If you missed it, I said: "Pulling the faith card and calling oneself a pastor, admitting cult leadership of a pretty demonic sect wasn't so wise methinks"
What was strange to me was some of the evangelical response. Some going as far to the question of "is it really a cult" or "how dare you call it a cult, I call you a cult leader" kind of stuff. Some strong evangelicals like Billy and Franklin Graham have reversed their thoughts on Mormonism after one meeting with Romney (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/16/billy-grahams-group-removes-mormon-cult-reference-from-website-after-romney-meeting/?hpt=hp_t2).
In 2008 I was told as a second time voter to vote for the Faith. I openly shared: I voted for Bush in 2004 but I think I'm leaning towards Obama in 2008 and my faith, as a Pastor was legitimately called into question on more than one occasion.
"OK", I thought "faith plays the pivotal role in the mainstream evangelical society and how I choose a candidate". Only to find a schizophrenic change in 2012. Now faith must be divorced from politics and the morals and values that a candidate stands on are the pivotal pieces for choice.
I confess myself confused, utterly lost for words at some of the hypocritical shift I've seen with this. I purposefully stayed pretty quiet (except for one post awhile back) and purposefully shut myself away from the political jargon only to find myself back in a fray of chaos.
I think as evangelicals we can agree that neither candidate is the best pick for us (Does anyone else miss Bob Dole?). The question we really need to wrestle with is: can our faith honestly be divorced from our political life?
I think in many respects there are places where it should be but CAN it?
Sanctity of life- a faith issue for many
Sanctity of marriage- a faith issue for many
Taking care of the poor- a faith issue for many
War- a faith issue for many
Death penalty- a faith issue for many
Gun control- a faith issue for many
Most of our "hot button" items we back up with the justification of our faith and say these are our "moral standards based off of my interpretation of my beliefs".
I am not saying backing these issues with our faith is wrong. They are all IMPORTANT topics to consider. How can we then say that simply because a candidate is on board with our moral issues, yet is a cult leader it's all OK?
I never meant to incite a "riot" with my statement, I really think we as evangelicals need to think through the implications. Let's look at two of these issues with both candidates.
Sanctity of Life-
Obama = Pro Choice
Romney = Pro Choice UNTIL he began his run 2 years ago or so, now he's Pro Life
Sanctity of Marriage-
Obama = promotes the GLBT agenda for Gay marriage
Romney = Currently* opposes the GLBT agenda for Gay marriage
* I say currently because I sense a deep deception. He is a Mormon and despite people's statements that only "fundamental Mormons" promote polygamy, Polygamy is a GIANT piece of ALL Mormon undertones. It was a cornerstone of Joseph Smith's teachings because they would then populate their heaven (their own planet) with their loins and their wive(S) would help them populate it by eternal birth. The more wives, the better the population. IF Romney is so dedicated to the Mormon faith, I guarantee this will be brought up in his 4 years in office and he will probably have to "let other things happen" in order to get it approved (because it still is a Mormon belief and not just by the fundamentals...look at Sister Wives...they're not fundamentals!). This was one of McCain's biggest fights against Obama and Romney doesn't use it hardly ever (if at all), why? I think he's afraid to go there about "Sanctity of marriage" questions!
I can belabor the point but I don't want to. With this post, I'm not endorsing Obama, nor am I endorsing Romney, I'm simply trying to get a deeper conversation going that no one seems to want to have. Does it matter that Romney is a Mormon? If so, why? If not, why not? Would it matter if he were Muslim? If so, why? If not, why not?
In my opinion, we seem to be hanging our hats way too much on the moralism of it all and simply letting go things that would have frustrated us even just 4 years ago.
I wish Bob Dole were running...I stinking loved that guy!
Pray, seek, ask hard questions. Don't just go with your first instinct. I know I'm wrestling alongside of you. This election for me is unclear, hard to see and very hard to choose between. Some people would say: "Just choose the lesser of two evils" which is a nice statement...but which one is lesser in this situation? Not such and easy answer!
