Are the Elite Media a Cult?

Well, they're starting to sound like one as more and more of their foot soldiers are asking exactly the same questions of the GOP presidential candidates, i.e., "Is Mormonism a cult?" and "Is Mitt Romney a Christian?"

They are, of course, not interested at all in a theological discussion with each of the Republican candidates.  They are, however, very much interested in seeing those same candidates squirm before their cameras, and even more so in sowing discord within the GOP ranks.

In case you didn't know, they're using as pretense comments made by a Dallas mega-church pastor who introduced Texas Governor Rick Perry at the Values Voters Summit this past weekend.

My first thought is that when asked this question, the candidates ought immediately to ask in return whether the questioner was similarly interested in the comments of President Obama's pastor of 20 years during the last election cycle.

But that might seem a bit snippy for a candidate for the presidency.

So, might I recommend the following response instead:

"Cult" is a loaded word that carries with it all kinds of negative connotations that cannot and should not be associated with Mormonism.  I'm not a theologian, but as I understand it Mormonism is not consistent with orthodox Christianity.  But then neither is Judaism, Islam, or Hinduism, for example, and I would not call any of those faiths a cult.  But then I would not call any of them Christian either and, significantly, I would not imply any disrespect at all by saying as much.  But even more important is the fact that despite the differences, Mormon Americans share a common Judeo-Christian heritage with the overwhelming majority of their fellow citizens, a large and growing portion of whom are very disturbed by the secular drift and moral decay of our country.  With good people like that, with good people like Mitt Romney, I'm eager to make common cause.