Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are bringing religion to the forefront of the Republican nomination just as it was in 2000 and 2004 when Bush likewise milked his supposed religiosity for all it was worth to gather fundamentalists to his bosom. Hark ye, vote for those who claim god is with them. It's not hard to see why this would be happening again. It's worked so well...
Competence in a leader? Doesn't matter. Knowledge of the problems the country might be facing? Nope, won't matter either because god is whispering in their ears to solve these dilemmas. All that matters is religiosity.
Personally, I could vote for a Mormon... a Baptist... a Jew... a Catholic... a Wiccan... an atheist, but won't vote for anyone who thinks being any of those things qualifies them to be president.
How the heck does this keep happening? What possible qualifications does Huckabee have for being president-- other than his spiel that he's the Christian candidate, dontchaknow. And Romney, well he's religious and that's all that matters as it's the good guys against the bad guys. And all religious people are on the good guy side.
What is going on with this country where people have been turned to believing the first requirement in a president is to be like a pastor? As Romney said, it's ALL believers on one side and those secularists on the other. It's logic versus faith and faith trumps facts!
I am not saying that all religious people have no facts behind their beliefs-- but frankly they don't care if there are. Facts are a test to overcome and ignorance, even of what their own faith practices or has practiced, is a virtue.
Huckabee has now been caught lying about his advocating a convicted rapist be let out on parole evidently because he was being pressured by the right wing, who felt any cheerleader daughter of a supporter of Clinton as well as a distant cousin of Bill's, deserved to be raped. I doubt Huckabee believed that, but he wanted to win the governorship as he now wants to be president.
Is Huckabee qualified to be president? Of course. He'd be fun at a barbecue.. that is if you didn't want to overeat, didn't want to get drunk, and didn't mind a lengthy prayer before eating. The fact that he knew nothing about the latest CIA report on whether Iran is still trying to develop nuclear weapons, well who cares about that boring stuff. This is all about him being a Christian and a nice guy. It has become the total criteria for some to support anyone.... Well other than looking good. Good thing Huckabee is not fat anymore.
Christopher Hitchens, never one to mince words, wrote a good piece on Mitt Romney's windy, worthless speech. He stated it well but the ones who want to vote for someone who is religious don't really care about anything but knowing that person believes god speaks to them, will protect and guide them, and it's god who wants them to run things. The logic of this is frustratingly impossible to find but then it's not about logic, is it? It's about faith.
9 comments:
You summed up the issues here exceedingly well.
Thanks for having the insight and the courage to publish this. I am totally with everything you said. It is not clear what happened, and when, to our country that caused such a massive shift to such wrong thinking. It has gone beyond a dangerous level, and only time will tell if it is beyond a point of no return...
Frank Paynter has a post today over at listics.com about the struggle in Texas over teaching evolution, creationism, etc. The same religious nut cases, different mission. Frightening...
Winston
http://nobodyasked.com
Religion does matter to a lot of Americans.That being said, I will vote for the candidate whom I feel is best qualified.
Well done, Rain! And I SOOO agree with you! I don't give a whit what one's faith is....I'd vote for an atheist, IF they do what a President is SUPPOSED to do...run this country in a way that benefits the PEOPLE! WHAT I just don't seem to understand...and call me foolish....is that in grade school, it was drummed into my head that the government MUST be a "separation of church and state." Did ALL the politians today NOT get that class?
It boggles my mind how faith can even be considered for something that has NOTHING to do with politics! You got me riled up again on this subject....lol It truly burns me, how insane so many people in this country are and want to exert their power (or so they think) or religion on the rest of us!
Terri
http://www.islandwriter.net
Rain,
This is a very 'good" post and it could be a great post if it convinces at least one fundamentalist to convince others to convince others. Only small beginnings will change the world. That is the way it has always been.
Romney's religion does not matter to me as a qualification for President. His experience as a businessman and leader and governor are what would make me vote or not vote for him. People said a Catholic could never be elected President too and that was false.
As for Huckabee he is governor of Arkansas and apparently that is qualification enough to be President. The previous President that had been governor of Arkansas has said many times that he didn't know much of anything about how things operated in Washington until he got there.
Huckabee is not running on having a good record as governor of Arkansas, which by the way, there are some questions regarding that, but rather on being a Christian zealot. He will get the vote of those who have that viewpoint and then others who don't bother to research what he's said or believes-- try this piece Huckabee comments.
I never thought I'd say this, given the low caliber of who you have running in the Republican primary, but he's the most scary of them all and that includes even more so than Giuliani who has been a philanderer and a shyster but nothing would worry me as much as a religious zealot who doesn't mind being ignorant of facts.
I gave my opinion on Romney. I don't like anybody who sees all believers in the Old Testament on one side and the rest of the world on the other. He has said whatever he needs to say to get elected and whether he would do it when in, who the heck knows.
We are the greatest nation on earth and we have 15 candidates running for president and none of them deserve the job.
I am still hopeful about Obama. I go back and forth on that but it's just a hope as I don't really know if he's up to the job or not. He's more up to it than the other likeliest candidates... I think.
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