Perspectives

“Mitt Romney’s a good moral person, but….” — Pastor Robert Jeffress

What to make of Southern Baptist Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of a mega-church in Dallas? I get a kick out the devout claiming to know God’s mind. The only thing bigger than God’s mind? Man’s ego.

Jeffress, a fervent Rick Perry-for-president supporter, kicked up a storm by denying that Mormons are Christians.

Are Mormons Christians? Let’s see. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ skyrocketed across the North American continent and pole-vaulted, perhaps, sometime in the early 19th century. They believe that the angel Moroni (please, absolutely do not confuse with Bony Moronie) handed off the Golden Plates that church founder Joseph Smith used to form the Mormon Church. Mormons baptize the dead en masse (so timely), and that when you die you get your very own planet. Nifty, huh? Women need not apply.

Or, that in 1857, Mormons (disguised as Indians) massacred about 120 Arkansas men, women and children who were traveling by wagon train to the west, killed them all (but the youngest children) at Mountain Meadows in the Utah Territory.

That does sound a bit cultish to me. For sure, your very own planet? You betcha! But, but, but does that make them unchristian?

I find such debates laughably similar to the kettle calling the pot black. All religion is superstition. That, in and of itself, is a self-evident truth. That doesn’t make what you believe necessarily bad, just that what you believe is based on superstition. And all that that implies. Take, for instance, what we “factually” know about Jesus Christ. He was a Jew. He lived. He died. Few would disagree with those facts.

But was he “really” the son of God? Born of a virgin? Walk on water? Literally, physically went to heaven? Or, that he died for our sins? What is attributed to Jesus wasn’t actually captured on “paper” until, arguably, 100 years after his crucifixion. Hmmm, do you think anything might have been exaggerated in 100 years?

Let’s put it to a vote! What do you mean, Jepson? Well, there were so many disagreements among early Christians as to who was Jesus (was he in fact the literal son of God, etc.?) that Roman Emperor Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and they put it to a vote. Jesus Christ’s lineage was determined by vote, by lobbying. Too funny.

OK, move ahead about 1,700 years and some crazed-cracker of a Southern Baptist pastor calls into question Romney’s Mormonism. Wait? Why is there a Southern Baptist Church in the first place? What? Baptists split in 1845 over slavery and guess which way Southern Baptists went? Well, there is considerable biblical scripture, after all, in support of slavery.

So Pastor Goof questions Mitt Romney’s Mormonism (by implication his worthiness to be president) by stating “Mitt Romney’s a good moral person, but….”

He is a moral person but? But what?

Let’s extrapolate: He’s a good athlete, but he’s an African-American. He’s a fine businessman, but he’s a Jew. He’s a hard worker, but he’s a Mexican.

He’s a Christian but….

No! He’s a Christian (Pastor Jeffress), and he’s a religious bigot.

Per illustration, there are many legitimate reasons, folks, why America requires separation of church and state.