Mormons v. Christians

To bring things up to date (see earlier post) on that Focus on the Family video in which Tom Minnery expresses his appreciation for Romney’s “acknowledging” that “Mormonism is not a Christian faith”: The AP’s Rachel Zoll got on the story right away, and learned from Minnery that he had come to that conclusion based […]

To bring things up to date (see earlier post) on that Focus on the Family video in which Tom Minnery expresses his appreciation for Romney’s “acknowledging” that “Mormonism is not a Christian faith”: The AP’s Rachel Zoll got on the story right away, and learned from Minnery that he had come to that conclusion based on Romney’s December speech on faith and public life, in which the presidential aspirant stated, “There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church’s beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history.”
For its part, the Romney campaign initially turned the other cheek. Wrote Zoll:

Minnery said that he spoke with the campaign after the video was posted this week and they did not contest his view or ask him to retract the statement.
“We’ve got a good relationship with them,” he said.
Kevin Madden, a Romney spokesman, said in an e-mail that “campaign guides by advocacy groups consist of their viewpoints.” Madden referred to Romney’s faith speech when asked if the former Massachusetts governor considers himself Christian.

But on Saturday, when Time‘s Michael Scherer asked Romney’s traveling secretary, Eric Fehrnstrom, about it, the cheek turned back: “The governor has not made that acknowledgment.” Next:

“Now some people define ‘Christianity’ differently,” Fehrnstrom continued. “Some people believe that ‘Christianity’ is a group of evangelical churches. Others believe that ‘Christianity’ is any church that follows the teaching of Jesus Christ, and that is what the LDS church believes.” I asked Fehrnstrom if that was also what Romney believed. He said yes.

Scherer, on the trail with the candidate, procured no response from Focus on Family.
Yesterday, CBN’s David Brody reviewed the situation on his blog, expressing the belief (wish?) that the whole Mormon story has had its day and the hope that everybody could just move on, if not get along.


Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!