Huckamania!

UPDATE: Huckamania! commends Governor Romney on an excellent speech this morning.

This is a response I wrote to Richard Cohen and should be very relevant to Governor Romney’s speech on religious tolerance today…

I agree that Mitt Romney’s Mormonism should not be a factor in this Presidential race. I also condemn any actual bigotry that exists against Mitt Romney solely because he is Mormon. Bigotry does exist and it exists against Mike Huckabee too. Many people openly brag about not voting for him because he was a pastor or because he doesn’t believe in evolution as a theory of creation (he does believe we evolved, just not that it was the start of the process).
However, I think a much more common form of religious bigotry and intolerance exists not against Mormons, but against evangelical Christians. What makes this bigotry even more troubling is that it is openly accepted and even bragged about by mainstream society.

While it is wrong for people to discriminate against someone for their religious beliefs, it is un-American and contrary to religious freedom to suggest that evangelicals do not have a right to believe whatever they would like about Mormonism. Contrary to the belief of many liberals, no one in this country has a right to be tolerated or accepted by anyone. We must respect others in the sense that we must not discriminate against them in hiring or violate their basic rights, but the notion that we have to accept as valid every idea is absurd! The Southern Baptist Convention (to my knowledge) views Mormonism as a cult. To disagree with a religion and even to view it as a cult is not a form of bigotry; it’s a theological conclusion. To say that we have to have to change our beliefs or customs to accommodate any other system of belief is to violate our tradition of religious tolerance.

Having said that, Huckabee never said that he viewed Mormonism as a cult. He has said his views on Mormonism are irrelevant to being President and he did the right thing by not stirring up a controversy in the evangelical and other communities with his approval or disapproval of Romney’s faith.

Where do questions like these end? Will Huckabee then be asked about his views on Hindus, Wiccans, Lyndon Larouche Supporters, or smaller sects of Christianity. As Mike Huckabee said, the only person who can determine whether or not they are a Christian is the person themselves and God. It’s not Mike Huckabee’s judgment call and the press is unfair to make it so.

What are my views on Mormonism? I’m not running for President so I’ll put them out there. I do not believe Mormonism is a cult. I respect Mormons as people of faith and for sticking with their beliefs even though many people question and ridicule them. And I don’t know who gets to go to Heaven - only God knows that. I am proud to have many Mormon friends, most of whom have join me on the Mike Huckabee bandwagon.