Larry O'Donnell on Mormons and Mitt Romney

I haven't had a chance to write down any thoughts on Mitt Romney's speech, but here's what one pundit thought:

Mitt Romney's Mormon Speech

Titled, "Faith in America", here is presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's speech from this morning.

Transcript

Video

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

The War on Religion

What do the following men have in common?

Jim Quigley, CEO Deloitte and Touche
Kevin Rollins, CEO Dell Computers
Kim Clark, President Harvard Business School
Gary Crittendon, CFO American Express
David Neeleman, CEO JetBlue

All have obviously successful careers. They are leaders.

Admired. Respected. Mormon.

And for that reason alone Jacob Weisberg, the editor of Slate, thinks they exhibit a "basic failure to think for himself."

Last December Weisberg, apparently full of the "holiday" spirit, wrote a column about presidential candidate Mitt Romney in which he argued that no one should vote for a Mormon. In asking the question, "are you a religious bigot if you wouldn't cast a ballot for a believing Mormon?", Weisberg explains that there is nothing inherently wrong with being a woman or being black, but that there is something fundamentally wrong with you if you are a Mormon.

As I recently noted, people taking shots at Mormons is old hat. What makes Weisberg's piece remarkable is the following statement:

"Objecting to someone because of his religious beliefs is not the same thing as prejudice based on religious heritage."

For Weisberg, it's ok if you are a Mormon, a Methodist, or a Jew, so long as you don't actually believe in the tenets of your faith. You can claim a "religious heritage" and be alright, just be careful what you have faith in. Weisberg realizes that Mormons are not alone in their requirement of faith, and so explains that, unlike other religions, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints simply hasn't had the time yet to stop believing in Jesus.

To Weisberg, the only good religion is the "liberalized" one. The only good religious person is the "rational" one that has cast aside the fairy tales of scripture- tales like Jesus being born of a virgin, healing the sick, raising the dead, and being resurrected. If you've had time to "splinter, moderate, and turn your myths into metaphor" then you can be forgiven your religious folly. But if you actually believe in Jesus, then you will get no grace from the omniscient Jacob Weisberg.

Unfortunately, he is not alone. This attitude, this disdain, this prejudice towards people of faith is growing. In an interview on msnbc, Bill Maher said that "religion is a neurological disorder." He said that because religions in this country teach that there is a heaven and that there is a devil, that makes them on par with Iran. To this anti-religion movement, simply believing there is a heaven equates you with the country that currently supplies the means to create the roadside bombs that kill Americans and Iraqis every day.

This anti-religion sentiment has largely gone unchecked. Granted, various groups have pushed back- the "War on Christmas" activities being the most noticeable, but most of the time when blatantly prejudicial statements are directed toward those of faith, nothing is done. Conversely, think of what would have happened if Maher, instead of saying religion, had said that homosexuality is a neurological disorder. Therein lies the irony of it all. People like Bill Maher and Jacob Weisberg are often heard preaching the virtues of diversity and acceptance. But if you're religious, those ideals somehow don't apply.

Al Sharpton, Mitt Romney, and Mormonism

Take a look at these videos, then I'll write some really important stuff on the topic:

as for the one Mormon running for office, those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway. So don't worry about that.

Sigh. This got a bit of press, as Romney called it a "bigoted statement" and Sharpton told everyone that's not really what he meant.

Is it bigoted? I don't know. But I'm not buying Sharpton's cries of being misquoted. His statement is pretty clear, and frankly he's not alone. There's plenty of people that think the same thing. There's plenty of churches that preach it from the pulpit.

But you know what? Big deal.

Anyone familiar with LDS history knows that "mormon bashing" began before the Church was even organized. Heck, Mormons had a governor in the freest nation in the world sign a statement saying it was ok to kill them. Eventually they ended up walking a few thousand miles to an area that even the mountain men wouldn't live in- all so they could live without fear of angry mobs showing up at their door to rape their wives, shoot their husbands, and burn down their house. Alas, the government ended up sending an army to Salt Lake City anyway, I suppose for old times sake.

Not too long ago I served a two year mission for the LDS Church. It was one of the best things I've ever done. I lived in a foreign country, learned a new language in only a few months, and met some of the greatest people I'll ever know. I was also spit on, swore at, and had rocks thrown at me.

Every six months the LDS Church holds what it calls General Conference. And every six months the tens of thousands of attendees are treated to an array of "protesters." At a recent conference one of these protesters brought a special prop: LDS "garments"- sacred undergarments worn by faithful latter day saints. This protester blew his nose with them and waved them in the conference-goers' faces.

Al Sharpton is not alone. There's plenty of folks that dislike Mormons, some quite vehemently. But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. I suppose some of my fellow Mormons will be outraged, or call the statement bigoted as Romney did, but that serves no purpose. There's no reason to be offended, no reason to be angry. So Al Sharpton doesn't understand my religion. Welcome to the club.