Karl Rove: Atheist?

It's really hard to get a bearing on where fundamentalists and evangelicals stand with regard to some things and no, the terms aren't interchangeable. Not trying to show you up, Okie...it's easy to get a little careless and use the terms interchangeably even though that's not entirely accurate. After all, Jim Wallis is an evangelical and he's no fundamentalist. I agree that Mormons are ill-regarded in many conservative Christian circles. Still, I can't imagine what a hard-right fundamentalist would do when forced to choose between a Mormon and Hillary Clinton...that'd be one fundamentalist more pissed off than a starving vegetarian in a butcher shop.

 

You're right, the terms aren't interchangeable, though I tend to use them that way.
Fundamentalists will NOT vote for a Mormon. They simply won't do it -- at least, not the ones I know. And I live in Oklahoma, which is about as fundamental as it gets.
I really think if they were forced to choose, they would hold their nose and vote for Hillary, because though they might not like her, they don't think she truly worships the devil.
I'm not exaggerating, either.

 

Ever consider that they may just skip the presidential vote in the absence of acceptable candidates?

 

True, but there is a big push in fundamentalist churches to go out and vote in elections. Many of the churches the pastor/preacher/minister simply tells people who to vote for and they do it.
I think you'd find these people would actually go vote for a third-party candidate over Romney, but they might vote for Hillary just as a true vote against a Mormon.

 

It's true that many, or at least some, fundamentalists might back away from the recent trend toward electoral involvement, considering how much the fundamentalist vote has meant to the GOP and how little the GOP has offered by way of appreciation. A Mormon candidate would certainly increase a tendency toward apathy in some quarters...although some would hold their nose and vote for Romney (save the babies, defeat the gays) or hold their nose and vote for Hilary (defeat Satan).

Glad you didn't think I was messing with you, Okie. I've used the terms interchangeably myself, since, like you, I live in a part of the country where liberal evangelicals are semi-nonexistent. That's not the case in other parts of the country and the world, though.

As far as Mormonism goes, I know the Southern Baptists pretty much regard it as a cult. It's hard to gauge all these little independent "bible churches," both the Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal ones, since their unaffiliated nature means that their theology pretty much depends on whomever is pastor at the time...and that might change radically with the next pastor.

Remember though, that lots of folks in the traditional denominations have a "tolerant" attitude about Mormonism and regard it as an "almost Christian" religion...like Messianic Judaism, Gnosticism or Unitarianism...not theologically similar, of course, but similar in that they are all quasi-Christian heresies rather than Satanic or cultish religions.

An interesting and somewhat depressing question. I have to fight against my own tendencies toward bigotry when it comes to Mormonism because it seems really loony tunes to me and offensive in ways that other heresies (i.e., Gnosticism) are not.

 

I seriously doubt all of this will matter anyway, because Romney won't win the nomination.
But I'll be watching the primary results to see if I'm right. I'll bet that Guliani gets more votes in this area than Romney does, even though Romney's political beliefs line up more with the conservative fundamentalists.
And to tell you the truth, I don't think I know any evangelical liberals, unless I count myself. I'll have to ponder that.

 

Evangelical liberalism is on the ascent, as evidenced by the popularity of Wallis' book "God's Politics" and the Sojourners magazine and sojo.net website. Plenty of Catholics, Episcopalians and other folks you wouldn't describe as "evangelical" in the strict sense are on board as well. It's an interesting phenomenon, as the social justice movement in traditional denominations is gathering steam even as membership in traditional denominations is declining.

 

CORRECTION: Whoops, the Sojourners magazine website is sojo.net. Sojourners.org is a homeless advocacy group.

 

Sorry for the Rokski-esque triple post, but this is a provocative read:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/closing_one_door_opening_anoth.html

 

It can be surprising what fundamentalist churches will get behind. Who ever thought the fundies would rally around any film made by Mel Gibson? It was right in their wheelhouse, and it's highly doubtful it was custom-fitted for that.

I'm not ready to count Romney out strictly on the basis of his religion.

 

So you belief in a powerful Supreme Being. Did this Being create the universe? Affect what is going on now? Take an interest in humans? Provide an afterlife?

 

ADO --
We'll see. I felt the way you did, but he's making inroads, and they're buying his "conversion" act on a number of their pet issues. Right now, things look so gloomy that enough of them - not all, certainly, but enough -- might carry him over the top.