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Now, it would appear the Americans are heading into an election cycle and that’s always good for the rest of the world to watch with mild amusement, because, let’s be honest, no-one provides quality comic relief like American politics (albeit accompanied by a low grade feeling of dread and frequent “WTF?!” moments) and all speculating over exactly what narcotic is released into Florida‘s water supply. In between wondering whether a war that ended decades ago is going to get more press attention than the war currently happening and which paraplegic veteran is going to be accused of being a coward I find a shiny new gem of absurd amusement rising.
It would appear Huckabee is taking pot shots at Romney over his faith - specifically implying that Romney’s LDS faith (I tend not to use the word “Mormon” because I’ve never actually heard a Mormon call themselves that so I rather suspect it’s a labelling term used by others rather than their chosen descriptor) is ridiculous, ludicrous or otherwise silly (I believe the quote was something like “don’t Mormons believe Satan and Jesus are brothers”). I believe our reaction is supposed to be “ho ho ho, what a silly person!” and we see this backed up by more than a few rather dubious depictions of what the LDS church believes (including a very unpleasant denigrating cartoon that seems to have been resurrected from the 50s or 60s.)
Ok, can we have some sense now? Do LDS beliefs look silly? Well, I'm not sure because I don't think I trust any of the depictions of the faith. But, y’know, if you’re not LDS they probably do. But, hey, I’m not Christian and I think a whooooole lot of mainstream Protestant beliefs and Roman Catholic beliefs are pretty damn absurd. They certainly can be spun to sound that way by anyone looking to put them down. The same can be said of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism - hey, any faith you can name, including my own paganism. Cows are holy? Dietary laws? Wine turning to blood then drinking it? Half drowning yourselves? Circumcision? Laying on hands? Anointing? Baptisms? Rapture? Witchcraft? Communing with the elements? A god who has a paddy over the slightest thing?
To outsiders just about any religion looks silly. That’s simple truth. The only reason we don’t tend to call the “big name” religions silly is because they have such power and normative assumption among the populace (and the fact that some followers REALLY don't have a sense of humour but are very very very loud). Even if LDS did believe that Satan and Jesus were brothers (and I don’t give much credence to anything Huckabee says) it is scarcely more dubious than virgin births, resurrections, and an all powerful god allowing divine revolts anyway. There’s no shortage of objective silliness in any religion and I don’t think ANY faith is going to profit by sitting down and ridicule absurdities.
If Huckabee and his ilk want to throw the ridiculous rock they might want to make sure some of them don’t bounce back, because they hardly look more sensible.
It would appear Huckabee is taking pot shots at Romney over his faith - specifically implying that Romney’s LDS faith (I tend not to use the word “Mormon” because I’ve never actually heard a Mormon call themselves that so I rather suspect it’s a labelling term used by others rather than their chosen descriptor) is ridiculous, ludicrous or otherwise silly (I believe the quote was something like “don’t Mormons believe Satan and Jesus are brothers”). I believe our reaction is supposed to be “ho ho ho, what a silly person!” and we see this backed up by more than a few rather dubious depictions of what the LDS church believes (including a very unpleasant denigrating cartoon that seems to have been resurrected from the 50s or 60s.)
Ok, can we have some sense now? Do LDS beliefs look silly? Well, I'm not sure because I don't think I trust any of the depictions of the faith. But, y’know, if you’re not LDS they probably do. But, hey, I’m not Christian and I think a whooooole lot of mainstream Protestant beliefs and Roman Catholic beliefs are pretty damn absurd. They certainly can be spun to sound that way by anyone looking to put them down. The same can be said of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism - hey, any faith you can name, including my own paganism. Cows are holy? Dietary laws? Wine turning to blood then drinking it? Half drowning yourselves? Circumcision? Laying on hands? Anointing? Baptisms? Rapture? Witchcraft? Communing with the elements? A god who has a paddy over the slightest thing?
To outsiders just about any religion looks silly. That’s simple truth. The only reason we don’t tend to call the “big name” religions silly is because they have such power and normative assumption among the populace (and the fact that some followers REALLY don't have a sense of humour but are very very very loud). Even if LDS did believe that Satan and Jesus were brothers (and I don’t give much credence to anything Huckabee says) it is scarcely more dubious than virgin births, resurrections, and an all powerful god allowing divine revolts anyway. There’s no shortage of objective silliness in any religion and I don’t think ANY faith is going to profit by sitting down and ridicule absurdities.
If Huckabee and his ilk want to throw the ridiculous rock they might want to make sure some of them don’t bounce back, because they hardly look more sensible.