Image Source: ptv.org

Calling all politicians; please vet pastors, friends and others that speak for or endorse you. You will save yourself a lot of grief in the long run. Just ask Rick Perry after he was introduced last Friday at the Values Voter Summit in Washington by Dallas pastor and leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Robert Jeffress. He probably would like a do-over. By most accounts Perry was warmly received at the summit and managed to avoid controversy that is until Jeffress stepped all in it saying, “As evangelical Christians, we understand that Mormonism isn’t Christianity and thus the difference between someone who is good and moral like Mitt Romney and a true follower of Christ [like Perry],” Jeffress told reporters after Perry’s speech. “I think the decision for conservative evangelical Christians right now is going to be, do we prefer somebody who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ or somebody who is a good moral person but is a member of a cult? And it’s not politically correct to say but it is true: Mormonism is a cult.”

Oh no he didn’t just call Mormonism a cult. There goes another Christian(so-called) making Christianity the yardstick to measure the worthiness of a politician. Jeffress did say that Perry didn’t necessarily share his views, at least not publicly(my words). The Perry Campaign quickly released a statement saying that it didn’t believe Mormonism was a cult. Wonder if we’ll see Jeffress at any other Perry events?

And another preacher bites the dust or does he? Jeffress was on all the major news outlets( MSNBC, CNN, and Fox)within hours explaining his statement, wide-eyed and all. It’s a theological cult not a sociological cult he said. He never said Mitt Romney by name, and if it’s a choice between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, well it’s the Mormon.

This is vaguely reminiscent of Obama’s preacher problems with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright when that clip surfaced of him saying g-damn America taken totally out of context, of course. I don’t remember Wright getting so much face time to explain himself but that clip was looped so much on television until Obama had to give a speech to reassure voters. Both Wright and Obama were thrown under the bus especially Wright for practicing his First Amendment rights but guess what neither Perry or Romney will have to make a  long speech(thank goodness).  Meanwhile Jeffress has hailed Romney a “good man” even if he is a Mormon and made it clear that he’ll hold his nose and vote for him if Perry isn’t the nominee. I say let the nose holding begin because Perry is tanking and that will serve Jeffress right.

Posted by Libergirl