Dallas minister to congregation: vote Christian, not Mitt Romney

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Publius

He's referring to the fundie Christians like I started the thread about, I think.

Yes I was referring to Christian conservatives who vote based on religious beliefs. The people who don't think Mitt is Christian enough will still vote for him against a "Godless" liberal.

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by lew

Catholics were not the first Christians.

Good Lord, NO THEY WERE NOT!

[Fed Up]

Mormons are Christians. They believe 100% in the Bible and Jesus Christ. They officially use the King James Version.

They also believe in the Book of Mormon which was found (1820), translated and published by Joseph Smith in 1830. Straight Dope Staff Report: What's up with Mormonism?

It is this latter aspect to Mormonism that some call it a cult. What's interesting is, "It is very evident that the Book of Mormon owes much to the King James Version. Since this particular version of the Bible was not translated until 1611, it means that the Book of Mormon cannot be an ancient work as Joseph Smith claimed."

Therefore, Romney is a Christian AND part of a cult (which may not sit well with many Christians who believe the Bible to be the true and only word of God).

As far as what Churches can or can't say as a 501c3 non-profit corporation, they cannot "endorse" a particular candidate. They can talk about the "issues" all they want.

Fed Up

[Linzyhop]

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

Good Lord, NO THEY WERE NOT!

by all means guys, clarify but you have yet to.

officially they were!

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by Linzyhop

by all means guys, clarify but you have yet to.

officially they were!

What do you want to know?

First of all their were a large number of Jewish Sects at the time of Jesus. Some, like the Essenes, taught ideas very close to what Jesus is quoted as preaching. So did John the Babtist. He may or may not have been an Essene, but his ideas were not that original. The historical record is very clear.

Second, after his death there were a great many early Christian groups. This included a very politcal group led by the brother of Jesus, James. He wanted Christianity to be a Jewish sect, not for Gentiles. The Kingdom of Heaven would come when they got rid of the Romans. By the time the actual Gospels were written, long after Jesus died on the cross, the Romans had killed many of these people in a religious/political rebellion. What became the Roman Catholic Church evolved out of a popular movement that promised salvation to a larger non-jewish congregation. Once well established the early Catholic Church decided what is and is not true Christian scripture and has done much to supress any alternate view or heretical text to this day.

[Linzyhop]

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

What do you want to know?

First of all their were a large number of Jewish Sects at the time of Jesus. Some, like the Essenes, taught ideas very close to what Jesus is quoted as preaching. So did John the Babtist. He may or may not have been an Essene, but his ideas were not that original. The historical record is very clear.

Second, after his death there were a great many early Christian groups. This included a very politcal group led by the brother of Jesus, James. He wanted Christianity to be a Jewish sect, not for Gentiles. The Kingdom of Heaven would come when they got rid of the Romans. By the time the actual Gospels were written, long after Jesus died on the cross, the Romans had killed many of these people in a religious/political rebellion. What became the Roman Catholic Church evolved out of a popular movement that promised salvation to a larger non-jewish congregation. Once well established the early Catholic Church decided what is and is not true Christian scripture and has done much to supress any alternate view or heretical text to this day.

once Christianity was firmly founded and not known only as a cult for poor peasants and women, the only type of christians were catholics. There were only Catholics for at least a thousand years until the reformation. I'm not talking about the first 400 years where they were still crawling and scratching their way to a religion. You could hardly call it one then.

[lew]

Originally Posted by Linzyhop

once Christianity was firmly founded and not known only as a cult for poor peasants and women, the only type of christians were catholics. There were only Catholics for at least a thousand years until the reformation. I'm not talking about the first 400 years where they were still crawling and scratching their way to a religion. You could hardly call it one then.

This is NOT true.


There were numerous other Christian sects during the Catholic reign. That's why the Catholics hated them so much and killed most of the other sects.

[Observer]

Originally Posted by Scrum
Isn't that a big no-no?

I didn't think churches were allowed to make political statements due to their tax exemption (which we should eliminate anyway)?

Originally Posted by Publius

I didn't even think about that, but you're absolutely right.

And that has to be unconstitutional. It takes away their first amendment rights.

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by Observer

And that has to be unconstitutional. It takes away their first amendment rights.

It's not. It's what they trade away to be tax-exempt.

They are certainly free to back any candidate they want, they just have to pay taxes.