Mary Mostert
Why would evangelicals vote for Obama over Romney?
By Mary Mostert
The Washington Times' noted yesterday in a article titled "Evangelicals War Against Romney on Ticket" that "Mr. Huckabee's supporters tend to be 'rabid' in their views against Mr. Romney because of his faith: They do not regard Mormonism as a Christian denomination."
How do "rabid" political views towards Mitt Romney relate to being more "Christian" than members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Church Mitt Romney attends? What possible action or policy that Romney or his Church has done or supported would justify "rabid," (which means fanatical, raging or violent) opposition to him and how would such behavior indicate they are more "Christian" and better disciples of Christ than Romney?
Tim LaHaye, an evangelical novelist, was quoted as saying "McCain and Romney would be like oil and water. We aren't against Mormonism, but Romney is not a thoroughgoing evangelical and his flip-flopping on issues is understandable in a liberal state like Massachusetts, but our people won't understand that."
That statement appears to me not only that LaHaye is against Romney's Church but also an insult to the intelligence of evangelicals and a display of ignorance on the part of LaHaye concerning Mitt Romney's record on issues. Romney's views are easily obtainable by reading the issue page on his website. (http://www.mittromney.com/Issues/index) In the same article, the Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor of a large non-denominational church in Thousand Oaks, California was quoted as saying,
"I will vote for McCain unless he does one thing. You know what that is? If he puts Romney on the ticket as veep. It will alienate the entire evangelical community — 62 million self-professing evangelicals in this country, half of them registered to vote, are going to be deeply saddened," Are 62 million Evangelicals somehow too ignorant to do a Google search to find out for themselves how Romney and his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stand on issues that are important to them such as abortion, illegal immigration or same-sex "marriage"?
The LDS church doctrine on abortion (http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=bbd508f54922d010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&index=1&sourceId=63c139b439c98010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____ ) is simple and straightforward. It states: "Human life is a sacred gift from God. Elective abortion for personal or social convenience is contrary to the will and the commandments of God. Church members who submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for such abortions may lose their membership in the Church." Do Evangelicals lose membership in their church for submitting to, performing, encouraging, paying for or arranging abortions?
As stated on his website, Mitt Romney's position on abortion (http://www.mittromney.com/american-culture) is "I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate." (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, Op-Ed, 7/26/05) On illegal immigration, which incidentally approximately doubled annually in the first administration of Bill Clinton and then doubled again in his second administration, Mitt Romney states on his website, "The current system puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory biometrically-enabled and tamperproof documentation and employment-verification system, and increase legal immigration into America."
On the third issue, same-sex marriage, Mitt Romney states on his website: "The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck a blow against the family, as I'm sure you know. The court forgot that [traditional] marriage is first and foremost about nurturing and developing children. Its ruling meant that our society is supposed to be indifferent about whether children have a mother and a father." (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, 3/2/05) I believe that every evangelical I know, including those in my family, have opinions on those social issues that are pretty much the same as Mitt Romney's. Yet, according to La Haye and McCoy, evangelicals should vote against a McCain-Romney ticket, thereby paving the way for an Obama presidency.
How would having Obama in the White house affect these three issues that most evangelicals are concerned about? Obama favors ALL forms of abortion, including partial birth abortion, a procedure in which the abortionist turns the baby so it is delivered feet first and before the child's head is delivered and takes its first breath drills a hole in his or her skull and sucks out the brain. That prevents the baby from taking its first breath, thereby thwarting the unborn child's "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" which had been endowed by his or her Creator, according to the Declaration of Independence.
While it is difficult to figure out, from what he says, exactly what Obama's position on illegal immigrants is, in a speech on the subject he said: "It behooves us to remember (http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060405-immigration_ref/) that not every single immigrant who came into the United States through Ellis Island had proper documentation. Not every one of our grandparents or great-grandparents would have necessarily qualified for legal immigration."
Actually, since both Obama's father and grandfather were polygamists, they could not, under US law, become American citizens anyway. Barack, Sr. married five women, two of them Americans including Barack Jr.'s mother, Kansas raised Stanley Ann Dunham, while still married to his first wife in Kenya who bore four of his eight children, before and after his years in US colleges.
© Mary Mostert
The Washington Times' noted yesterday in a article titled "Evangelicals War Against Romney on Ticket" that "Mr. Huckabee's supporters tend to be 'rabid' in their views against Mr. Romney because of his faith: They do not regard Mormonism as a Christian denomination."
How do "rabid" political views towards Mitt Romney relate to being more "Christian" than members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Church Mitt Romney attends? What possible action or policy that Romney or his Church has done or supported would justify "rabid," (which means fanatical, raging or violent) opposition to him and how would such behavior indicate they are more "Christian" and better disciples of Christ than Romney?
Tim LaHaye, an evangelical novelist, was quoted as saying "McCain and Romney would be like oil and water. We aren't against Mormonism, but Romney is not a thoroughgoing evangelical and his flip-flopping on issues is understandable in a liberal state like Massachusetts, but our people won't understand that."
That statement appears to me not only that LaHaye is against Romney's Church but also an insult to the intelligence of evangelicals and a display of ignorance on the part of LaHaye concerning Mitt Romney's record on issues. Romney's views are easily obtainable by reading the issue page on his website. (http://www.mittromney.com/Issues/index) In the same article, the Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor of a large non-denominational church in Thousand Oaks, California was quoted as saying,
"I will vote for McCain unless he does one thing. You know what that is? If he puts Romney on the ticket as veep. It will alienate the entire evangelical community — 62 million self-professing evangelicals in this country, half of them registered to vote, are going to be deeply saddened," Are 62 million Evangelicals somehow too ignorant to do a Google search to find out for themselves how Romney and his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stand on issues that are important to them such as abortion, illegal immigration or same-sex "marriage"?
The LDS church doctrine on abortion (http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=
As stated on his website, Mitt Romney's position on abortion (http://www.mittromney.com/american-culture) is "I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate." (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, Op-Ed, 7/26/05) On illegal immigration, which incidentally approximately doubled annually in the first administration of Bill Clinton and then doubled again in his second administration, Mitt Romney states on his website, "The current system puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory biometrically-enabled and tamperproof documentation and employment-verification system, and increase legal immigration into America."
On the third issue, same-sex marriage, Mitt Romney states on his website: "The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck a blow against the family, as I'm sure you know. The court forgot that [traditional] marriage is first and foremost about nurturing and developing children. Its ruling meant that our society is supposed to be indifferent about whether children have a mother and a father." (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, 3/2/05) I believe that every evangelical I know, including those in my family, have opinions on those social issues that are pretty much the same as Mitt Romney's. Yet, according to La Haye and McCoy, evangelicals should vote against a McCain-Romney ticket, thereby paving the way for an Obama presidency.
How would having Obama in the White house affect these three issues that most evangelicals are concerned about? Obama favors ALL forms of abortion, including partial birth abortion, a procedure in which the abortionist turns the baby so it is delivered feet first and before the child's head is delivered and takes its first breath drills a hole in his or her skull and sucks out the brain. That prevents the baby from taking its first breath, thereby thwarting the unborn child's "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" which had been endowed by his or her Creator, according to the Declaration of Independence.
While it is difficult to figure out, from what he says, exactly what Obama's position on illegal immigrants is, in a speech on the subject he said: "It behooves us to remember (http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060405-immigration_ref/) that not every single immigrant who came into the United States through Ellis Island had proper documentation. Not every one of our grandparents or great-grandparents would have necessarily qualified for legal immigration."
Actually, since both Obama's father and grandfather were polygamists, they could not, under US law, become American citizens anyway. Barack, Sr. married five women, two of them Americans including Barack Jr.'s mother, Kansas raised Stanley Ann Dunham, while still married to his first wife in Kenya who bore four of his eight children, before and after his years in US colleges.
© Mary Mostert
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
