Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In the last couple of days Todd Friel of Way Of The Master Radio has been asking some tough questions about who is qualified to be President (among other elective offices) and the thinking processes of those who support or defend non-Christian candidates for those offices.

The first interview is with Dr. Richard Land, the president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public policy entity of the Southern Baptist Convention. Land recently stated in several interviews that he wouldn’t support a Giuliani candidacy but had no problems in defending Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and calling it an acceptable condition for Christians looking for a presidential candidate. Friel insists that Land explain himself, and Land engages in a brilliant campaign of hem-haw, er-um, weeelllll… and when pressed further he tries to equivocate about his position on whether or not Mormons are Christian. Listen carefully for the embarrassing “Mormonism is the 4th Abrahamic belief” argument. The interview took place on the program for Nov. 19, 2007 and startes at about the 5:50 mark.

In the second interview Todd Friel interviews someone named Ryan Bell who is running a pro-Romney website called Romney Experience. The interview took place on the program for Nov. 20, 2007 and the story starts at about the 7:45 mark. Mr. Bell equivocates in stating that disqualifying presidential candidates on the basis of their faith is the same as disqualifying them on the color of their skin. When called on this and pressed, he decides this really wasn’t such a good tactic to use on someone who knows how to recognize logical fallacy. Mr. Bell insists that Mormons are really just misunderstood and that Mormonism is very similar to orthodox Christian theology, but when pressed on the specifics he demonstrates that he is either

• not well versed in Mormon Theology, or
• is willing to obfuscate to make a point

Interestingly, this is made abundantly clear by Dr. James White who calls the program a little later. Dr. White covers the sections of Mormon doctrine that Mr. Bell obfuscated in detail, specifically the Mormon view of who Christ and Satan are. That segment of the program starts at about the 38:38 mark.

It is not surprising that a fellow Mormon would jump through hoops to defend Mitt Romney. What is surprising is that Richard Land, the President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, would. On second thought, based on Land’s recent literary output, e.g. The Divided States of America, maybe it isn’t such a surprise.