This is something I was just thinking on before Winter Break in December, back when Mitt Romney was still a Presidential candidate for the 2008 election. I had read an article on YahooNews, I think posted by Associated Press, in which Romney discusses how "religious tolerance" is an important aspect of society. He was responding to a barrage of questions and comments on his religious beliefs. It is no secret that Romney was a member of The Church of Latter Day Saints. He has been identified as a Mormon, a pet name to members of the aforementioned church.
I originally had no beef with Mitt Romney. Yet, once I learned of his waterboarding and legal torture support, he fell from my list of "tolerable Republican candidates". I also felt he would be tempted to conform to a Bush-croney in the future, so I decided not to trust him as a Presidential candidate. I still have no issues with his belief in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, composed by Joseph Smith. It is just an extra document that reaffirms some of the teachings in the Torah and Gospels, while establishing Joseph Smith as a bonafide prophet. I believe the Bible has been fucked up so much in its early history that any additional texts and documents won't change the Pro-Semitic, Semi-anti-Gentile message. Examples of tampering: LXX (Septuagint), Apocrypha (1-4 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, and an additional Esther narrative), and Pseudipigrapha (1 & 2 Enoch and Wisdom of Moses).
So, it doesn't matter what a Presidential candidate believes in religiously and spiritually. As long as his or her religious beliefs do not encourage him or her to want to destroy the United States or purposely and illegally endanger the lives of any American citizen, civilian or soldier, than I'm cool with the person. I even wrote this quote after reading the news report on Yahoo. (Original quote, please do not copy)
"If you punish or hold hostilities to tthose of a different religion, then you simply become that which you hate. So, that is why I tolerate ALL religions and give them all fair time at my dinner table. I wouldn't want to consume only one faith, when I can dine on the entire smorgasbord of religions."
My main issue with people bringing up the issue of religion against a candidate, whether Mormon or Muslim, Jew or Catholic, is that religion bears no effect on the type of job a President will perform. Do people seriously believe a Protestant will do a better job than a Mormon at President? Does that mean that an Orthodox Christian would do an even better job than the Protestant? Religion is irrelevant to performance of the title Commander-in-Chief. Would you want your science teacher to grade you according to what religion you are? If the teacher puts "Religion and Faith" on the grading rubric, wouldn't that be unfair? I think the American public and media are too used to getting things their way, now to the point that they WANT someone who worships the same Jesus that they do performing non-religious tasks. Protestant teacher, catholic guidance counselor, Hindu gynecologist, Jewish principal, etc, etc, etc. My original thought is that "American people... it is only 4 fuckin' years!" How can a Mormon, or someone of a different religious background than yourself, fuck up the country in 4 years? What if they do a better job than you would? Does that mean that they're religiously superior? If they fuck up, are they religiously-inferior?
