Why is Mitt Romney's religion off limits

[bigdarryl]

No one in the media wants to touch it.In 2008 the media CRUCIFIED Obama for being in Wrights church for 20 years it was in the news non stop for the rest of the campaign

[The Magistrate]

1. No Idea, Sir: Most Evangelicals Believe Mormonism To Be a Satanic Cult

And can adduce excellent arguments in favor of that proposition.

No one who reads the history of Mormonism with eyes open can escape conviction it is a marvelous example of the grifter's art, though hardly, in its purported sacred book, an even competent effort at writing alternate universe fiction.

"Romney loves America like a tick loves a dog."

[1-Old-Man]

4. Sir: I am an atheist and I think Mormonism is a Satanic Cult

[dennis4868]

2. Because...

Romney is a white guy.

[kentuck]

3. Because...

They have chosen the tax issue as a diversion so that his religion is not the issue? Maybe?

[NightWatcher]

5. it would look very mean on the part of the media

you only need scratch the surface of Mormonism and it gets (oh let's say weird) or suspect.

Most religions in my opinion are based on fairy tales, but the tales that the LDS spin are really out there, plus you get into how it was founded and Mitt's family history (grandad polygamist, Mexico....)

I wish it would get play, but I dont think it will

[demosincebirth]

10. Don't forget that the dems, also, have a Mormon who is quasi liberal and is the Senate Majority

leader. Attacking Rmoneys faith would also be attacking Sen Reid's faith who is on our side. It's a quandary for us, I think.

[spanone]

6. because he is a caucasian and beyond reproach....

[Odious justice]

7. Why is any religion off limit?

Probably because we have a lot of morons in this country. I don't want anyone that is truly a believer of a monolithic religion in charge of our military and nuclear weapons. Or in charge of anything. Fortunately, people that follow the tenants of religion seldom seek power, they're too busy making the world a better place by helping those in need.

But, If I was a betting man, the mormon card will be played. And it should be. Maybe a nice little ad about how the Mormons didn't let black folks belong to their church until the mid 1970's.

[Matt_in_STL]

8. I am starting to float this quote around

Especially to my friends who happen to be Christian:

"I have taught for thirty years, and still teach, that he that believeth in his heart and confesseth with his mouth that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is his Prophet to this generation, is of God; and he that confesseth not that Jesus has come in the flesh and sent Joseph Smith with the fullness of the Gospel to this generation, is not of God, but is antichrist"

-Brigham Young

Between this and passing around the thought that the goal of Mormonism is to go door-to-door converting everyone to their religion it sure raises eyebrows. Mitt using a Mormon tenet for his campaign slogan only helps this cause.

[Blue Meany]

9. I don't think Mormonism per se should be an issue, but

his role in the church certainly should be. He was a church leader and became socialized into a certain kind of authoritarian, unquestioned leadership that would inform that way he governs. That should not be off limits.

Of course Romney has tried to put his whole life off-limits: can't talk about his family, can't talk about Bain, destroyed records from the Olympics and from his tenure as governor, can't see his tax records. I wonder if he has released any medical information, because I wonder about his declining cognitive abilities.

[YoungDemCA]

11. It's Harry Reid's religion too

There are Mormon Democrats out there.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. That was about Wright, not religion...

and it was run up by hysterical rantings from the bagger brigade.

Attacking a candidate on the basis of religion rarely ends well. It helped defeat Al Smith, but backfired with Kennedy. One day there may be a Jewish candidate, and then perhaps a Muslim, a Buddhist...

Who really wants the precedent of attacking religion?

[Quantess]

13. But Obama is a muslin!!!1

A shockingly large percentage of Americans were led to believe that Obama is a muslim.
The precedent has already been set.

[MrScorpio]

14. Harry Reid is a Mormon too

It's best to leave RMoney's religion out of it.

Besides, there are plenty of other ways to knock him down.

[Johonny]

18. +1

[Enrique]

16. there are plenty of stories about Romney's Mormonism

I'm not sure what people are wanting, do they want people to attack Romney for his religion? Who should attack, Obama? the media? Super PACs? Do they want people to exploit people's fear of Mormonism, or minority religions in general?

[karynnj]

17. Racism - Mormons mostly look like the media idealization from the 1950s of the American family

while Reverend Wright looked both black and scary. ( The fire and brimstone Puritan heritage is long forgotten. )

There was a Bloomsberg News opinion piece that started by comparing the attacks on Bain to swiftboating in 2004 - then making that worse by suggesting it was because Kerry overstated his military credentials somehow justifying the liars - even though all Kerry said was that he served. The piece then bizarrely went to a description of how how nice, helpful, charitable etc Mormons he met were and how wonderful Mormon majority communities are - which he then suggested this meant Romney had these traits.

My guess is that people do not react to the actual beliefs of a community, but the way they act in society. The affluent clean cut image of Mormons may trump their out of the mainstream beliefs. It should also be noted that it is completely acceptable to have whatever religious beliefs you have. The point where they can be questioned is through ACTIONS taken that affect others.

As to Romney, his own flaws are many and they can and are being attacked directly. Criticizing his religion will have the affect of getting his coreligionists to stand more united behind him and to possibly do what the Bloomsberg article tried to do - give Romney credit for any positive aspects of Mormons.

[struggle4progress]

19. You need to polish your use of paralepsis. The proper approach is something like the following:

"Let's talk about the real reasons everyone should oppose Romney. We don't even want to mention his odd religious views or his magic underwear or his family's strange polygamist history in Mexico. We do intend to discuss his self-centeredness, his lack of empathy for ordinary people, the devastation he wrought as a corporate raider ..."