The closer that Mitt Romney is to locking up the nomination, the more the Republicans are bringing out their guns and eating their own. The PUMAs are out in full force. In addition, Obama has seen a slow rise in his approval ratings among evangelicals, meaning that some people are starting to realize that maybe he is not the closet Muslim that the FOX News establishment would have you believe.
First Warren:
“Well, the key sticking point for evangelicals and actually for many is the issue of the Trinity,” the evangelical pastor explained. “Orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians, Protestant Christians, evangelical Christians and Pentecostal Christians all believe in the Trinity; that’s the historic doctrine of the church, that God is three-in-one. Not three gods; one God in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
“Mormonism denies that. That’s a sticking point for a lot of Catholic Christians, evangelical Christians, Pentecostal Christians, because they don’t — they don’t believe that.”
“Now they’ll use the same terminology, but they don’t believe in the historic doctrine of the Trinity,” Warren added. “And people have tried to make it other issues. But that’s really one of the fundamental differences.”
But wait -- it gets better.
Some of the same people who filed court cases questioning Obama's citizenship are now filing papers in court challenging Mitt Romney's citizenship. After all, his dad was born in Mexico. Birther candidates John Dummett and Markham Robinson are in the forefront of this effort:
The birthers are at it again, and this time they're not just after Barack Obama—they're going for Mitt Romney, too. Republican primary write-in candidate John Dummett Jr. and six like-minded birthers have filed a lawsuit demanding the California secretary of state check the eligibility of all presidential candidates before putting them on November's ballot, the LA Times reports. The suit specifically mentions “questions concerning the eligibility” of Romney.
The implication is obvious -- Mitt Romney is not one of their own, but he is a non-Christian cultist -- a term which associates Mormonism with the likes of Koresh and Jones. Given the secretive nature of certain aspects of Mormonism, the implication is that Romney is a secret Mexican who is going to open all the borders for illegal immigrants. It's really interesting how the venom that certain Republicans used in going after Obama is now coming back to bite them in the ass.
And Romney is not helping himself out by becoming testy and defensive when a Ron Paul supporter confronted him with a passage in the Book of Mormon which frowns on interracial marriage. He was like, "How dare you question my credentials??"
"I guess my question is, do you believe it's a sin for a white man to marry and procreate with a black?" asked Bret Hatch, a 28-year old Ron Paul supporter from Green Bay.
Romney answered with a tersely emphatic: "No. Next question."
Hatch, who brought a camera with him to the event, had begun his query by attempting to read a passage that disparages dark-skinned people from Moses 7:8.
Romney cut him off.
"Why don't you give me a question," Romney said, then continued: "We're just not going to have a discussion about religion in my view, but if you have a question, I'll be happy to answer your question."
"This gentleman wanted to talk about the doctrines of my religion. I'll talk about the practices of my faith," he [Romney] said. "I had the occasion in my church to be asked to be the pastor, if you will, of a congregation."
So Mitt Romney is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he explains how he reconciles the passage in question with his practices, then he risks pissing off the Mormons, who might take umbrage at someone publicly questioning their doctrines. Mormonism is one of the most hierarchical, patriarchal religions in the world. But if he says that he is against interracial marriage, then he risks pissing off the moderates, who might swing towards Obama.
While he is palatable to many Republicans who believe in Anybody but Obama, Rick Warren is one of the top fundamentalist leaders in the church today and Mitt does not have his blessing. Mitt has a definite PUMA problem and it's not going to go away any time soon.