Originally published: December 16, 2007

That terrifying subject of religion continues to dominate the election. The latest is Mike Hukcabee’s “question” to a reporter about whether Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers. Romney responded by calling this anti-Mormon bigotry and Huckabee did apologize for the remark. Still, some think the political damage has already been done.

The problem here is that we are confusing two totally separate questions:

Question One: Are Mormons really a legitimate denomination of Christianity that should be embraced by Evangelical Christians?

Question Two:  Would Mitt Romney make a bad president with his Mormon background?

First things first: Mormonism does in fact teach that Jesus and Satan are brothers.  It’s the least of what they teach.  They also teach that Satan offered to be the savior of the world, that God the Father was once Adam, that he came down to earth as a man and had sex with Mary, thus creating baby Jesus, that millions of gods exist and that people can someday become gods with their own planet to rule.  This stuff resembles Greek Mythology far more than Christianity. It uses Christian terms, redefines them and then launches into a religion that could barely even be called a cousin of Christianity. I mean no disrespect to Mormons. They are nice people and they are entitled to believe whatever they want. I’m just telling you what they do in fact believe.

Moving on to the second issue: SO WHAT?  As I said in a previous blog, if I were electing a pastor for my church, I would never pick Mitt Romney. But could he be president?  Presidents do not have the authority to enforce their religious doctrines and Romney does not strike me as the kind of guy who would do that even if he could. He certainly never did so as governor. People forget that the man already has a public record, which can be examined at any time.

Mormons may not be compatible with Evangelicals doctrinally, but morally and politically they are on the same page. Isn’t this the crux of the matter?  No modern day president made his Christianity more of a campaign issue than Jimmy Carter. He even used that controversial phrase, born again.  But Carter is the worst president we have ever had, even worse than Clinton, and that’s no small accomplishment.

People, take it from a Christian apologist who studies cults and their erroneous teachings: We still need to be a bit savvy when entering the political arena. In that scenario, Romney’s Mormonism is much ado about nothing.

I’m Jewish by background. During the 2000 election I was asked if I was going to vote for Al Gore since he had a Jew (Lieberman) as his running mate.  I responded, “I wouldn’t vote for Al Gore if Jesus Christ were his running mate.”

If Romney gets the nomination, please don’t punish him for being Mormon by putting Hillary into office. It’s not worth it.  Who do you want, after all, a man who thinks he might become a god someday or a woman who thinks she’s a god already?

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