Last night Mitt Romney gave a speech in front of a crowd of several hundred and a television audience of millions. I was not able to hear the speech in it's entirety, however I did hear excerpts of it this morning during my workout.
As I was exercising, I heard him say that he believed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Savior of man kind. That got my attention, and so I started listening. I thought he was doing pretty good until I heard a statement toward the end that threw up a flag for me. He said, and I quote, "Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the almighty, has a friend and ally in me," he said. "And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion -- rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith."
Sounds good doesn't it? Something doesn't sit well with me about this statement, and it's this line, "we do not insist on a single strain of religion -- rather, we welcome our nations symphony of faith." Are we back in the 70's again?? Peace, Love..........
Some would have thought Jesus to be narrow minded when He said "I am the way the truth and the life, and NO MAN comes unto the Father but through me." Symphony of faith?? Mitt, you disappoint me. We can't have it both ways my friends. Either we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that salvation is found in no other, as Acts 4:12 states, or we believe that as long as you have "religion" and live a moral life, we are all brothers and sisters destined for eternity in heaven.
I sat at work this afternoon and listened to AM talk show hosts gush and applaud and praise Mitt and his comments, and the whole time I just shook my head. I will be the first to admit that I am not the smartest when it comes to politics and I'm a novice when it comes to scriptural interpretation, however I believe that there is One God, One Christ Jesus, One Holy Spirit, and One way to heaven, and that we can all too often make a horrible horrible mess out of the truth.
I pray that as a "nation under God", we will build firm foundations of biblical understanding. And upon those firm foundations on which we stand, we will stand with unwavering faith and hope that the truth of God's word will always prevail.
4 comments:
I didn't see/hear the speech, and I've not heard a whole lot about it. I am hearing more about the role of religion in politics, especially now that Huckabee is rising in the polls.
Without knowing more of the context of his speech, my guess is that he is referring to the freedom of religion element in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. When America was founded, one of the foundational elements was freedom to worship according to ones conscience. This means that no one can be judged according to their religious beliefs, especially when it came to political involvement. In England there was a close connection between religious affiliation and political involvement, much to the detriment of liberty in the eyes of the Founding Fathers.
I'm assuming that Romney is drawing upon that heritage to encourage voters to not hold his religious beliefs against him - especially those who believe different than him. For those that are religious, he is hoping for support in that he is true to his religion, even if it is a different religion than yours.
I don't know what to think of Romney; I don't want to be prejudiced against him because he is Mormon. I believe that the Mormon faith deviates from the true gospel, but many Mormons are good people - so that doesn't mean that our religious differences need to interfere with our civil responsibilities.
What do you think about government officials making a particular brand of Christianity more "official"? Should Huckabee be favored because he is an evangelical Christian with similar views on the Bible as you and I?
I'm not sure what to think.
I agree that he was drawing off of the freedom of religion element, and it also resembled President Kennedy’s speech. Kennedy took the same approach since he was the countries first Catholic president. My fundamental point is that he, along with many others in today’s society think that as long as you believe there is a God and you’re a good person then you’re good and will make it to heaven. This thought process completely removes Christ from the picture and that is what I was getting at.
Do I think that Huckabee should be favored over Romney just because he holds the same biblical views as I do??? That is a hard question, yes I would rather someone with my same views be in office, but would that be best for the country as a whole?? That’s a different question. I believe that the one best suited for the job should be elected. But only in a perfect world would we be able to pick some one based on their ability to lead the country well. But in the real world we elect a candidate based on what they tell us their values are and what they say they can do for the country. If we are fortunate enough to have elected a president that can lead this country well and one with the same moral values, then that is a bonus.
I do however have to say that when a presidential candidate (not speaking of anyone in particular) stands on the podium and runs on a pro choice platform or something that goes against my moral and religious beliefs, than most likely that candidate will not get my vote. So in a way it does come down to what beliefs we hold that are similar
I am not prejudiced against Romney, I do however, have problems with the mind set that all faith is acceptable, and that is what I heard him say. If we accept that statement, we belittle God and His authority, and the righteousness of Christ. I hope you understand where I am coming from, and maybe I picked up something and made it bigger than it was. I just hate to think that we would accept such a remark and deem it “OK”
A final thought, I too believe that we have a civil responsibility because we live here under the governing authority of the United States of America, and it is an honor to live in a country where we get the chance to let our voice be heard. Until this year, I have never followed an election so closely, but it is because I believe that our moral future as a God fearing nation is at stake. Never before have so many attacks on religious beliefs and practices been unleashed on a “nation under God”, and I believe it is also our spiritual duty to stand up for those things that are right.
I see what you are getting at.
It does seem that he is trying to play both sides of the fence. In one sentence he acknowledges his strong faith, but in the next sentence he seems to say that all faiths are valid. It's hard to have it both ways.
However, politically speaking, I'm not sure what else he could say. The USA does welcome all faiths, with no prejudice - as long as they promote the civil and social good. However, it's another thing for a politician to take another step and say that all religions are basically saying the same thing. That would be heresy.
To welcome all religions is the duty of a government, but it is not the government's duty to tell the people that all religions basically worship the same God, which is kind of what Romney was hinting at. Theologically and Biblically, that is not accurate.
I'd prefer my candidate to be able to work with people from many different denominations and religions and at the same time stand by his convictions in humility and steadfastness. One can think a Muslim or Mormon is wrong without being meanspirited. One can still work with them to make a better community without believing in the same God.
But in the spirit of working together, we don't have to water down what we believe and say that we all believe in the same God. We don't, and our community would probably be stronger by speaking the truth in love than tolerating half-truths in fear.
Truth….. that is what I am getting at and wanting to speak it in love. Politics aside, we both know what the truth is and good person or not, Muslim, Mormon or Christian, the truth is what will make the difference for eternity, because the truth never changes nor does it blur the lines.
I almost feel like we had coffee
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