I'm watching Hardball with Chris Matthews

[Chino]

I missed the first 2 minutes, but there is a guy talking who supports Romney. I am absolutely appalled with he discussion going on here. The only thing these guys are talking about/are going to talk about, are the religious beliefs of the candidates. This doesn't piss me off because I am not religious. It pisses me off because this country was founded on religious freedom, and yet the beliefs of someone running for president seems to be one of the most important characteristics voters look for. Instead of these guys taking about what's wrong with the country and what they think needs to be done to fix it, they are arguing the validity of the religious views of the opponent. Shut the fuck up and start practicing for the job you are hoping to get hired for. Talk to the people about issues, don't preach your faith to them. Americans also need to pull their heads out of their asses and vote for someone who's going to do good for our country, not someone that's is going to constantly reassure them that they are believing the right thing.

/end rant

[MasterShakezula]

I agree that controversy over candidates' religious beliefs is rather silly. 

As long as it doesn't impede their ability to judge what is best for the country, I really don't care what a candidate's beliefs are.   

[snapple]

This must be the first time I've heard a rant involving Hardball that wasn't about Chris Matthews.

[antigoon]

This must be the first time I've heard a rant involving Hardball that wasn't about Chris Matthews.

[Scheavo]

Could you post a video? Also, it might be making the news because a supporter of Perry recently came out and called Mormonism a cult, and that supporting Romney was supporting such dark things.

[kirksnosehair]

I missed the first 2 minutes, but there is a guy talking who supports Romney. I am absolutely appalled with he discussion going on here. The only thing these guys are talking about/are going to talk about, are the religious beliefs of the candidates. This doesn't piss me off because I am not religious. It pisses me off because this country was founded on religious freedom, and yet the beliefs of someone running for president seems to be one of the most important characteristics voters look for. Instead of these guys taking about what's wrong with the country and what they think needs to be done to fix it, they are arguing the validity of the religious views of the opponent. Shut the fuck up and start practicing for the job you are hoping to get hired for. Talk to the people about issues, don't preach your faith to them. Americans also need to pull their heads out of their asses and vote for someone who's going to do good for our country, not someone that's is going to constantly reassure them that they are believing the right thing.

/end rant

Well, first off, this is the Republican primaries right now, so we're not into the general election yet.  So, the Mormonism thing is really just an issue among social conservatives.  They're going to duke it out on this because TO THEM it's a big issue.  If you're running for President in this country on the Republican ticket, you have no choice but to pander to Evangelical Christians, they make up a HUGE voting bloc of social conservatives in this country.  There's just no getting around that fact.  So, what better way to attack the front runner in the Republican primary than to have one of your surrogates attack his Mormon faith?  To many so-called "Born Again" Christians, Mormonism is a cult.  That's a pretty large and fairly decomposed and smelly albatross to hang around the neck of your opponent in the Republican primaries. 

When the general election comes around, you probably won't hear another peep about this nonsense, especially if it's (as I am predicting) Mitt Romney -vs- Obama. 

[snapple]

I missed the first 2 minutes, but there is a guy talking who supports Romney. I am absolutely appalled with he discussion going on here. The only thing these guys are talking about/are going to talk about, are the religious beliefs of the candidates. This doesn't piss me off because I am not religious. It pisses me off because this country was founded on religious freedom, and yet the beliefs of someone running for president seems to be one of the most important characteristics voters look for. Instead of these guys taking about what's wrong with the country and what they think needs to be done to fix it, they are arguing the validity of the religious views of the opponent. Shut the fuck up and start practicing for the job you are hoping to get hired for. Talk to the people about issues, don't preach your faith to them. Americans also need to pull their heads out of their asses and vote for someone who's going to do good for our country, not someone that's is going to constantly reassure them that they are believing the right thing.

/end rant

Well, first off, this is the Republican primaries right now, so we're not into the general election yet.  So, the Mormonism thing is really just an issue among social conservatives.  They're going to duke it out on this because TO THEM it's a big issue.  If you're running for President in this country on the Republican ticket, you have no choice but to pander to Evangelical Christians, they make up a HUGE voting bloc of social conservatives in this country.  There's just no getting around that fact.  So, what better way to attack the front runner in the Republican primary than to have one of your surrogates attack his Mormon faith?  To many so-called "Born Again" Christians, Mormonism is a cult.  That's a pretty large and fairly decomposed and smelly albatross to hang around the neck of your opponent in the Republican primaries. 

When the general election comes around, you probably won't hear another peep about this nonsense, especially if it's (as I am predicting) Mitt Romney -vs- Obama.

Well, The Church of the Latter Day Saints wreaks of cult. But you know what, I believe in what I believe, and I'm not here to cast judgement on any one else's beliefs. However, Barry is right again. For the primaries, yeah this is a "huge" issue. General election? Not so much. Romney is going to be more "conservative" in the primaries too, then swing HUGE in the middle during the general election. It's just the way primaries work.

[William Wallace]

Seems relevant:

https://reason.com/archives/2011/10/12/a-mormon-in-the-white-house

At the Values Voter Summit, Republican primary candidate Rick Perry was introduced by a megachurch pastor, named Robert Jeffress, who offered the audience an extraordinary false choice: "Do we want a candidate who is a good, moral person or one who is a born-again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ?"

Answer: We want a candidate who will cut capital gains taxes.

Now, Jeffress would go on to explain that Perry is a "genuine follower of Jesus Christ," which is widely understood to mean that his opponent Mitt Romney is a member of a satanic sect. When one considers that Romney was governor of Massachusetts, the possibility can't be dismissed. But Jeffress, it turns out, was referring to a "theological cult." Many Americans, evidently, believe that Mormons such as Romney are heretics, too impure to take on the virtuous job of being a politician.

Some of us have no standing—and absolutely no interest—in wading into theological debates. The Constitution states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." This, regrettably, doesn't shield candidates from the prejudices of some voters, and tragically, it doesn't shield us from candidates who believe that repeatedly citing God is a policy position.

Though all that may be annoying, does it mean we should recoil from any discussion of religion in political discourse?

Let's just stretch the imagination for a moment. Suppose a candidate had a deep fidelity with a faith that is known to occasionally keep women from driving, one that believes 90 lashes for speaking out of turn is an acceptable form of punishment, and one that overlooks forced circumcisions and allows honor killings. Let's say that this faith leaves little distinction between the state and God. If any tenets of your faith conflict with the liberty of others, does religion become a political matter?

If your faith drives you, as it does Michele Bachmann, is it out of bounds to ask—as she was during one Republican debate—why she believes wives should be "submissive" to their husbands? (As it turns out, she gave a rather fascinating answer, and I now strongly advocate for a similar position in my own household.) And seeing as Barack Obama is a religious man, why shouldn't we question his association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who, you will remember, used his pulpit as an ideologue to preach racism and other unseemly business?

No doubt, some on the left are offended that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes gay marriage, though they align the Mormon church with other "theological cults"—such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and most denominations of Protestantism. I get it. If any church publicly supported Keynesian boondoogles, I'd have a problem, too.

But Mormons seem, for the most part, because of a long and complex history, to go out of their way to avoid mixing religion and politics. Is Romney covertly behind some Mormon-centric legislation I haven't heard about? Do Sen. Harry Reid, who is Mormon, and Sen. Mike Lee, who is Mormon, agree on any substantive policy?

We can't know what impact the Mormon question will have on this election. Polls can't accurately reflect that kind of sentiment. But if you dismiss millions of people solely on a religious basis as unworthy of public office, you are intolerant and have taken a deeply un-American position.

Jeffress isn't a bigot because he has a theological argument or because he brought up religion. He is a bigot because he rejected a man based on his personal faith rather than dismiss him for his terrible health care policy like a normal person.

[jsem]

If it ever comes down to Romney vs Obama, faith will be brought up plenty of times..

Well, The Church of the Latter Day Saints wreaks of cult.

But you know what, I believe in what I believe, and I'm not here to cast judgement on any one else's beliefs.

Do you yourself see what you did there?

[snapple]

If it ever comes down to Romney vs Obama, faith will be brought up plenty of times..

Well, The Church of the Latter Day Saints wreaks of cult.

But you know what, I believe in what I believe, and I'm not here to cast judgement on any one else's beliefs.

Do you yourself see what you did there?

I guess I see.    I meant I believe and think what I believe, and so while I have my opinions, I don't mean to be casting judgement, they're just my opinions.

[GuineaPig]

If it ever comes down to Romney vs Obama, faith will be brought up plenty of times..

Well, The Church of the Latter Day Saints wreaks of cult.

But you know what, I believe in what I believe, and I'm not here to cast judgement on any one else's beliefs.

Do you yourself see what you did there?

He spelled "reeks" wrong?

[snapple]

If it ever comes down to Romney vs Obama, faith will be brought up plenty of times..

Well, The Church of the Latter Day Saints wreaks of cult.

But you know what, I believe in what I believe, and I'm not here to cast judgement on any one else's beliefs.

Do you yourself see what you did there?

He spelled "reeks" wrong?

My phone autocorrected to that at work and I decided to let it slide.