Correction appended
WASHINGTON – The evangelical pro-Romney bandwagon recruited some vocal conservative heavyweights this past week, leaving behind only a few leaders willing to counter their peers and press the Mormon issue.
Concerned evangelicals oppose the belief that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s theological differences are less important than his seemingly shared conservative social values. They also emphasize Mormonism, by its own definition, is antithetical to historic orthodox Christianity despite its adherents’ push for association amid Romney’s bid for the White House.
“People have got to understand that the beliefs of the Mormon cult are totally inconsistent with biblical Christianity,” Bill Keller of LivePrayer.com told The Christian Post on Monday.
Keller, arguably the most vocal evangelical opposed to Romney’s quest for the presidency, said he has put in some 20 requests to Romney’s press representatives for the presidential hopeful to appear on his show, “Live Prayer AM with Bill Keller,” but has not received a response.
“If you are a true follower of the Bible and believe what God says, it basically says that those who follow other Gospels – false Gospels and false religions like Mormonism – are going to die, be lost in their sins and go to hell,” said Keller, who describes his LivePrayer.com ministry as the most successful online faith ministry with over 2 million e-mail subscribers.
Keller said he was concerned that having someone like Romney in the “highest visibility, highest power” position in the country would cause non-Christians and unchurched people to search out the Mormon religion.
“In doing so it is going to lead people into these false beliefs and ultimately die in their sins,” Keller warned.
The online evangelist was joined in his concern, though less blatantly, by the influential Rev. Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Cizik, who only briefly met Romney once, refrained from making any direct political statements on the candidate or his Mormon faith. However, he challenged Christians to carefully examine Romney’s Mormon faith and how his religion would influence his decisions in office.
“It is inescapable that one’s religious views, or lack thereof, will shape one’s personal integrity. There is no question about that,” said Cizik.
He pointed out that a lawmaker’s Mormon faith might cause his policy decision to be different than that of an evangelical in the same position.
“Values are shaped by religious beliefs, or lack thereof, and one’s Mormon beliefs would surely in one sense or another shape one’s values, priorities, conviction, etc.,” said Cizik, who serves as the NAE’s vice president for governmental affairs. He pointed out that thus far Romney has not been willing to address the connection between his religious faith and public duty.
Cizik also believes, like Keller and many other Christian leaders, that Mormons are not Christians.
He advised Christians to first make sure Romney clarifies his Mormon religion before they “jump on the Romney bandwagon.”
“That’s just good sense,” added Cizik, who is arguably one of the most powerful leaders in the 30-million-member NAE.
Keller, meanwhile, emphasized that the god of Mormonism is not the God of the Bible and the Jesus of the Bible is different than the Jesus Mormons believe in. Jesus of Mormonism is a created being and not a deity, he is the brother of Lucifer, and will return not to the Mount of Olives as in the Bible but to Independence, Mo., pointed out the ministry leader.
Comments
I have the dubious distinction of being a 17 year resident of the state that yeilded William Jefferson Clinton. Clinton began his presidential campaingn by breaking a promise. Before he ran for president Clinton in order to be realected governor of Arkansas promised Arkansans that if they reelected him he would not seek the White House. We all know what happened after that. Clinton is proven liar and I think that most Americans simply do not realize how deeply Clinton compromised himself and this country with his dishonesty. Despite Arkansas dubious distinction as the "home of Clinton" I think Arkansas has redeemed itself somewhat in Mike Huckabee. To be honest I have never thought much of Huckabee in the past but since I have listened to him speak a great deal more since he entered the race I have to admit that I have changed my view of him considerably. I think that he is the ONLY candidate who has espoused the "ole time" Republican values. He is so far the only candidate to clearly hit upon the federalist anit-federalist struggle that is always at the forefront of American politics whether people speak of it or not. To clarify for those who are unfamiliar with this old argument Huckabee believes that the Federal government should not run and order our lives. States should have the greater authority over domestic affairs and the Feds should simply stay out of it. If a progressive Republican or God forbid Hillary Clinton is elected I am certain that we will continue to see the growth and development of an "all powerful" centralized government that feels free to put its two cents in on nearly every issue. Huckabee actually wants to take us back to what the governement was meant to be by our Founding Fathers. The purpose of the Federal government according to our Founding Fathers was simply to protect us from external threats and to ensure that our rights are protected. Ensureing the domestic tranquility does not and never did mean that the government is there to run our lives. This authoritarian centralized government that we have taxes us to death and makes a complete mess of almost everything that it touches. The best government in my opinion is one that I never see until "it" hits the fan. Lets put the power back with the states were it belongs and thus back with the People. The people who are running our country are sick. They are fat with power and the the search for power has become their sole motivator. Lets take our country back from the politicians and lawyers. The truth of the matter is that it is not actually our country anymore since it is so clear that "they" and not "we" who control it. Lets put these people in their place (prision) and run this country the way it was intended to be run. I think Mike Huckabee truly believes in this. It's not just his platform but the product of his efforts. I think everybody should give this man another look.
As a 25 year-old so-called "Values Voter" from New England, I cannot imagine voting for a do-nothing governor to be a do-nothing president. It was under this man's watch that the Massachusett's court system denied a democratic vote on gay marriage and illegally made marriage law. He allowed courts to legislate laws then, what makes you think it'll be any different in the future? Maybe he is a nice guy, but that's exactly what we don't need, more 'nice' guys without a backbone in authority.
How do we hold our GOP responsible for not pursuing the social conservative values that our political party has stood for? In 2006, the GOP lost the Congressional race because they were more interested in winning than introducing and implementing the values they were elected to pursue. They still don't seem to get it. Now, in the presidential race we have candidates that don't stand for our values. Giuliani is a democrat in GOP clothing, Romney is a flip-flopper that stood for liberal causes as Mass Gov, and McCain is the "maverick" that compromises with the Left on every stance. Each of these candidates now wants you to believe they stand for Conservative values. Thompson says he will not "court" the "religious right" (to me the values voters) and has given support to abortionist firm in the past. Where is the GOP as a party moving toward? Are we for smaller govt, less taxes, conservative social issues? If so, we need to have folks like Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter as the front runners. Hope the primaries shake out someone other than Giuliani or it sets a bad precedence from here on in.
As a 47-year old conservative born-again Christian, husband of the same wife for 15 years, and father of 6 young children, I strongly encourage ALL Christians to be diligent in researching the historical background of each candidate, and, using the internet extensively for this purpose. One thing that I've discovered in doing this is that it becomes blatantly clear that we should NOT take our news from the mainstream (I call them the tabloid) press. We should also be very careful on depending on so-called "Christian" websites. Let me tell you why I say this. I have long followed the American Family Organization (afa.org), and have been appalled by their slanted and mis-informing coverage of this presidential race. They choose to cover the flip-flopping pro-war Romney, Giuliani, and McCain, while ignoring, or mis-reporting on the only true conservative, pro-life, pro-peace, pro-American, and up-and-coming sensation, Congressman and Dr., Ron Paul. Please, before you listen to the media slant on this man's positions, take time to hear them from HIS mouth. He is extremely intelligent, honest, straight-forward, and is telling us what we NEED to hear, not just what we WANT to hear. America is in trouble my friends. Look at our falling dollar - lower than Canada now. We will perish for lack on knowledge. Get on your face and pray, and wake up!
Ok, now for some facts, and web addresses to make your research easier. The internet, one can argue, is really just one big "POLL". The so-called polls that the media uses are small in size, and often times leave Ron Paul out of the poll entirely. Consider...
-Ron Paul has raised more money from both active and retired military personnel than ANY other candidate, including Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton (Source: Houston Chronicle - take from Federal Election Commission donation records).
-www.RonPaul2008.com gets more traffic than ANY other presidential campaign website, even beating out Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (Source: http://hitwise.com/political-data-center/) Note: This company tracks traffic of 25 million people to over 1 million websites and was recently purchased by Experian, the credit company, for $240M dollars).
-Ron Paul is motivating young voters to engage. He's the #1 most-watched, most-subscribed presidential candidate on YOUTUBE, dwarfing all the other candidates. What does he stand for that is motivating such passion in people of ALL ages who check in on him? (Source: www.TechPresident.com)
-Ron Paul has been the most-searched term in the blogosphere now for 5 months running (in the top ten, and the only presidential candidate to have this honor - Source: www.Technorati.com).
-Ron Paul has $5.4 Million dollars in the bank, making John McCain now the 'second-tier' candidate, who has no money, but only debt to show after this most-recent quarter of fundraising. Ron Paul raised 5x more money than Huckabee last quarter, and this quarter has already, in the first 3 weeks, raised more than Huckabee's entire last quarter.
-Ron Paul gets the least debate time, the least media coverage, and is often-times mis-quoted, mis-reported, and generally written off as someone who can't win. Why is his campaign growing and growing and growing? Could it be his record, and his message?
-Andrew Napolitano, the Fox News Commentary and former judge, this past June says of Ron Paul, "Ron Paul is the Thomas Jefferson of our day". Let's not miss a chance to put a man of this caliber in the White House folks. Heaven knows we need him....how about you checking him out now.
www.RonPaul2008.com
www.DailyPaul.com
www.FreeMe.TV
www.IHateRonPaul.com
mer-
You are simply wrong. Christ is not "A" deity. Christ is "THE" deity. The Bible calls him in litteral language "GOD" as in "THE" GOD. There is only One. "ZION" is Jerusalem. The Children of Israel are not lost and never were. They have been with us all along. They are here with us now and they are still fighting the same battles. They were called back to Zion from the far corners of the Earth. The surviving tribes are reassembled and unless you are Jewish YOU ARE NOT among them.
The Office of the President of the United States remains a sacred trust despite the fact that so many presidents and citizens seem to have done their best to damage its honor and to undermine its dignity. The President is supposed to be a person who shares the common mans concerns as though they were his/her own. That person must place the interest of the People ahead of any other concern whether political or otherwise. In order to accomplish this that person absolutely MUST share the beliefs of his or her people. I think that George Washington serves as the shining example of what a President of the United States should be. He was a deeply Christian man who held the reigns of power at his people’s bequest and then when he might have fallen to the corruption of power as so many others throughout history have, he walked away. While we might describe Washington as a great man and the father of our country, he might instead describe himself as the unhappy fellow whose fate it was to be pulled away from the peace he might otherwise have enjoyed. He viewed leadership as an immense burden and he only accepted out of his since of duty. That "duty" was to his neighbors, country, conscience and to God. Though we must know that no man save only One has ever been perfect, we must still insist that our president embody to the highest degree possible all that is good in us and that includes the American Majority's Christian faith for surely their is nothing in us that could be more noble than true faith in Christ.
"Keller, meanwhile, emphasized that the god of Mormonism is not the God of the Bible and the Jesus of the Bible is different than the Jesus Mormons believe in. Jesus of Mormonism is a created being and not a deity, he is the brother of Lucifer, and will return not to the Mount of Olives as in the Bible but to Independence, Mo., pointed out the ministry leader."
Bill Keller should stick with commenting on his own faith.
Mormons believe the Jesus taught in the Bible. Mormons read the Bible to know Jesus Christ. He most certainly is a deity. He will return to the Mount of Olives; this is plainly stated in the Bible. He will also return to Zion which will be located in the American heartland (Independence, Mo).
hmm
Conservative Christian Values Voter:
Are you looking for the right candidate to support?
Please consider this essay:
"Who Was That Masked Man?"
http://truthrealm.com/?q=node/7
amendoza, thank you for the offer, but I think a real conversation between ep and I is probably more likely if neither of us feels any need to play to a wider audience. :)
If we would all just vote for Ron Paul, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/life-and-liberty/
PLEASE VIIEW THIS LINK FOR A COMPLETE EXPLANATION OF MORMONISM...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0d1HbItOo
"CARTOON BANNED BY THE MORMON CHURCH"
I don’t vote for a person because of his/her religious belief, the reason I vote for them is for what I think they can do my country and it people. I didn’t vote for either of the two main party candidates in the last two elections because I didn’t believe he would be good for this country and I think I made the correct choice.
I sure was not going to run out and join the church the president Bush belongs too that is for sure.
I want you to see what Eisenhower belief was when he ran for office. I think you might be surprised when you find out I was that is if the history I read was correct.
The one we have in office now said God talk to him, but he must have forgot the line about not telling the truth and all that. Come on give me a break.
I know there are people out there would vote for a mule if their pastor or one of the big names on TV told them too. That is not what elections are all about you vote for the person who you think will do the best job while in office. Right now in my mind they are all still out to lunch.
ep1433 and FT I enjoy reading your posts and if you would like I would love to host a spot for you to go back and forth on my blog (www.bellybutton88.blogspot.com) as to me not responding to the bigotry I did
here it is once more:
as far as me being a bigot, you can say that if you like but would you vote for a Witch or a Shaman if no then your a bigot as well. I will take the name of bigot when it come to who will reside over my county (for the record I was ignoring your points on relating youself to African-Americans due to the fact that it is totally asinine) as far as what you cannot do, I have no problem with Mormons being teachers and police and other things of the sort due to the fact that especcially in teaching, your religious beliefs are not allowed to be involved (seperation of church and state) but when it comes to becoming the president of the United States there is no way that your religion will not be involed in decisions made.
please consider posting your disscusions on my blog and if you have any Questions email me at renonut2006 (at) gmail dot com