"What if Mitt Romney Were Jewish?"

I love it when someone shows reason and common sense.  In harmony with my previous post, the following are excerpts from a  piece by Jeffrey Goldberg, a columnist for the Bloomberg View and a correspondent for the Atlantic.  It is titled, 

"What if Mitt Romney Were Jewish?" 

One (Romney) spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, has been throwing brushback pitches at reporters who write about Romney’s faith, asking if they would write similar stories about Jews.

“Would you write this sentence in describing the Jewish faith?”she asked, providing an example: “‘Jews believe their prophet Moses was delivered tablets on a mountain top directly from G-d after he appeared to him in a burning bush.’ Of course not, yet you reference a similar story in Mormonism.”

Here’s one sentence: “Outside the spotlight, Mr. Romney can be demonstrative about his faith: belting out hymns (‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’) while horseback riding, fasting on designated days and finding a Mormon congregation to slip into on Sundays, no matter where he is.”

And here’s a Mad Libs version: “Outside the spotlight, Mr. Romney can be demonstrative about his faith: belting out hymns (‘The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Such a Friend!’) while playing mahjong, fasting on Yom Kippur (except for possibly some nuts around 4 p.m.) and finding a shul to slip into on Saturdays.”

So what does the Romney camp find so frightening? In talking to my Mormon friends (some of my best friends are Mormons), the answer is clear. The practices and origin stories of most religions, when viewed by outsiders, all seem fairly strange. 

They point to the issue of “sacred underwear,” the derisive term for undergarments worn by some Mormons to remind themselves of their religious responsibilities. Many find the concept odd, but should they? Is Mormonism really that much stranger than other religions?

I vividly remember learning from a Catholic friend that, each Sunday, his family would attend church to drink the blood of .... and eat his body. Freaky. But is it any freakier than the sight of a bunch of Jews gathering around an 8-day-old boy to watch a man with a beard snip off ...., and then to eat blintzes afterward? Religious Jews, of course, also wear a variation of “sacred underwear” -- traditional garments that date back thousands of years, to the ancient Middle East.

The Mormon tradition dates back less than 200 years, to Palmyra, New York. What Mormons suffer from more than any other major religion is proximity. The foundation stories of Mormonism took place in the age of skeptical journalism, and they took place in the U.S.  Most Christians believe in a Second Coming. Mormons believe the Second Coming will be in Missouri. Many Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended to heaven from Jerusalem on a winged animal, which has the ring of something mystical and transcendent. If Muhammad had departed for heaven from Tenafly, New Jersey, well, that would open up Islam to some level of derision.

Check that: It wouldn’t open up Islam to derision, because some Muslims -- in particular a set of ill-tempered fundamentalists among them -- have made it quite dangerous for anyone to mock their religion. Not so with Mormons. This is something else that causes suffering for the Latter-day Saints: their ineffable niceness. If radical Mormons had initiated acts of terrorism inManhattan, do you think their religion would be held up for mockery each night on Broadway?

Mormons’ equanimity in the face of derision is refreshing, and speaks to the confidence they have in their religion. The Romney camp should also have confidence, and understand that not every reporter asking questions about their man’s religious practices is trying to subvert Romney’s candidacy or his church."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-18/let-mad-lib-test-settle-mormon-campaign-debate.html

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(The highlighted links don't work here in my blog, but you can go to the source and open them there.)  Also, the line highlighted in a bold font is my emphasis.


P.S.  Did you catch the lines about our "ineffable niceness" and "equanimity"?  I heartily agree with Mr. Goldberg.  We ARE nice, for the most part.  Not that niceness is a qualifier for the presidency, but it's a start. And if a religion has the reputation for producing nice people in spite of our perceived oddness, it's doing something right.

Never ending scapegoats

For some reason, President Obama feels that it promotes his campaign for reelection to place blame upon anyone and anything but himself.  Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal, gave a list of Obama's scapegoats in addition to his all-time favorite, the Bush administration. 

"As president, Mr. Obama has attempted to make scapegoats of bankers, bondholders, private-equity firms, insurance companies, energy companies, ATMs, the Chamber of Commerce, the Catholic Church, opponents of illegal immigration, European politicians, Supreme Court justices and even Japanese tsunamis. Next, perhaps, it will be solar flares."  http://online.wsj.com/article/global_view.html

His latest attempt to pass the blame:

"I love it when these guys talk about debt and deficits. I inherited a trillion dollar deficit. ...... It's like somebody goes to a restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, a martini and all that stuff, then just as you're sitting down they leave and accuse you of running up the tab." http://nation.foxnews.com/obama-fundraiser/2012/06/12/obama-gop-bought-big-steak-dinner-martinis-and-stuck-me-bill

I don't know about you, but three and one half years in office isn't exactly what I'd consider "just sitting down".

Contrast that with President Harry Truman, who came into office facing national problems far beyond those with which our current president must deal.   In other words, WWII.  He had a different philosophy, expressed by a simple plaque which sat on his desk.

My peculiarities VS Your peculiarities

My favorite radio talk show host/philosopher is Dennis Prager.  He is a reasonable, conservatism-loving, politically right-leaning Jew.  He is extremely respectful to all callers, even to those who disagree with him.  He has also written a number of best-selling books and his latest, "Still the Best Hope", expounds on America's greatness.  I have listened to him for several years.

One day, several months ago, a caller was voicing some concerns about presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.  The caller, a Christian, was very vocal about his perception of Romney's religion.  Dennis Prager's rarely-heard anger flared.  His words:

"Every religion to an outsider has wackiness." 

I agree.  I can, without a moment's hesitation, see how my religion looks weird to others.  I get that.   I'd be surprised if it didn't!  So I quoted his statement in a Christian-hosted online forum, after which I wrote:  (For clarity, my comments are in blue, the others are in red.)

"I heard this stated by a wise Jewish philosopher. He admitted his own beliefs could be perceived as strange by a non-Jew, and couldn't be proven.

I too, fully agree that my religion appears strange/peculiar to outsiders. Of course! And I can't prove any of it. I accept it on faith and so far, over my lifetime, it has proven - to me - that it works."


Here was the first response. 


"The uniqueness of Mormonism is that it is internally contradictory."  


To which I asked, (with full admission that I let myself get momentarily distracted by the off-topic remark)   "And Christianity isn't?"


Then he said:  "Christianity is not contradictory. I am glad you admit Mormonism looks bizarre and that you separated it from Christianity. Looks like you are beginning to understand that Mormonism isn't Christian."


I responded:  "Of course it (Christianity) is contradictory. Thou shalt not kill. Yet the Israelites were commanded by God to kill all the people of Canaan. Not to mention God taking out millions in the flood. These are my beliefs too and I have defended them! But there are conflicts, particularly in the Old Testament. 

Can't anyone here step back for a moment and be objective?"

Apparently not.

He said:  "If you want to try to attack Christianity or the Bible, take it to the proper forum.

But in the meantime, thank you for demonstrating Mormonism's utter BANKRUPTCY in trying to defend itself, and its need to attack other religions instead (which doesn't defend Mormonism in the least)."

Was I attacking Christianity or the Bible?

I said:  "I am NOT attacking Christianity. I DO believe in the Bible, remember? I'm just able to look at it from another's point of view. I'm NOT asking you to forsake your beliefs. Just for a moment, try seeing it as a non-believer would see it."  

His response, after accusing me of insulting him:  "Why do you continue to ignore the fact that Mormonism is inherently contradictory while Christianity is not?"

Sigh.  I tried again.  "Whether or not Mormonism or Christianity is contradictory is not the point here. Go back to the OP.  (Opening post)  Every religion would seem strange to an outsider.  This includes your religion also."

Then another person added, (in response to my comment about killing in the Old Testament) "Thou shalt not kill" in Hebrew is actually "Thou shalt not murder". Killing in war is not murder, unless you are calling our dear service men and women murderers. Are you suggesting that God is a murderer?"

Me:  "I'm not suggesting such a thing at all. And contradictions isn't the point. 

Do you honestly say that Christianity and its complete acceptance of the miracles of the Bible, including the divinity of Christ, would NOT seem strange to a non-Christian?"

Other person:  "Our point isn't that Mormonism is strange- which it is. It is to show that it is a lie straight from hell, which it also is."

Long story short, this discussion lasted for exactly 105 comments in which I had to constantly herd it back on topic.   Only one person, a Buddhist, ever agreed that his, or any other religion would look weird or odd to an outsider.  NOT ONE other person would agree.   Instead they danced around the subject with one accusation about Mormonism after another.  

So what's my point?  

Simply this:  It is now a reality that there will be a LDS candidate on the ballot.  This will be a first in American history.  (Joseph Smith did announce his candidacy, but due to his murder, I assume his name never made it on the ballot.)  Every president of the United States has been Christian of one type or another, and yet not one non-Christian-American fell apart over it.  We have Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, etc., in this great melting pot that we call home.  And many of these non-Christians have voted for Christians without the worry that if elected, the country would soon be overrun with crazy Protestants.  And why not?  If we examined every miracle of the Bible, none of which is provable by science, any outsider would certainly have reason to wonder.

I mean, consider a large sea .... that parted in two, leaving a dry path for a HUGE mass of people to safely cross.   Where were the scientists who closely observed and provided reasonable data as to how it happened?  Or what about two immortal people eating a piece of fruit, becoming mortal, getting evicted from a garden, and then living for hundreds of years ..... or people returning to life after dying ..... or a man building an ark on dry land and filling it with animals .....   

How can anyone who believes such things be a credible leader of a modern, industrialized nation?  

Therefore, if claims by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seem weird and difficult to swallow, take a look at those beliefs which have been accepted for the most part, by virtually every U.S. president thus far.  

And then consider who's the pot calling the kettle black.

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P.S.  Here is the entire radio conversation.  Warning ... if you listen to it, you WILL become a Prager fan like me.