Search:

Religion will play important role in forthcoming US polls

[ Posted On: 2006-12-17 ]

Religious sensitivity in America is sometimes at its rawest during elections, especially presidential. As the country gears for the end of George Bush’s tumultuous term, the focus is shifting to who will succeed him.

President Bush has worn his religiousity on his sleeves as he has successfully courted people of a particular brand of Christianity to his benefit, except maybe in the last mid-term elections when a sizable number deserted his party to hand victory to the Democratic Party.

Bush’s possible successors are not notably religious, which has been greeted as a welcome change by some. However, like it or not, religion will play a role in determining who will be in the White House come January 2009.

Among the frontrunners in the Republican Party is former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, whose father, George Romney, was governor of Michigan. It happens that Romney belongs to the quintessentially American religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, more popularly known as the Mormon Church. Romney Senior, too, made a run for the White House but he self-destructed before he made much headway. Up to that point, his religious affiliation had not become an issue maybe because he was not considered a serious contender.

The case of his son is different. Mitt Romney is potentially a formidable contender because of his record as governor and the values he says he represents. Despite his Republican Party label, he was popular in Democratic Massachusetts. Toward the end of his tenure, he veered more to the right perhaps in order to bolster his favourability ratings among his conservative supporters, many of whom tend to be of conservative Christian persuasion. And yet most questions about Romney’s suitability for presidency in the light of his religion are from members of this same group.

Some Christians are unconvinced that Mormons are "true" Christians despite the conspicuousness of Jesus Christ’s name in the official Church title. Yes, Mormons are first-rate pro-family people, yes, they adhere to a healthy lifestyle that prohibits alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, and yes, they espouse and live by strict moral standards, which are all things to admire, but that does not make them Christians, critics ask?

Critics further point out that Joseph Smith who founded the group in upstate New York before he and his followers were driven out until they eventually ended up in Utah, built the church on what appears to be bizarre stories. Critics have characterised claims of Smith’s special communication from the divine leading to writing of the Book of Mormon and other writings as a phantasmagoria of fevered religious imagination, a charge Mormon’s have flung back at the accusers arguing that to outsiders, claims by many religions do look fantastic if not absurd.

The Latter Day Saints has been less successful in suppressing evidence that Smith used all manner of methods, including threats of eternal damnation, to procure many of his 49 wives. Back then, polygamy was a doctrine of the church.

Mormon beliefs such as: the Garden of Eden was in Independence Missouri, Jesus Christ will return there someday, God has a material body of flesh and bone among many others run counter to mainstream Christian beliefs. Smith taught that God cursed blacks. This teaching was not revised until 1978 to permit black membership.

And there is the matter of some Mormon practices such as secret undergarments worn by male members of the church above a certain age not to mention the secretive church decision-making. Critics say that outsiders are allowed very little about the workings of the church and all criticism is dismissed as actuated by malice.

Romney has chosen for most part not to engage in much debate about his religion focusing instead on creating campaign apparatus that he hopes will crush his opponents in the primaries and eventually whomever the Democratic Party will select to be their flag bearer.

Senator Barack Obama’s chances are improving by the day judging by the excitement he generates wherever he goes in the country. Should Obama commit, he will begin to face semi serious questions with serious implications. The topical question with some religious overtones that Obama has faced lately is how come his middle name is Hussein?

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

John Mulaa is a Researcher and Consultant (World Bank) based in Washington DC. He is also a columnist with the East African Standard. Earlier in his Journalism career, he worked with the Weekly Review (defunct) and the Daily Nation publications in Kenya, as a foreign correspondent.

| View Profile & All Articles By: John Mulaa |

		Post Comment
		Blog This Article!
		Discuss Article in Forum(s)
		Publication \| Reprint Terms

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive The Americas Articles Via RSS!

| Category Feeds | All-in-one Feed | Other Feed & Syndication Options |

Additional Articles From - Home | Politics | The Americas

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email To Friends
	Ezine Ready \| Syndication
	Make PDF Article
	Post To del.icio.us
	Post To Furl
	Add To Google Bookmarks
	Submit To Netscape
	Add To Yahoo! My Web
	Add Main Feed To Outlook
	Post to BookMarks @ AfroArticles.com

	Post To BookMarkAfrica.com

Site Home

Article Categories

More Search Options

Site Map

Submit Articles

Top Authors

Most Recent Articles