Mitt Romney is the Antichrist
...and I shouldn't use hyperbole in a blog post title.
In a previous post, Dishonesty in Religion, I talk about my concerns with having a Mormon as the President. I few comments on the blog and a few discussions with friends have helped me to amend this position.
I would have a problem with Mitt Romney as President.
First, let me give you some of my assumptions:
-Most things a politician says, s/he says with an agenda in mind.
-Most politicians are interested in garnering as much of the vote as possible
My problem is that when Mitt presents himself to Christians, he tries to present himself as one of them (see Dishonesty in Religion for why this is a problem). I believe, however, that he is not only being dishonest in how he presents his beliefs to Christians, but I believe he is subtly reaching out to other demographics in dishonest ways.
When asked what his favorite novel was, Mitt stated that it was Battlefield Earth, a sci-fi novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Later, after receiving criticism for this pick, Romney stated that the Bible was his favorite book and that B.E. was his favorite novel.
First, let's talk about Battlefield Earth. Slate says you have to be some kind of weird to like it. I've read it, and it's quite good (and I'm some kinda weird, I guess). I've read *many* blog posts and articles that claim that it is crap, and that nobody reads the book except "Scientologists and smartasses who want to giggle at Scientologists." People who say that haven't read the book. If you like sci-fi, you'd probably enjoy Battlefield Earth. It's not nearly as good as his massive, 10-volume Mission Earth series, but it is good. I can see how it would be someone's favorite novel (even someone other than famed Scientologist John Travolta).
However, based on my two comments above, I believe this book was specifically chosen as his favorite to help Mitt appeal to Scientologists, and by extension, some of Hollywood. Think about it. Most people aren't going to know the link between B.E. and Scientology (well, they are learning about it now...this is catching an amazing amount of buzz). Even though Mitt later said he "wasn't in favor of the religion, by any means," he has still probably managed to garner a little support from that camp. He only made his "not in favor" comment after he realized that people saw into his little game.
But his appeal to Scientologists isn't my biggest problem here. It's his flip-flop that the Bible was his favorite book. Why is this a problem? He's either lying (in which case I don't want him for President) or he actually believes it, in which case he's a piss-poor Mormon, and shouldn't be campaigning as a Christian *or* a Mormon.
Why do I have a problem with this claim that the Bible is his favorite book? According to Mormonism, the Bible is a flawed book (search this page for the word "flawed"). Really, so your favorite book in the whole world is messed up according to your religion? Of course, it would have been political suicide to claim that the Book of Mormon was his favorite (ewww, he's a Mormon), so he basically put himself in a position of needing to lie because of who he is (a Mormon).
Yet, somehow, the Pat Robertsons of this world are being taken in by this man. I wonder if Pat will change his website's stance that Mormonism is a cult. Of course, this is Pat Robertson playing politics, a place where Pat wants to be, but shouldn't.
I'll be if Pat *did* run for office, though, he wouldn't go tell all the Utards that his faith is fundamentally the same as theirs. (Really, "Utards" isn't in my spell-checker? I'll need to fix that...) Well, maybe he would.
Maybe I should ease up, though. After all, Nancy Reagan, the First Lady to the Great Communicator, relied heavily on Astrology, and not in the way the Wise Men did, either. I was only in high school at that time, and I knew this was not consistent with Christianity.
But I can't ease up. Mitt may be a good politician, and may actually believe (politically) in much of what I do (I don't know, and I'm afraid to check). The truth is, he's selling out at every turn, and he cannot be trusted.
As I said before, I'd sooner vote for an athiestic Democrat than Mitt Romney, because such a Democrat would mobilize Christians into action. Mitt would be the lukewarm water in the Whitehouse that will be spit out.
-Brian
In a previous post, Dishonesty in Religion, I talk about my concerns with having a Mormon as the President. I few comments on the blog and a few discussions with friends have helped me to amend this position.
I would have a problem with Mitt Romney as President.
First, let me give you some of my assumptions:
-Most things a politician says, s/he says with an agenda in mind.
-Most politicians are interested in garnering as much of the vote as possible
My problem is that when Mitt presents himself to Christians, he tries to present himself as one of them (see Dishonesty in Religion for why this is a problem). I believe, however, that he is not only being dishonest in how he presents his beliefs to Christians, but I believe he is subtly reaching out to other demographics in dishonest ways.
When asked what his favorite novel was, Mitt stated that it was Battlefield Earth, a sci-fi novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Later, after receiving criticism for this pick, Romney stated that the Bible was his favorite book and that B.E. was his favorite novel.
First, let's talk about Battlefield Earth. Slate says you have to be some kind of weird to like it. I've read it, and it's quite good (and I'm some kinda weird, I guess). I've read *many* blog posts and articles that claim that it is crap, and that nobody reads the book except "Scientologists and smartasses who want to giggle at Scientologists." People who say that haven't read the book. If you like sci-fi, you'd probably enjoy Battlefield Earth. It's not nearly as good as his massive, 10-volume Mission Earth series, but it is good. I can see how it would be someone's favorite novel (even someone other than famed Scientologist John Travolta).
However, based on my two comments above, I believe this book was specifically chosen as his favorite to help Mitt appeal to Scientologists, and by extension, some of Hollywood. Think about it. Most people aren't going to know the link between B.E. and Scientology (well, they are learning about it now...this is catching an amazing amount of buzz). Even though Mitt later said he "wasn't in favor of the religion, by any means," he has still probably managed to garner a little support from that camp. He only made his "not in favor" comment after he realized that people saw into his little game.
But his appeal to Scientologists isn't my biggest problem here. It's his flip-flop that the Bible was his favorite book. Why is this a problem? He's either lying (in which case I don't want him for President) or he actually believes it, in which case he's a piss-poor Mormon, and shouldn't be campaigning as a Christian *or* a Mormon.
Why do I have a problem with this claim that the Bible is his favorite book? According to Mormonism, the Bible is a flawed book (search this page for the word "flawed"). Really, so your favorite book in the whole world is messed up according to your religion? Of course, it would have been political suicide to claim that the Book of Mormon was his favorite (ewww, he's a Mormon), so he basically put himself in a position of needing to lie because of who he is (a Mormon).
Yet, somehow, the Pat Robertsons of this world are being taken in by this man. I wonder if Pat will change his website's stance that Mormonism is a cult. Of course, this is Pat Robertson playing politics, a place where Pat wants to be, but shouldn't.
I'll be if Pat *did* run for office, though, he wouldn't go tell all the Utards that his faith is fundamentally the same as theirs. (Really, "Utards" isn't in my spell-checker? I'll need to fix that...) Well, maybe he would.
Maybe I should ease up, though. After all, Nancy Reagan, the First Lady to the Great Communicator, relied heavily on Astrology, and not in the way the Wise Men did, either. I was only in high school at that time, and I knew this was not consistent with Christianity.
But I can't ease up. Mitt may be a good politician, and may actually believe (politically) in much of what I do (I don't know, and I'm afraid to check). The truth is, he's selling out at every turn, and he cannot be trusted.
As I said before, I'd sooner vote for an athiestic Democrat than Mitt Romney, because such a Democrat would mobilize Christians into action. Mitt would be the lukewarm water in the Whitehouse that will be spit out.
-Brian
Comments
1) Mr. Romney, you said L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth was your favorite novel. Then later you clarified by saying it was only your favorite SCIENCE FICTION novel, and that it was written before Scientology was founded. So now that you know it was actually written 29 years AFTER Scientology was founded, is it still your favorite science fiction novel?
2) Most critics outside of Scientology found this novel to be dreadful. Many of them couldn’t even finish it – it was that bad. But you described it as “fun.” Specifically, what part(s) of it were “fun?”
3) If this is your favorite science fiction novel, what other science fiction novels have you read that were, by definition, not as good as Battlefield Earth?
4) When did you read Battlefield Earth?
5) Since Battlefield Earth came out in 1982, you couldn’t have read it before then, what led you to believe that it was written before Scientology was founded?
6) Battlefield Earth is over 1,000 pages. Is it the biggest novel you’ve ever read? How long did it take you to read?
It will come as no surprise to you, however, that I have attempted to re-read it a small number of times in the last 20 years, and have never been able to get very far into it...
Your comments in general reinforce my feeling that he chose Battlefield Earth as a way to garner support from Scientologists in an "under the radar" fashion, not realizing how many people would pick up on the link.
I think Mitt's campaign will implode in on itself before primaries even begin.
Democratic senator Joe Lieberman, in my opinion, has the most integrity of any elected official. As a member of the Jewish religion, he refused to campaign for Vice President over Sabboth during the 2000 election. To this day, he is the only Democrat/Independent on the senate floor who stands and says that providing a timetable for pulling troops out of Iraq provides information for the enemy. Now that my friends, is courage.
While the next presidency may provide the opportunity to appoint two new judges to the Supreme Court, I will want a president with the same core values as I have (and those of the rest of the "fly-over" states) to appoint constitutional justices to the bench.
Just like I do not agree with Sen. Joe Lieberman's religion, but I believe his core values are the same as mine. I do not agree with Mitt Romney's religion, but believe he would appoint constitutional justices to the court if elected president.
This upcoming election is less about "how Mormon is Mitt Romney", than it is about how constitutional the court should become.
Being elected governor to a very "blue" state and being pro-life, pro-business, pro-small government, and programs for less entitlement (reference Governor Romney’s healthcare program in Mass.) he has had an opportunity to show his true "colors".
If Romney is chosen as this country's Republican candidate for president, could I vote for him? Absolutely!
And unless Fred Thompson enters the fray, I just may have that chance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oRQKa9JWl4
But now he is running against Obama. Considering how much I do NOT want to vote for Romney, but I still am, says world about what I think of Obama. For all that I lay out ways in which Romney is dishonest, Obama is an outright liar. Think lobbyists and transparency, to start.