final phases of the Huckabee campaign. Hugh, as you all may know, is a radio host who has been backing Romney for some time, and even authored a book: Mormon in the White House?
Similar comments from Romney, stating that this question was an attack on his faith, also leave me scratching my head.
Mitt Romney is a Bishop in the LDS church... but no one refers to him as Bishop. He was a Gov. of Massachusetts, and he is referred to as Governor, always has.
Mike Huckabee is a Pastor in the Baptist church... and since day one, it has been his label... even though he served as Governor of Arkansas more than twice as long as Romney was in MA. And as such, questions of religion have been swarming around him.
So, if Huckabee has to answer questions about faith, why is it a problem if someone wants to question what Mormon's believe? Shouldn't the Mormon church answer the question, and provide the correct answer? Do you think that if Romney was in front, these questions would not be asked by the average Joe? I tell you, they are on our minds... but if we dare to look into what the Mormon faith believes, we are labelled as religious bigots, especially by Hugh Hewitt...
This labelling as bigots is nothing more than a fear campaign by Hugh and the Romney supporters...
Why can't I ask the questions:
I am no expert on Hinduism, but don't Hindu's worship cows?
I am no expert on Islam, but don't Muslims believe that Jesus was just
a prophet?
I am no expert on Daoism, but Daoists believe that there is no
God?
I am no expert on Mormons, but don't they believe that Jesus and
Lucifer are brothers?
The answer is that I CAN! And I SHOULD! And any person, including presidential candidates, should be able to explore and try to understand other faiths... in fact, I encourage it.
And the response, instead of "This bigot is attacking my beliefs", should be:
"While the Hindu's don't worship cows, they are considered a
matriarchal figure in the religion, and as such are considered sacred, and they
hold a special place in the Hindu society."
"Muslims do believe that Jesus was a prophet, but it is their belief
that he was God's most beloved messenger, and thus the Messiah. Jesus
holds a special place in the Muslim faith"
"Most traditional Daoists are polytheists, and as such, believe that
many gods play a role in the balance between nature and man. They do not
believe in the Judeo-Christian God, rather focus on a spiritual philosophy of the
Three Jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation, and humility"
"Mormonism teaches that all spirits (angels, devils, mortals, and gods) are
children of God, and are thus his spirit children. As such, in the spirit
world, during the discussion of the creation of earth, Lucifer (a spirit child
of God) proposed that he be sent as the savior/ruler of earth to demand rigid
following of God's teachings. Jesus (another spirit child of God) answered
'thy will be done' and was selected as the savior. Lucifer rebelled
against God, and as such was cursed to be the devil. So in a sense that
God created everything, and we are all his children in spirit, one would
consider Jesus and Lucifer as spirit brothers."
There is a high road and a low road to every action we take. The responses above represent the high road, and further serve to help your fellow man understand that which he claimed to not understand.
So, is asking a question about another's faith bigotry, or can we believe that man is curious by nature, and is genuinely interested in what the other faith's of the world believe?
Or are we seeing politics as usual? Anything and everything you can do to cut down your opponents...
It was un-presidential, and embarrassing to every one that endorsed Mike. It is a common question Baptists teach to slander the Church, as if the devil and Christ share a table for lunch.
ReplyDeleteBy asking the inappropriate question, Huck hoped he could feign ingnorance, but we both know that he knew the answer to the question before he asked it.
What will you say when journalist discover that he has given many sermons on Mormonism during his days as a preacher? Maybe during the 1998 Southern Baptist convention meeting in Salt Lake City that Huck attended.
Integrity matters, and Huck showed he has less than we thought.
Is it slander to pose a question about faith? I have discussed this in my article, but you seem to have not understood.
ReplyDeleteHe is not supposing that Christ and Lucifer share a table for lunch... he is merely asking the question, which is answered on the LDS website. There, it states that "Lucifer, who became Satan, was also a spirit child of Heavenly Father". If Jesus and Lucifer were both spirit children of God, then that would make them brothers?!?
It is not unnatural, when talking to an expert on comparative religion, to ask for some additional clarification.
Regardless of what Huck knew before hand, it is not "Unpresidential" to ask about another's faith, for clarification or otherwise. The believer of that faith should own their faith and provide the answer, not recluse into hiding and start shouting "Bigot! Bigot!"
What is more "unpresidential"?
And if anyone needs my credentials, My entire family on my father's side is Mormon, and I attended Mormon services in my home-town for a few years as a young teen... I have first hand experience with the teachings of the LDS.
ReplyDeleteI do not judge men by their faith, and as such, I encourage men to discuss their faith. Posing a question is hardly bigotry. It is merely part of a discussion that we should all be having, in order to better understand one another.
From what I can tell, in that interview, Mike Huckabee was stuck in a dang if you do dang if you don't. People would have criticized him if he didn't answer also.
ReplyDeleteI am not going to say too much, as not to get in trouble ;). This is just one reason I don't trust Mitt Romney. I would have respect for him if he would just answer about questions regarding the Mormon beliefs. I may not agree with those beliefs, but if he would just say he "believes A, B, C" I wouldn't care that he was Mormon or anything else. When someone is secretive, be it religion or not, I do not trust them on other issues.
You are in full 'spin' mode, so there trying to reason with you.
ReplyDeleteHuckabee LIED about not being familiar with Mormonism, and his keynote address to the 1998 southern baptist convention in salt lake city proves as much.
He was not being innocent to ask that question to a NY TIMES REPORTER while ON THE RECORD.
He was simply being manipulative and he got busted. Time to find a new scam.
After the debate Mike apologized to Mitt. What for? Why was Mitt so offended? All Mike had done was ask someone a legitimate question about Mormon beliefs. What is so wrong with that? Do you think Mike would be offended if he heard that Mitt had asked someone, even somewhat critically, a question about his religious beliefs? Let's say Mitt asked someone, “Don't Baptists believe in the Trinity? How can three people be one?"
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Mike would not be offended. In fact I bet Mike would welcome the opportunity to explain his beliefs to Mitt. Why would Mike not be offended? I'll tell you why. Because truth has nothing to fear from those who question it.
On the other hand, for some reason (you guess the reason) Mormon leaders have built two strong walls to protect their followers from tough questions about Mormonism.
To begin with Mormon leaders claim that their church is “the only true church” and that they have a living Prophet who now speaks directly to them from God. Mormons are taught that it is a serious sin to ever question the truthfulness of “God’s Prophet.” So most Mormons never question the accuracy of anything their church tells them.
Next they are taught that those who do question their church - “anti-Mormons” as they are called - are almost certainly asking their questions only to criticize the Mormon church and to try to destroy a Mormon's faith.
These two protection mechanisms - believing it is wrong to question the teachings of their church - and believing that anyone who questions their faith is almost certainly doing so with bad motives - keep Mormons from ever learning anything other than that which their church wants them to know.
Mitt's father George once sought the Presidency. He had to give up his quest after he admitted to having been "brainwashed" about the Viet Nam war. He found that most voters don't like "brainwashed" presidential candidates. George's son Mitt is now discovering the same thing.
Mike Huckabee and the country would be better off if he used his theology degree and went back to being the pastor of a Baptist church.
ReplyDeleteThe better choice for the POTUS is either Thompson, Romney, or McCain.
the truth and everyone knows it is, that if someone is a baptist or really another religion - No one cares. They will accept his faith and respect him about it and that's that. If it's a MORMON then you have to question and ask questions about the faith we have which must be so much stronger and profound to consistently get so much attention and unnervedness by others - we need to be ready to just explain away why we believe that Jesus is the Christ and he actually lives and will return unlike allllllll you other folks who believe he doesn't even have the godly power enough to have a physical body. What a joke.
ReplyDeleteyou people need to study our faith on your own - no one is chasing Obama and studying his dogma to find out if he's christian enough or whatever to run the country.
If you folks look with a real intent to understand our knowledge of God, and Christ and salvation - you'll find we have the strongest christian testimony and faith of ANY of you. Because we LIVE his teachings EVERY minute of EVERY day - all the time - not on Sunday after our baptist or methodists butts have been drinking in the country bars the night before - no no for our whole entire lives we live as he taught. So ya know what - we are more christian than any of you can even dream about being
so that's the truth so get off our backs and learn just how devout we are the the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It'll make your faith look so wanting.
Just like in a Knight's Tale - You've been observed and found Wanting. yes!
Tiffany Faith Lane LDS mother and strong ass US citizen who knows Christ and loves this nation and my family.