Jerry Falwell. Pat Robertson. CBN. The Family Channel.
Regent University. Liberty University. Each of these terms came out of the
Religious Right movement of the 1980s, and coalesced into a political movement
which Ronald Reagan tapped into as the Silent Majority. Thirty years later,
this movement no longer exists as a distinct political unit but the
institutions remain. Liberty University, an Independent Baptist university with
well over 10,000 students, adheres to a clearly Evangelical perspective on education.
With rigid rules governing behavior and dress, it has become the favored school
for many Evangelicals to send their children to for higher education.
Liberty University announced on their website that Mitt
Romney will come to Liberty to deliver the 2012 Commencement Address. What
impact does this have? Romney’s struggle in this election rests not in his politics
or governmental experience, but in his religion. As a committed, unapologetic
Mormon, Romney needs to convince Christians all across America he is one of
them. Maybe a slightly different variety, but he is a type of Christian. After
all, he talks about Jesus, God, morality, the family, and limited government.
Are these enough to make him acceptable in the eyes of Christians throughout the
United States? For many, speaking at a prestigious private Baptist university
will go a long way in helping Romney to project a quasi-Christian image.
But let’s stop for a moment. If Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and
served for years as a pastor in the Mormon church, what does he believe? First,
Jesus is God’s son, along with Satan. Jesus and Satan are spirit-brothers,
fighting a dualistic war. Secondly, the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County,
Missouri. Thirdly, until 1978, the Mormon Church officially taught that Black
people were physically stained with sin. Fourth, as a good Mormon Romney should
someday inherit his own planet to be god of, and if he chooses he may bring his
wife along for an eternity of popping out spirit-babies to populate the planet.
Fifth, the current president of the Mormon Church speaks directly to God and
his revelations can completely overturn any written text the Mormon Church
adheres to. Finally, Mitt Romney believes that Jesus came to America to
physically rule over the Nephites and Lamenites for a 400-year period after his
resurrection.
Mitt Romney believes all of this, and he is speaking to the
graduates of Liberty University. At best, Liberty is helping a Republican
candidate to garner support from their Evangelical base. Unfortunately, many
will see this as Liberty’s endorsement of Romney and include him in their
thoughts as a sort of Christian candidate for President.
