Awesome insight given at the NY Mag. Since Santorum is the last of several candidates to claim that God told him/her to run for president, who will God support now?
15 thoughts on “Will God now support Mitt for presidency?”
To quote Rameses in the Ten Commandments:
“The god of Moses … is God.”
Seriously, though, there’s no contradiction. God can tell you to run for President, without telling you why. Perhaps they were told to run so they could make Mitt a better nominee. Perhaps they were told to run to serve as a warning to others. Perhaps they were told to run because (as Pres. Hinckley told Mitt in 2008), win or lose, “you will have a great adventure.”
I was “told” to date a lot of different women I ended up not marrying, but learned something from each person – qualities I wanted or didn’t want in the woman, and qualities I did and didn’t want in myself. Guidance is not guarantee.
I think God just wanted one of those four to win the Republican primary so that Obama would have a clear path to reelection.
🙂
Tim,
You think God has something against the United States? Wouldn’t a plague of locusts or something be simpler and more direct?
Mr. Vader, I think you have misinterpreted Mr. Tim.
But maybe not.
All in good fun, of course. I am glad none of those jokers is the Republican candidate, but not because they claimed (in their own way and in their own words) that God wanted them to run. I think we should be encouraging people to pray for divine guidance on such things — isn’t it a good thing that they presumably asked God before running? And as Jim W says, there are hundreds of reasons they could have gotten the personal revelation that it was a good idea for them personally to do it. Just to use one example, we have learned that we should never take any of them seriously as candidates again. Can you image Rick Perry as the Republican standard-bearer now? Yikes.
I don’t think that God is registered to vote in the US.
Kidding aside, I agree completely with Jim W. God can inspire people to do things that have nothing to do with the ultimate success of what he has asked them to do. Just ask the prophet Joseph Smith and many of the saints (i.e., the building of Zion, Zion’s Camp, the effort to implement the law of consecration, and many others, all of which were destined to fail). I suspect Joseph Smith was inspired to run for president (haven’t received specific inspiration on the subject), if only to give the saints a choice to support someone who would protect them in their rights (though, to be honest, the Bill of Rights only applied to the national government and not the states; nor do I agree with all the planks of the platform he ran under — the LDS church doesn’t believe in a doctrine of infallibility by its leaders). He asks us to take the journey that will be best for our personal progress and salvation.
I have no doubt that God inspires many good people, Christian or not; religious or not. I also have no doubt that some use God as a prop, but wouldn’t assume that others are doing so without specific revelation on my own part (which, in God’s economy, would not be received on behalf of others anyway). There’s always some comfort in knowing that God allows only those to rule whom he wills to rule (Rom 14:1). Makes even Obama tolerable at times, knowing there’s always method to God’s (seeming) madness.
That should be Rom 13:1 immediately above.
Also, I sometimes wish there were a “like” or similar button. Loved Vader’s humorous satire in post #7 above.
Welcome to John M., commenting above, from another John M. For us Johns—unlike, say, my son named Anson—our names are completely contextual. Two of us can share an office with very little confusion.
That reporter and question was out of line. The answer was politically motivated and therefore to me theologically inconsiquencial. I’ll worry about how Mitt answers religious questions when he brings them up or when Harry Ried is asked the same.
Also that headline that MSNBC, or rather the interviewed, does a decent job of explaining Mormon religion in relation to race is wrong. It would have been decent if it discussed the mixed attitudes, beginning with Joseph Smith as an abolitionist and the (infamous) B of M qoute having to do with “Indians” and not African Blacks or holding the Priesthood from anyone.
@Lewis #12: I, like Jettboy, have no doubt Romney was parsing an appropriate answer to an inappropriate question, meant only to make a caricature of those who are religious (not to mention that Chris Vanocur is a dedicated liberal who specializes in trying to be controversial). God hasn’t spoken to most members of the LDS church, that I’m aware of, which isn’t the same thing as saying he hasn’t communicated with them through inspiration and other forms of revelation.
Thanks to John Mansfield (the other John M among what appears to be a few John’s posting here) for the welcome.
To quote Rameses in the Ten Commandments:
“The god of Moses … is God.”
Seriously, though, there’s no contradiction. God can tell you to run for President, without telling you why. Perhaps they were told to run so they could make Mitt a better nominee. Perhaps they were told to run to serve as a warning to others. Perhaps they were told to run because (as Pres. Hinckley told Mitt in 2008), win or lose, “you will have a great adventure.”
I was “told” to date a lot of different women I ended up not marrying, but learned something from each person – qualities I wanted or didn’t want in the woman, and qualities I did and didn’t want in myself. Guidance is not guarantee.
I think God just wanted one of those four to win the Republican primary so that Obama would have a clear path to reelection.
🙂
Tim,
You think God has something against the United States? Wouldn’t a plague of locusts or something be simpler and more direct?
Mr. Vader, I think you have misinterpreted Mr. Tim.
But maybe not.
All in good fun, of course. I am glad none of those jokers is the Republican candidate, but not because they claimed (in their own way and in their own words) that God wanted them to run. I think we should be encouraging people to pray for divine guidance on such things — isn’t it a good thing that they presumably asked God before running? And as Jim W says, there are hundreds of reasons they could have gotten the personal revelation that it was a good idea for them personally to do it. Just to use one example, we have learned that we should never take any of them seriously as candidates again. Can you image Rick Perry as the Republican standard-bearer now? Yikes.
I don’t think that God is registered to vote in the US.
Kidding aside, I agree completely with Jim W. God can inspire people to do things that have nothing to do with the ultimate success of what he has asked them to do. Just ask the prophet Joseph Smith and many of the saints (i.e., the building of Zion, Zion’s Camp, the effort to implement the law of consecration, and many others, all of which were destined to fail). I suspect Joseph Smith was inspired to run for president (haven’t received specific inspiration on the subject), if only to give the saints a choice to support someone who would protect them in their rights (though, to be honest, the Bill of Rights only applied to the national government and not the states; nor do I agree with all the planks of the platform he ran under — the LDS church doesn’t believe in a doctrine of infallibility by its leaders). He asks us to take the journey that will be best for our personal progress and salvation.
I have no doubt that God inspires many good people, Christian or not; religious or not. I also have no doubt that some use God as a prop, but wouldn’t assume that others are doing so without specific revelation on my own part (which, in God’s economy, would not be received on behalf of others anyway). There’s always some comfort in knowing that God allows only those to rule whom he wills to rule (Rom 14:1). Makes even Obama tolerable at times, knowing there’s always method to God’s (seeming) madness.
That should be Rom 13:1 immediately above.
Also, I sometimes wish there were a “like” or similar button. Loved Vader’s humorous satire in post #7 above.
Welcome to John M., commenting above, from another John M. For us Johns—unlike, say, my son named Anson—our names are completely contextual. Two of us can share an office with very little confusion.
The more John Ms, the merrier.
At least we know God isn’t speaking to Mitt. http://youtu.be/qiQdIwUrejc
That reporter and question was out of line. The answer was politically motivated and therefore to me theologically inconsiquencial. I’ll worry about how Mitt answers religious questions when he brings them up or when Harry Ried is asked the same.
Also that headline that MSNBC, or rather the interviewed, does a decent job of explaining Mormon religion in relation to race is wrong. It would have been decent if it discussed the mixed attitudes, beginning with Joseph Smith as an abolitionist and the (infamous) B of M qoute having to do with “Indians” and not African Blacks or holding the Priesthood from anyone.
@Lewis #12: I, like Jettboy, have no doubt Romney was parsing an appropriate answer to an inappropriate question, meant only to make a caricature of those who are religious (not to mention that Chris Vanocur is a dedicated liberal who specializes in trying to be controversial). God hasn’t spoken to most members of the LDS church, that I’m aware of, which isn’t the same thing as saying he hasn’t communicated with them through inspiration and other forms of revelation.
Thanks to John Mansfield (the other John M among what appears to be a few John’s posting here) for the welcome.