Anderson Cooper: Romney’s church clearly relevant, Obama’s church not so much
posted at 6:39 pm on March 14, 2008 by Allahpundit
I have nothing to add to Ace’s two posts, I just thought they deserved more attention than dumping them in Headlines would give them. A reader tells me the Messiah will be stopping by Coop’s show tonight at 10; perhaps they’ll discuss Mormonism’s old anti-black policies. Isn’t it awful when religious leaders preach racial division? And to think, Mitt stayed with them all those years.
Here’s a question Cooper might not be asking him, courtesy of Tom Maguire: “His wife is angry, his minister is angry – why can’t Mr. Unity bring a little hope and reconciliation into their lives?”
Update: And yes, before anyone asks, I thought questions about LDS’s racial policies were perfectly fair game for Romney.
Blowback
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The Left is not going to let go of their savior without a fight.
bnelson44 on March 14, 2008 at 6:42 PM
From someone else’s comment on another thread:
But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it’s because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church…
– Barack Obama Hartford, CT | June 23, 2007
bnelson44 on March 14, 2008 at 6:43 PM
Anderson Cooper is right. I mean every sane person should know that wearing magic underwear is much more vile than blaming America for 9/11, for engineering an AIDS genocide and than hating evil whitey.
MB4 on March 14, 2008 at 6:43 PM
*insert standard response to obvious and predictable media bias*
AbaddonsReign on March 14, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Thank god Hillary doesn’t go to church that often!
SouthernGent on March 14, 2008 at 6:47 PM
Me thinks the church Obama goes to is short
on compassion,love and tolerance.
Oooops,I forgot the change and hope
or is it hope and change,aw close
enough!
canopfor on March 14, 2008 at 6:54 PM
Why? Its been a while since the LDS Church has repudiated their policy. Has Romney made any anti-black remarks? Has he associated with any anti-black persons during his campaign? No, questions about LDS racial policies were not fair game. Especially, since that issue has long been discussed and resolved. Puh-leeze, you know, or should that bringing up Romney’s LDS background was pure hackery. And anyone that thinks that its fair game, is a hack, shill, or simpleton.
Andy in Agoura Hills on March 14, 2008 at 6:54 PM
As much as they want it, Rush will not let the MSM let this slide by.
jukin on March 14, 2008 at 6:55 PM
As one who goes to a Church that people ask some tough questions about I believe in being ready, willing and able to answer such questions.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 6:59 PM
Oh and for the record, the underwear is not nearly as magic as I often hear it touted.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:03 PM
Also notice that the statements in question by Wright are political pronouncements, not theology. If all he’d said is that Jesus was black and that Africa is the true promised land or something to that effect, there would be no issue to discuss.
But some people were getting in Romney’s face because the LDS Church isn’t trinitarian. That kind of thing is not appropriate in a political race.
BTW, the practice of not ordaining Africans to the priesthood was ended in 1978. There were never any official doctrinal explanations for the exclusion, though many folk doctrines did arise to explain the practice.
Which began after about 2 decades into the Church’s existence. During Joseph Smith’s lifetime, several African men were ordained to the priesthood and everything. The mystery is therefore not why the practice was ended but why it began in the first place.
dicentra63 on March 14, 2008 at 7:06 PM
Oh and for the record, the underwear is not nearly as magic as I often hear it touted.
Me, I like the cloaking device and the Shiatsu massage options, and I’ve heard good things about the power take-off and intermittent steering. :D
dicentra63 on March 14, 2008 at 7:08 PM
What about Oberman’s rant yesterday?
You MADE me watch it, so isn’t it relevant today. A full 10 minutes of bashing Hillary (yum yum), but not a word for Obama now?
I can’t figure out how this story from almost a year ago, is just now getting heat. Must be cause there’s video. Weren’t the videos available back then? Did the MSM get them and sit on ‘em?
Agrippa2k on March 14, 2008 at 7:08 PM
Rush is on the hunt… He is cutting right through the jive talking and getting to the meat.
How can you associate yourself, choose as your advisor, sit and listen to sermons for 20 years and not know that the pastor is a race baiting hate monger. It makes no sense.
tarpon on March 14, 2008 at 7:08 PM
Brother Wright makes Bob Jones sound like Jesus himself. Remember Bob Jones…that evil racist bigotted white man from the old south, according to the Donks.
JonRoss on March 14, 2008 at 7:08 PM
CNN, NBC, CBS and the like are not going to cover a REAL news story that will/should/does put Obama in a negitive light. Why should we all expect anything else?
azcop on March 14, 2008 at 7:08 PM
People still dont thimk the “mormon” question wont cause Mitt problems ?
William Amos on March 14, 2008 at 7:09 PM
Well, if the media called RWR the ‘teflon president’, I think we’ll have to call a Prez BO the “he’s rubber, we’re glue” president….
darkpixel on March 14, 2008 at 7:09 PM
I like that screen cap.
BadgerHawk on March 14, 2008 at 7:10 PM
And turtles.
BadgerHawk on March 14, 2008 at 7:10 PM
Kini on March 14, 2008 at 7:13 PM
The Left is lost and is following all the wrong prophets and pastors. Sadly, there is no hope for those who are under the spell of those who deceive and teach hatred and retribution from the pulpits and lead the flocks astray.
Pray for this nation.
normsrevenge on March 14, 2008 at 7:14 PM
OK. That is the funniest thing I have ever heard about this subject. Hooray! Very good stuff.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:15 PM
Funniest garment joke ever!
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:17 PM
Any one who knows Mormon doctrine knows that Blacks were not prohibited from being members of the Church
spike on March 14, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Anderson Cooper’s opinion that Christians are illiterate and the US is evil is what CNN has been brainwashing the left with since their conception. Ted Turner, who was their leader for years, admitted he didn’t know who he wanted to win in the Iraq war.
volsense on March 14, 2008 at 7:21 PM
This is the same Anderson Cooper who only realized there were still poor people, and black people, in America when he covered Katrina.
And thought that no one else had known either, until he told them.
And he’s ghey for Obama.
misterpeasea on March 14, 2008 at 7:22 PM
What a bunch of hypocrites some of you people are!
The whole time Romney was in the race and Huckabee relevant, you bashed Christians with a zeal that Anderson Cooper or Obly would admire. At one point there was no fewer than 13 threads to bash candidates who don’t ascribe to the secular humanist crap that epitomizes the intolerant McCain/Rudy/Allah branch of the GOP.
Now that Triceratops is the GOP nominee, you are suddenly offended over Romney’s bashing because he is a LDS? Give me a break! You people were worse than Cooper when McCain’s nomination was threatened by real Republicans (the social conservatives and evangelicals).
I can only speculate this is attempting to fool the base that McCain no longer wants them to f**k off. In much the same way he suddenly shows up for a Hannity interview, this is all smoke and mirrors to put a better facade on a bitter angry liberal who is utterly unfit to be President.
highhopes on March 14, 2008 at 7:22 PM
I stopped caring about loons like Oprahbama’s preacher many years ago because I realized that no matter what is done one can never bring them out of the moors. They want to stay there and I say let them. As for me and most of the rest of us, we’ll move on further into the 21st century.
SouthernGent on March 14, 2008 at 7:22 PM
Sure.
And Islam is “the religion of peace.”
See?
That’s what the Liberal Media wants you to hear.
They are trying to indoctrinate you, to brainwash you.
And you, as an idiot, will repeat it.
If that’s not Communism, I don’t know what it is.
Indy Conservative on March 14, 2008 at 7:24 PM
I really want a President that would not want to be in a religion that would have them as a member of the congregation.
Kini on March 14, 2008 at 7:24 PM
Of course religion is political. Satan is a liberal.
- The Cat
MirCat on March 14, 2008 at 7:24 PM
I think the best fun fact that CNN was kind enough to show in handy format to make sure that the lefties that watch CNN cant actually concentrate on Mitt’s speech was this:
Number of Mormons worldwide: 3 million
Number of Mormons in the U.S. alone: 6 Million
I realize that arithmetic is hard for libs and I also understand that libs dont think the U.S. is a true part of the world….but shouldnt somebody be embarrassed about this?
Roger Waters on March 14, 2008 at 7:24 PM
The don’t call it Anderson Cooper 360 for nothing.
Spin it and look perplexed.
Kini on March 14, 2008 at 7:27 PM
Mormon underwear? That’s a new one on me.
I will definitely NOT vote for Mitt now. I don’t think we need a President who wears underwear!
Let’s bring back Billy Jeff. Or, as my favorite woman in the whole world Ann Coulter calls him, the Horny Hick.
misterpeasea on March 14, 2008 at 7:27 PM
Roger Waters
Either way, it has to be the largest cult in the history of cults. Not too shabby as far as I’m concerned.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:28 PM
about -2:28 it says: About 3 million Mormons worldwide and about 6 million in th U.S.
?????? Is that just a typo?
imshocked on March 14, 2008 at 7:29 PM
highhopes
I couldn’t understand why people didn’t dislike Mitt for his blatant hypocrisy. There was enough to dislike him for without having to bring Mormonism into the fray. I felt bad for a lot of my fellow members who jumped in line behind him just because he claimed membership in the Church. I felt like he was a Gadianton Robber.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:32 PM
I’m surprised Christiane Amanpour hasn’t beaten the crap out of AC for coming to the defense of a Christian on her network.
Pam on March 14, 2008 at 7:33 PM
imshocked
It should have said 13 million worldwide but someone over there can’t type.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:33 PM
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 7:32 PM
To translate, a gadianton robber is basically a mob member in the book of mormon.
I agree that voting for Mitt just because he is Mormon is as stupid as not voting for him because he is Mormon.
Conservative Voice on March 14, 2008 at 7:38 PM
From Drudge:
What’s an Anderson? And, while we’re at it, who the heck is this “Hardball” guy and why does he still have a job?
29Victor on March 14, 2008 at 7:41 PM
Come off it, Allah.
We’ve been all through this before.
We know that Mitt’s father defied the LDS leaders on the issue of civil rights. Mitt’s father defied Goldwater on Civil Rights. Mitt’s father was a vanguard in the Civil Rights movement. Mitt was raised with those values.
There is no way in hell you can allege, imply, or insinuate that the Romneys are racist or hateful.
Buy Danish on March 14, 2008 at 7:44 PM
I quess Cooper is a full on Lefty
pat on March 14, 2008 at 7:48 PM
I didn’t care about Romney’s religion. As a secularist, I don’t find a strict standard according to which polygamy or racism is wrong but flying corpses a.k.a. Jesus bodily ascending to heaven is ok all that strict.
I think Romney clearly doesn’t believe in the Book of Mormon nearly as much as in physics or accounting. Since this is a country where lots of people profess their supposed religious belief, it’s simply not a factor for me.
The question is: Is Romney a polygamist or racist? Clearly not. Is Obama a racist? Clearly not. Moving on.
freevillage on March 14, 2008 at 7:54 PM
On second read, I get that Allah is using sarcasm and is referring to Anderson Cooper’s meme. However, for new readers who weren’t here for the endless Mitt/religion discussion, my points about the Romney family still stand.
Buy Danish on March 14, 2008 at 7:57 PM
They don’t call it Anderson Cooper 360 for nothing.
Spin it and look perplexed.
Kini on March 14,2008 at 7:27PM.
Kini:Spinning your car out on ice up here in the North
will give you that same feeling watching Cooper.
Oh sh!t,no damage,whew! What did I miss!
canopfor on March 14, 2008 at 7:58 PM
I think it is worthy of note that Mitt’s father did NOT defy the church. He may have disagreed with the Church but he had no authority to do anything contrary to the doctrine. You can disagree with the church all you want to but in the end it’s the Church’s way or the highway. Some people live under the delusion that he shaped Church doctrine or modified the direction of the Church. Such discussion is simply speculation built on rumor.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:01 PM
freevillage
Elaborating on your point if I may. If he was a polygamist or a racist he wouldn’t be a Mormon. Those things are mutually exclusive. That is, if words mean anything anymore.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:03 PM
freevillage on March 14, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Is Obama a racist?
Clearly its a maybe. He certainly says he is not, but listening to his paster, his wife lends me to think otherwise.
Conservative Voice on March 14, 2008 at 8:10 PM
No one is saying that he had any authority, or changed the direction of the church. Maybe “defy” is too strong a word, but he did take issue with the church on the issue, he was in the forefront of the civil rights movement, worked with M.L.K. and so forth.
Buy Danish on March 14, 2008 at 8:12 PM
Of course the difference is the LDS church CHANGED its policies a generation ago.
EJDolbow on March 14, 2008 at 8:15 PM
Hey, Doc, excuse my ignorance but is it specially designed underwear or is it, like, kosher?
peacenprosperity on March 14, 2008 at 8:23 PM
Buy Danish
The work that he did for civil rights is admirable but the fact is that civil rights had nothing to do with what happened in the Church. I’m not sure how the two were conflated. I’m certainly not assigning this to you but some people think what happened in the Church was due to the civil rights movement. It is simply untrue.
Granting the priesthood to blacks was no more a civil rights issue than granting women the priesthood. There can be no civil rights movement inside the Church because such a movement would presuppose that the individual members dictate doctrine. That would be contrary to the organization of the Church.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Would Allah vote for a religious person? Would you vote for an atheist? Who’s intolerant?
freevillage on March 14, 2008 at 8:26 PM
Both hillary and barry claim to be very religious.
peacenprosperity on March 14, 2008 at 8:27 PM
peacenprosperity
Glad to answer the question. Mormons refer to them as garments and they serve as a reminder for us and have other very important and symbolic meanings. You could think of them in similar terms to items worn as a reminder of the standards one strives to live. They are only worn after a sacred ceremony that takes place in one of our temples.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:28 PM
peacenprosperity
I have a nine year old son that claims he’s a superhero. Talk is cheap. I punched him in the head and he started crying. Some superhero.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:31 PM
So a sacremental garment so to speak and not a daily garment?
peacenprosperity on March 14, 2008 at 8:32 PM
I dated a girl who had been raised Mormon but had left the faith. I never learned much about Mormonism from her.
peacenprosperity on March 14, 2008 at 8:34 PM
One delicious upshot of the Dems eating their own is that MSM is exposing itself, for all the world to see, as the partisan propagandists they have actually become.
In the public eye, MSM is no longer trustworthy.
Screw MSM.
petefrt on March 14, 2008 at 8:35 PM
You’re joking. Right?
jaime on March 14, 2008 at 8:38 PM
peacenprosperity
You don’t start wearing it until after you go through the temple. After that it’s 24/7
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:42 PM
jaime
You can’t be serious.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 8:42 PM
That’s what I was wondering about you.
jaime on March 14, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Is it “modern” or some traditional design? Is it just normal stuff that has been consecrated or blessed. Is it comfortable? Can you play tennis in it?
peacenprosperity on March 14, 2008 at 8:56 PM
I think Anderson has a crush on Obama. What a clown. So the executives at cnn, or any of the major news networks, think a show like AC360 would be more profitable than say Vent with Michelle Malkin. Give me a break. I think I will start an email campaign to secure the cnn 10 pm slot for MM. Michelle if I am able to pull this off will you accept?
chief on March 14, 2008 at 9:07 PM
I don’t think your distinguishing between “church” and “religion.”
Nonfactor on March 14, 2008 at 9:08 PM
that’s too late. Michelle has small children and conservatives go to bed early anyway because we have jobs and like sun light.
peacenprosperity on March 14, 2008 at 9:08 PM
peacenprosperity
Comfortable and yes you can play any sport you like in it. You wouldn’t know if a person next to you was wearing it. However it tends to be longer than boxers you would buy at the store. That’s why you won’t see Mormons wearing shorts that are much above the knee or cropped shirts or anything sleeveless. Anything that would show the garment is considered immodest.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Um… where’d the video go? Did the CNN police cry foul because their hypocracy was once again exposed?
cannonball on March 14, 2008 at 9:31 PM
Exactly my point, though I’m not sure we see eye-to-eye. I supported Romney despite his faith, not because of it. There was enough of my values in his message to make me root for his success. Faith had nothing to do with it.
highhopes on March 14, 2008 at 9:32 PM
Romney was a much better choice than the remaining three. McCain is more like Obillary than he is a Conservative. Just look at how they stand on the issues.
Compared to the remaining three Romney is the only one that:
* voted against a path to citizenship for illegals
* voted for ANWR drilling
* Supported Guantanamo, Wiretapping and the use of torture.
I just don’t get the disdain for Romney.
cannonball on March 14, 2008 at 9:42 PM
cannonball on March 14, 2008 at 9:42 PM
Platform wise I agreed with some of the other candidates more, but toward the end I gravitated towards Romney because of the top tier he made the most sense. I still think the Republican party better get a handle on the process if they expect to last as a party…the primaries were a joke.
Conservative Voice on March 14, 2008 at 9:50 PM
I’m late to the party again.
People say the Mormons are a cult. I don’t believe that because, if its a cult, members can’t leave a cult. Please correct me if I’m wrong about my definition of a cult. Members of Branch Davidian didn’t leave, even when the fires were burning them up. To me that is a real cult, where the leaders have such a hold on you, you can’t think for yourself.
cjs1943 on March 14, 2008 at 10:33 PM
cjs1943
You can’t leave because if you do the Mormon mafia will get you.
Mormon Doc on March 14, 2008 at 10:35 PM
CNN was caught with their pants down and they didn’t like it. Also it is a fact that the CIA recruited Mormons in the 60′s & 70′s and maybe later, why? Because of their strong moral values and patriotism! Don’t ask me how I know.
wepeople on March 14, 2008 at 11:04 PM
How do you know?
Tzetzes on March 14, 2008 at 11:16 PM
You’re putting me on. And Spitzer’s hooker said that will be another $100.
cjs1943 on March 14, 2008 at 11:30 PM
More like virtually all of them. The results from Utah were astounding. I knew the Mormon theology was wacky, but I didn’t know it was such a cult.
freevillage on March 14, 2008 at 11:32 PM
freevillage on March 14, 2008 at 11:32 PM
Not so much, at the time of the vote there was McCain, yuck, Hucklebe, yuck, and then Romney. There were some who probably did vote for Romney blindly, but I don’t think it was the majority. And the other problem with just making the blanket statement, is Utah isn’t 90% Mormon.
Conservative Voice on March 14, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Amazing isn’t it?
Okay, I’ve been standing on the sidelines, but I’m ready to join the chorus of freevillage bashers. The details will have to wait until tomorrow because it’s past my bedtime.
Buy Danish on March 15, 2008 at 1:06 AM
(Get in line, BD.)
Hey, dumbfuck, does that make the American black population a cult? They vote Democrat more monolithically than the Mormons do anything. Put Obama in the general election, and then tell me about cults.
Jaibones on March 15, 2008 at 1:39 AM
Much of Romney’s Utah support comes from his work with the 2002 Olympics. There were tons of volunteers for the games who watched the games go from disaster to smashing success when he took over. One of my co-workers (a Dem) said that he’s very charming in person and that she’d trust him with the country’s economy.
Was his Mormonism a factor? Yup. But if the only Mormon in the race were Harry Reid, I doubt he’d get much traction from his religion.
BTW, Utah is about 60% Mormon, but because the primaries were closed, and most Utah Mormons are Repubs, it’s hard to say how much of the votes he got were LDS.
dicentra63 on March 15, 2008 at 2:17 AM
Cooper and Olby. Can’t they see that they act and look exactly like the news parody’s on SNL. What tools.
Hummer53 on March 15, 2008 at 1:10 PM
Yeah, it must be the cult thing.
Not that Mitt hadn’t taken the apocalyptic disaster of the 2002 Olympics and turned it into a success, mere weeks after 9/11.
Not that Utah is the most reliably conservative state in the country, or that Mitt was the most vocally conservative candidate of the field on election day, in claim if not convincingly in practice.
Not that the Mormons had any reason to feel that one of their own was being unreasonably targeted because of his religion by – among others – McCain’s mother, legions of online Mormon-hatin’ trolls, and Huckabee himself, so were eager to cast a “bite me” vote.
Obviously…MUST be because they’re a cult. No other explanation suffices.
sulla on March 15, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Considering I worked as a government contractor for the 2002 Olympics project, I saw the crap going down. He “put in work” and earned respect across the board for cleaning it up. That is the single biggest factor. (Disclaimer: I was a hardcore agnostic for 25+ years before converting LDS 3 years ago – I’m pretty darn confident that people there saw what I did, across the spectrum of faith there).
SkinnerVic on March 15, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Thanks SkinnerVic. I remember doing some promotional work for the SLC Olympics in 1995, and even then things looked less than pretty. When Mitt was brought in, I thought “good luck…you’re gonna need it.”
He pulled it off. And then some.
Prior to the Olympics, the only thing I really knew about Mitt was that he’d run against Ted Kennedy and lost (and that his dad had been governor/ran for president). His Olympics success prompted me to take a second look.
He wasn’t as good at campaigning as I’d hoped, but he seemed to improve over time. Give him four more years of fighting for conservative causes, and he could be formidable in ’12.
sulla on March 16, 2008 at 2:43 AM