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| Thursday, May 17, 2012 |
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No, Rick Perry is a jack-ass! You see, he had to do something after he “threw up all over himself” as Brit Hume said of the debates. He (Perry) knows that he has lost a lot of support, so he decided to play the last card that he has. Total Loser, too! |
Stupid auto correct! I typed so, not social! |
Those people also consider Catholics & Eastern Orthodox to be cults. It might actually be a compliment: like Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, you have religious beliefs that actually I form your actions. Besides, if Rick Perry dissed you, you’re probably doing something right. |
The best response to any stupid rumor is simple: “You can believe that if you want to.” Its the end of the discussion. If people want to believe stupid rumors, what does that make them? |
:) I hate auto correct too. I’ll fix it. I’m over all the “cult” nonsense. Sure like to ask that minister how many of his congregation are in the KKK. I think Mitt could chuckle and say “Thanks, Rick, you’re right. That’s all you’re right about.” |
The cult fetishist is Robert Jeffries, who runs the First Baptist Church of Dallas. He said the *exact* same things four years ago. Rick Perry would be lucky to know Robert Jeffries. Robert Jeffries is really powerful statewide, Rick Perry is not. This is not a Rick Perry ploy. He’s probably trying to get the old man to shut up. |
State that as part of being an American citizen we’re all in a cult so shut up about it. |
This is a golden opportunity for Romney to channel his Gov. Christie type persona. Ignore the issue and wait for a naive reporter to bring up “Is the Mormon church a cult?” Answer: No, it is not, do YOU think that it is? Get the reporter to backpedal a bunch about how he is carrying water for Perry, who does not now believe it, etc. |
Definition of a legitimate religion: What I believe. |
10. seotraining — the link is a spammer’s link, fyi. Someone ought to ask Jeffries about his library habits. |
A more legitimate question is, Why did the New York Times devote nearly a page and a half to this non-story? Does anyone really think that the liberal irreligious editorial board of the Times gives one hoot in hell about internecine battles between different brands of people who claim to be Christian? It seems that they’re just looking for another chance to beat up on Romney. So, Jeffress is carrying water for the liberal New York Times as well as for the useless Rick Perry. |
How is it a non-story when it’s a reason a large percentage of GOP voters don’t like Romney? There is significant part of the base that consider us a cult. Therefore it is a news story when a “cult” member is trying to get their vote. |
I don’t think people–as a whole–are that stupid. To look at Romney and think “Jim Jones” I mean. LWe”, the ignorant masses, don’t always believe everything they’re told. I don’t recall religion being a huge issue when his father ran for president. I think there are backdoor deals affot in the Republican Party. They want Romney as the candidate. So Christie and Palin were told not to run this time. That party support is going to smooth the road for Romney immensely. |
[...] (once you’ve given up Mormonism). Meanwhile, the Mormon values voters were not happy with the use of the word “cult” — and are testing out the “I know you are but what am I?” strategy as a possible [...] |
Jeffress and his colleagues use a rhetorical sleight-of-hand to disguise clearly inflammatory remarks as innocent observation. First, “cult” is defined as essentially a synonym for “sect”; and set as a direct antonym of “religion”. He then represents “Mormonism” as a cult, and thus clearly not a religion, while the Southern Baptist Convention, being identical with Christianity, is a religion. This is like saying a cat is a species, and is therefore not an animal, while a dog is clearly an animal, and thus superior to the cat. Oh, and instead of using the word “species”, we say “monster”- by which we mean “living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of interbreeding”. The fact that when an ordinary person hears the word “cult”, he thinks “mind-controlled zombies who might at any moment break out in maniacal pillage and rapine” (or, less dramatically, “a group having religious beliefs or practices regarded as strange or sinister”) is conveniently ignored. I mean, we weren’t trying to be offensive. What is clearly the case to the objective observer, however, is that both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Southern Baptist Convention are sects of Christianity. And saying that the “Mormons” are not part of the “Baptist” historical tradition is no more relevant than saying that the “Baptists” are not part of the “Mormon” historical tradition. Interestingly, Jeffress claims that he would vote for Romney over Obama, whom he recognizes as a legitimate, evangelical, born-again Christian (and not a secret Muslim, as some claim). In practically the same breathe, he says that his religion informs his politics. I wonder if it is not the other way around. |
Want to read some interesting points on “cults” and Christ? Read the five part series that starts here: http://bradhicks.livejournal.com/118585.html Will make you think some. |
It’s as much a story as if some Neo-Nazi came out and said that he believed that Jewish bankers were trying to take over America. That might affect the number of votes that a Jewish candidate might get from the Neo-Nazis, but it’s hardly news. And hardly worth the page that the Times devoted to it. |
Except that Neo-Nazi just got invited to speak on the same stage and at the same event as almost all of the Republican candidates for president… So, yeah, except for that, it’s almost exactly the same… |
As far as I can tell, a large percentage of southerners are not neo-Nazis. But a significant percentage of GOP members in the south don’t care for Mormons. |
We have two political/religious/cultural enemies in the US. The rightwing Christians and the left wing secularists. The polling data suggests that there are more of the left wing types out there. We are as a people also politically allied (don’t bother arguing this point its true) with our religious enemies. Which makes these types of discussions interesting for Republican primaries but also irrelevant in a general election see my next paragraph. Where I live I encounter a lot more of the right wing types. I do believe that the vast majority of our rightwing enemies will if the choice is between Romney and Obama will vote for Romney. Romney will carry the South in an overwhelming fashion. |
bbell, Your analysis is simplistic. If it is Romney v Obama there will likely be a third party candidate on the right. Evangelicals will either register a protest vote for that person or simply stay home. Romney’s get out the vote effort in the South will be an uphill battle. Also, I think you overestimate the practicality of the Tea Party types. They don’t want to get things done. They want to take fiery all or nothing stands with the fate of the nation in balance. They’d rather destroy the country than reach a reasonable compromise. These aren’t people who are going to get excited about Romney. |
I think a deal has been reached with the tea party. Because Sarah Palin’s not running. Christine and Michelle (not even going to touch the last names) have no chance. I wonder if Romney did something like Herman Cain, rented a bus and went all over the south??? Got Billy Graham’s approval?? |
You know, it just occurred to me that Romney has had years to prepare for the anti-Mormon onslaught. He knew he was running this time. He’s probably got all kinds of effective responses up his sleeve. He didn’t look too worried on the news this morning. Perry looked a little bit like he slinked out of that meeting. |
Not all Christians agree on all the points of Christian doctrine. I believe Joseph Smith saw God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ), standing beside each other. I believe Joseph’s firsthand account of the nature of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, men with glorified bodies resembling ours, because I’ve prayed to God, asking if Joseph really saw 2 men of the Godhead and described them correctly. The Holy Ghost witnessed to my soul that Joseph spoke the truth. I do not need to call fellow Christians names because we believe different people who’ve described God. That would be disobeying the 2 great commandments: Love God first, and then love all my fellowmen (women), also. |
So far Huntsman has the best political response. He called the pastor in question a moron and said Perry needs to disassociate himself from the pastor. |
Look, Mormonism is not a Christian faith. It rejects all the central, core doctrines of historic Christianity, has changed the definition of Christian terms (salvation by grace = resurrection); has changed the meaning of the Trinity, from One God in Three Persons of Equal power, substance and glory, to three gods; has changed who God is from an everlasting, eternal Being, always God, into an exalted human; has taught that men becomes gods (and not in the sense of theosis at all, which Mormons like to claim); has said all Christian creeds are an abomination along with their corrupt professors, and has claimed to replace Christianity, not restore it at all. Mormons have their own extra-biblical Scriptures and discount most of the Bible in reality. So, Jeffress was quite right to state that Mormonism is a theological cult – a group claiming to be Christian, but who are heretical in their views. There was a time when Mormons disliked being called Christian – the distinctive term “Mormon” was worn as a badge. Now, Mormons want to force Christians into defining Mormonism as a form of Christianity. Romney pretty much was attempting to intimidate Perry into claiming Christianity was Christian. It backfired, however, because now an Evangelical believer, Herman Cain, (who up until the late 70′s) could not be a Mormon priest, has the lead. My definition of Mormonism is a “new religious system.” It is much like Bahai’ism, which grew out of a synthesis of Islam and Christianity, but which stands as its own faith system. If Mormons would “honest up,” they’d see that calling Mormonism cultic is the only recourse a Christian has – what should they call it, Christian? Mormons have “another jesus, another gospel, and another spirit.” It would be deceptive for a Christian to call them Christian, regardless of having the “name” of Jesus in their Church. So what? If it’s “another jesus,” it means nothing. |
Huntsmans’ a cool dude. |
Why does spam like #27 and #28 get through (they’re just to get people to click on the link in the commenter’s name), but my well-reasoned, insightful and brilliant comments get stuck in the spam filter? |
Because our spam filter sucks. |
Is there more spam on weekends, or just fewer admins watching the blog to catch and delete it? |
There must be something wrong with the filter. |
If the admins here will turn off the option to have an URL be linked in the commenter’s name, then I believe the spammers will stop. That will force them to put their link in the body text of the comment, and the spam filter will catch it. Also, someone please delete the Sheriff’s comments. Those are spam too. Or, maybe turn on the feature where you have to register and create an account on this blog in order to comment. Or, If possible, set an option where only registered commenters can have an URL linked in the name, or put an URL in the body text of the comment. |
Oh, and here’s another one which I’m pretty sure WordPress has an option for: (I’m not so sure there are options for the things I said in the previous comment.) Set the WordPress option so that all URLs in a comment (both the name-link URL and any urls in the body of the comment) get the “nofollow” attribute in the “A HREF” tag. That way, putting an URL in a comment does little to no good to a spammer, since it won’t benefit them in Google’s ranking system. If there is no WordPress option for it, you can modify the comment template and hard-code the “NOFOLLOW” attibute. The HTML code insert is: ‘rel=”nofollow”‘ right before the closing bracket of the “a href” tag. |
Ron, I think arj’s been watching it during the week, so yeah, less admin’s. I try to check it, but I’m sporadic. Book, I have no idea how to begin to do that. I’ll study it out. |
PS, I bet arj and DKL would freak if they read that I was going to try to fix the spam filter. Sometimes, when I can’t get Bill moving on a “honey-do”—painting, say, all I have to do is get out the paint, masking tape and the ladder and start painting. |
I think I fixed it. I’m so delighted with myself. |
Go annegb! I got lost after the first step of Bookslinger’s directions. |
