I want to point out the importance of Evangelical and Mormon cooperation when it comes to politics. During the last couple of months some important things about tolerance and cooperation have been brought to my attention. I now want to share my thoughts on this subject with you.
An instructor of mine always says, "We are more similar than we are disimilar." I believe him. When John F. Kennedy, a catholic, ran for President of the United States, he said,
"I believe in an America... where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all. For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew— or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist... Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you — until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril. Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end; where all men and all churches are treated as equal; where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice; where... Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood."
Unfortunately, America has not yet reached that ideal condition. Now that the Mormon has been driven from the Presidential race, the Evangelical will begin receiving negative pressure (in fact, it's already started). The Wall Street Journal Friday, February 8, 2008 published an article titled Mormons Dismayed By Harsh Spotlight. Having witnessed the misinformation propogated about Mormons, this article surprised me about the findings presented, not about Mormons, but about Evangelicals. While Evangelicals aren't as misunderstood as Mormons, for instance the reputable Reuters News Agency introduced Mitt Romney as a Presidential candidate by writing on the first page, "Devout Mormon and former bishop of the Massachusetts' temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Any knowledgeable person would know that Mormon's don't have bishops in charge of temples, they have temple presidents and Mitt Romney has never been one). Any way the study indicated that Americans with concerns about Evangelicals for President was just slightly below Mormons.
An Evangelical President had 25% with some reservations and 20% who felt very uncomfortable, while the Mormon Presidential candidate had just 4% more with some reservations and only 1% more who felt very uncomfortable. Turns out politically speaking Evangelicals and Mormons have a lot in common.Mitt Romney faced enormous misinformation and often negative pressure because of his religion. This antagonism has come from individuals, the media, and even other churches. On the blogosphere, I have visited many websites and seen the vitriol and hatred lambasting Mormons. A particularly nasty message board has been the MSNBC board under the question, "What do you think of Mitt Romney's candidacy?" The message board was allowed by MSNBC moderators to be used by five trolls that went by the names zadra, susala, Vandals Handle, IIF, and Ed in America. The data from the MSNBC message boards tell the story.
First let's look at the number of posts. Romney's numbers look amazing. Absolutely the most of all the Presidential candidates. Second let's look at the number of views. Again only Hillary Clinton comes close to the number of views that Romney has recieved. Both of these indicators make things look good. But the third point reveals the rest of the story.
In this third graph we see the number of authors. Romney's message board comes in third, yet look at all of those posts. The reason is that the five trolls mentioned above copy and pasted, over and over, anti-Mormon articles that misinformed the public and had nothing to do with Mitt Romney as a candidate. There is ample evidence of this in other places as well.
Now, I again refer back to John F. Kennedy's speech, "Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you...". Freedom of religion is as important today as it was when this country was founded. It will take both Evangelicals and Mormons united in common political purpose to accomplish and guarantee for all faiths the peace and priviledge to worship Almighty God as they see fit. Now that the Mormon has been driven from the Presidential race, the main stream media and others will turn their focus on the Evangelical candidate. America is great because of diversity of thought which leads to the innovation necessary to conquer the problems that we, The People, must face.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Suggested readings:
John F. Kennedy Speech - you can both read the transcript or watch him speak
Article VI blog - Focuses on Article VI of the United States Constitution
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