Jesus & the Devil Brothers? I Don’t Care!
I don’t care because I don’t “believe in” either one. This kind of thing is WAY out-of-bounds for a political race. If I can put up with a Christian president, these evangelicals can get over themselves.
TIME Magazine: Huckabee Asks if Mormons Believe Jesus, Devil Are Brothers
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, ”Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
The article, to be published in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn’t know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The authoritative Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992, does not refer to Jesus and Satan as brothers. It speaks of Jesus as the son of God and of Satan as a fallen angel, which is a Biblical account.
A spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Huckabee’s question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.
5 Responses to “Jesus & the Devil Brothers? I Don’t Care!”
Are we trying to elect the best god or the best president?
I’ve heard a few commnets that even many of the Republicans are becoming bothered by all the religion talk.
Since so much else is commercialized, why not be up-to-date with how the GOP field has gotten this week?
It’s the Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey GOP Convention!
The Dems sell to suckers, but it’s the GOP creating a circus lately. Play that calliope!
Holly, in principle I agree with you.
However, what do you think about the effort and time of Congress to pass House Resolution (#847) which would recognize “the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith”…?
How about the Texas legislature spending time and effort to represent and unanimously pass a bill that advances the inclusion of “Under God” for the Texas pledge of allegience?
You know, to the extent that these rediculous religious “tests” are part of a candidate’s “virtues,” I say let ‘em make those accusations and have the questions about their faith made public.
Personally, I use their denial of evolution, advocacy of young-earthism, and general denial of the scientific method and Enlightenment values to help me make my decision with my vote. So I say, let ‘em talk about their faith all they want.
This is what happens when there is no separation of church and state. If you argue for your religion to be made public the way Mitt Romney does, your faith becomes fair game in political arguments. You get these ridiculous questions, like the one Huckabee asked, thrown into the debate, and it just gets ugly.
That was introduced by Steve King of Iowa, one of the worst kooks in the House, so it’s no surprise that one of the silliest resolutions of all time would be conjured by his thick skull.
Of course, the reporter gets it wrong — Mormons do believe that Jesus and Satan were brothers. It’s a sort of good seed/bad seed thing. (The reporter failed to actually read the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, it seems.)
But, the weirder points of Mormon theology isn’t the sort of thing that presidential candidates should comment on.
It’s appropriate to ask a candidate whether his religious beliefs would preclude him from putting the Constitution first in his decisions, or whether they create some lack of respect for America’s legal system. It’s appropriate to ask questions about the sort of values-based legislation she might promote. Beyond that, candidates shouldn’t be spokespersons for their religious beliefs.