Liberty University Students to Mitt: "You're Not Christian"

What? Catholics are big into redemption. Confession / absolution is one of the sacraments.

 

Thus ends the respectful discussion.

 

Yes you are, you just don't know it yet.

 

The big question I've got is, who cares? Can anybody prove a bit of LDS theology wrong? Do the Catholic Church or the Quakers have to pay dues if the Mormons call themselves Christians? The answer, correctly, is know. Everybody's just trying to figure out what happens after we die and the Mormons' answer is admittedly a bit more of a stretch, but a bit more awesome.

 

...

 

"Noe?" "Noh?" "No?"

There we go.

 

I care.

As you might have observed by now, Christianity is an evangelical religion, as is Mormonism. I have an obligation to share what I consider is good news. Now, there are other adherents of other faiths who have the same responsibility, and that is fine for them. I view that "awesomeness" of which you speak to be a critical distinctive. Again, fine if they believe it. But when if anyone is trying to call it what I call my religion, then I have a problem.

Now, if it turns out that there is a God and he has decided that everyone gets into Heaven because he is God and he loves us all, hey, I would be perfectly fine with that. Though I do have many fire-Bible breathing brethren who would be pissed. Too bad for them.

 

I know you're a political person, so you really should be able to figure out "who cares" if Mormons are Christians or not. That is why all this came up in the first place.

Just remember, you're all goyim to me!

 

Racist

 

Back to the point of thread, I think the bigger issue here is not whether or not Mormons are Christians. Its that Liberty Students are so close-minded that they refuse to have a non-christian speak at their commencement, even if that non-christian might be our next president.

Could you imagine students at another university boycotting a speaker because they are Muslim/Jewish etc?

 

Absolutely. Emma Smith didn't like the elders spitting chaw in her house.

Several of the LDS prohibitions or commandments were infrequently enforced in the 1800s. Word of Wisdom is one; tithing is another. By the time you hit 1900 or so, these were entrenched fully.

 

Oh, I understand why it's a political question. I'd like to get to the heart of it. Why do people care? Val's answer is that anybody who calls themselves a Christian but isn't shouldn't be allowed in "the club." Like Jesus is up there keeping score. It's petty and pathetic for an answer. There are plenty of reasons to criticize Mormonism, or Islam, or the rest of the monotheistic paeon of religions, but only on their tangible religious grounds. Mormons didn't let in African-Americans until the 1970s, Catholics don't let women in the clergy, Orthodox synods have mafia connections, Shi'a Islam appears to have fused with political life in Iran, etc.

However, simply saying "my books are better than your books" should not be the basis for any post-Enlightenment political discussion. The human race can and should know better. That's why I would like to see if anybody cares beyond the usual "my ****'s bigger" contest.

 

Well, if ideas are the currency of colleges and universities, the main intellectual thought at Liberty is: What Does it Mean to be a Christian? There's a lot of different answers to that question. But I don't find this protest to be any more or less out of line than:

Worcester Polytechnic Institute protesting against ExxonMobile Chief
http://www.care2.com/causes/students-protest-exxon-ceo-as-commencement-speaker.html
UNC Chapel Hill protesting Mayor Bloomberg
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...cement-speaker-protest-occupy--135278413.html
U Michigan Law School protesting against Senator Rob Portman (R)
http://www.michigandaily.com/news/law-school-commencement-sees-protests
Syracuse protesting Chase CEO
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/syracuse_university_students_p.html

I find it all mostly a tempest in a teapot. My experience at commencement seems to have been similar to many who've posted here: I remember who spoke, but I didn't listen to a word of it.

 

Read any George Steiner?

 

If you're going to put it this way, then to answer your question, the superstitions we're discussing here are pre-Enlightenment relics.

 

Who?

I'm lucky if I get to read the newspaper between product submittals.

 

You're making a false dichotomy. Criticizing Mormons for not being Christian isn't the same as rooting for a team to win the Super Bowl, it's rooting for a team to lose. It's for PETA to root for the deaths of humans instead of the preservation of other animal life. I would expect Southern Baptists to be full of pride over being Baptist, and Lutherans over being Lutheran, and Theravada Buddhists for being Buddhist. What our species ought to overcome is the need for S.B.s to hate the Northern Baptists, the Lutherans to hate the Presbyterians, and the Theravada Buddhists to hate the Sunni Muslims, just "cuz, man." How that's uncivil is a little mind-boggling.

 

I don't think anyone was criticizing Mormons at all. Not even the Liberty students. They are voicing their opinion that Mormonism does not fit within their definition of Christianity which is a very different thing than being critical. My only issue with them is that they should be open to someone they consider being non-Christian to speak at their commencement. Then again, its their commencement so they can do what they want.

I first posted in this thread because the broader issue is that there are a lot of evangelicals out there who will not support Romney for the very reason these students are protesting. Would they support a Catholic like Santorum? I don't know. But their is a large group who's politics are driven by their religious beliefs. That's fine with me, but I personally believe it is a faulty logical premise.

In a related note, I find it interesting and refreshing that the Catholic bishops have come out hard against the Ryan budget because of what it does to the least of us. In the big picture, I'm against my church getting involved directly in politics, but since they took that leap against Obama and the contraception/insurance issue, I'm glad that they truly are holding to their principles in this matter as well.

 

You really are evolving into quite the troll recently. It's a fine line between contrarian and troll, so I will cut you some slack . . . sweetheart.