Mormon candidates would test Bible Belt voters' political faith

[rug]

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Under the conventional wisdom about Southern Baptists -- a group that has in the past condemned Mormonism as a cult and its followers as non-Christian -- devout Baptist Rex Rish should quickly dismiss the idea of voting for a Mormon for president.

Except that he doesn't.

"If they can fix this country, I'd vote for someone with purple polka dots," says Rish, after a recent Sunday service at the historic First Baptist Church here.

Since their founding in 1830, Latter-day Saints have faced critics who say the religion doesn't fit within the Christian fold. And nowhere in the United States is that concern as palpable as deep in the Bible Belt of the South, where Baptist and Protestant faiths are woven into the community fabric.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/may/24/baptist-devout-cult-non-christian/

[ZombieHorde]

1. I often fear Evangelicals would vote for a Mormon Republican.

Romney could talk about Jesus using the language of Evangelicals and win them over. Or maybe not.

I admit I don't live around Evangelicals, so I don't understand their way of thinking as well as many of my fellow DUers.

eta: Wow, I recommended a rug OP in R/T. Maybe it's a sign of the apocalypse, and the rapture actually is coming. :D

[Rowdyboy]

2. I firmly believe MANY southern right wingers will stay home before voting for a Mormon....

I don't understand (or care about) the details but apparently Mormons and Baptists hold quite different views about Jesus and his role in religion.

Anything that drives a wedge in their cult (the Republican party) is fine in my book. The fact that both Romney and Huntsman are Mormon makes it even better.

[spin]

4. Some conservative Christians I know call Mormonism a cult ...

and believe all Mormons are headed to hell.

The hatred they have for the Mormon faith amazed me.

[laconicsax]

5. I know liberal Christians who believe that.

It isn't just a conservative thing.

[CBGLuthier]

15. By all definitions it is a cult.

The word may carry certain connotations but it also has an exact meaning.

[OmahaBlueDog]

3. As I recall, fundie leaders embraced the 2008 Romney candidacy

It was rank and file membership that refused to support him.

[sharesunited]

6. After Huckabee dropped out you mean?

[struggle4progress]

7. Maybe bigotry in the US is disappearing fast enough to allow election of a Mormon president

The fundy religious conservatives, of course, will never spring for a Mormon, but it would be all to the good if their power were broken anyway

Our attack on Romney really should go along other lines

I personally don't think the Rs will ever get very excited about him

[LAGC]

9. I kind of doubt it.

The only way I see Romney or Huntsman even winning the Republican nomination is if the fundie vote gets split between some of the more socially conservative candidates, allowing a more "moderate" Mormon candidate to capture the rest of the (economic) conservative vote.

Even then, as you said, its going to be tough to get the fundie evangelicals to turn out for them in the general election.

I don't see any math currently that adds up to Obama not easily being re-elected.

The economy would really have to tank between now and next November for the 2012 presidential race to even be competitive...

[dimbear]

12. That's an interesting characterization of the influence of religion.

I admit I would be very unlikely to vote for a Mormon, but that's probably because I've lived among them for years and have studied Mormonism quite deeply.

It raises the question we all should ask: are there some religions you wouldn't quite be able to pull the lever for? For instance, Thuggee (worshippers of Kali and famous assassins) or the like? Sufi? Santa Muerte? Voodoo.?

If so would that be.......bigotry?

[TlalocW]

8. The Jerry Falwells (the ones that are still alive, of course) of the world

Will line up behind Romney (if he's the GOP nominee), but their followers - from the schelps that watch the 700 Club to the preacher of some small Baptist church in some backwater in Mississippi will have a harder time doing a 180 after being told by the big names that Mormonism is a cult, all of them are going to Hell, etc. Not that some won't turn and vote while holding their noses, but I think a Romney candidacy will keep some home as well.

TlalocW

[dimbear]

10. In most cases, a Mormon is the lesser of two 'evils' since the

alternative is a 'known' muslin.

However, I do look forward to a rollicking good time if a Mormon gets the nod. Mormonism is going to get the lights turned up like never before, which has got to be to the good. It would be extremely amusing to know just what the Council of Seventy really wants to see happen. Do they want all those candlepower?

[no_hypocrisy]

11. In 1960, Catholicism was similarly thought of as a cult.

But then again, JFK was a democrat and wasn't facing conservative voters.

[Goblinmonger]

14. The problem people had in the 60s with a Catholic president

were that they feared the Pope would have too much control over the country.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Within (what passes for) some fanatics' mind, political radicalism trumps religious radicalism.

And for some other fanatics, it's the other way around.

[a2liberal]

16. Wow, I took something completely different from that subject line

before I clicked through. I thought they were trying to put a "faith test" on voters, only allowing people of faith to vote...

[iris27]

17. When they put a temple in here, my grandfather repeatedly referred to the statuette of Moroni they

put on the spire as "that angel Boloney". In my Missouri Synod Lutheran schooling, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses both were disdained as "wacko cults that like to claim they're Christian". So, yeah, I doubt any of those folks would pull the lever for anyone who didn't at least give lip service to either mainstream or evangelical Christianity.