Huckabee Questions Mormons’ Belief
December 12th, 2007 Posted in Mike Huckabee, NY Times, News Articles
Good old Mike asks:
Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
This new article will be included in the Sunday edition of the NY Times.
I found the AP article here.
Hotair has posted it here.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I’m a conservative Roman Catholic and find the Huckster “appalling” on his lack of Christian behavior toward those who are different from him. But it’s not surprising.
BTW, hopefully Huck won’t make too much of this at the Iowa debate today:
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/12/08/news/120907dcpoliticalnotebook.txt
Mitt better have a good one-liner ready to throw back at him about this, because surely Huck and his staff will consider wedging it in somewhere.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:01 am
The issue here is not what the Mormon faith believes about Satan but that a man who wants to be President of the United States would insert this into the dialogue feigning innocent ignorance. Mr. Huckabee knows full well what the Mormons believe about Satan and he knows it would appear unseemly to attack them for that belief so he just brings up the issue in the form of a question. This way when people disagree with his making it an issue he can say “I was just asking a question.”
Notice how many times and on how many issues Mr. Huckabee uses the oblique comment or third person to answer questions–that way he can distance himself from it later when challenged. I expect this of the Clintons but I refuse to accept this man as the representative of my party.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Its a twisted anti-mormon question.
No Mormon would ever refer to Satan as a brother to Jesus.
In a twisted sense Satan is, we believe Satan is a fallen angel, a spiritual being, like most Christians do. So follow the logic, every spiriual being is a bother because we all have the same father, as God the Father is “the father of all spirits”.
Humans are children of God, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8: 17) because Jesus is, under certain contexts, our spirit brother. Though its not proper for Mormons to refer to him as our brother.
John 8: 41-42 we (man and Jesus) have one Father, even God.
John 20: 17 Jesus says “my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
Satan is technically a brother in the context of God is God his father, but he also is not our brother because he rebelled against the Father.
The question is designed by anti-cult movements to scare people from Mormons, by leaving the impression that Mormons think Satan is equal or worthy of the respect as Jesus is. Huckabee may be innocent, but he was certainly taught by those who would be refered to as religious “bigots”.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
This is just one more example of the Huckster showing his true colors…otherwise known as “a wolf in sheeps clothing”.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
This is in response to Huckabee’s ridicule and degradation of candidate, Mitt Romney’s Mormon Religion. A true Disciple of God, would never try to DEMEAN another Christian
Faith or Any religion. Huckabee had better start reading the Bible again; seems he is putting political ambitions before the Word of God. As a politician the real issue, should be our country’s many needs NOT judging and ill informing the public about a competing candidate’s religion. The old timers had it right. “Religion and politics don’t mix.” Competition should be fair and honest. Stick to the issues Huckabee! For the record, I am not a Mormon; I am an American, who is Christian, who wants to protect what our forefathers and every soldier fought for or died for; our freedoms and more.
Lynn, (New Jersey, USA)
December 13th, 2007 at 12:56 am
Mormons DO believe that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers. See the Mormon publication Gospel Principles (http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-6,00.html )
On the one hand, that’s somewhat less significant than it sounds, since Mormons believe that everyone alive is a spirit brother of everyone else.
On the other hand, to Christians, that is far MORE significant than it sounds, because it makes Jesus and Satan equal in nature and power. This flatly contradicts the well-established Bible doctrine that a) Jesus is both God and creator of everything, and b) Satan is a lesser being who was created BY God.
It’s interesting that we now have Mormon spokespeople denying a belief they hold, and calling it a smear. That raises some very good questions:
1) If Mormons actually do believe this, is it really a smear to ask if they believe this? Doesn’t smear at least imply falsehood or distortion?
2) If Mormons want to reject some of the implications of the statement, shouldn’t they at least acknowledge that the statement itself is not inherently false, and just address why it is misleading?
3) Why does an LDS spokeswoman dance around the issue by saying that the Encyclopedia of Mormonism never uses that terminology, when other official Mormon documents do?
4) Why does the aforementioned LDS spokeswoman then contradict the claim by saying the Encyclopedia of Mormonism refers to Jesus as the son of God, and Satan as a fallen angel, when she should know very well that that Mormon doctrine permits Jesus and Satan to be spirit brothers even if Jesus IS referred to as the son of God and Satan as a fallen angel?
5) Or is this comment aimed at Christians who read the statement in terms of their own Christian doctrine, never realizing that these phrases they think they understand have been completely redefined in Mormon doctrine to mean something different.
6) And if the statement was made knowing that Christians would misunderstand it, isn’t that deception?
7) And if deception, doesn’t that make Huckabee the subject of a deliberate smear?
I have to say, I was originally leaning strongly towards Romney, especially before Fred Thompson entered the race, but the demonstrated deception and misdirection on this topic alone raises the question of whether Romney’s conversion to conservatism is genuine, or just convenient.
And no, I’m not planning to vote for Huckabee. But this is a smear directed at Huckabee much more than a smear by Huckabee.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
of your cowardly charges against the Mormon church, masquerading as an innocent question. We believe that Jesus in the son of God and that Satan is a fallen angel. But, as we are all spirit children of our Father in Heaven, you could say we are all brothers and sisters. Is that so hard to understand? Were you trying to mislead? If you have a sincere question or inference, why not call the church headquarters and ask rather than do it on National Television?
I do not even recognize the Mormonism you describe and I have been living it for 60 years now. You response to our well-meaning & philanthropic church is true bigotry and thinly veiled politics.
What irresponsible comments you Evangelists make about out our church. It is the greatest insult of all to say that we are not Christians because every aspect of our theology is not the same as you. Neither is that of the Catholic church and I do not hear you charging them with such insults. Religion is not science and any church could have particular theology that sounds weird: i.e. “The Rapture”. Do you hold every Catholic responsible for the Priest abuse scandal? Would you say those things about Islam?
Maybe we are just being too nice. Do you know of all the good humanitarian causes we have always been involved in, do you know of our Christian goals and values? I am a better person because I am a Mormon; I am a better citizen because I am a Mormon. Joseph Smith gave his very life rather than deny the truth he restored i.e. another testament of Christ.
Why not visit LDS.org and find what we really believe. It is all there…we use those materials in our teaching. Go see who we really are! What a regrettable situation that you misled so many people on a church that does so much good in the world.. The only thing I can think that would explain your vitriol is that you have a personal vendetta against Mitt. Our political process deserves better.
P.S. We are as far from a “cult” as you can get!
Carol
Bountiful, Utah