On Oct. 7, Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, ignited a cultural wildfire when he introduced Texas Governor Rick Perry at the Values Voters Summit, a conservative political rally. As he described Perry as an evangelical Christian, he also reflected, “Mitt Romney’s a good moral person, but he’s not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. It has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity.”
WeathersPerry’s campaign rapidly dodged the comment. Spokesman Mark Miner said, “The governor does not believe Mormonism is a cult. The governor is running a campaign of inclusion and looks forward to receiving the endorsement of many people.” Not surprisingly, Romney himself was curt, calling the comment, “Poisonous language.”
But Jeffress was right. Mormonism does not adhere to basic doctrines of orthodox Christianity, most notably that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. By every definition, Mormonism is a cult. (To explore this further, go to www.4truth.net).
And not only was he right in what he said, he was right to raise the issue. Why are worldviews and religious beliefs off limits in American political discourse? Can a person really believe anything at all and be worthy of the highest office in the land? Would it matter if our President was a Mormon, a vegan, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or believed that the Mother Ship landed here and placed seeds in the ground that sprouted into purple humans? Of course it matters. Why? Because our worldview – our core values and beliefs – dictates our decisions.
The editors of World magazine weighed in on this issue last July, and writer Warren Smith offered that voters should indeed take into account a candidate’s religious views. Considering the issue of Romney’s Mormonism, he wrote, “A person’s religious beliefs tell us a great deal about both a candidate’s character and the core principles that inform his governing philosophy.”
And when a person who runs for public office claims to be a Christian, evangelicals have not only the right but the clear, biblical responsibility to question the claim (Galatians 1:6-7). We should challenge publicly and respectfully how they understand and define Christianity, and question their application of a biblical worldview.
If we don’t, who will?