Anti-Mormon bigotry on the Atlas

[IceSpear]

Am I missing something? That post wasn't bigoted in the least. Mitt's presidential runs were/would be heavily supported by both Mormon donors and voters, and yes, he would depend on them for his base of support. Just like Obama depended on blacks for his base of support.

Now, Lief may have made other anti-Mormon posts that I'm unaware of, but there's certainly nothing wrong with that one.

Also, that's assuming making jokes about someone's religious beliefs is "bigotry". Last time I checked, nobody is actually trying to impose second class citizenship or other restrictions on Mormons for their beliefs, the worst they get is made fun of on the internet. Boo hoo. I have to agree with the posters talking about "religious privilege" here. Your beliefs are not immune from criticism or jokes just because they might hurt your feelings.

[IceSpear]

Am I missing something? That post wasn't bigoted in the least. Mitt's presidential runs were/would be heavily supported by both Mormon donors and voters, and yes, he would depend on them for his base of support. Just like Obama depended on blacks for his base of support.

Now, Lief may have made other anti-Mormon posts that I'm unaware of, but there's certainly nothing wrong with that one.

Also, that's assuming making jokes about someone's religious beliefs is "bigotry". Last time I checked, nobody is actually trying to impose second class citizenship or other restrictions on Mormons for their beliefs, the worst they get is made fun of on the internet. Boo hoo. I have to agree with the posters talking about "religious privilege" here. Your beliefs are not immune from criticism or jokes just because they might hurt your feelings.

First, I should note that I am nowhere near Mormon.  In fact, I am a pretty agnostic person in general.

Second, it wasn't really the post itself more as the history of the person who posted it (though I should note that Lief using the word "morman" instead of "mormon" is very very telling of his subtle bigotry).  I have made more than a few critiques of religious groups (especially in some of my historical posts on what people consider to be "mainstream protestants") and do not hesitate go call outright racism where I see it.

I am not a fan of Mitt Romney.  I did not support him for president.  I voted for Barack Obama in 2012.  However, I should note that you have a pretty absurd definition of "bigotry" if you think that "bigotry" excludes speech.

Here, let me help you out with a definition of "bigotry":

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You see, jokes about how many wives Joseph Smith had is not "bigotry".  Hell, even jokes about cycling 5,000 miles a year while wearing full on dress slacks and business shirts will make you God of Jupiter or whatever the hell insane weird thing that was in the Book of Mormon (supposedly) is not even bigotry.  It's not even bigotry to point out that as recently as the 1960s that the Mormon Church had a restriction on making black men leaders in the Church.

What is bigotry is the attitude that some on here take against Mormons as a whole as a bunch of crazy religious nutjobs who lack sanity..  Which is clearly what Lief and other people think.  I'll give you the strong benefit of a doubt here and say that from this post, and other interactions I've had with you so far on this forum, that you are not an anti-Mormon bigot.  Your observation that Mormons strongly supported Romney is not a bigoted observation.  It is no more bigoted than saying that Catholics strongly supported JFK or that blacks supported Obama.

Point is, there is a world's worth of difference from saying that "Mormons are generally strongly conservative on issues and strongly favor the Republican Party" or even "I disagree with a lot of Mormons on issues like abortion because I think that many are a little backwards on the matter" from blanket statements and assumptions that Lief has made Mitt Romney is likely a racist because the Mormon leadership supported a ban on black leadership fifty years ago.  We must clearly draw the line between opposition and outright stereotyping, which is what many here fail to do on a bunch of matters.

Well obviously a post saying that Romney/all Mormons are racist because of a church policy from 50 years ago is ridiculous and bigoted, but if posts like that existed (not that I doubt they do, I'm just making a point), I find it strange that you'd draw the line at such a relatively innocuous comment as the one in the original post.

As for being an "anti-Mormon bigot", no, I am not. I happen to think they have a lot of silly beliefs, but as an atheist, I think that about pretty much all religions, so Mormonism is hardly alone in that regard.