WHY DO PEOPLE WORRY MORE ABOUT ROMNEY'S MORMONISM THAN KENNEDY'S CATHOLICISM?

I really don't see it. I am speaking without bias or favoritism. I have yet to see a strong surge of ANY faith due to the discipleship of the President of the US. I am incredibly curious as to why Evangelicals think that Romney's faith would have ANY implication whatsoever. Did we all become catholic converts after Kennedy became president? I can safely say that we did not. Why would the same occur under Romney?

"Many evangelicals do not want to see Mormonism mainstreamed," said Matthew Wilson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071121/lf_nm/usa_politics_romney_dc;_ylt=AuYOVa4mvkQcn4rXTBKNWWY7Xs8F

let me tell you this, President Hinckley of the LDS faith has NOTHING to do with the Presidential candidacy nor will Romney take or request help from the Mormon President, in order to do his job. If mormonism goes mainstream, which it PROBABLY will not do anyway, it will NOT be due to President Romney at all.

The Church is growing at 5.3% in the South. Not only do many Southern Baptists regard the Mormon church as a cult, they also regard it as a competitor that is winning -- or poaching -- converts from among the evangelical flock.


so WHAT IS A CULT: according to Webster it is as follows:
Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate
1: formal religious veneration : worship
2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents

Well if this religion (AS ALL RELIGIONS ARE CULTS BY DEFINITION) cultivates, cares and adores Christ and brings souls unto the Savior, I have YET to see what the problem is.

Also, if you look at what a cult typically is, Heaven's Gate, FUNDAMENTAL MORMONS (NOT LDS! BUT FLDS), Branch Davidians. These sects are/were SMALL and typically meet in small meetinghouses. The LDS faith has nearly 13 million members who have been baptized worldwide and there are more OUTSIDE the US than within.

13 Million may be a small number in comparison to the Buddhist or Catholic faith standards who have over a Billion members, but 13 Million is roughly the size of Los Angeles proper and more than most cities.

The fact is, the reason that Evangelicals may rest uneasy, may not be due to the Mormon Politician gaining the presidential seat, but that IF there IS an influence, it WILL impact their wallets. The Church of Latter Day Saints does NOT have a paid clergy as most faiths do. Most pastors and reverends are NOT as concerned about whether the LDS (Mormon) faith is a cult or not. It is a GREAT cover story, but the fact is, that if people are leaving their faiths and are paying tithing in the LDS faith, it is money that goes toward the growth of the LDS Church and NOT in anybody's pocket within the Evangelical faiths. Tithing and Offerings within the baskets of the Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical faiths is what keeps them running. Obviously the absence of this money has affected them.

"In America some of its fastest growth has been in Southern Baptist strongholds, notably the South, according to data provided by the Mormon church.

In the United States overall its membership grew by 3.2 percent from 2004 to 2006. But in 13 states of the South its numbers grew over the same period by 5.3 percent.

Evangelical soil can be fertile ground for Mormon growth.

Mormons and Southern Baptists take similar conservative stances on social issues and tend to vote Republican, so their cultural and political outlooks are not really in conflict.

"Some Southern Baptists will live near Mormon communities functioning at their best, where they will see in practice the kind of family-oriented, sober, diligent, and disciplined lives that Southern Baptists preach but do not always display," said Mark Noll of the University of Notre Dame."

We are ALWAYS afraid of that which we do not know. Romney could very well be the best candidate that the Republican party and its constituents let go, once the Primary election comes up and MOST of the reason why Romney may not make it, is due to people NOT knowing him and to some extent fearing his religion. They SIMPLY DO NOT KNOW enough about it. The biggest problem, is their reluctance to LEARN about it. it is a level of, for lack of a better word, ignorance, that people do not mind retaining. People also have a level of comfort in NOT going to the LDS faith to learn about the LDS faith. They don't know THOSE people...so they will go to their pastor or reverend. Well, honestly, this man gets paid by you WEEKLY or monthly...what do YOU think their answer is going to be? If I want to learn about the Lutheran Church, do I go to the Methodist Church to do so? So why do people fear talking to the LDS missionaries who want nothing more than to help people in any way that they can? Because they know that the LDS Church is a high volunteered faith where everyone does their part and everybody depends on one another to do so.

I actually have to think that if people do NOT vote for Romney based SOLELY upon religion, if that is not a form of bigotry. I am NOT saying that if you don't vote for Romney, that you are a bigot. I AM saying that if you cannot separate his religion, from the work that he did in Massachusetts or at the 2002 Olympics, and the ONLY reason you are NOT voting for him is due to his faith, that you know NOTHING about..besides what your OWN church says...well consider the source and re-evaluate what IS true from the horse's mouth.

Bigotry: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/bigot

If this form of discrimination exists; then the LDS Church, which may not be an ethnic or racial group, it IS a LARGE group of people (approximately 5-6 MILLION US members) who are being singled out and will be able to confirm that due to their religion, they can NEVER be elected as a President of the US if their professional ambitions led them that way.

If I choose Giuliani or Clinton or even Obama over Romney, it will have NOTHING to do with religion. I am NOT voting for a pastor or a bishop. I am voting for a Presidential Candidate and I am judging his work SOLELY on what he has done.

"If you are not going to support Republican Mitt Romney for president because you don't think he is the guy to win the war on terror, that is your call. If you are pro-life and you do not buy his abortion conversion story, it's a free country. But if you are not going to support Mitt Romney for president because he is Mormon, or because you think he will not be elected president because he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, say your prayers for America."
-Kathryn Lopez

Do the NE PATS get an asterisk for a perfect season?

I think not...let's consider what the Patriots have done to this point. Don Shula, who was the head coach of the 1972 Miami Dolphins made the comment that, "The Spygate thing has diminished what they've accomplished," Shula told the paper. "You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They've got it."

There is also New England's 21-game win streak over the course of the 2003 and '04 seasons that some Patriots players tried to equate to the Dolphins 17-0 season, which Shula at that point claimed wasn't the same.

The New England Patriots have manhandled every team they have faces with the exception of the Indianapolis Colts who they cam from behind to win last Sunday.

If the New England Patriots were to go 19-0 will Shula go away even though the Patriots have won 5 more games than the 1972 Dolphins did? Or is it just not the same?

I am willing to say that if the Patriots have a 19 game winning streak, a ring resulting from that 19-0 run and they had a 21 game winning streak, then yes it is MUCH MORE impressive than just 14 games...we get 15-1 teams every once in a while, so winning 14 games is good, but it is not rare. Being undefeated with a ring IS rare, but has been done and will be done again, whether it is the Patriots or any other team.

Spygate will NOT keep the Patriots from playing their A game and it will not lessen the need for their opposition to keep them out of the endzone in order to NOT have the score run up on them.