The Judas Moment?

"Christian-oriented cults include: The Church of the Latter Day Saints or Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (also known as Mormons); Christian Science; Unity; Unitarianism (various groups); The Way International (not all groups using the term "The Way"); Rosicrucian Society of America; Bahai; Hare Krishna; Scientology; The Unification Church ("Moonies"); the so-called "Children of God" headed by "Moses" Berg; Jehovah's Witnesses and other fringe groups whose teachings should be suspect."

There you have it. The definitive word from the Pat Robertson controlled 700 Club about cults. And guess who leads the pack? The group that Mitt Romney belongs to.

So isn't it interesting that Robertson invited Romney to speak to the commencement class of 2007 at Regent University. The coincidence is that Romney is a right winger running for president. And that makes it okay to invite a cult member to come speak to your Christian graduates. Will they invite other cult members to come speak at Regent? It isn't too likely.

"Some occult groups mix Christianity into their teachings, often deceiving people into following them." That's what the Mormons do. In fact, I have a recent Mormon tract that was handed to me yesterday. The Cover syas "The Gospel of Jesus Christ." The first chapter is about faith in jesus Christ, and the only scripture alluded to is a Proverb from the Old testament. That should immeditely raise red flags for fundamentalists and evangelicals. The page that states the gospel is a way of life uses 2 Nephi 31:20 as it's reference source. Whoooaaaaaa! Hold on there Nellie!
Any fundamentalist worth his salt right there is screaming that Nephi is NOT an inspired part of the Bible. Okay then we'll turn the page.

And read this: "How can I know? The gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through revelation from God to the Prophet Joseph Smith and to other prophets." By now I think the fundamentalist has blown a head gasket and has passed out. This is what Mitt Romney believes, at least ostensibly.

The 700 Club web site continues their discussion about cults with this statement: "...you need to seek help for deliverance from cultish spirits." Since cults aren't of God, then they must be from Satan, because they deceive. Which means that Pat Robertson exposed those graduates to the spirits of deception by allowing a cult member to address them. Now I'm sure these class members were encouraged to fully put on their spiritual armor as per the instructions in Ephesians. But it begs the question of why invite a cult member to come into your "sanctuary" in the first place?

Let's turn our attention for a moment to a comment James Dobson made. In the US News and World Report Dobson was quoted as saying of Presidential candiadate Fred Thompson, “Everyone knows [Thompson’s] conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson told U.S. News & World Report. “[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression.”

Fred Thompson does not belong to a cult. Mr. Thompson belongs to one of those denominations of Christianity that fundamentalists consider lukewarm. What is more outrageous about Dobson's statement is that it serves as a religious test for office, in clear contradiction to the Constitution. So let this point sink in here folks. The Christian Right cares nothing about the Constitution. To them, since it is bereft of God, it needs to be replaced by the Bible as the law of the land. Which is why they adhere to these standards they do. Any investigation of their purposes, such as that done by Michelle Goldberg in Kingdom Coming, and Chris Hedges in American Fascists, will see that the Christian idea of America is far different than the Constitutional version, and founders version of America. Which leads to the current conundrum of endorsing a cult member as President. Surely if Fred Thompson, who at least belongs to a Christian denomination isn't Christian enough, then Mitt Romney, a member of a well know and long castigated group preaching what they do will most assuredly never get the endorsement of the Religious Right.

So why then did Robertson invite him to Regent? Could it be that the Religious Right is contemplating this very thing under the guise of similar values? Even Robertson has said in his own books (New World Order) that only Christians should hold high office. Does that mean a cult member now fits that description because they refer to the Bible? And where does a Ted Haggard fall into that paradigm?

This looks to be a Judas moment to me. Christianity is facing a choice. Will they stand by their anti-Constitutional principles and fail to endorse a leading candidate, or will they continue to sell their spiritual heritage for 30 pieces of political silver?