Christ First Forum

Perry backer: Romney in a 'cult,' not a Christian
A Texas pastor introduced Rick Perry at a conference of Christian conservatives in Washington on Friday as "a genuine follower of Jesus Christ" and then walked outside and attacked Mitt Romney's religion, calling the Mormon church a cult and stating that Romney "is not a Christian."

By Seattle Times news services

EVAN VUCCI / AP
GOP presidential hopeful Gov. Rick Perry of Texas speaks Friday at the Values Voter Summit.
Top comments Hide / Show comments
And what does this have to do with creating jobs and fixing America's economic mess? (October 8, 2011, by daszephyr) Read more
Mormonism is no more a cult than Christianity in the traditional sense; a religion of... (October 7, 2011, by Terry Parkhurst) Read more
So I guess I'm not a "christian" either, by this guy's definition, since I'm ... (October 8, 2011, by no more Bozos) Read more
Read all 141 comments >Post a comment >



WASHINGTON — A Texas pastor introduced Rick Perry at a conference of Christian conservatives in Washington, D.C., on Friday as "a genuine follower of Jesus Christ" and then walked outside and attacked Mitt Romney's religion, calling the Mormon church a cult and stating Romney "is not a Christian."

The comments by the pastor, Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, injected a potentially explosive issue into the presidential campaign: the belief held by many evangelicals that Mormons are not Christians.

The comments at the Values Voter Summit also raised suspicions the attack might have been a way for surrogates or supporters of Perry, the Texas governor, who has stumbled in polls in recent weeks, to gain ground by raising religious concerns about Romney.

Jeffress similarly attacked Romney and his faith during the 2008 campaign, and Romney gave a high-profile speech on the topic in response. This time around, his faith has gotten far less attention, until now.

Romney is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are commonly called Mormons.

Perry and his campaign made clear he disagrees with Jeffress. Asked late Friday in Tiffin, Iowa, whether Mormonism is a cult, Perry said, "no."

The campaign initially said the decision to have Jeffress introduce Perry had been made strictly by organizers, including the Family Research Council and the American Family Association, but a Perry spokesman said late Friday the campaign had agreed to it.

"It was their suggestion ... They asked our campaign what we thought, and we said OK," Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner said.

A Romney spokesman declined to comment on Jeffress' remarks.

Jeffress began making his point during his introduction to Perry: "Do we want a candidate who is a good moral person, or do we want a candidate who is a born-again follower of Jesus Christ? In Rick Perry, we have a candidate who is a committed follower of Christ."

The pastor revved up a sleepy crowd, as Perry himself said when he took the stage: "He really knocked it out of the park!"

Speaking with reporters later, Jeffress made his allusion clear. "Mormonism is not Christianity," he said. "It's not politically correct to say, but Mormonism is a cult."

He also made it clear he was not speaking for Perry: "I did not talk about my Mormon views" with the governor, and I'm not insinuating that the governor shares those at all. He may not share them at all."

Most GOP presidential contenders are speaking at the summit, a three-day convention for conservative Christian voters.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Godfather's Pizza Chief Executive Herman Cain, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also spoke Friday. Most emphasized their Christian beliefs and family values.

Now, all eyes turn to Romney, who is scheduled to speak Saturday.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... adlines%29

Aside from Herman Cain (only because I don't know about him), there is not one single true Christian within the pool of GOP candidates. These people are citizing each other for their religious beliefs and it's like a comedy of errors. Romney is Mormon, Rick Perry is part of the NAR. . .neither are true believers in the Jesus Christ of the Bible.