On All Things Considered yesterday afternoon, Mitt Romney had the audacity to say, “I don’t believe that NPR is going to ask me about my belief in the bible when we have a (health care crisis), our entitlements are in trouble….” He goes on to talk about how his belief in the Bible is not relevant to his campaign.Bullshit.Since we put, “In God We Trust” on our money and added, “Under God” to the Pledge, a candidate’s spiritual beliefs have been legitimate areas to examine. When the basis of one’s political system is the Bible, as many of the candidates have stated, then we have an obligation to engage them in discourse regarding those beliefs. I want to know if these people take the Bible as the Literal World of God, since it will definitely impact their decision making, forward planning and their policy decisions.I can’t stand that people like Romney hide behind this faux-persecuted, sanctimonious “We have better things to discuss” rhetoric. I would prefer a more honest, “Yup. Leviticus is where’s its at” statement. That kind of honesty and transparency is well beyond the scope of any of the Republican candidates.Not that I would have voted for any of them anyway. It would just be a nice, welcome change to discuss something than to be put on the defensive.
Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, Politics, Presidential Election, Republican, RightWingWackos
Hey, I’ve just gotta disagree with the idea that putting “under god” and “in god we trust” into some government sponsored items legitimizes questions about a candidates faith. It doesn’t, but such questions have always been legitimate in revealing whether a candidate is bat-fuck crazy or not. Still, I think it is true to say it isn’t relevant to question someone’s faith when the basic goal is to establish whether they are religious enough, as in a religious test for office. Alas, there are elements of the Republican party that are seeking to establish that very test, which is why Romney is caught saying such things. As for me? It’s all about the Zuul worship. (Bring it, Hittites!)
I have to agree with Science Robot. I have my own reasons and words, but I think Aaron Sorkin put it best. In the words of Alan Alda’s Senator Arnold Vinick, a Republican candidate resisting the Religious Right’s demands: “I do think If you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to. They won’t all lie to you, but a lot of them will, and it’ll be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes.“
Like it or not, the discussion of faith is now officially apart of the discourse. The rules changed when the dollar got the slogan and the pledge found a Judeo-Christian God. Hold them to the rules they created, so we can discredit them and their bullshit rules.
I am not talking about having a test of faith to see if one is “religious” enough to run for office. I firmly believe we are constantly being lied to by the a majority of the Evangelical Right. What I want is to hold them to the beliefs they espouse in the morning and break by mid-afternoon.