I have been trying to maintain some sense of objectivity in the political arena, confining myself to informing my church folks how to approach their own decisions from a Christian perspective. Without telling anyone how they should vote, let me give a heads up to my Republican friends: the electability of Mitt Romney is a myth. 2 big reasons:
- In spite of the assurances of national Christian leaders that their flock will unite behind him, there is a sizable subset of evangelicals who will find it very difficult to mark the box next to the name of a Mormon. I know that sounds terribly bigoted, but you should take my word for it. They are not advertising this, because they are Christians and are very nice people. However, based on my personal conversations with church folks, I think easily 20% of evangelical Christians will not vote for Romney. Maybe more important, the ones who will grudgingly vote for him will not actively work for him. That is huge.
- The moment the nomination is locked up, the progressive media machine is going into full attack mode. They will begin to expose the rather bizarre beliefs of Mormonism and raise questions about the judgment of a man who has been a leader in this religious group. Prepare to hear about the undergarment doctrine, the marriage rituals, and the questionable history of the LDS crew. The mainstream outlets will cover the story of the attacks, and will report the oddities of Mormonism while managing to look “objective.” This will have a dramatic impact on those who are currently ignorant of these things. Whereas there was concern in 1960 over Kennedy’s Catholicism, many were comforted by his nominalism: he was a politician first, a Catholic only when convenient. Romney, On the other hand, has been a leader and purveyor of the quirks of Mormonism at home and abroad. Scary stuff.
Do what you will; just bear in mind that a Romney nomination means the Republican Party can count on a big chunk of its base to be no-shows on election day.
Just a thought.
pastorvirgil.com 