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November 28, 2006
The Political Question du Jour
The hot new political question - which I imagine will be with us for some time, but there is nothing like getting an early start to sow doubt among what might be his constituency - is: Will Christian conservatives and other conservatives vote for a Mormon? In this case Mitt Romney for President in 2008.
Heh. In my case, I no longer have to wonder. The question no longer exists only in the realm of the academic.
I had completely forgotten about it until I read this post by Dean Barnett, but I actually voted for Romney already in 1994 - when he was running for Senate against Ted Kennedy. Dean Barnett tell us:
I first met Mitt Romney in early 1994 when he was beginning his Senate run against Ted Kennedy and was a washed up pol at age 27, having lost my bid for state representative in 1992. I’m proud to say that I was one of the first volunteers for the Romney for Senate campaign.
I still don't have a very good sense of what Mormonism is besides the rumor of a few weird practices here and there, but Rebecca Lesses points out, at Mystical Politics, that the representation of the physicality of God in Mormon theology reminds her of the understanding of God in Judaism as represented in [the elusive] text of the Shi'ur Koma, a key tenet of the early mystical tradition in Judaism, known as Merkavah Mysticism. It's a text which in some way gives us the actual measure of God.
Unfortunately most of our knowledge of the Shi'ur Koma exists as guess work rather than text, as the text itself is no longer extant; but modern scholars believe that it was mystical commentary on certain verses of the Song of Songs, a book that uses allegory to describe the relationship between God and the people Israel.
And a commenter at Rebecca's site points out that the Enochic traditions, also essential to Merkavah Mysticism, plays an important role in Mormon theology.
Which makes aspects of Mormonism sound almost like a displaced apocalyptic cult from the first or second century CE Israel that somehow landed in 19th century America.
And a commenter at her site points out that the Enochic traditions, also essential to Merkavah Mysticism, plays an important role in Mormon theology.
Which makes aspects of Mormonism sound almost like a displaced apocalyptic cult from the first or second century CE Israel that somehow landed in 19th century America.
Alcibiades | 11/28/06 at 09:49 PM | Categories: - GOTV '06 to '08
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Comments
Actually, the Shiur Qomah does exist as a text - it's present in many of the manuscripts of the Hekhalot literature as well as by itself. In 1983 Samuel Martin Cohen published "Shiur Qomah: Liturgy and Theurgy in Pre-Kabbalistic Jewish Mysticism," an edition of the texts and English translation.
Thanks for the reference!
Rebecca | November 28, 2006 11:29 PM
Oops, thanks for the correction, Rebecca. Embarrassing that I needed it, especially as I must have looked at that text at some point in some detail.
I guess I was confusing the elusiveness of interpreting the text with its non-existence. Heh!
So, are there any new and abstruse interpretations out about it from Hekhalot scholars?
Alcibiades | November 29, 2006 12:17 AM
Do Christian conservatives really flyspeck each others theology?
Robert Schwartz | November 29, 2006 03:15 AM
I dunno but what might ordinarily be considered psychotic in a religious leader after 1800 might be looked at with suspicion and, derivatively, anybody who held such a person at the core of their beliefs. This might be considered exotic in a neighbor but for president... So I think the perspective that you give here would be reassuring to some as showing that it is consistent with an older faith tradition. Interestingly, this raises the question if he would be more electable because he is vetted Jewishly.
michael | November 29, 2006 08:43 PM
Don't really care about the religion... if someone stands up forthrightly and takes their job seriously as President, to uphold and defend the Constitution, then they can very well have Lovecraftian views. Actually, considering this last election, I just might *prefer* that at this point. A politician that would actually stand for something... *anything*... beyond their self-preening and using the National Treasury for things that the States should be shelling out for.
Tried to put the election as: Satan vs. Cthulhu... then was corrected that it was Cthulhu vs. Yog-Sothoth. Then things went downhill from there and either of those would have been preferable...
So long as it isn't an in-your-face-see-how-devout-I-am sort of deal, I really don't care. Those who do that, however, I will vote *against* for forgetting that it really isn't all about you.
ajacksonian ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.keshertalk.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| December 1, 2006 07:06 PM
