Sectarianism Tearing The Fabric Of The Religious Right

[SecularMotion]

It was inevitable, I suppose, that a religious-political movement such as the Religious Right is, would eventually show some sectarian cracks in its edifice. The R.R. was originally established by Southern Baptists — that wing of the American Baptists who, in the years leading up to the Civil War, accommodated and embraced slavery, whereas Baptists (and in fact, most Protestants generally) elsewhere in the country condemned it. Since its beginnings in the 1980s, other types of Christians have latched onto and made themselves part of the R.R. movement, but it basically remains in the control of evangelical Protestants of the Southern Baptist variety.

Among the consequences of this is the fact that Mormons, who were among the denominations that glommed onto the R.R., are finding themselves at odds with the rest of the movement. Initially one might be surprised at this. After all, Mormons are very, very conservative, and faithfully hew to the line of other “social conservatives.” That they would find themselves marginalized as part of the R.R., is because the S.B.C has never really cared for Mormons or the LDS church, and has a history of campaigning against them.

With former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon, a leader among the large rabble of Republican candidates for president in 2012, this rivalry has roared to the fore. A megachurch pastor and supporter of Romney’s rival, Texas governor Rick Perry, recently commented that “Mormonism is a cult” and said that Mormons are not Christians. He caught some flack over this, but as Reuters reports, he’s digging his heels in and has not given up on the matter.

http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2011/10/09/sectarianism-tearing-the-fabric-of-the-religious-right/

[Glorfindel]

1. Good!

I know that here in Darkest Mississippi, even Methodists and Episcopalians are only marginally acceptable to the dominant Southern Baptist culture. Everyone else (particularly Mormons, Catholics, and Jehovah's Witnesses) is quite beyond the pale. Presbyterians, for some reason, are given a pass.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. If the Evangelicals believe they alone are the "true Christians", and they pick the

candidate alone, then the republican party is going to lose a lot of supporters, both financially and electorally.

[JoePhilly]

3. They do what they can to hide this fact.

They intentionally allow the "false Christians" to think that they are accepted as "real Christians" because those "false Christians" will tend to vote with the evangelical "true Christians".

Its a truth that they try very hard to hide for political gain.

[safeinOhio]

4. The only problem with Baptists is.....

they didn't hold em under water long enough.