***Must Read From Article 6*** |
Lowell Brown emailed this post, and I’d definitely categorize it as the title states a MUST READ.
John Schroeder of Article VI Blog Endorses Governor RomneyFebruary 4th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in 2008 Election, Article VI Blog, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney
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Though John Schroeder has been a clear voice to expose and decry religious intolerance for two years now, he has done so without backing any particular presidential candidate. John describes himself as a “moderate evangelical” and writes for Article VI Blog. I have followed his and Lowell’s work for well over a year now.
Today (Sunday), John officially endorsed Governor Romney for President. See what he says about Huckabee. Please read his commentary in this regard here:
I took this photograph of John (left) and Lowell Brown at the Faith in America speech in College Station, TX, December 6, 2007:
I just saw a ticker on TV that said, quoting Mike Huckabee:
“Why do they say that Huckabee is a spoiler to Mitt Romney? Why don’t they say that Mitt Romney is a spoiler to Mike Huckabee?”
Mike, here is why:
In Florida, you only got 4% of the non-evangelical vote, and of all the evangelicals you court, you only got 29% of their votes. Your Florida results were totally in line with the prior states’ voting. As an identity-candidate, what other function does your candidacy serve besides that of a spoiler? Of course you know you can never win with less than 10% of all non-evangelical votes!
Contrast this slice with Romney’s results: 29% of all evangelicals’ votes and 34% of all non-evangelicals’ votes. Oh, and Mike, this just in from the Maine Caucuses:
- Mitt Romney 53% of the Vote
- John McCain took 22%
- Ron Paul came in at 19%
- Mike Huckabee at 5%
Indeed, you hope to be a spoiler, and a cunning one at that.
NOTE TO ALL ROMNEY SUPPORTERS: You can make a big difference in the next few days. Click on the title of this blog post, copy the browser address (URL) above, and paste the address into an email message. Then, with your own supporting message, email it out to as many people as you can in your email address book (don’t forget to click on the title first). You may also want to include these two links:
Never, never, never underestimate the viral, synergistic power of grassroots determination. We can make it happen for Governor Romney.
~ Vic
In the last month, traffic to this blog site has doubled, more or less. To all of you who have visited this site, THANK YOU! And to all those who contribute as writers, THANK YOU.
For a couple of weeks now, I have been thinking of all the new visitors coming to the site to learn about Governor Romney. Many of us have been studying him for well over a year and we know all about him, his life, his career, his family.
But many of you are new to Gov. Romney and know nothing about him. His speech last month in College Station, Texas was a turning point in his campaign for the presidency, much as a similar speech was for JFK in 1960. Arguably, this speech by Gov. Romney will go down in history as one of the great statesman speeches of all time in this great nation of America. Indeed, many political experts and pundits, including Chris Matthews opined that this speech was the single best political speech they had heard in decades.
I still run into supporters of Governor Romney who still have never heard this speech. This speech is worth the time it takes to watch it. Please do if you have not seen it yet.
I was fortunate to attend this speech. It was an event I will never forget. It was a deeply emotional speech; emotions I observed among many not of the faith of Gov. Romney.
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~ Vic
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE AND THAT YOU PURCHASE THE DVD THAT IS NOW FOR SALE.
Tonight (1/14), with my wife and several family members and friends, we drove to Newport Beach to watch the screening of the new film ARTICLE VI. Atlanta also had a screening of the film tonight at a packed house. The theater at Lido Isle holds about 500 people and it looked like there were about 450. At the end, Hugh Hewitt, Executive Producer of the film and Reed Dickens, Producer answered questions. Hugh asked the audience by raise of hands how many members of the LDS, Protestant, and Catholic faiths were present. Roughly, the mix was 30%, 50%, and 20% respectively. [see brief review below the film's poster]
Click here to go to the film’s online site ——-> http://www.article6themovie.com/index.php
I highly recommend this documentary to everyone — It is outstanding in every way!
Brief Review:
This film is a documentary. Though I found it very interesting, informative, and even entertaining, it is a documentary. As I listened to conversations around me and with the creators of the movie, people were most enthusiastic.
The movie combines a wonderful mix of music, interviews, video and film footage of historic and current events. Beloved patriotic music was arranged to different melodies and played by a single acoustic guitarist as background to footage of religious strife and intolerance across America. Interviews were primarily of evangelical leaders, including Richard Land, university religious and theology professors, and “woman-on-the-street” interviews among others. There were a large number of different individuals that were interviewed across the country and of many different Protestant faiths.
Some of those interviewed represented the hard-core evangelical point of view of, if-you-are-not-evangelical-you-will-go-to-hell, to the more tolerant, what-would-Jesus-do-if-he-were-here-today points of view, best articulated by David French (co-founder with wife Nancy of EvangelicalsForMitt.org) and Richard Land (at the end, I spoke briefly with Hewitt who said he thought David’s commentary was the best of all those interviewed — David is serving in Iraq as JAG for the Army near the Iranian border today). All in all, I thought the large number of people interviewed and the various points of view provided balance and were fair in presentation.
Fascinating to me, and to most people attending, were the outstanding commentaries by religious/American historians illustrating the many examples of religious bigotry and intolerance this nation has endured from the early days of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts where Quakers were hanged, to the presidential race involving Thomas Jefferson (deist) in which it was feared that the country would become less believing by electing a non-believer. In our nation’s history, various forms of religious intolerance played an important part in many presidential races including that of the JFK who eventually became the first non-Protestant (Catholic) President. In fact, several clips from Kennedy’s amazing and eloquent speech in 1960 to the Texas ministers in Houston were used liberally throughout the film.
Though Governor Romney’s name and photograph (from print articles) were shown a couple of times briefly and there were several examples of religious intolerance against members of the LDS Church (Haun’s Mill Massacre) as well as by LDS Church members (Mountain Meadows Massacre), the film was not about Romney or religious intolerance only involving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Examples of intolerance involving the LDS Church were simply the most frequent and recent examples of many examples provided in the film. 
In the discussion we had with Executive Producer John Carosella, Kevin Anderson asked him why they made a decision to exclude clips of Governor Romney’s “Faith in America” speech from last month. He reiterated that the film was never intended to be strictly about politics or about a current presidential candidate. He said the film is intended to be a cultural statement that is intended to stir debate among people of diverse religions to encourage them to find the humanity and friendship in others of completely different faiths.
The narrator of the film (Bryan Hall, I think??) and the person conducting most, if not all, interviews is LDS. However, I believe all the other creators of the film are of different Christian faiths and political persuasions (John Carosella told us he is “a liberal” and with a great laugh said he will be voting for “someone on the other side!”), including Reed Dickens and Hugh Hewitt who are evangelicals.
After the screening, a question was asked as to distribution to political camps and candidates. Dickens said the movie either has been sent or will very soon be sent to every presidential candidate and many members of congress and other national leaders. So look for publicity eventually as candidates are asked for their opinions about the film. Incidentally, Hewitt responded to a question about whether America has matured to the point in which evangelicals can vote in large numbers for someone not of their faith like Governor Romney, as they have not (more than about 25%) in the first three contests. He said he thinks they can. However, he said he was most disappointed in the level of bigotry he has seen thus far in the race. He also said that he is very disappointed that Mike Huckabee has not publicly demanded the end to all religious intolerance that exists today; that he has the power to make a big difference in this way and he has not (not exact quotes, but my attempt to capture the spirit of what he said in a long answer).
Those present that I saw included Ann Romney’s brother, Jim Davies and John Schroeder of Article6Blog.
For all upcoming screenings, click here and scroll down. I highly recommend you purchase the movie and show it often, especially if you live in a future primary or caucus state! This movie is definitely one you will want in your film library.
~ Vic
Hugh Hewitt is the Executive Producer of a new documentary, the trailer of which you may have seen a few weeks ago. The first time I saw the trailer was December 6th. Well, it is finally premiering nationwide (see other locations by clicking CONTINUE READING at the bottom of this post)
Want to attend the premiere? For free? This post is intended promote the film in the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside metropolitan areas. See details and RSVP information below the poster of the film.
The date of the California premiere is Monday, January 14, 2008 — Newport Beach, CA
Check-in Begins at 6:00 p.m. — Show Time is 7:00 p.m.
— See trailer and RSVP details below —
Hugh Hewitt will be at this showing next Monday. I plan to attend with my wife (she knows I like a cheap date!). This afternoon (1/10), I was told the theater hold about 500 people and they have received 200 RSVPs.
Southern California Premiere:
Regency Lido Theatre
3459 Via Lido
Newport Beach, CA 92651
RSVP Required by telephone (M-F, 8-5): 949-296-1520 or via email: rsvpoc@outsideeyes.com
Information: Click here —–> ABOUT THE MOVIE
Watch the Trailer: Click here ——-> TRAILER
This one time viewing in California, next Monday, is free of charge (in fact, all premiere locations are free).
OTHER PREMIERE LOCATIONS: The film is also being shown in these cities on various dates: New York, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Shreveport, and Salt Lake City. For more information for these cities, click CONTINUE READING just below.
~ Vic
Article VI (6)December 30th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in 2008 Election, Article VI Blog, Bigotry, Bob Jones University, Civil Rights, Conservatism, Evangelicals, Evangelicals for Mitt, Faith, Faith in America, Family Values, Hugh Hewitt, John F. Kennedy, LDS, Martin Luther King Jr., Matt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Mike Huckabee, Mormon, Prayer, Reagan, Religion, Ronald W. Reagan
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FACES TO NAMES — Mug ShotsDecember 15th, 2007 | 1 Comment | Posted in Article VI Blog, Christians, Evangelicals, Evangelicals for Mitt, Mitt Romney, The Mormon Issue
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Last week while at President George H. W. Bush Library for the Faith in America speech, we ran into our friends from Evangelicals for Mitt and Article VI Blog. Below are the photographs of some of these blogs’ principals. Below their photographs are links to their profiles. Their smiles definitely reflect the feeling of the moment; photographs taken minutes after Governor Romney ended his historic address.
Click here for the profile of ——> Nancy French
Click here for the profile of ——> Charles Mitchell
Click here for the profile of —–> John Schroeder
Click here for the profile of —–> Lowell Brown
Note: In an email exchange with John and Lowell, they modestly preferred to leave photos unpublished. John said, “We have blogger faces…” and Lowell replied, “John, don’t sell us short; I think we have radio faces…”
~ Vic
Help Governor Romney get his message out — PLEASE CONTRIBUTE NOW, HERE
“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”
— Ronald Reagan
The Politically-Religious ExpertsDecember 14th, 2007 | 1 Comment | Posted in Article VI Blog, Bigotry, Christians, Evangelicals, Evangelicals for Mitt, Mike Huckabee, The Mormon Issue
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If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, you know that we primarily cover political fare and only touch on the religious when forced to (as when Duckabee decides to evade his positions to elevate his faith). Even then, we try very hard to stay politically focused and leave the discussion of faith in politics to the experts. Besides, talking about politics or religion is usually off limits in polite company, but talking about both? Well, that is just rude!
But in today’s world, even people like Noonan, Lowry, and others are talking about both! And there is no full moon!
Seriously though, who are some of the experts in the religion/political space of the Romney-Huckabee debate? If you want to read really good, meaty material on a daily basis and get your fill of all the best on this topic, you have to bookmark Article VI Blog and check them daily. John (Evangelical) and Lowell (Mormon) both post their opinions together on the crazy stuff being spewed by the Duckabee surrogates, Duckabee himself, and the MSM that wants so badly to have Duckabee in the GOP saddle (be sure to read their profiles — we forgive them for being lawyers). Be sure to ask them to post a photograph of themselves; I photographed them at College Station last week and they have the photograph and can post it. Ask them to post it.
Today’s Article VI post is OUTSTANDING. Really, it is. OUTSTANDING. If we had a room of 25 political junkies discussing this topic, we could spend two full days just on the material John and Lowell so concisely presented us at their site, today. Below the link here is one of my favorite excerpts from today’s post.
Click here to read today’s post and after reading it, be sure to click “HOME” and bookmark their site:
Even When Things Are Quiet, They Are Not Silent; and Movement Among the Punditry
I think that John and Lowell, along with the great folks at Evangelicals for Mitt, are providing an incalculable service to Governor Romney.
Let’s see, we just spent the better part of the last several weeks pillorying Huckabee for precisely trying to “elevate the profile” of his faith. Which is the point. Americans in politics don’t do such things. That is why the inquiry is unacceptable and bigoted.
What we see here is classic projection. Because there is a certain brand of creedal Christianity that would use the White House to do such “profile elevation,” they assume that everyone would. What they fail to realize is that that act, whether for their faith or any other, is a disqualifier for the office.
Today’s political world is absolutely fascinating, isn’t it? Albeit fantastically surreal, but fascinating indeed!
~ Vic
Good Ol’ Push poll HuckabeeDecember 4th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in Article VI Blog, Campaign Ads, Campaign Trail, Common Sense Issues, Early Primary States, F. Thompson, Iowa, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Politico.com, Polls, Push Polls, Rudy Giuliani, Trust Huckabee
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A new wave of push poll style calls have surfaced in Iowa and this time there is no secret to their origin. The automated calls direct voters to a website paid for by Common Sense Issues, Inc. with the web address trusthuckabee.com. The calls begin by asking questions about the voter’s intent to participate in the upcoming caucauses and then asked for thier stance on issues such as abortion and marriage.
The information then dispensed depends on the answers given by the voter. Many of the call recipients are deluged with negative information about Giuliani, Thompson, and McCain. However, voters who identify themselves as Huckabee supporters were given highlights of the Governor’s accomplishments. All groups were referred to the trusthuckabee website.
The Politico was able to reach Trust Huckabee’s founders. The group stresses that they are independent from the campaign and are trying to organize a grassroots effort to elect Governor Huckabee. They are unapologetic about the Iowa calls and say that they intend to do many more as the race for the GOP nomination continues.
Huckabee as well as representatives of his campaign denounced the calls, saying that it takes the campaign “off message.” Huckabee stated, “I don’t want to become President because I disabled the other candidates, I want to become President because I am the best candidate.”
Huckabee Cites “Divine Providence” for his Rise in Iowa —- Huckabee as “God’s Selected Candidate”December 3rd, 2007 | 9 Comments | Posted in Article VI Blog, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, The Mormon Issue
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All year Romney has clearly indicated he is not running as some sectarian leader as he campaigns for President. Yet so many in the MSM and elsewhere are just chomping at the bit to attack him for his religion.
Jonathan Fallwell wrote the following a few days ago about Huckabee. Try to imagine what would have happened in the press had Governor Romney been quoted as saying anything remotely similar:
Mr. Huckabee also said that Divine providence was responsible for his recent surge in the polls in Iowa, as he noted that he is the candidate with much less capital firepower than his rivals. Despite his fundraising shortfall, his message seems to be resonating with voters.
“Divine providence”? It is amazing that in the year 2007 we are discussing things like this in the public media. Mike Huckabee, after dismissing his “Christian” referenced TV ad as nothing more than an “introduction” of a candidate to the people of Iowa, now thinks that God is directing his campaign and Iowa success. To quote John over at Article VI Blog: Huckabee thinks he is “God’s selected candidate.” Please!
Read John’s take on this at Article VI Blog ——> God’s Selected Candidate
~ Vic
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nick-name: Mormon), I often hear fellow members of the church tell me they don’t think Governor Romney can be nominated, let alone win a general election, because evangelicals are so strident in their opposition to Mormons. This one line of thinking alone keeps some members of the church on the sidelines and out of the game. It’s a great thing so many other Americans think that is nonsense and ardently support and promote Governor Romney for President!
Since last Friday, I have been wanting to hi-light an exchange between Nancy French and Charles Mitchell at Evangelicals for Mitt that explains well that many evangelicals use their minds, hearts, and prayer to arrive at the decision to support Governor Romney when others may not, simply due to theological differences. Nancy quotes from an NRO article here and disagrees with one of its assertions as follows (emphasis is mine):
I would disagree with one aspect of the NRO article:
“Few people who oppose Romney because he is a Mormon are going to come around.”
In reality, we at EFM see this happen all the time! In fact, do Mormons believe confession is good for the soul? Because when David first told me about Gov. Romney’s religion, I was incredulous. We had long, impassioned discussions about his religion — over the course of weeks and months — that led me to change my mind. But now? Well, I’d have to become a stalker to be a more enthusiastic supporter of the Governor.
And I’m not alone. Steve, I believe, used to argue with Charles. Plus, we’ve gotten mea culpa e-mails from people who used to send us long Scriptural e-mail explanations about why we are wrong in supporting a Mormon, which now basically say, “You were right — after evaluating the candidates, he’s the guy. What can I do to help?”
So, I think there’s much hope in the process, even amongst the unenlightened. But, please, reason with us. Instead of trying to demystify or explain the faith, demonstrate our shared values, explain how Mormons and evangelicals are natural political allies, and tell us how your faith will positively affect your policies. We’ll come around.
And Nancy, “yes” to your question about Mormons and confession.
Growing up in California and living here my whole life, I have come to know and respect many evangelicals. I have met many recently who are going to enthusiastically support Romney in the primaries and general election because they know he is the candidate that will best represent them, their families, and their values. The paragraph that jumped out at me is Nancy’s second above. There are devout and serious evangelicals who have studied Governor Romney’s positions and life who have changed their minds. Not every evangelical will look beyond theological distinction, but many can and many will. We all need to be a little more optimistic, a little more patient with one another, and a little more open-minded.
Then in response to Nancy’s post, Charles Mitchell left this:
Nancy, I don’t want to speak for Steve — but I’ll speak for Steve. He was deeply skeptical of the idea of supporting Governor Romney, and it was on religious grounds. One of the things I threw at him was this post, and it worked.
Charles refers to his OUTSTANDING post of Sept 2006 as affecting the change in Steve; click here —-> “AN EXCRUCIATING DECISION”
Charles discusses the possibility of Gov. Romney giving “the speech” and concludes with this:
But I do think there is a values-based message that wavering evangelicals need to receive, that they haven’t received it in massive numbers, and that Governor Romney should send it by seizing the megaphone that only he — as opposed to EFM or any of his other backers — has.
And in conclusion, John and Lowell over at Article VI Blog provide excellent perspective on recent interviews of Gov. Romney. Excerpts here from Lowell (the Mormon) — read Gov. Romney’s response carefully — it is classic!
Byron York, who now seems to be realizing that Romney could well be the GOP nominee, writes at some length about The Speech. There’s much to say about York’s column, but one comment by Romney is probably the most important. York focuses (wrongly, I believe) on the now-tired question of whether Mormons are Christians, and apparently goaded Romney into an answer:
[Romney] “You know, the term ‘Christian’ means different things to different people,” Romney told me. “Jews aren’t Christian. That doesn’t preclude a Jew from being able to run for office and become president. I believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world and is the son of God. Now, some people say, well, that doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian because Christian refers to a certain group of evangelical Christian faiths. That’s fine. That’s their view. Others say, no, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as the son of God and the savior should be called Christian. That’s fine, too. I’ll just describe what I believe and not try to distinguish my faith from others. That’s really something for my faith to do and for the churches amongst themselves to consider.” (Emphasis added.)
How much more does the man need to say? The italicized [bold] portion accurately describes the essence of the debate: Theo-nerds (”Christian” means orthodox Christian, or “my faith, not yours”) versus the expansive, heterodox dictionary definition of “Christian” accepted by nearly everyone else.
My personal view is that the theo-nerd view is terribly destructive in this context. To insist that in order to call oneself “Christian,” one must believe in certain creeds and specific doctrines, beyond the divine sonship of Jesus and his status as Savior and the only name by which anyone can achieve salvation, is to walk down the path of a very semantic and potentially misleading discussion. It really borders on being a smear, intentional or not.
John (the Evangelical) carries the logic further:
Romney’s answer is a great answer, and really the only possible answer to the question itself. The problem is that it is becoming increasingly obvious that people do not really care about the question, “are Mormons Christians?” per se. What they are really asking is “Is he one of us?”
Any number of sources, including this blog, have addressed very specifically the term “Christian” - but no one seems to care. People who keep pushing this clearly want to hear something else. The only thing I can figure that will satisfy is for Mormons to deny what they believe. Mormons believe they are Christians, and it is in the great American tradition for them to be entitled to that belief, as much as I am entitled to my beliefs.
I think the people that keep asking this question fall into two camps. The first is the “blackmail” camp. These are people that seem to be withholding a vote for Romney until he somehow makes it clear that his claim to being a Christian is illegitimate. To these of my brethren , I say, what if you were required to repudiate some tenant of your faith to qualify for office?
The other camp are people that simply want Romney to emphasize Mormon distinctives in order to alienate some segment of those that might otherwise vote for him.
Either way you cut it, what we have here is an attempt to legitimize the politics of identity. America was founded in a fashion specifically designed to eliminate politics of this type. This is just despicable. The question “Are Mormons Christian?” is a great question for the seminaries of the world, but in this context it is simply despicable.
Incredible answer by Gov. Romney’s above! How could he have given a better reply? Amazing.
Evangelicals who live and die on theological principle, to the exclusion of all else, run the risk of further eroding our nation’s established values by either:
- Not voting at all;
- Promoting a pro-abortion candidate for the Republican nomination;
- Supporting a moderate conservative candidate who shares their faith, but who has no chance to be elected, or
- Backing a candidate who does not really want the job of President.
It is a good thing thinking evangelicals rejected a Baptist by not voting for Jimmy Carter for a second term. Of course it was not wrong for evangelicals to reject the more devout Christian between Carter and Reagan, but they chose Reagan instead.
Gov. Romney is not only the most qualified and superior leader of all candidates, he is the one among all electable candidates whose values more closely align with evangelicals.
And this from a Democrat on topic —–> TIME TO SET ASIDE ONE MORE PREJUDICE
~ Vic
I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.
– Ronald Reagan
Hat-Tip to John and Lowell over at Article VI Blog!
Those of you who follow Article VI Blog know that John Schroeder, as it states in the blog profile, “comes to this blog primarily to be a voice of a moderate ‘evangelical’ Christian and a center-right political person.” He and Lowell Brown write daily about various religious impacts to the presidential race. To read their opinions at their post from yesterday, click here ——–> DOBSON-HUCKABEE ENDORSEMENT WATCH.
This is an excerpt from John (emphasis is mine):
I do think a huge Evangelical move behind Huckabee would be a mistake for Evangelicals. Whether that move came in the form of a headline endorsement like Dobson, or from some overwhelming polling data, or some other avenue. Let me explain why, briefly.
Huckabee simply lacks the horsepower to do the job in front of him. He lacks the money, he lacks the organization - Frankly, I think he lacks the skill or he would have the organization and the organization would produce the money. For a large identifiable group like Evangelicals to throw their weight behind a candidate that shares their identity, but clearly cannot win, is to say your group identity matters more than what the group stands for. That is a recipe for political irrelevance in American politics.
Think about Jesse Jackson - he cornered the black identity vote and for a couple of cycles he made himself matter a lot in Democratic circles, but with his demise that voting bloc is hardly heard from anymore. That is the best Evangelicals can hope for when it comes to Huckabee.
I am convinced that for some evangelicals, their group’s identity is far more important to them than the future of this nation. That to effectively nominate a pro-choice candidate in Giuliani (by placing support behind an unelectable Huckabee) is far more important than the impact such a move would have on future generations of Americans.
Thanks John and Lowell for outstanding reason.
~ Vic
“If thou thinkest twice before thou speakest once, thou wilt speak twice the better for it.”
— William Penn, Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania (1644-1718)
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