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Subscribe to RSSDespite weeks of controversy sparked by a Dallas pastor labeling Mitt Romney's Mormon religion a cult, a study released today shows that Americans are no more familiar with the presidential hopeful's religious beliefs now than they were in July.
The study, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, shows that only 42% of Americans can correctly identify Romney as a Mormon. That number is statistically unchanged since the group's last survey, conducted in July, when 40% of Americans said they knew Romney was a Mormon.
The only subgroup in the study to show significantly increased knowledge of Romney's religion since July was evangelical Protestants, whose knowledge of Romney's religious faith rose from 44% in July to 53% now.
Unsurprisingly, the study shows a correlation in which those more likely to be paying attention to the GOP primary are also more likely to know more about Romney's religion. Among Tea Party members and registered Republicans, knowledge of Romney's religion hovers above 50%, and in surveyed registered voters it holds at 49%.
With not one but two Mormons in this GOP presidential race (Jon Huntsman is the other), knowledge and acceptance of Mormonism, formally the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been creeping up. In the latest NBC/WSJ poll, two thirds of respondents said they were comfortable with Romney's faith, and that it would not interfere with his decision making as president.
Beyond the political realm, Mormonism has taken a larger role in the cultural discourse of late as well. The success of the Tony-award winning musical "The Book of Mormon" by the creators of South Park, as well as a multi-million dollar ad campaign featuring a diverse cast and prominent Mormons like The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers, have raised awareness of the religion, in their own ways.
Mainstream news outlets have discovered Mormons, too - even in unlikely places like Brooklyn. Just this morning, the New York Times ran a feature story about Mormon style in among young people from BYU to Bushwick. Their findings, in summary: skinny jeans are ok, beards and tattoos, not so much.
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Sure is getting boring, and it appears comments are down.
Gee First read, might it be time for a non republican primary story?
I hear Obama's got some plans in the works...
Hey Garrett, was this an actual survey or, like Domenico on the previuos story, did you just ask yourself how feel about Romney's faith and report it as other people?
Geez, a report on a survey that tells us nothing is new.
yeh spanky, like obamas "executive order" to change the conditions on paying back students loans. Then again, FR buried that story yesterday.
And the survey says; WHO CARES??
I'm more concerned about whether or not Willard can get 'testy' enough... lol
Rome is burning while the MSM fiddles...
I've had the pleasure to see Romney operate off camera.
He doesn't play around. It will be refreshing to have a real man in the white house.
No Faith Bashing.
You won't get any from me...Willard's Mormon faith is probably the only thing in which he truly believes.
Da Noid
You're right.......lol
Rob in ma-3189632
operate off camera? Don't we need any form of evidence?
No Faith Bashing.
Oh to hell with that, I'll bash my own faith, as I get older religion is more ingrained than to be believed, I feel and hope there is a higher power, but a lot of the details that at some point any religion requires you to believe (I'm Catholic so there are quit a few), get harder to swallow. Do you know the Pope recently cancelled Limbo! That's the place all unbaptized babies went for thousands of years, they could not go to heaven because they were not baptized, but they did not deserve to go to hell, because they are babies and did not have a chance to have some fun. So after all these years the Pope said no more Limbo they can go to heaven. Ha how would you like to be in heaven when millions of babies all arrive on the same day, if your guardian angels look terrible it's because they have not slept right in for two months!
Forrest Grump 2.0
Denominations are man made. Pope is a man like you just like your priests. According to the bible, all these will fail you expect God.........lol.
FG 2.0 Yeah until your on your deathbed begging the Lord for forgiveness...just like Steve Jobs.
My wife Lotta Grump is always telling me don't do this Forrest, and don't do that Forrest, I want my husband with me some day in heaven. I told her that was not our deal, the deal was till death do you part, you plan to nag my ass clear into the afterlife!
Forrest Grump 2.0
Hey guy, please do you.
Maybe it's temporary.........let's ask Crazy Joe
TEMPORARY? TEMPORARY? It's not temporary when you have to submit to a 200lb man or have a gun to your head.
Come on Joe. What do you think??
Violent crime is on the rise in New York City and the police are blaming Occupy Wall Street.
In Manhattan, where the Occupy Wall Street protests began on September 17 and have continued for six weeks, police detailed to monitor the protests are being taken off the beat in crime-prone areas of the city and contributing to a wide-spread boost in violence.
On Tuesday, The New York Post reported that violent crime in New York City is increasing dramatically in the last month since the Occupy Wall Street protests have drained NYPD resources and forced officers to monitor the protesters rather than notorious "hot spots" around the city.
The Post is reporting that shootings in New York City have increased by 28 percent in the last month. From 2010, shootings this week are up 154 percent. Arrests by specialized units like the Organized Crime Control Bureau, which tracks and arrests gun and drug runners have also plummeted by 19 percent.
"Normally, the task force is used in high-crime neighborhoods where you have a lot of shootings and robberies," says an anonymous source connected with the NYPD who spoke to the Post. "Instead of being sent to Jamaica, Brownsville and the South Bronx, they are in Wall Street."
As many as 3,000 police are on call at Occupy Wall Street to keep the peace at any given time; about 10 percent of the entire police force.
These protesters keep talking about "greed"...well maybe they should peel a pile of cash out of those donations they are receiving from George Soros and the SEIU...pay for some of the police coverage they are forcing to occur...and stop being so greedy themselves.
Say First read - Cali is getting into the public benefits and pension cutting act, like Ohio.
Might be a fun and enlightening story, right? Surely there are some political implications, and we could all lean forward with such a story?
Looks like some people have a hard time with a democrat that is willing to do the hard work the republican governor couldn't accomplish. LOL
MSNBC can bring up Romney's religion every day. It's a nonstarter.
I couldn't care less about For Pete's Sake Mitt's Mormonism - but - as a Democratic observer I have noticed that.....
survey after survey shows that a really sizable number of potential GOP Evangelical voters - as well as Independent and Democratic voters - say they could never vote for a Mormon.
I think it is very, very wrong - but, unfortunately, apparently, it is quite real.
And it poses a problem for a For Pete's Sake general election candidacy in swing states like VA, NC, etc. with large Evangelical populations. I would think the GOP has to be somewhat worried about this.
Continued irony...
...the party that prides itself on strict interpretation of the Constitution still can't wrap itself around Article VI or the First Amendment.
Looks like some people have a hard time with a democrat that is willing to do the hard work the republican governor couldn't accomplish. LOL
Monetfan - you are correct, they are more than somewhat worried about this, which is why I'm enouraging everyone I know to cross over and vote for mittens in the primary (we can do that in Tennessee - will be my first time to give back to the republicans what they have always given to me), and there is no way a Morman will ever carry the south.
The liberals cant get enough of bashing some conservative evangelicals for being concerned about Romney's religion.
Just wait, though, if Romney is nominated; the Post and Times will quickly run 10 part series on the history of Mormonism. Every detail of Mormonism's history will be put under a microscope.
(The left wing Boston Globe actually did this, in 2008; after feigning contempt about those who dwelled on religion, the Globe put together a lengthy multi article series on Mormonism and its history, with emphasis on the former practice of polygamy.)
Scary headlines will come from First Read about the issue, and its potential impact on the election.
For every mention of Obama's fanatic preacher Rev Wright, the drive by media will mention Mormonism 500 times.
All in the service of Obama.
Bob, someone mentioned Rev Wright? You gotta get me the link, I don't remember him ever being mentioned.
Hey first read, why not do a story about Obama's executive order on Student Loans and what the total savings actually are...you know $4 - $7 per month. You don't think he's trying to buy votes do you?
Yes...he's trying to buy the kiddie vote while the kiddies are out protesting the fact that they actually do have to pay their loans back. Isn't M. Obama's timing impeccable ?
More revisionist history...it was Robert Jeffress, an evangelical Baptist pastor, who has taken the biggest shot at Mormons when he endorsed Perry and called Mormon a cult. Spare your venom for those who deserve it.
Don't you have a problem with conservative evangelicals who ARE concerned with Romney's faith? It's none of their business and they DESERVE to be bashed! Again, spare your venom for those who deserve it!
So, has Bob finally coalesced on a favorite?
This is newsworthy?
I would say knowledge of the LDS (Mormon) faith in general continues to be low...
" "Mormons" is a term commonly, though unofficially, applied to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." - see lds.org/topic/mormons
Really does not matter to me, I will not vote for him if the opportunity arose, but not for his religious beliefs. To me, the fact that there are less people who believe Mormon beliefs than traditional Christian ones, or that Mormonism is more "fringe". All religions are made up wishful thinking, so I treat them all equally. This is an issue of concern for mainly conservative Christians for the most part.
Wasn't that nice of the Mormon church to spend millions on an ad campaign so that when a Mormon ran for national office more people would understand that he is a "regular guy".
Wake Up! Obama, Romney, Perry and Cain are funded by the banking cartels. Ron Paul is by far our best choice. Below I state my case.
Brief Overview of Congressman Ron Paul's Record:
Dr. Ron Paul served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and then in the United States Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968.
As a member of Congress, Paul continues to refuse to sign up for the government pension that he would be entitled to in order to avoid receiving government money, saying it would be "hypocritical and immoral."
Ron Paul serves on the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services, and on the Joint Economic Committee. He is the chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, where he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy.
Dr. Paul is clearly the most qualified candidate to tackle our Nations critical economic and foreign affair issues. The rest of the top tier candidates like Romney, Perry, Cain and Obama are a bunch of clowns who receive their funds from major donors from Wall Street.
Ron Paul receives more financial contributions from active duty vets than all the other candidates combined. Why is this? They know that Ron Paul is the best solution for our National Defense, though the establishment media is trying to make him look like a kook who would hurt national security. We need to defend our borders and give all these National Guard troops who are on their 3rd and 4th tours of duty a break. What if there was a real war in the near future? Our military is already at the breaking point from wars started to help banks and oil companies. We need an agenda to help America. Vote for Ron Paul 2012!!!!
More details on Ron Paul:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
___________________________________________________________________________
When Rick Perry was getting Ds in Economics 101, Ron Paul was writing books on
Austrian Economics.
When Michele Bachmann was campaigning for Jimmy Carter, Ron Paul was one of four
congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan on his second run.
When Herman Cain was working for the Federal Reserve, Ron Paul was trying to end it.
Cain was once on the Federal Reserve KC Board of Governors, he supports Fed policy, opposes an Audit, supported the bailouts, the Patriot act, etc..... Cain is another Bush and Obama.
-- --- --
I hear unwitting people rip Ron Paul everyday by claiming he is a nut job.
Ron Paul identified the beginning of the housing bubble as early as 2001! A real nut this guy right?
Paul also told us the Iraq Liberation At of 1999 was a precursor to war...totally unnecessary. And he opposed the Iraq war resolution of 2003, now a known total disaster.
Paul also told us in the 1990's that our sanctions on Iraq - that killed 500,000 Iraqi children - would likely start a war. What a nut.
Meanwhile, these other clowns were clueless. Cain - one month before the collapse of 2008 - said the economy was in great shape...and the FED's polices were great.
Perry is now stealing rhetoric from Paul, even though he's never once in his career addressed the Federal Reserve...and probably doesn't even understand how it works.
Romney's platforms mimic those of Obama...more war, more govt intervention in the economy.
A vote for any aside from Ron Paul, is a vote to help the banking cartels. Ron Paul 2012! Peace!
Man, First he knows about foreign policies now he doesn't need to know.
Literally, can anybody tell when this guy is joking and when he is not?