Mormonism vs. Islam

To a degree, I would agree. But we must remember, as Americans, the issue does, indeed, go deeper.

The issue is not Mormonism, Islam, or Atheism. The issue is religious freedom. Though I am an unapologetic Christian of the Reformed theological type, I do not wish to see a "Christian" America imposed by the Government. Now, before you start throwing things at me, let me explain...

The American experiment demonstrated a pronounced break between church and state. Until the American experiment, Kings were the heads of state and the head of the church (See, for example, England...where Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of the Church of England). Even today, in many, if not most, Muslim counties, the concept of a separated church and state is completely and totally foreign.

America was to be different; there was to be no state church. This was, in a word, revolutionary. Each person would be allowed to worship (or not) according to the dictates of his or her own conscience.

It is extraordinarily important that the First Amendment guarantees "the free exercise of religion." It doesn't guarantee the "free exercise of worship." Because, if free exercise of worship was all that was guaranteed, you couldn't practice your faith in the public square. Your faith would be relegated to the areas behind closed doors--your home or place of worship and your lips could be shut outside of those doors.

Instead, the "free exercise of religion" means that I am absolutely free to proselytize wherever and whenever I see fit. It means that I am free to go to any church I choose. It means that the Government, despite their best, most recent efforts, cannot tell the Catholic church that they must offer and pay for contraception or abortion.

BUT...this is an issue of individual liberty.

When the First Amendment guarantees me, as a Christian, the right to proselytize as I see fit, it guarantees the same right to the Mormon, the Muslim, and the Hindu.

The guarantees of the First Amendment create what Jefferson would have referred to as "the free market place of ideas." This is a country where the Christian, the Mormon, the Muslim, and the Hindu can gather in a public place and freely try to save each others souls.

The issue today is that people don't want to hear what we, particularly those of us who are Christians, have to say. People don't want to hear about God, our sinfulness, a loving, sacrificial Savior, and our necessary positive response to Him. So, they try to deny us our right to speak about these things in the first place. But, if Orwell is right--and he is, liberty, at its very roots, means having the freedom to tell people that which they do not wish to hear.

So, I will gladly support a Mormon for president who will seek to preserve my religious liberty by preserving his own.

To be honest, a conservative Muslim (if there is such a thing) who will observe and uphold the rule of law, the principles of the Republic, and work to uphold my right to "the free exercise of religion" would get my vote over a so-called Christian who tries to impose anything on any adherent of any religion that requires him or her to violate his or her own conscience. Because, remember, it may be a Christian who tries to impose Christianity today, but tomorrow it might be a militant Muslim or an Atheist who wants to impose their beliefs, and the weakening of the rule of law to fit our ideals in the short run will rob us of our freedoms in the long run.

But, at the end of the day, those who will work to preserve the rule of law which guarantees our God-given liberties deserve our votes. Because, at the end of the day, it is about our liberty to practice our religion as we see fit. And, if we work to guarantee that right for everyone--Mormons, Muslims, and Hindus--we are working to guarantee that right for ourselves as Christians.

We should agree with Voltaire when he says: "I may disagree with what you say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it."

The Archangel

 

Maybe I am missing something. Where is the Islam option in this election?

 

Mormons are better than Muslims in one respect because Muslims are called to Islamize the world by any means necessary (which includes force).

But at the end of the day they're both false religions and need to come to the true Lord Jesus Christ.