Fr Dwight Longenecker Asks, Does Mitt's Mormonism Matter? Comments
Most Americans are unaware of just how peculiar the beliefs of Mormons are. Do they know about Mormonism's exclusivity? It's secretive rituals? It's strange doctrines? Probably not. Even if they do know all the shady and weird stuff about Mormonism, do most Americans care? Should they care? With the possibility that their next president is a Mormon, does it matter? Continue Reading
71 - 80 of 135 Comments
Leave a Comment
Most Popular
Pope Francis says atheists can do good and go to heaven too! Read More
California teenager invents device that can charge cell phone in 20 seconds - flat Read More
Receiving the Eucharist: I Have Decided to Kneel For Jesus Read More
Culture of Corruption: Why Obama's misuse of Marines is wrong Read More
British soldier hacked to death in brazen attack by Islamic terrorists, stopped by prayerful, courageous women Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Sirach 17:1-15
The Lord fashioned human beings from the earth, to consign them ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 103:13-14, 15-16, 17-18
As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats ... Read More
Gospel, Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
May 25: It would be easy to concentrate on the mystical experiences God ... Read More
Marketplace
Heaven Speaks About Abortion
Every year millions of children are rejected by their parents prior ... Read More
Pope T Shirt
Show your love for the Holy Father with this clever Catholic T-shirt! ... Read More
To all of you who're obviously trying to justify your intent to vote Republican and Romney saying religion shouldn't matter... do you realize that such a silly statement also negates the moral oppositions we present to abortion, capital punishment, the ongoing contraception issue, and gay marriage? Take faith out of the equation and NONE of those should matter to us any more.
Also, I can't help but wonder if you'd be claiming "religion doesn't matter" if Obama suddenly announced he was a Muslim.
Sorry... I think that "religion shouldn't metter" is a ridiculous and self defeating argument.
Wow, I've read several articles lately about how the Catholic and LDS Churches are getting along and even sharing some relief efforts etc. Father Longenecker seems determined to undo all this in one fell swoop! Many of the errors and misrepresentations have already been pointed out above. I'm curious as to how much influence the Evangelicals in South Carolina have had in his "research". Why is it that people, pastors, priests etc. continue to write these hatchet job articles when they haven't a clue as to the truth. If I anted information on his church I would ask someone of the Catholic faith, not an evangelical Baptist. As mentioned, maybe the good father should do a bit of long range historical research into the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages to see how corrupt and sinful so many of the adherents were, not to mention priests and yes even Popes. From what I have read over the years they got pretty far from Christ's teachings. All churches have people in them, and people are subject to many different levels of activity, belief and adherence to teachings etc. What a pity some of the critics today can't agree to disagree and get on with helping their fellow man instead of attacking each other.
Alright, as a former Mormon who now attends Catholic mass there's several things that need correcting but I'll just pick a couple.
Most importantly, the LDS church and the FLDS church of Jeffs' are two different entities with the FLDS church having broken away from the LDS church. By lumping them together that is roughly the equivalent of calling Methodists Catholic. So the first category is just not even applicable.
Considering the definitions you give to the other two categories... Romney is second category, Huntsman and Reid are third category.
I am a devout Catholic and feel Fr. L's commentary was more inflammatory than it had to be to make his point. Many might think our own traditions and rituals seem odd from the outside looking in. My experience with LDS co-workers has been very positive. I'm not concerned about Mitt's theology. Now that his candidacy is a foregone conclusion, I like his life experience and think he has leadership ability. We can't have another four years of the current administration.
I am not a person of faith so as you can imagine, I see all supernatural beliefs as bizarre be they Mormon, Orthodox, Quaker, or Jainism. Not all religions can be right but they can be all wrong!
Mike
Oh Father, after all of the goodwill that has been established between the Catholics and the LDS, couldn’t you have done just the slightest research on your topic? Your errors in this piece are amazing.
It doesn't matter!Though Mormons are not true Christians. It's the belief of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who are three distinct persons in the one true God; consubstantial in their divine nature. Its the belief in the Holy Trinity that keeps you from being true Christians. With this said, most Mormons I know lead lives of christian virtue. Commendable! I feel Mitt is a commendable presidential candidate and i will vote for him because I feel he is the only bet we have to protect our religious freedom.
Fr. Longenecker...thank you for telling it like it is!
If Catholics had kept New Testament theology, their theology would be very similar to today's Mormon’ theology. The major differences relate to the Nicean Creed which changed the views of "traditional Christianity". . For example, the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views on Baptism, Lay Ministry, the Trinity, Theosis, Grace vs. Works, the Divinity of Jesus Christ are closer to Early Christianity than any other denomination today. And Mormon teenagers have been judged to “top the charts” in Christian Characteristics by a UNC-Chapel Hill study. Read about it here:
http://MormonsAreChristian.blogspot.com/
According to a 2012 Pew Forum poll of members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) 98 percent said they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 97 percent say their church is a Christian religion. They volunteer 7 times as many hours as does the general population, according to a 2012 University of Pennsylvania study. Mormons have a better understanding of Christianity than any other denomination, according to a 2010 Pew Forum poll:
http://www.pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx
11 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (including several presidents) were non-Trinitarian Christians. Those who now insist on their narrow Trinitarian and salvation-only- by-grace definition of Christianity for candidates for public office are doing our Republic an injustice.
I posted a comment this morning and Iam disappointed that you oly post comments that agrees with. This blog is one sided
Warren Jeffs is not a member of the LDS because Mormonism as an Etch-a-Sketch religion that has "apostles" who can just have a "revelation" any time a doctrine is inconvenient - and just like an Etch-a-Sketch it's wiped away. So the U.S. won't let Utah become a state? Just get a "revelation" to disallow polygamy. Non-Mormons don't like the status of black people in the Mormon religion? Just get a "revelation" to admit blacks to the "priesthood." For a long time, I thought that Mitt Romney had absolutely no core beliefs or values. Now I realize that he's just modeling what his religion has taught him. It's all about the Etch-a-Sketch. Whatever is "true" today is "true"... no matter what may have been "true" yesterday.