GOP Candidates Avoid Calling Mormons Christians (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | One by one and beginning with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, each of the Republican presidential hopefuls have been asked if they believe Mormonism, a belief system followed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and followed by two of the Republican presidential candidates, is a Christian faith. And one by one, each contender has avoided the question. Not one would acknowledge that Mormons are Christians.

Herman Cain, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," danced around the topic. "I'm not running for theologian in chief," he said. "I'm a lifelong Christian. And what that means is one of my guiding principles for the decisions I make is I start with do the right thing. I'm not getting into that controversy."

When pressed that he seemed to be dodging the question, Cain added, "He's a Mormon. That much I know. I am not going to do an analysis of Mormonism vs. Christianity for the sake of answering that. I'm not getting into that. I am a Christian."

But Cain has acknowledged that Southern evangelicals have a problem with Mormons. They do not believe Mormons are true Christians and many believe they are a cult.

Rep. Michele Bachmann followed Cain. She, too, would not directly answer whether she thought Mitt Romney was a non-Christian because of his chosen religion, preferring to note it was "inconsequential" and actually a "question of tolerance." But Candy Crowley contradicted her, offering that calling a candidate "not a Christian" could have serious repercussions, especially when the campaign season moved into the South.

But when Crowley noted she was dodging the question, Bachmann continued her misdirection. "No. I think what the real focus is here again is on religious tolerance. That's really what this is about. And I think -- again to make this a big issue is just ridiculous right now because every day I'm on the street talking to people this is not what people are talking about. I was very open about my faith, very clear about my faith. It's very important. But I don't think that I'll be judged based on my faith as president of the United States, I think I'll be judged based upon the good ideas that I have to turn the economy around and have job creation."

Why has Romney's choice of religion become a topic of concern (as it was when he ran in 2008)? Saturday, Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, a prominent Baptist preacher, introduced Perry at the Values Voter Summit, a conservative conference with a more religious and moralistic bent organized by Family Research Council's Tony Perkins.

Jeffress told reporters after the introduction that Christians shouldn't vote for Romney because he wasn't a Christian and he belonged to a cult. Jeffress later clarified his remarks, noting the Southern Baptist Convention had deemed Mormonism a cult (which is supported by the inclusion of the belief system in that body's list of cults on its website).

Perry was not apprised of Jeffress' statements until later, but when reporters asked him about the remarks in Iowa, he stated he did not believe Mormonism was a cult. But he went no further.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum also refused to allow that Mormons were Christians. "He says he's a Christian," Santorum told "Fox News Sunday." "I'm not an expert on Mormonism. All I know is that every Mormon I know is a good and decent person, has great moral values, and is, by and large, with the exception of Harry Reid, pretty consistent in the values that I share and the things that I want to see happen in this country, and that's what he should be judged on."

Even the knowledgeable former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, would not answer the question directly. Appearing on CBS' "Face The Nation" alongside Cain, anchor Bob Schieffer posed the question to both men.

Gingrich replied: "I think he's a Mormon and Mormons define themselves as a branch of Christianity."

Cain reiterated what he had said on "State of the Union" but added, "I believe that they believe that they're Christians based on their definition but getting into whether or not they're more Christian than another group, I don't think that's relevant to this campaign."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believes it is a Christian church. From Mormon.org: "We believe first and foremost that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Son of God."

The definition of Christianity, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary , is "one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ."

Although the GOP presidential contenders might not wish to admit it, possibly due to the fact they believe Mormonism is a non-Christian faith or are fearful of losing evangelical support if they acknowledge Mormons are Christians, those who follow the Mormon faith fit the definition of Christian. But as Jeffress explained to CNN after his controversial remarks, Mormons do not follow the traditional teachings of Jesus Christ.

Mormons do have extra sacred writings, most exemplified by the Book of Mormon and the writings of their founder, Joseph Smith. And to evangelicals, those who hold the fundamentalist views of not adding to, nor taking away from the "word of God" (the written word of the Christian Bible), the Book of Mormon is problematic.

So, even if the candidates, all of whom are professed Christians of one denomination or another, have been able to publicly state that Romney's religion is not a cult, they have been far more reluctant to acknowledge that it is a true Christian faith in an attempt to not drive away evangelical voters. It would appear tolerance of another's religious views extends only as far the perception of negative voter backlash.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111010/us_ac/10175403_gop_candidates_avoid_calling_mormons_christians

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