Speaking of Mitt Romney, a Rasmussen poll dumps cold water on the GOP presidential aspirations of the Massachusetts governor: A full 43 percent of Americans said they wouldn’t even consider voting for a Mormon candidate; only 38 percent said they’d consider it.
And more than half of evangelical Christians, whose support is often key in GOP primaries, said they’d never vote for a Mormon. Then again, it’s possible voters who see and like Romney might overcome such religious objections.
It could be worse: Atheists and Muslims face even more daunting odds, with about 60 percent of Americans saying they’d never vote for either.
What do you think — are Americans ready for a Mormon president?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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36 Comments
Obviously religious bigotry is alive and well in America.
This is every bit as shameful as people saying they won’t vote for an African American or woman for president.
I’m no Mitt Romney fan, but he deserves to be considered on the basis of his performance in public office and his stands, not to be dismissed because he is a Mormon.
And absolutely Muslims and atheists would deserve that same sort of consideration.
Speaking as a Christian conservative, I would vote for Mitt Romney in a New York minute. His positions are conservative right down the line; he is bright, articulate, and capable. His education and experience are first rate and he can win in a blue state. Anyone who would be hesitant to vote for him just because he is Mormon is being short-sighted.
Agreed Outlander… I have Mormon friends and family. They are some of the most wonderful people I know. I do not agree with Mormon theology, but what does that have to do with his ability to govern?
Mormon/LDS Theology is completely nuts and unproven total crap.
But they are nice people..
Sorry, thats just how I feel about them.. Same applies to the Jehovas though, only they aren’t usually very nice people.
I probably wouldn’t vote for Romney, but it has nothing to do with his religion (although I am disturbed by his recent attempt to codify his religious views into the Massachusetts constitution).
In fact, I would probably prefer him to many others running for the Republican nomination in ‘08. Hate amendment aside, he’s generally considered a moderate.
P.S. Semi-off-topic (and contains some spoken naughty words), but the talk about Mormons made me think of this:
http://www.break.com/index/door_to_door_atheists_bother_mormons.html
I’ve been around Mormons and they’ve made no effort to force me to live according to their religious lights, unlike conservative Christians who just can’t help themselves. Now, they (the conservative Charistians) are the scary ones. I would not vote for Romney because he is way too conservative, not because of his religion
Hmmm. Maybe Dokie knows more about this guy than I do. . .
If he were elected, how many first ladies would we get?
If there were more than one, could you call any of them “first”?
I see a pay-per-view of all of his wives wrestling for the first lady name. Whipped cream. MMMMMM
First Lady 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 ???
I saw Terry Fox give a sermon about a year ago (when he was still with Immanuel obviously) and he was talking about gay marriage – imagine that.
He was talking about how the religious right had to work with the Mormon church to fight gay marriage but don’t think that makes Mormon’s “christian’s” or that they would go to heaven.
The religious right will use the Mormon church (or anyone else for that matter) to get what they want but don’t expect them to support a Mormon for high public office.
Erik, Why do you feel Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t nice people? I’ve never known them to be anything other than nice. Just because they knock on your door doesn’t mean they’re bad.
And ALL religion is crap and nutty theories. Anyone who thinks their flavor of Christianity is better than the others needs to research their religion from a historical standpoint.
It is very telling that the evangelicals won’t vote for someone that thinks pretty closely to them, but isn’t them. SO WHAT if the guy is mormon. I don’t dislike that he’s mormon, I could care less. What I care about are his policies. And I don’t like his policies.
Fleets enema, you do know that most Mormons are against polygamy….so why bring something like that up?
COULDN’T care less, PeeMom.
The term is “couldn’t care less.”
re: Political Mom :
The vast majority of those that have worked out here at Boeing/Spirit have been very anti social and negative people.
A few have even gone so far as to file grievances when people are having various holiday celebrations.
I wouldn’t have said what I said if it was limited to 1 or 2 people.. I’ve seen it far too much.
I’m sure they are not all bad, but from experience, they are not the friendliest bunch I’ve met.
Religion should have nothing to do with politics. Our government was clearly defined as secular by the Founders. Religious values, being based on nothing but religious texts, should also have nothing to do with politics.
It is a sad state when people have to appeal to religion just to get some ignorant redneck’s vote…
Would I want someone leading the free world who believes that the angel Moroni gave John Smith tablets of gold which Smith translated with magic spectacles but then had to give back to Moroni?
I dunno . . . getting another wife is tempting, but then you’ve got twice the nagging. On the other hand, if my wife got another husband, I’d have somebody to help with the DIY projects.
That could be a good thing.
Erik–
Good point. That’s Bush’s problem–he quit drinking.
He might have some humanity left if he would crack a few . . .
By the way, pmom, I am Jewish if you remember… :)
And my religion isn’t crap, it is one of the more factually based religion…
But anyway…
Judaism… factual… LMAO!”All religion is bunk.”-Thomas Edison.
The earth is only 6,000 years old. That’s factual. How do I know? Well, it says it right there in the Bible. Duh.
Everyone knows that women aren’t born but produced by men losing ribs. It says so in the factually based Bible.
It will be interesting to see if Brownback a Catholic Convert and reputed opus dei member can gain the Evangelical vote there not exactly friendly with Catholics either.
Haha… You know I recently heard a creationist use the rib argument on a live television call-in show. He was slammed so bad that he hung up in embarassment. It just goes to show how much the average believer actually knows about anything.
Rage,Great video!! Thanks for sharing! I have my own way of getting rid of Bible thumpers, either at my door or when I’m accosted in a public places. Young ones are especially fun to encounter. With grown-ups, I’m more polite and pleasant…and honest.
ddub,
Would you mind posting the passage in the Bible that states the world is 6,000 years old? TIA
RD–You can add up all the so-and-so begat so-and-so’s to get a date 6,000 years ago. I know there is someone (a long time ago) who actually placed the date of creation to the day and in the evening.That is funny because that is about the time that calligraphy first developed in Europe, and about 4000 years AFTER the dog was first domesticated.
This reminds me of 1960; to paraphrase Randy, “..are Americans ready for a Catholic president?” was the great issue of the day.
Just as in 1960, the results of the 2008 election should depend on a number of things, but NOT on the religion practiced by either candidate.
“What do you think — are Americans ready for a Mormon president?”
Answer – NO.
This is not MY answer for me but rather my reading of American opinion.
VT – one big difference is that in 1960 there were many more Catholics as voters compared to Mormons today. Also, many more of us knew catholics and that tended to take away the fear factor.
That said, living in the Deep South I remember well “No Pope Here” signs during that campaign.
Andrew – I think it was the Bishop of usher who did the calculation. If you look at the old County Courthouse you will see the year built engraved near the NE corner – both in “AD” and “AO” My understanding is that “AO” refers to years from Creation.
We have a few Jewish posters here. Can you guys tell us what you count years from in the Hebrew calendar?
RD, I heard this story second-hand, but from a credible source:
“If I buy your literature, will you go away?”
“Huh?”
“If I buy your literature, will you go away?”
“Uhmmm. . yes.”
He bought their literature. They went away.
Andrew, I see from your link that you are atheist stationed in Iraq. Stick around.
One of our regulars, Nathan, is also stuck, er, stationed there. He is a conservative Christian.
I happen to be an atheist liberal civil libertarian (some would say that’s redundant but. . . .they’re morons).
The polls say that 15% of the people are atheists. I wonder why there isn’t a single congressman without religion.
The Constitution, in referring to the president, says:Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the followingOath or Affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office ofPresident of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve,protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”Notice that it says: (or affirm). those guys clearly saw the need to allow folks to not be required to put their hand on the Bible, ans swear. They were allowed to simply affirm. All you religious guys, pay attention.
For those who think that there is an insurmountable bias by evangelicals against Mitt Romney because he is Mormon, this link to a story on Romney by Pat Robertson’s 700 club.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTBqnZ7SLn4&eurl=
Erik, I didn’t know you were Jewish. I wish we had more Jews around here, I’d love to learn more about the religion.
I still think all religion is crap, but Judaism at least seems to be one of the less whacky.