I'm voting in favor of Obama and against Romney due to their positions and their records. Romney and I share a religion, but not a mindset. That said, we can have differing views on politics without going down a rabbit hole of ridiculousness. - Louis Gray

Making fun of a candidate's race, faith, looks, those are low blows that have nothing to do with anything and it's ugly from any side. - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

I disagree on that. You can select being mormon or not but you can not select your race. - Oğuz Demirkapı ☮

I always find it ironic that here in the UK, where we have an 'official' church - i.e The Church of England - we put much less importance into the religious beliefs (or lack of) in our political leaders. - Ian May

@demirkapi But many in the Muslim world believe that you cannot change to being a non-Muslim, you are that faith forever. - Nils Sandin

It can be of interest to know what the candidates think their god wants them to do, though. - Eivind

Nope. There are lots of atheist who were once a Muslim. I was a Muslim too but not anymore. But the point is that I can not change being a Turkish/Caucasian. That is the difference. - Oğuz Demirkapı ☮

Eivind, the LDS (Mormon) church is politically neutral. Note that Harry Reid, House Minority Leader, is also Mormon. Religion can help guide beliefs and principles, but an elected office does not report to the religious leadership. - Louis Gray

I don't suspect Romney is the type who's guided from above in any case, Louis :) My reaction was more in response to Ian (I see a comment snuck in between the two). I don't think it's given that you should ignore a candidate's religious belief. It can turn out to be dangerous. - Eivind

I don't think it's ever okay to make fun of anyone's faith. Whether they were born to it or not. What they the individual do in the name of their faith, that's a different story... - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

Do not dramatize. Of course we would talk about someones faith if this 'someone' would decide our future. Of course we would have interest on someone who is capable enough to achieve what we are looking for and the philosophical approaches and ideological point of view are important parts for those. I would never prefer a religious leader who is for me not the right candidate for a secular world. - Oğuz Demirkapı ☮

As an American who claims no religion I would never want a president who cannot separate their religious beliefs from their political aims. I would not want a Baptist preacher for my president but I would not make fun of Baptists. Replace ”Baptist” with any other faith & I will feel the same. My mother is a fanatic democrat who posts clever little tweets about Romney but when she references magic underwear and other things mocking Mormonism, I'm like who is this woman? It offends me because it goes against the way SHE raised me :-\ - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

Referencing underwear etc. is extreme and you have right. But mentioning as he is a Mormon would be acceptable for me since the person is also using being Mormon as a political argument somehow. - Oğuz Demirkapı ☮

LDS dropped $8M to support a discriminatory ballot option. Just like the Catholic Church, they are far from "politically neutral". - Anika from FFHound!

Anika, I was about to post that. I do think Romney has a lot more troubling things about him than his religion, and think that a lot of people have a lot of weird misconceptions about LDS. Even if the Church isn't officially politically active, they do have a lot of influence of politics in a lot of areas and use it. As a resident of California, I'll admit some bitterness about their very strong support for Prop 8. That's pretty political, isn't it? - kendrak

http://m.friendfeed-media.com/374c1b7... this is a good sumup about respect. - Oğuz Demirkapı ☮

Romney is marketing his Mormonism as a part of his campaign. Full stop. - Burcu Dogan

Having lived and worked with many many Mormons while in Seattle and in the Twin Cities, I can assure everyone that they are just like regular people! ;) If pressed to do so, there is one sweeping generalization I would make about members of the Mormon faith: the level of commitment they demonstrate to families within their faith community (families, and individuals, that are dealing with hardship or loss) is truly inspiring. I have witnessed it numerous times, often with a tinge of envy. Our neighbor in the Twin Cities suffered a debilitating illness and was confined to her house unless special transportation was arranged. Her husband was able to do basic caretaking for her, but members of their LDS community were there EVERY SINGLE DAY to help out. After several years, her husband slipped and fell, lapsing into a coma as a result. The rotation of caregivers was stepped up to 3 shifts a day. Again, this is one (albeit a notable one) of many examples of witnessed personally. I find some aspects of Mormon doctrine confusing, and even troubling, but I don't know of any religion (including my own) that doesn't have certain tenets falling into those categories. Trading on one's specific faith, if done in an exclusionary manner, makes me suspect of the motives of someone seeking a secular leadership role. Trading on one's lack of faith, when done in an exclusionary manner, does exactly the same thing (for me.) - Jkram|ɯɐɹʞſ

This sort of criticism bothers me as well, not because I think that the Mormon church is non-political, but because I think it is unfair to hold any one person of a particular religion as responsible for the actions of the entire religion. Criticizing the actions of the man is appropriate and fair, and applying that criticism if he claims to be acting /on behalf of/ his religion is also fair. - Jennifer Dittrich

Like any politician, his religion is only relevant if he tries to impose his religious views on others. Other than a generic nod to the fundamentalist base of the GOP, I don't see Romney doing that. Personally, I could care less what his religion is. It matters a lot more to me that he's an asshat. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Kevin, I agree on that. He has already some BIG BIG troubles before any discussion on his religion. Loser. - Oğuz Demirkapı ☮

"Other than a generic nod to the fundamentalist base of the GOP" needs a question mark. Examine Ron Paul's case. - Burcu Dogan

Burcu, I just meant that every GOP nominee has to offer their fealty to the fundamentalist Christian base. I'm not sure Romney believes it, but he does it because he's got to. And because he'll say and do anything to become president. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

The only comment I have on this thread is to dispute the assertion that the LDS is politically neutral. Freedom to marry is a political issue and the LDS has devoted significant resources and asked its followers to contribute significant resources to promote the creation of laws forbidding same-sex marriage. That's as political as it gets in my book. - Kevin Fox

Oğuz Demirkapı is here - he is a super bitch son http://friendfeed.com/drdane1 - dürdane

Romney's religion is relevant because he was a bishop of the church. That goes for a reverend, pastor, imam, priest or rabbi. - Anika

When someone finds the "Religion" gene, let me know. Till then, it's a choice. - Johnny from iPhone

my why is here: http://friendfeed.com/warlord... - WarLord

Not a disagreement with Louis but just an observation: Religion obviously matters in politics. If it didn't then a lot of conservatives wouldn't have bothered trying to make hay out of the fantastical suggestion that Obama is a muslim. The clear implication there being that people of the Muslim faith are to be feared and not to be trusted. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)