Patters

Romney is certainly right that those anti-Mormon phone calls are unAmerican, but where was he in the 1970s when the Mormon Church did not admit black people into their ranks? The answer is he was out proselytizing (white people, of course) and left it to other Mormons to fight the racist doctrine. His indignance about these phone calls exposes not only his hypocrisy, but his selfishness as well.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...lls-repulsive/

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called reports of anti-Mormon phone calls made to voters in New Hampshire "un-American" Friday, shortly after his campaign said it has formally asked the state's attorney general to investigate the matter.

"I've seen over the last few weeks more and more reports of e-mails, of literature being passed out, and now push polls which attack me on the basis of religion and I think that's very, very disappointing and un-American," Romney said while campaigning in Nevada.

According to the Associated Press, potential voters in both New Hampshire and Iowa have received anonymous phone calls designed to spread a negative image of the former Massachusetts governor.

Specifically, the calls raise questions about his Mormon faith, and the deferments he received from the Vietnam War because he was doing missionary work in France.

Fogbuster

There *are* black Mormons, plenty of them, and have been for decades. They are still a small minority -- but look for a black in an Irish Catholic Church in Southie or in Revere.

This is a red herring issue. So Romney drew France as his mission country -- it's not like he necessarily got what he wanted; the missions are usually assigned, not chosen.

Back in the Vietnam era, in the 60s, I remember Louise Day Hicks marching and protesting against "busing" students from Roxbury to schools in South Boston, Revere, and Chelsea. It was a different era back then, as everyone knows. Romney didn't invent racism, but people today *are* trying to make his faith an issue, something that Democrats from Massachusetts should be sensitive about since Catholic John Kennedy ran for the presidency.

You are blaming the victim here, Patters.





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Patters

I'm not blaming him. I agree with him. It's very wrong for the Republican Party to use religious bigotry against Romney. All bigotry is wrong, but selfish people only appreciate that if the bigotry affects them. They fail to learn the bigger lesson. (As far as Kennedy goes, it was the Democrats who chose a Catholic and Nixon attacked him by regularly bringing up his Catholicism.)

In the 1970s, there were some black Mormons, but they mostly belonged to an independent Mormon church. The main Mormon church excluded them from the priesthood, which basically meant they were excluded from the tabernacle. Apparently, every good Mormon enters the priesthood. While some Mormons were fighting to change the church, Romney was not. That's wrong, and it's quite sad that you're apparently trying to defend him on this.

Fogbuster

Come on, Patters, this is what you said:

"...but where was he in the 1970s when the Mormon Church did not admit black people into their ranks? The answer is he was out proselytizing (white people, of course) and left it to other Mormons to fight the racist doctrine. His indignance about these phone calls exposes not only his hypocrisy, but his selfishness as well."

If that is not blaming (accusing, tarring and feathering, dumping) on the guy, I don't what is. Romney is a very decent guy, a family man who has devoted a lot of his life in public service when he could be living a very high and selfish life as a wealthy private businessman.

And it certainly is NOT the "Republican Party" who is doing the smear campaign against him; it is a few religiously intolerant, narrow-minded individuals insecure in their own faith who are doing it.

And you are darn right I am defending him, but not for the straw man reasons you try to throw up. I defend him from the transparent attacks on him from religiously intolerant -- even religiously bigoted -- individuals.



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DarrylS

You do not know any of this, most of what is portrayed about Mitt is done by well scripted folks who want to portray his wholesome image. We never know what happens behind closed doors. With your line of reasoning, Ted Kennedy has devoted his whole life to public service when he could be living a very high and selfish life as a wealthy private business man.

You do not know for certain it is not the Republican Party or some faction of it, it is less to do about religious intolerance and more to do about politics and preying on people's fears.

__________________
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Patters

No, I'm using it to make a point about Romney's selfishness and hypocrisy, but I said that, "Romney is certainly right that those anti-Mormon phone calls are unAmerican"

I agree with that, though think his motivations (as for all candidates) also include fame, power, and being part of history. Plus, I think for Mormons that success, including material success, reflects on the quality of their ancestors. That's why genealogy is so important in the Mormon Church.

Well, this links phone calls to either McCain or Giuliani:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonath...e_in_Iowa.html

Plus, I agree with you there are narrow-minded religious people of faith who have smeared him, mostly religious conservatives who seem to learn no big lessons from prejudice. I once knew a guy who was thrown out of his home as teenager for being gay. His father was a Penecostal minister. A few years later, his mother said to him, "I can accept that you're gay as long as you're never with a black man!" That's as ignorant as the Mormon Church and its members were up until the mid-70s. Romney showed no courage at an age when young people were bravely going to war, protesting the war, fighting for civil rights, or fighting for equality for women. Romney played it safe.

No, you're defending him because you're looking for another father figure. You can't have Romney flawed. You can't have people criticize Romney for failing to take a stand on blacks in the Mormon Church when he was a young man.

As I've said, I would not hesitate to vote for a liberal Mormon, and I think that is true of 99% of liberals. As the Democratic candidates show, they really don't care about one's ethnicity, race, gender, or religion. What evidence do you have that the Republican Party feels the same way at the Presidential level?

Harry Boy

Try trashing Muslims & Allah the same way the "Bigot Bastards" trash the Mormans and the Left Wing Liberal Society would start a Civil War, Liberals and Democrats would be setting themsleve on fire all across the country.

My favorite subject, "the old double standard again".

__________________
Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

Fogbuster

So, bottom line, you filter all candidates through your lens of "liberalism", which to you means: allowing your views on human relations to have equal standing with the views (and actions) that actually produce life, and which have ALWAYS produced life, and this is where you fail. Anything that does not harmonize and synchronize with the cosmos is unfit to exist in the cosmos, and will be dropped. It is non-sustainable because it does not contribute anything to the whole. Universal law.


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__________________
"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

QuiGon

Well, it's just his usual M.O. of race-baiting... Romeny went to France, so he must be racist..!!

Of course, being an ex-Klansman is perfectly OK if you have that (d) after your name....

wistahpatsfan

Where does that come from, and what does it have to do with Mormonism? What is the source of your knowledge of cosmic balance and harmony?
Or are you just making up more crap so you can bridge to interjecting more of your wierd fascination with sex into the conversation?