Hi Billy,
On Apr 11, 2012, at 9:23 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> This is not an anti-Mormon comment ; I can vote for a Mormon without
> experiencing
> any kind of trauma. However, there certainly are questions I have with a
> number
> of LDS beliefs generally and with Romney's understanding of Mormonism
> in particular. But there is another point :
>
> The collapse, even if it turns out to be temporary, of the "Protestant
> Establishment"
> in politics / government has been spectacular. No more Protestants on the
> Supreme Court despite Bush having two selections, and no Protestant
> who was a serious contender for the GOP nomination by the time
> that Iowa rolled around. Result , a Mormon candidate for president.
>
> You would think that various Protestant leaders would be concerned.
> So far no sign of any such thing. You would think that there would be
> some serious soul searching about Protestant political failures
> but I don't know of any such thing, either.
I think part of the reason is that nobody self-identifies as a part of a
"Protestant" bloc anymore.
Evangelical Baptists feel more affinity to conservative Catholics like Santorum
than a liberal Protestant.
Why bother mourning the defeat of a group you no longer remember you belong to?
-- Ernie P.
>
> No conclusions at this time but an observation worth making.
>
> Billy
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> With Santorum suspending campaign, some religious conservatives wonder how to
> proceed
>
>
> Dan Gilgoff ("CNN," April 10, 2012)
>
> USA - Evangelical activist Michael Farris was not exactly surprised that Rick
> Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean that
> Farris, a longtime political organizer, knows what he’s supposed to do now.
>
> “Right now my choice is to sit on my hands and do nothing or to actively try
> to find some alternative” to Mitt Romney, Farris said in an interview shortly
> after Santorum's announcement.
>
> “Some of us just have a hard time supporting a person who said he was going
> to be more liberal on gay rights than Ted Kennedy,” said Farris, chairman of
> the Home School Legal Defense Association, referring to remarks Romney made
> in a 1994 letter.
>
> Farris’ reaction is a stark emblem of the disappointment among religious
> conservatives over Santorum's announcement, and a reminder that Romney’s
> enthusiasm deficit among the conservative evangelicals who form the GOP’s
> base hasn’t gone away.
>
> “There are two kinds of disappointment today,” said John Green, a religion
> and politics expert at the University of Akron. “One is felt by people who
> care a great deal about social issues, especially white evangelicals, who are
> uncomfortable with Mitt Romney.”
>
> “And there’s another group who really liked Santorum,” Green continued, “and
> were quite excited about him not only because of the social issues but
> because they saw him as representing this positive role for faith and values
> in a society.”
>
> The conservative and largely evangelical Family Research Council said in an
> email to supporters Tuesday night that Santorum's announcement "was clearly
> disappointing news for those looking for a nominee who understands and
> articulates the connection between the social and fiscal challenges facing
> America."
>
> "His historical run for President achieved remarkable success because his
> campaign was based not on money spent, but on the pro-life, pro-marriage,
> pro-freedom message he carried," the Family Research Council email blast said.
>
> Religious conservatives were the key to Santorum’s unlikely rise as a serious
> presidential candidate. Conservative evangelicals and Catholics were drawn to
> Santorum as much for his personal story – he is a conservative Catholic and
> homeschooling dad of seven – as for his outspoken advocacy against abortion
> rights and same-sex marriage as a U.S. senator.
>
> While polls showed him at the back of a seven-person pack just weeks before
> January’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, Santorum won a plurality of Iowa
> evangelicals, who accounted for nearly 60% of the electorate. That support
> laid the foundation for a first place Iowa finish.
>
> After Santorum’s primary loss in New Hampshire to Mitt Romney - and days
> before Santorum would lose to Newt Gingrich in South Carolina - conservative
> religious activists convened in Texas and congealed behind the former
> Pennsylvania senator.
>
> With strong evangelical support, Santorum went on to win primaries and
> caucuses in 11 states, even as Romney racked up more than twice as many
> delegates.
>
> Not all conservative religious activists are as dead-set against Romney as
> Farris, who is also chancellor at Patrick Henry College, a school for
> homeschooled youth.
>
> “Barack Obama will unite conservatives and people of faith more so than any
> single Republican candidate can hope to do,” said Mat Staver, an evangelical
> Christian who leads the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel.
>
> But Staver said Romney would have to work hard to excite social conservatives.
>
> “He’s going to have to make some intentional steps to reach out to
> evangelicals and religious conservatives,” said Staver. “It would be a
> mistake to assume he has every vote from evangelicals and religious
> conservatives locked up.”
>
> At the moment, plenty of other conservative activists say they’re still in
> wait-and-see mode about the primary season.
>
> “It’s very likely that he’ll end up the nominee, but he’s not he nominee
> yet,” said Steve Scheffler, president or the Iowa Faith and Freedom
> Coalition, about Romney. “He was never my first choice, but I’ll support him
> because the alternative is something we can’t live with.
>
> “But I’m not ready to throw my support to him yet,” Scheffler said.
>
>
> --
> Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
> <[email protected]>
> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
> Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
