Catching Mitt

So Mitt Romney gave a speech on religion in an attempt to convince one group of wacko Christians, the Evangelicals, that his absurd religion, Mormonism, isn’t that far from theirs. Here is just a selection of choice quotes from Mitt’s speech, with a little rebuttal.

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.”
Actually if one looks at history there are many examples of how incredibly false this statement is. For instance, persecution is one of religion’s greatest friends. On top of that, religions are mostly based on control, hence sin.

“A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.”
This is begging the question, at least to an atheist.

"As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's 'political religion' – the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God.”
I wish I had the time to go back and locate that quote by Lincoln to understand its context because I read it differently. Does God really care about the Constitution, Mitt?

“Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.”
That’s all you people are, who do you think you are kidding?

“But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God.”
Can you really blame us?

“It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.”
Worshipping secularism? WTF?

"We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word”
“The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.”
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814


"The consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another, to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God.”
Again, doesn’t our “common humanity” overlook lines drawn in the sand?

"Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government. No people in the history of the world have sacrificed as much for liberty.”
Just go ahead and start reading the Old Testament because you will find that God does not give his humans liberty but nonsensical laws about eating shellfish and how many shekels of gold must make up each curtain rod in the tabernac

“America must never falter in holding high the banner of freedom”
I read recently that the umbilical cord of kings were saved and used as a way to rally the people, they would have parades and wave them in the streets, and was most likely the precursor to modern day flags.

“It was in Philadelphia that our founding fathers defined a revolutionary vision of liberty, grounded on self-evident truths about the equality of all, and the inalienable rights with which each is endowed by his Creator.”
Ya, the equality of all white-male property owners.

"Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me”
So if you haven’t knelt in prayer to the Almighty, the one, the only, GOD, then you are no ally of his. Ouch!

"In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine 'author of liberty.”
The bible is a book telling people what not to do, not a book granting freedom.

It is sad that in 2007 our leaders feel the need to show how much they love Jesus. I am still waiting for the backlash against all of this. Maybe America will have a mini-Enlightenment since our mini-Crusades aren’t working so well.