Political Experts Discuss Impact of 'Mormonism Is a Cult' Comment on Romney
With GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's religion now a hot topic in the race for the Republican nomination, political commentators on Politico.com are wondering if Baptist minister Robert Jeffress' comments about Mormonism being a cult will help or hurt the former Massachusetts governor.
Jeffress' comments regarding Mormonism were blunt. "In my estimation Mormonism is a cult and it would give credence to a cult to have a Mormon candidate," he said on Friday. "Every true born-again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian."
The bluntness of Jeffress' words led former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele to criticize Jeffress for being intolerant. "The more tolerant we say we are, the less tolerant we show ourselves to be," he wrote on Politico.com.
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However, Steele warned Romney that his reaction will say a lot about his character. "Any attempt by Romney or his team to 'play the victim' of racism and intolerance will make him no better than those who use religion to justify their intolerance," Steele added.
Steve Murphy, a Democratic consultant, said the influence that conservative Christians have in the voting of a Republican candidate is overrated.
"It is a fallacy to think either the tea party or the Christian right will have inordinate influence in the selection of the Republican nominee," he wrote. Murphy's logic is that in the important primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, economic policies outweigh which brand of Christianity a candidate wears."
Murphy continued, "Public outcries against Mormonism from Southern Baptists like Jeffress will have little sway outside the South and actually will help Romney win the nomination because it all makes him look like, ‘the one.’ And that is who the Republicans always nominate."
Andra Gillespie, a professor of political science at Emory University, said Romney's Mormonism may not be a crucial issue in a primary race, but "the fact that Romney's faith is coming up in a second election cycle is a problem. It shows that there is still some bias against his beliefs."
Illustrating a perceived bias against Mormons in America, Gillespie points out that a June 2011 Gallup poll says that one in five Republicans and Independents say they would not vote for a Mormon candidate.
Furthermore, Gillespie says, there is "The Book of Mormon," a mega-hit show on Broadway from the makers of "South Park" that lampoons the beliefs of Mormons, indicating that even for Americans who disagree with Jeffress about Mormonism being a cult, many are willing to laugh at their beliefs.
When controversy broke over Jeffress' comments, the megachurch pastor defended what he said.
"When somebody asks me a theological question about Mormonism, I have a responsibility to tell the truth," he said on CNN. "Mormonism has never been considered a part of evangelical historic Christianity."
Many have come to Romney's defense, including the Rev. Myke Crowder, pastor of Christian Life Center, one of the largest evangelical congregations in Utah.
"I've been around long enough to remember when independent Baptists wouldn't pray with Southern Baptists, when fundamentalists called Southern Baptists compromisers and liberals, when Southern Baptists wouldn't keep company with Pentecostals, and when Pentecostals wouldn't keep company with Catholics. That wasn't helpful to anyone," he said in a press release.
"Insulting Mitt Romney adds nothing to the conversation about who should be president. We're picking the country's chief executive, not its senior pastor," Crowder said.
