{"id":152,"date":"2007-12-10T06:52:04","date_gmt":"2007-12-10T06:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/conversationswithgod\/2007\/12\/are-we-all-going-to-hell.html"},"modified":"2007-12-10T06:52:04","modified_gmt":"2007-12-10T06:52:04","slug":"are-we-all-going-to-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/conversationswithgod\/2007\/12\/are-we-all-going-to-hell.html","title":{"rendered":"Are we all going to hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first 50 words of the Los Angeles Times<\/em> story said it all…<\/p>\n

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — The glowing reviews began tumbling in at once:
\nRepublican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s speech on faith was powerful and convincing, analysts said — sincere, effective, hit all the right notes.
\nBut will it help Romney, a Mormon, win over the key voting bloc of conservative Christians?
\nThe broad consensus: probably not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The question is, why not? And the answer is sad. Sad for America, sad for the political mechanism that makes this country run, and probably sad even for God. The answer is: the Conservative Christian bloc will probably not vote for Romney because he is a Mormon — and for no other reason.
\nIn a copyrighted story by staff writers Miguel Bustillo, Stephanie Simon and Mark Z. Barabak on December 7, 2007 the Times reported on Romney’s speech last Thursday at the George Bush Presidential Library. He delivered “an impassioned defense of religious liberties,” the trio of reporters said.
\nHe should never have had to.
\n“I am an American running for president,” the Times <\/em>reported him as saying. “I do not define my candidacy by my religion.” He made it clear he would not let his faith get in the way of his performance of duties if elected president. But the Times <\/em>article pointed out that few people ever believed that he would. Those who oppose his candidacy strictly on the basis of his faith are not afraid that he would take directions from elders in the Mormon church. What they are afraid of, the Times <\/em>article said, is that he might not be able to receive help from God.
\n“In their view, Mormons don’t worship the one true God — so they fear that, as president, Romney would not benefit from divine guidance,” the Times article said. Or, as one voter in Iowa, Glenda Gehrke, 63, recently voiced her concern: “Will his prayers even get through?”
\nOuch.
\nI mean, truly, Glenda…
\nOuch.
\nDo we really, really think that God cannot hear a sincere prayer, a true and honest call for help, from anybody except a fundamentalist Christian? Is it really our thought in this country that God will not listen to the plea of a Jew or a Hindu or a Muslim…or a person who belongs to no particular religion at all?
\nIt’s one thing to declare as a matter of doctrine that you can’t get into heaven if you do not believe a certain way. But are we now declaring that you can’t even PRAY, and hope that your prayer will be heard, if you are not, in advance of the prayer, declaring your faith in God in the “right way”? What goes on here? What if your prayer IS to believe in God in the “right way?” Can you not even pray to be “saved”? I mean, if the prayer won’t be heard, it won’t be heard, right? What am I missing here?
\nSo let me get this straight. A Mormon’s prayer may not even be heard <\/em>by God, much less responded to, because God can’t hear Mormons…right? Do I have that right? Or, to ask this in what I understand to be fundamentalist Christian terms, is it true that if you don’t believe in the One True God, that you can’t pray to the One True God? Does God make allowances for anything?<\/em>
\nC’mon<\/em>, for heaven sake.
\nThis is almost as bad as that group of Roman Catholic bishops which a few weeks ago declared that a vote for a candidate who held views that are opposed to the Catholic Church’s views on certain social issues actually “risk the salvation of their immortal soul.”
\nOhmigod. I mean, OH…MY…GOD….does anybody actually BELIEVE that??? Does anybody actually believe<\/em> that God would keep a person out of heaven for one wrong vote in the 2008 election?<\/em>
\nWHAT KIND OF A GOD DO WE THINK WE HAVE HERE…?
\nPerhaps it’s time for us to take a really good look at What God Wants.<\/u> I wrote a book by that title exploring this very question. You may find it interesting reading. Unless, that is, you think that God will send you to hell for reading one bad book<\/em>.
\n…I mean, if a single mistaken vote<\/em> can get you there, what chance would you have after reading a whole mistaken book <\/em>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first 50 words of the Los Angeles Times story said it all… COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — The glowing reviews began tumbling in at once: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s speech on faith was powerful and convincing, analysts said — sincere, effective, hit all the right notes. 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