Fox News whitewashes evangelical hostility to Romney's faith
SUMMARY: While other media outlets, in
their coverage of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, have addressed the
longtime evangelical hostility to Romney's Mormon faith, Fox News has largely
avoided the subject and has responded to other media coverage of the issue by alleging media bias or, in the case of one guest, accusing liberals of anti-Mormon bigotry.
Since former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, questions about whether his Mormon faith will lessen his appeal among evangelical-dominated GOP primary voters have persisted, especially after an incident in which an audience member at a Romney event challenged him on his religion. Among many conservative evangelicals -- who comprise a significant part of the Republican base -- Mormonism is considered an un-Christian cult. Major media outlets including USA Today, Newsweek, and National Public Radio have reported on evangelical hostility to Romney's Mormonism. Yet when examining Romney's faith -- and especially when reporting on incidents during which Romney is confronted about his faith by hostile Republican voters on the campaign trail -- Fox News largely ignored the issue of evangelical hostility to Mormonism, or, at times, responded to other media coverage of the issue with allegations of media bias or, in the case of Fox News contributor and Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes, an accusation of "liberal intolerance" of Mormonism.
Examples of conservative and evangelical rejections of Mormonism are numerous and widespread. One of the most public slights of Mormons by evangelicals occurred during the 2004 National Day of Prayer, when Mormons were barred from conducting services during National Day of Prayer ceremonies by the group's task force chairwoman, Shirley Dobson, the wife of Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), America's second-largest religious community after Catholicism, has declared Mormonism to be a cult. The SBC's North American Mission Board's web page of "free resources on cults & sects" contains a section on "Mormons and Mormon Doctrine." Mormonism is listed on the page alongside other supposed cults like the Nation of Islam and the Church of Scientology.
The SBC's official news service, BP News, highlighted the denomination's rejection of Mormonism with a September 23, 2005, article that began:
For the past 150 years Mormonism has been in conflict with biblical, historic Christianity.
But leaders of Mormonism -- officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- have in recent years downplayed the cult's divergence from traditional Christianity and now portray it as merely another form of the biblical faith.
Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network has also identified Mormonism as a cult. A 1992 CBN pamphlet entitled "Cults" reportedly declared:
"A cult is any group that has a form of godliness, but does not recognize Jesus Christ as the unique son of God."....."One test of a cult is that it often does not strictly teach that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who Himself is God manifested in the flesh."......"Christian-oriented cults include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), the Worldwide Church of God, Christian Science, Unity, Unitarianism, The Way International, Rosicrucian Society of America, Bahai, Hare Krishna, Scientology, the Unification Church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses."
In a "BreakPoint Commentary" delivered during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah -- an event directed by Romney -- ex-Watergate felon and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Charles Colson criticized Mormonism as un-Christian. Colson concluded:
...Mormonism either affirms historic Christianity, or it doesn't. Since it doesn't, it can't call itself Christianity -- a fact that all the good will and public relations in Utah can't change.
One of Mormonism's most strident critics is D. James Kennedy, pastor of the 10,000-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida and president of Coral Ridge Ministries, an evangelical television and radio outlet with a lobbying arm in Washington called the Center for Reclaiming America. Kennedy's homes in on Mormonism in his book The Wolves Among Us. A description of the book from Coral Ridge Ministries' Resource Center:
It is a centuries-old problem: False prophets who lead the unwary astray with a perverted version of God's message to man. Dr. Kennedy presents three primary marks of a cult to help Christians understand, answer, and stop those who wear wool but inwardly are, as Jesus said, "ravenous wolves." In addition, The Wolves Among Us looks at Mormonism, the Unity School of Christianity, Unitarianism, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Freemasonry.
Many of these evangelical opponents of Mormonism have discussed unrelated matters on Fox News programs. Dobson has appeared on Fox News frequently, most recently on the January 12 broadcast of Hannity & Colmes. Colson has been a guest on Fox News, as has Southern Baptist Convention director of ethics and public policy Richard Land. Yet during Fox News discussions of the problems of Romney's faith among Republican voters, the opinions of these high-profile evangelical figures have not been solicited. Instead, Fox News has largely avoided discussion of evangelical hostility to Mormonism and featured guests who have blamed the media and liberals for attacks on Romney's faith.
On the February 8 edition of Fox News' Special Report, guest and Fortune magazine Washington bureau chief Nina Easton noted that "the Southern Baptist Convention considers the Mormons a cult ... so this is a very hard hoe for Romney with Christian conservatives." Barnes replied by baselessly blaming liberals for attacks on Romney's faith. "But going back to the Mormon question," Barnes said, "his [Romney's] problem is liberal intolerance which has a great deal in this country. It's not bigotry on the part of conservatives."
Similarly, on the February 17 edition of Fox News Watch, Fox News political analyst James P. Pinkerton blamed "the media" for "the bias" against Romney's faith:
ERIC BURNS (host): That was former Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney responding to a question about media focus on his religion. Romney said this week he's running for president, but on the day of his announcement, he woke up to see this headline on the front page of USA Today: "Will Mormon faith hurt bid for White House?" Jim, let's pretend that's a question asked of you.
PINKERTON: Well, I don't know the answer to that. I do know that the media seem inordinately interested in kind of nudging Christians into talking about this more and more. You wouldn't see a headline, I don't think, "Would a Jewish person be opposed for being president?" like that. I don't think they'd put the headline that way. I don't think they'd do it. I think the bias against Romney is pretty strong. The media research --
BURNS: Because of his faith?
PINKERTON: Well, I -- no, I think they're using that as an excuse. I don't think they like Romney. I don't think they really want a Republican to win. And they're using his Mormonism as one way of getting at him.
Additionally, when NBC News correspondent Chip Reid reported that "evangelicals have a problem" with Romney's Mormonism, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly accused NBC News of "trash[ing]" Romney.
O'Reilly led into his Romney segment on the February 19 edition of The O'Reilly Factor by playing a video clip of Reid's remark: "He's [Romney's] barely out of the starting blocks, and I'm going to go right for his knees. No. 1, he's a Mormon. That's something evangelicals have a problem with. No. 2, he's a flip-flopper." Rather than examining Reid's reference to evangelical hostility to Mormons, O'Reilly and his guest, blogger Michelle Malkin , accused NBC News of "radical" left-wing bias:
O'REILLY: All right, he's [Romney's] a flip-flopper. Now, it's pretty hard to believe when you understand that Mr. Reid covers Congress for the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Nice objectivity.
The woman giggling with him is Ana Marie Cox, works for Time magazine, used to edit a Marxist magazine. OK? Ms. Cox did. Now, there was nobody in that discussion sticking up for Romney. Nobody.
[...]
Now, I've been doing this for, I don't know, three, four months, chronicling and proving, day in and day out, that NBC News took a radical turn to the left. The NBC News Nightly News ratings are dropping. OK?
But it's more than that. Because you got a correspondent like Chip Reid, the guy who covers Congress, and he goes in the moment Romney -- bang, bang. We could have played a much bigger clip than that. Just annihilates him. No voice on the other side. So what do you think is going on here?
MALKIN: Well, the Reid clip was remarkable. First, his Tony Soprano pose about going after -- you know, right for --
O'REILLY: His knees.
MALKIN: -- Mitt Romney's knees. Ha, ha, ha. And then you got the giggly Ana Marie Cox, you know, breaking out into laughter over that. And then, just the political characterization that is just so out of touch from reality.
I mean, this is Mitt Romney, a mainstream Republican, who was elected by the People's Republic of Taxachussetts. You know, hardly your red, red meat, red, Red State, far-right candidate. And you're right. And I think this was implications for the larger political coverage leading up to 2008 for sure.
But I just have to say that -- I mean, it's not a surprise to most of us who have been watching the Nightly News for years and years and years and Dateline and a lot of the other programming on NBC News that leans to the left. I think now, I think what's happening is that they're just getting more aggressive about rubbing viewers' noses in their liberal bias.
O'REILLY: No question, they have done that. It's because Jeff Zucker, who's running NBC now, is a committed leftist and has ordered his people to do it. We know that.
The most high-profile incident reflecting anti-Mormon sentiment towards Romney occurred on February 17, during Romney's campaign swing through The Villages, a Florida retirement community described by the Orlando Sentinel as a "hotbed of Republicanism." In a question-and-answer session with Romney, a Villages resident told the former governor: "You, sir, you're a pretender. You do not know the Lord. You're a Mormon."
On the February 20 edition of his show, O'Reilly played a video clip of the Villages resident telling Romney, "You do not know the Lord. You're a Mormon." Then O'Reilly welcomed "body language expert" Tonya Reiman to analyze the video.
"Bigoted remark, I
thought," O'Reilly said to Reiman. "What did you -- what did
you get from Governor Romney's posture?" After a lengthy analysis of
Romney's physical gestures, Reiman concluded that Romney's response
to the remark was "something that's truly coming from his
heart":
[begin video clip]
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: You, sir, you're a pretender. You do not know the Lord. You're a Mormon.
ROMNEY: Let me -- let me offer just a thought, and that is, one of the great things about this great land is we have people of different faiths and different persuasions. And I'm convinced that the nation -- that the nation does need -- the nation does need to have people of different faiths, but we need to have a person of faith lead the country.
[end video clip]
O'REILLY: All right, Tonya, what -- pretty confrontational and rude remark by that man.
REIMAN: Yes.
O'REILLY: Bigoted remark, I thought. What did you -- what did you get from Governor Romney's posture?
REIMAN: Well, immediately I saw that he was taken aback by the comment. You can see, like, he puts his head down, he chuckles a little bit, but his eyebrows go up. So I think he was surprised by the comment. As I watched this, I noticed he is very emotional. What do I mean by that? He looks down a great deal. It's as if he's constantly thinking about his emotional response, as opposed to, you know, a logical response. This is something that's truly coming from his heart.
On the February 19 edition of Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News congressional correspondent Major Garrett also discussed the Villages incident without mentioning evangelical hostility to Mormonism, dismissing the incident as being caused by a "heckler." Instead, Garrett compiled a list of purported Romney "skeptic[s]" that did not include evangelicals:
GARRETT: One of [Sen. John] McCain's [R-AZ] rivals, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, confronts skepticism of a different kind: his Mormon faith. A heckler raised it this weekend in Florida.
[...]
GARRETT: The Mormon issue comes up a lot, and in this case at least, it appears Romney got the better of that encounter. Romney faces pro-choice and pro-abortion and pro-life skepticism as well. He ran as a pro-choice candidate in 1994 and 2002, didn't declare himself pro-life until 2004. On gay rights, this weekend Romney said, if elected president, he would maintain the military policy, so-called "don't ask, don't tell," saying doing anything else would be too disruptive in time of war, Brit.
Yes, the biggest outcry over his religion will definitely be coming from the Right not the Left. As a former evangelical myself, I can safely say that Mormonism is DEFINITELY seen as a non-Christian cult among evangelicals.
Wooohooo...! Food fight in the religious-nut ward! ;>)
O'Reilly is dead wrong about NBCs ratings dropping. Fox News can't get any new viewers and their rating are going down very slowly. NBC's are slowing going up, very slowly.
The reason FOX News' ratings are going down slowly is because most of their viewers are so old they can only move slowly. ;>)
Actually, I hate to see FOX News' ratings compared to any other particular network. A more accurate gauge would be to compare FOX News to all other networks. FOX News is the only network with an actual right wing agenda, and that is not just my observation. The rest of the networks can be lumped together as all providing some combination of points of view,,, and even some attempts at playing it straight down the middle as responsible journalism should do. But FOX News is in a class of its own as far as bias. So comparing FOX News to network journalism in general, in my opinion, is the way FOX News should be treated as a different entity entirely. FOX News not only isn't "fair and balanced"... it's mostly not even legitimate journalism.
Mr O'Reilly is incapable of being dead wrong. He lies too much.
Wolf, I am SHOCKED by your libelous comments about the honorable Mr. O'Reilly, the defender of truth, justice and the American way; and the protector of abused and kidnapped children... even the children who enjoyed the experience. You must be a secular progressive and a certified member of the loony left.
Why do you hate America, Wolf? Don't dodge the question! ;>)
BTW, the official Bill O'Reilly "Culture Warrior" coffee mug can be purchased for $14.95, here:
http://www.billoreilly.com/site/product?pid=20249&dispid3=205
I needed that , gonna have to bronze this posting for generations to come and enjoy Americana at its finest
Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network has also identified Mormonism as a cult. A 1992 CBN pamphlet entitled "Cults" reportedly declared:
Wouldn't this also include Islam?
It should, but I think Robertson is really following the more pragmatic definition of a cult: a religion that is (1) relatively new, and/or (2) relatively unpopular.
in other words he is such a bully he only goes after the 'smaller kids'. yeah, that sounds right. As to Islam and jesus, well there is this book called the Koran that righties tell lots of lies about but have never read;
Islam's prophet, Muhammad, believed Jesus was the Messiah, Allah's anointed messenger. Allah's people (Muslims) are told to listen to Allah's messengers (Koran, 4.171; 5. 111*).
no, Islam does not reject jesus,
Islam's prophet, Muhammad, believed Jesus was the Messiah, Allah's anointed messenger. Allah's people (Muslims) are told to listen to Allah's messengers (Koran, 4.171; 5. 111*).
DOh double posted, sorry
Hey Noah, love your nick
I agree in your assessment of the evangelical problem that faces Mr. Romney. Even though he is courting the leadership and has made significant inroads in that aspect, the actual members of these denominations have been brought up to denounce Mormonism and I believe a lot have stronger feelings towards Mormonism (and thus, Mr. Romney) than say someone like Guiliani. There are evangelical leaders that have met Romney and are impressed, but I find it very hard to believe that their membership, while alone in that voting booth, would actually vote for a Mormon.
To say that the liberal MSM is not taking shots at Romney would be a farce as well. Have you read any of the Boston newspapers? Did you read the AP article on Romney's ancestors being polygamists? Have you seen how many DNC press releases are sent out to the media denouncing Romney. The fact is, Romney faces both of these obstacles and what's really sad is I think he's the best Republican candidate. Not sad because it's slim pickings...but sad that a candidate has to go through this crap. It's one thing if his opponents were slinging mud...but who needs to sling mud when all you have to do is whisper the word "Mormon" to evangelicals through the MSM. Hmm...now there's an interesting connection.
I wish for the day when religion played no part in the electoral process at all. If the country was truly honest about not considering a candidate's religious beliefs then, theoretically, even an agnostic could be elected President. Someone once said that the only rational answer to the question of whether God exists is "I don't know." Imagine that... a rational president with no religious baggage. Not in my lifetime, I'll bet...
"If the country was truly honest about not considering a candidate's religious beliefs then, theoretically, even an agnostic could be elected President."
The American public doesn't consider a candidate's religious beliefs - a potential President can worship Jesus at any church he likes, and still be considered for the oval office. What a swell country we live in.
I was at work (retail) and was talking with a regular customer. I've seen her quite a bit. She made a comment about how it's hard raising so many kids; she has five. She asked if it was me that said I was part of a family of five, too. I said yes, it was. She asked me if I was Christian. Suddenly all the "five kids and a trampoline" Mormon jokes popped into my head. "Ah, I was raised Mormon."
Man, you'd have thought I just said, "I'm a liberal" or something the way she looked at me. And then she was all condescending and sad. And kept ranting about all this "the Bible says". I didn't really have the heart to argue with her about religion. Especially since I was on the clock. At work.
All I could think was, "Wow, I can only imagine how Muslims get treated!"
Michelle Malkin is amazing. How is it that someone so incapable of rational thought is able to land on television as much as she has? Her rationale for Romney having a chance among evangelicals is, "Well, he won an election is liberal Taxachussetts, so he could win anywhere." Michelle, you ignorant tart. Ever think that perhaps a Mormon was elected in Massachussetts because it is a religiously tolerant state? If you unleash Romney on the largely intolerant evangelical right, and he has no chance. That is not an opinion or some liberal bias, but a FACT.
I love how the right tries to re-write history: Liberals are intolerant, Nazis were leftists, media has a liberal bias. What do you call someone who believes something that is the exact opposite of the truth? Oh yeah, INSANE.
I was raised a Southern Baptist so I know of which I speak: Romney, because of his Mormonism, would not even carry Mississippi, much less the more "liberal" Deep South states.
Indeed, the same people who think GW Bush is a "great Christian man" believe Romney is a part of a cult. And realizing how black & white everything is to these people, good luck convincing them otherwise.
Of course, Barnes blaming liberals on how [religious] consevatives feel about Romney is typical right wing Orwellianism.
Judging by the high number of political ads for Mitt Romney on our local news channels (NC/SC), I believe his campaign is attempting to preemptively soften the Bible-belt voters.
Similar experience.
I was raised Lutheran (10 years of Lutheran School also). Every year during religion class when discussing cults, Mormonism was first on the list. In fact, teachers were very adamant about it. Seems as though they wanted everyone to be certain of it. I'd be very surprised to see Romney overcome this issue.
While there is certainly some evangelical opposition to Romney beca is use of his religion, Romney's religion is largely a media-driven issue. How many polls have there been now stating that American's won't vote for a Mormon? 6-8...and counting. How many polls does it take an issue to create? Why is the AP running a story on Romney's great grandfather being a polygamist? That is nothing but a blatant attempt to create an issue ---a perception in the minds of voters that Romney is somehow a 'closet polygamist' --if the AP were being fair, they would also run a companion story on the bigamist life of Obama's father!
The reason Fox doesn't bring up evangelical opposition to Romney is because it is largely a creation of AP, USA Today, and all the rest of the religious bigots in the liberal media.
I was right there with you up until your nonsense about Obama's father and the "liberal media." Would this be the same "liberal media" that repeated ad nauseum claims that George W. Bush is an evangelical Christian, thus helping get him elected by securing the votes of people for whom that was the only personal characteristic that mattered?
You really need to read the full MMFA article again. Evangelical hostility towards Mormoms is not some creation of the media. It is a creation of evangelicals themselves. For the responsible media outlets (i.e., not Fox News) to pose the question is not at all out of line. And it isn't some baseless, intolerant attack on Romney's character. How a Mormon might fare among the large Republican evangelical base is critical to any meaningful assessment of Romney's presidential chances. It would be akin to the media questioning how Barack Obama might fare among racist bigots. It doesn't mean the media are racist bigots for posing the question.
Seriously, though Valley. Next time read the whole article and think before typing.
Your post is correct in that the MSM is not responsible for the feelings evangelicals have towards Mormons. And reporting on those "facts" are in play. But the MSM does continue to play a part in stoking fires and even creating fires. What isn't in play and what is journalistically irresponsible are articles like pulling Romney's ancestry and bringing up a polygamist past. It wasn't some obscure newspaper, it was an AP article that runs across the country that is not relevant to Romney nor to the campaign...unless you are trying to stoke a fire using the "oh..by the way...did we mention he's a Mormon" type of article. Is there a reason why the Democratic National Committee has run more press releases on Romney than any other Republican candidate...and is it then funny how MSM use those press releases for their "fact" findings?
While I agree that addressing Romney's "polygamist" ancestry may be a little below the belt, in the end it is up to the voters to decide whether they feel that is important or not. The MSM has the responsibility of getting as much information to the public, and if that information has some sensationalism to it (a polygamist grandfather), all the better for the MSM. The media aren't judging Romney, they are judging his chances of being elected president.
And why the DNC would feel the need to fuel the Romney fire is beyond me. Current polls show Romney losing handily to any of the front-running Democrats. You would think the "liberal media" and the DNC would want Romney opposite them in 2008.
You mean all those left-leaning religious bigots that went after Kerry because he was pro-choice, pressuring his church to not allow him to take communion? Yeah, I hate those left leaning religious bigots, too.
"Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who Himself is God manifested in the flesh" That whole concept there loses it for me. Think about it like this, "oh, God loves us so much he sent his son down to die for our sins" Ok, now you're telling my that jesus is god and he is now sitting at the right hand of god , for eternity. Here's a sacriface that would get my attention: Jesus goes to hell for eternity. I don't see having your son down on earth, still in constant touch with prayer mind you, for 30-40 years out of eternity as much of a sacrifice.
It is baffling to me that christianity has lasted this long and will surely be relegated to the dust bin of absurd human mythologies some day in the not too distant future.
Aaahhhhh...you just HAVE to love those catholics- if you aren't WITH us, you are EVIL!! As a recovering catholic myself, I totally expect Romney to be hammered repeatedly over the head with evangelical fists of fury. On a related note, I have Amish cousins who live right next to a Mennonite community (as far as I can tell, there is very LITTLE difference between the two faiths). One day, I asked him what he thought of the Mennonites and he turned a steely eye towards one of them and said in total seriousness 'THEY ARE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!!' I could only wonder what he thought of me, an electricity user, music playing heathen from 'the outside'...
Oh, those Mormon Wolves! They don't drink, smoke, do drugs or gamble, are taught to be honest in their dealings, serve in their communities, don't cheat on their wives, give ten percent of their income to their church, don't abort their unborn children, and attend church every week. Really, REALLY scary.
That's one thing I've never really understood. All the anger and hate towards Mormons.
Of course another thing you forgot to mention is how much money the LDS church gives in donations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDS_Humanitarian_Services
Of course I'm sure the cynic in all of will say, "Well yes, but they're only doing that to gain converts." Maybe. I really don't know. But I do know that the church itself does not really publicize the fact that it does this kind of work.
One thing that I always liked about the Mormon church is the fact that no one is paid. They receive no money for doing what they believe is their duty. In some cases, if they require you to relocate, rent and food is paid, but they do not receive an actual salary.
Exactly. You'd think the right-wing Christians would love them. But, not so much.
Back in the early 80s, I worked for a typesetting shop in Berkeley (yes, Berkeley) and one of our customers was a group of Fundamentalist Christians that published very thorough magazine-length exposes of cults. True, part of their reasoning for defining a "cult" was based on what I considered a very narrow definition, but the research was also very thorough and fair. Remember, this was in the days when investigative journalism wasn't a dirty word.
At any rate, part of the manuscript for one issue had a list of cults they intended to investigate in the future. On the ms. one name had been struck out on the list: the Church of the LDS. Although they clearly believed, and their audience clearly believed, that the Mormons were a cult, they also didn't want to get into a tussle with such a powerful entity. Stick to Eckankar, it's safer.
I wonder if they ever took on Scientology.
Thank you for pointing out this basic fact of contemporary politics. The conservative right is very reluctant to admit that a large part of their base (evangelical Christians) view both Catholics and Mormons as beneath contempt and little more than cults.
People like Hannity and O'Riley are either being disingenuous by pretending that they aren't aware of this fact or they are really so stupid that they don't recognize this long standing opinion of evangelicals towards Catholics and Mormons.