tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post4096468054125698016..comments2024-03-06T03:15:58.539-05:00Comments on <b>THE NEW REFORM CLUB</b>: Is Hugh Hewitt a Secularist?Hunter Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-79875283687266360862007-04-02T11:55:00.000-04:002007-04-02T11:55:00.000-04:00Thank you for the review of Hewitt's book; you rai...Thank you for the review of Hewitt's book; you raised some good questions.<BR/><BR/>>that evangelical Christians in <BR/>>particular should hesitate to <BR/>>consider Romney's religion <BR/>>because they don't want to have<BR/>>their own political hopes stymied<BR/>>by others considering their faith.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps Hewitt unpacks in his book, but it seems a bit naïve to think that if Christians agree not to reject a candidate because of his faith, that others will return the favor. I just can’t picture someone saying, “No way am I going to vote for Jane Christian--I’m fiscal conservative only! She’ll try to impose her faith on---wait a minute. As I recall, the Trinitarian Christians supported Romney at the last election…Okay, Jane it is.”<BR/><BR/>Hear, hear to Mr. Homnick’s comments, by the way.Angie B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06621773842071448180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-82960716555272029822007-03-31T22:28:00.000-04:002007-03-31T22:28:00.000-04:00After the Harriet Myers affair it's beyond me why ...After the Harriet Myers affair it's beyond me why Hewitt should be taken seriously at all. This sort of thing just reinforces that judgment.John H. Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02057669588188393564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-66001857998108039862007-03-30T12:36:00.000-04:002007-03-30T12:36:00.000-04:00I don't disagree with your version, either, Jay! ...I don't disagree with your version, either, Jay! Hewitt is actually not a secularist. I was using that to try to needle him into reconsidering what I think is a very bad way of arguing.Hunter Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-79884119068932216642007-03-30T00:42:00.000-04:002007-03-30T00:42:00.000-04:00Hewitt's position is indefensible. What if the ca...Hewitt's position is indefensible. What if the candidate was a Satan worshiper?<BR/><BR/>Since I was a kid, I have seen the poll repeated many times and each time the conclusion is clear: no atheist could be elected President. And that's fine by me.<BR/><BR/>I diverge slightly from your conclusion, Hunter. This thinking is not a sign of secularism. Instead it shows Hewitt is prey to the most common fallacy that exists among American religionists. Namely their thought pattern that God is man's servant rather than the other way round.<BR/><BR/>If man is God's servant, then all that man is belongs to God, the master. Thus religious belief is the single most defining element of a person's true self.<BR/><BR/>But the guys who think of God as running a service industry to help man in time of need assume that religious belief is a small detail, something "private", like which magazine he gets delivered.Jay D. Homnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714671338316275833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-59240910405660876212007-03-29T20:28:00.000-04:002007-03-29T20:28:00.000-04:00Mike, I know what you mean, but I'm pushing some b...Mike, I know what you mean, but I'm pushing some buttons!Hunter Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-29123490390399735992007-03-29T13:00:00.000-04:002007-03-29T13:00:00.000-04:00Splendid, Hunter. Well said.Splendid, Hunter. Well said.S. T. Karnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05971214612730402709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-32611368779790320812007-03-29T12:10:00.000-04:002007-03-29T12:10:00.000-04:00Hunter, I have not read the book and have no desir...Hunter, I have not read the book and have no desire to. I am sure Hewitt is no secularist, though the implication of his argument might be. To say consideration of a candidate's faith is an off limits, if that indeed is what he is saying, is patently absurd. <BR/><BR/>Hewitt is too smart to believe that private belief doesn't affect public performance. Maybe he's saying that the Mormon religion is mainstream enough to not be an issue. I would tend to agree, only in that regardless of what funky and heretical stuff they may believe, every Mormon I've ever met is as solid a citizen as you'll find. They're just plain good folk.<BR/><BR/>Whether that means Romney could get my vote is another issue.Mike D'Virgiliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03150525537509460056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-89210091610442271822007-03-28T16:19:00.000-04:002007-03-28T16:19:00.000-04:00Well writ, Mr. Baker. Religionists can't have it ...Well writ, Mr. Baker. Religionists can't have it both ways---either the public square is naked (of God, religion, revelation) or it's not.<BR/><BR/>If an Enlightened person decides that believing a man walked on water, rose from the dead and himself was God makes a candidate an unreasonable person and unfit for office, so be it.<BR/><BR/>So too, if orthodox Christians find believing that God lives on Planet Kolob (<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob" REL="nofollow">or nearby</A>) is a little too wiggy, so be it.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com