Mormons and Evangelicals Dialogue

Nice job with this entry today. I'll be looking for more of this....

It is bigotry. We are a nation founded on religious freedom.

It seems OK today to attack Christians and Mormons.

To say Mike is bigotted because he differs from belief is kind of dangerous. Hugh Hughitt says the same thing and says you can verify it by substituting morman with jewish, or christian or what about witchcraft or muslim or globalism, global warmingism?

It is my perogative to base my opinion about a person running for the highest office in America on their religious practices and other belief systems because often that will determine the foundation for actions they take or opinions they express

So if for instance, I say my belief right now differs from yours, who is the bigot? I think you guys just want to broaden what is covered by the definition of bigotry. If having an opinion about somebody else's belief system and basing your decision about electing that person to the presidency using that opinion in the decision making process is bigotry, then I am guilty and I reserve my freedom of thought and expression rights to myself. You can go ahead and relinquish yours without me.

Another subtle strategy I have begun to notice to take a shot at Mormons is to refer to Mormons as a "reclusive" religion (as in secretive cult). Apparently, only evangilical Mormonism is allowed although that is considered undesirable of Christians. You can't win with these guys.

Bigotry is "stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own."

If I seek to make Mormonism illegal, or to drive Mormons out of some geographical area, that is bigotry 0 and patently unChristian. If I believe, for example (and not exhaustively), that the Christ of the Old and New Testaments is the only way to God the Father, that Jesus is God Himself in human form, that Jesus is the one and only Son of God, that no one can have a relationship with God except through Christ (and that only through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone), and that the canon of the Old and New Testaments are the only authoritive Scripture, that is consistent with Christian faith, not intolerance.

I and the vast majority of Christians have no problem with anyone choosing and living out, publicly and privately their faith, (so long as they do not harm others or coerce others to believe) in whatever religion they choose.

How, then is it bigotry for me, as a voter, to prefer a candidate who shares the core of my religious beleiefs? How is it bigotry to alert others to a false proposition being pushed by others that a candidate is Christian when their religion is not Christian?

The real problem is with those who want to portray Romney as being a Christian when he is a Mormon. I would much prefer Romney over any Democrat currently running, and over some of the more liberal Republicans. But, I would prefer a conservative Republican who has not flip-flopped as much as Romney, and who shares my core Christian beliefs.

No one is saying Romney shouldn't run. But it is time to be honest and quit pretending there is no substantial difference between Mormonism and Scriptural Christianity. That's not bigotry - that's common sense.

Bigotry is defined as someone who is intolerant towards those who hold different beliefs than themselves.

To disagree with someone else's theology is obviously not bigotry, but to say that you are less likely to vote for them because of their religion IS.

The crucial difference is that you're not actually disagreeing with one of his values as it pertains towards being a public representative, but rather you would rather not vote for him because he is A MORMON.

If you don't vote for a Catholic because you believe that he will be controlled by the pope, that's not bigotry (It's extremely stupid, but not bigotry). But if you won't vote for him just because he's a Catholic and you believe differently than him, that is bigotry.

And since Mike Gallagher has nothing to say about why he think Mitt's Mormonism would make him less fit for office, he's obviously a bigot.

Bigotry is more than disagreeing with someone. This has been addressed, so I will not rehash. But I will say that religion is a part of who someone is, but it is a valid reason to not vote for someone. We vote for people we like best for office. We have to look at the whole picture.

And as to Cassandra's tiredness of the whole approach to Christians' approach to addressing Mormon's, we cannot forget that gentleness and respect should come from us all. And the differences between Mormon faith and Biblical Christian faith is a big deal. We should not minimize these differences.

As such, it is a big deal when Mormon's claim to be something that they are not. Cassandra tells us to find out from the source what is believed. We should, but so should she. She expects us to go to one of them to find out what they believe. It is a two way street.

I think this is the point of the conferences she describes. See, Mormon's are good people. They typically have good values and the right priorities when it comes to family and country. But they are misled and misleading when they claim to be Christians, just as those who believe in the Bible as the sole source of who Christ is.

We can't minimize this bridge in theology. To do so is not honest to either side.

What elements of Mormonism lines up with Biblical Christianity?

I am curious to see what you know.