'08: Would You Vote For A Mormon?

[Alt+F4]

I was pleasantly surprised in ’04 when little was made of John Kerry’s Catholicism. It seemed the days where folks thought a Catholic President would be a tool of the Vatican were over. Now it’s 2007 and we have Mitt Romney. The number one objection to Romney for President seems to be that he is a Mormon.

So would I vote for a Mormon? No. I can’t decide if it’s because I don’t like their manipulating recruitment techniques or because I watched a full season of “Big Love”.

Would you vote for a Mormon for President?

 

[Azure]

Would you vote for a religious person in general?

I firmly believe in the seperation of Church and State, so I would strongly agree with a candidate, religious or not, who can keep his religious viewpoint out of government politics.

 

[clarsct]

JFK was Catholic.


He also had Addison's Disease.



I fail to see where any of this is relevant.

 

[Matthew Best]

Too gullible.

 

[joe1347]

I was pleasantly surprised in ’04 when little was made of John Kerry’s Catholicism. It seemed the days where folks thought a Catholic President would be a tool of the Vatican were over. Now it’s 2007 and we have Mitt Romney. The number one objection to Romney for President seems to be that he is a Mormon.

So would I vote for a Mormon? No. I can’t decide if it’s because I don’t like their manipulating recruitment techniques or because I watched a full season of “Big Love”.

Would you vote for a Mormon for President?

Sorry, but when I first glanced at your post I thought that it said "would you vote for a moron?" - which possibly was a more appropriate question in 2000 and 2004.

As for voting for a Mormon - I'd like to first know just how "Mormon" Romney really is? For example, has he worn (and never taken off) his holy undergarments? Granted, wearing your underwear while taking a shower has nothing to do with leadership, but as a Republican voter I'd like to understand how personally committed Romney is to the separation of church and state.

 

[RandFan]

Good question,

I'm a former Mormon. I think that a Mormon could be as good a candidate as any other but I'm not a Romney fan. I think religion is too much of an influence in his life based on a number of things that he has said.

I would only vote for someone who is religious who could demonstrate that religion was not the basis for decision making. I voted for Bush twice but I regret that he has allowed religion to get too much of a foothold into public life and to use religious belief as basis for his decision making.

I'd like to avoid that in the future.

ETA: I'm still on the records of the Mormon church and they view me as a Mormon and I still say from time to time that I'm Mormon. Who the hell knows? I'm an atheist and a cultural Mormon.

 

[Alt+F4]

I fail to see where any of this is relevant.

Will the GOP accept a Mormon as one of their own?
Is the religious issue different when a candidate is a Mormon rather than a Catholic?

 

[Alt+F4]

I think religion is too much of an influence in his life based on a number of things that he has said.

I think voters didn't care that Kerry was a Catholic, since Kerry didn't seem to be such a good Catholic anyway.

Romney, on the other hand, seems to love the LDS Church and non-Mormons really don't understand how that relationship works.

 

[RandFan]

I think voters didn't care that Kerry was a Catholic, since Kerry didn't seem to be such a good Catholic anyway.

Romney, on the other hand, seems to love the LDS Church and non-Mormons really don't understand how that relationship works.

Yeah, I agree. Though, to be sure, Romney effectively silenced Ted Kennedy when Kennedy suggested Romney's religion might pose a problem for Romney in their 1994 Senate contest. Romney simply responded to Kennedy by quoting, loosely, JFK, "The Mormon Church doesn't speak for me and I don't speak for the Mormon Church".

Like you said, I think the line is blurred for Romney. FWIW, Romney has since changed his stance on abortion and is now "pro-life" (his words not mine).

 

[Gurdur]

* shrug *
I would vote for a Mormon as long as coffee was not involved.

 

[RandFan]

* shrug *
I would vote for a Mormon as long as coffee was not involved.

Agreed. Don't mess with my coffee.

I lost my taste for coffee for about a year. It was really strange. I even started a thread in the community forum about it. Even though I did not like the taste I drank the stuff every single morning. My taste for it is back and I look forward every morning to that glorious fix.

Leave the coffee alone damn it! Dumb Mormon rule BTW. Coffee is one of the best addictions there is.

 

[Alt+F4]

Dumb Mormon rule BTW.

A Romney Presidency would be quite boring.....

 

[Gurdur]

A Romney Presidency would be quite boring.....

Don't be so sure about that.

Mormons are over-represented in the CIA, for example, because they're overly represented among those who bother learning foreign languages in school.

Leastaways, a Romney as president would probably know the difference between Karachi and Istanbul, something which one would not rush to accuse the current POTUS of knowing.

 

[Alt+F4]

Mormons are over-represented in the CIA, for example, because they're overly represented among those who bother learning foreign languages in school.

Intresting, please do tell more.

 

[Gurdur]

Intresting, please do tell more.

Not much more to tell. The CIA likes them because they usually have no .... private oddities to hide or be blackmailed with, they're used to wearing suits all the time, they usually don't do embarrassing things, they can speak foreign languages, they don't chase secretaries at the office Xmas party, and they keep the cost of the office coffee fund down.

 

[RandFan]

Not much more to tell. The CIA likes them because they usually have no .... private oddities to hide or be blackmailed with, they're used to wearing suits all the time, they usually don't do embarrassing things, they can speak foreign languages, they don't chase secretaries at the office Xmas party, and they keep the cost of the office coffee fund down.

I believe that there is some truth to some of these things, statistically. Mormons are human and many are corruptible. It's the culture and regimented life that seems to make some bit of difference. Again, it's just a slight statistical difference. Many drink coffee, alcohol, and cheat on their wives. However an active Mormon in good standing is more likely to follow regimented rules. Howard Hughes was big on hiring Mormons.

 

[Schneibster]

So's the FBI from what I've heard.

 

[Kopji]

Yeah sure. Their voting record tells a lot more about a politician than whatever religion they profess.

 

[Wolfman]

An atheist saying they wouldn't vote for a Mormon is, in my opinion, as stupid as a theist saying they wouldn't vote for an atheist.

You're simply slapping labels on a person, and dismissing them.

Yeah, of course you should check out their background, and try to ensure that they're not someone who's gonna' try to shove their religious agenda down everyone's throat. But then, I'd say that you should check out every candidate's background and beliefs with equal diligence, regardless of their religious affiliation (or lack thereof).

I personally know atheists, Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, etc., all of whom would make great leaders -- they have strong personal beliefs, but recognize that a position of leadership like that needs to be separated from those beliefs, and are able to do so.

And I personally know atheists, Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, etc., whom I wouldn't trust to lead a pack of boy scouts.

 

[Roboramma]

An atheist saying they wouldn't vote for a Mormon is, in my opinion, as stupid as a theist saying they wouldn't vote for an atheist.

Well, I don't think it's quite as stupid. Our beliefs influence us, and knowing someone's beliefs tells you something about them - it makes you that small bit better at predicting their actions.
So, does knowing that someone's an atheist tell us something negative about their likely actions as a representative in government? Does knowing that they're mormon?
I think both tell us something. They also both tell us something about the person's likely background etc. And because of this, I can say that I'd be slighlty more likely to vote for an atheist, and quite a bit less likely to vote for a mormon.
But there are two things I'd like to add to that - 1. It would be stupid to say that I'd never vote for a mormon. 2. and the reason for number 1 - there are other sources of information about a person that are much more revealing than their religious beliefs.

You're simply slapping labels on a person, and dismissing them.

I agree with that completely.

Similarly, if I had to choose between two people to be on my soccer team, one of whom played soccer for four years in school, the other of whom didn't, I'd choose the former. If I later found out thta the latter was a professional player, however, I'd be stupid to stick to my previous choice. Now, I don't know that knowing that someone is a mormon is the equivalent to knowing that he never played soccer in school, but again, both tell us something, but far from everything, about a person.

Yeah, of course you should check out their background, and try to ensure that they're not someone who's gonna' try to shove their religious agenda down everyone's throat. But then, I'd say that you should check out every candidate's background and beliefs with equal diligence, regardless of their religious affiliation (or lack thereof).

Again, I agree, except that we should ignore their religious affiliation - it can be informative. It's just not necessarily true that it will be the last word. And I actually think that the information to be had from it is very weak and not all that useful as compared to other sources of information.
That doesn't mean it's useless, however.

In short, I might vote for a mormon, but all else being equal, I'd be less likely to vote for a mormon than a non-mormon candidate.