Baptists vs. Mormons
Thursday, May 01, 2008 Filed in: Ideas
2008 is shaping up as a political and religious
battle for the White House. Will it be the Baptists
vs. Mormons for Republicans?
If religion is an issue on the Republican side of the Red State vs. Blue State generation, is there a corresponding issue on the Democratic side?
Republicans seem more prone to injecting religion into political campaigns than Democrats. The last time it was an issue for Democrats was back in the 60s with John F. Kennedy and Catholicism. That quickly became a non-issue.
Baptists and Mormons are not Catholics. These are theologies that compete for their place in the sun. Or, the son.
On one side there's the handsome, articulate, wealthy Mitt Romney, devout Mormon and former governor of Massachusetts. On the other side is Mike Huckabee, folksy Southern Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas.
The Southern Baptists decry the Mormons as a cult, Huckabee even asking, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are bothers?" I thought they were both creations of God, therefore, brothers in that sense, much the same as the brotherhood of man, but on a more angelic level.
Most Americans don't know much about Mormonism. Some Mormons are famous. The Osmonds are Mormons. I'm sure there are other famous Mormons. Name two more (not related to Mitt Romney or the Osmond family)
Name a famous American Southern Baptist? That's easier said than done. How does a Southern Baptist differ from a plain old Baptist? Abraham Lincoln was raised a Baptist. Jimmy Carter was a former Southern Baptist and so was Bill Clinton and Al Gore, but not any more.
Maybe the difference is that Southern Baptists are less forgiving than regular Baptists.
Jealousy may play a part in the current political row between Southern Baptists and Mormons. Back in the 1980s, the Southern Baptist Convention found that 40-percent of Mormon converts in 1980 once were Southern Baptists. Uh oh. Religious demise from little trends begin.
Then there's those Mormon temples in Atlanta and Dallas, two Southern Baptist strongholds. It is as if Mormonism was popping up right in the middle of Christendom's leading evangelizers of self righteousness. Ouch.
To defend their sanctity and godly privileges, the Southern Baptists began an all out attack against the cults surrounding their God-ordained territory. The United States. As if leading an army through the gates of Hell, the Southern Baptists held their annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah-- the Mormon Church's world headquarters. Ouch.
Now, two prominent politicians, one Southern Baptist and the other a Mormon, go head to head in a political battle for the nation's highest office.
Baptists vs. Mormons. Believers vs. Believers. God vs. himself?
If religion is an issue on the Republican side of the Red State vs. Blue State generation, is there a corresponding issue on the Democratic side?
Republicans seem more prone to injecting religion into political campaigns than Democrats. The last time it was an issue for Democrats was back in the 60s with John F. Kennedy and Catholicism. That quickly became a non-issue.
Baptists and Mormons are not Catholics. These are theologies that compete for their place in the sun. Or, the son.
On one side there's the handsome, articulate, wealthy Mitt Romney, devout Mormon and former governor of Massachusetts. On the other side is Mike Huckabee, folksy Southern Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas.
The Southern Baptists decry the Mormons as a cult, Huckabee even asking, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are bothers?" I thought they were both creations of God, therefore, brothers in that sense, much the same as the brotherhood of man, but on a more angelic level.
Most Americans don't know much about Mormonism. Some Mormons are famous. The Osmonds are Mormons. I'm sure there are other famous Mormons. Name two more (not related to Mitt Romney or the Osmond family)
Name a famous American Southern Baptist? That's easier said than done. How does a Southern Baptist differ from a plain old Baptist? Abraham Lincoln was raised a Baptist. Jimmy Carter was a former Southern Baptist and so was Bill Clinton and Al Gore, but not any more.
Maybe the difference is that Southern Baptists are less forgiving than regular Baptists.
Jealousy may play a part in the current political row between Southern Baptists and Mormons. Back in the 1980s, the Southern Baptist Convention found that 40-percent of Mormon converts in 1980 once were Southern Baptists. Uh oh. Religious demise from little trends begin.
Then there's those Mormon temples in Atlanta and Dallas, two Southern Baptist strongholds. It is as if Mormonism was popping up right in the middle of Christendom's leading evangelizers of self righteousness. Ouch.
To defend their sanctity and godly privileges, the Southern Baptists began an all out attack against the cults surrounding their God-ordained territory. The United States. As if leading an army through the gates of Hell, the Southern Baptists held their annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah-- the Mormon Church's world headquarters. Ouch.
Now, two prominent politicians, one Southern Baptist and the other a Mormon, go head to head in a political battle for the nation's highest office.
Baptists vs. Mormons. Believers vs. Believers. God vs. himself?
