Thursday, April 19, 2012 3:20:09 PM
Romney to Give Commencement Address at Evangelical University
By SARAH WHEATON
April 19, 2012, 1:24 pm
Mitt Romney will deliver the commencement address at Liberty University, the evangelical institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Va.
Mr. Romney’s campaign said the university invited him to speak to the approximately 48,000 people expected to attend the graduation ceremony on May 12.
Virginia is a swing state, but for Mr. Romney, this invitation offers a chance to shore up one of his weaknesses within his base, as many evangelicals remain wary of his Mormon faith.
Jerry Falwell Jr., the university’s chancellor, said in a statement [ http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=53438 ] that “we are delighted” that Mr. Romney would be speaking, and he compared the visit to those of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the elder George Bush in 1990. However, the decision has already sparked controversy among students and alumni of Liberty University, with nearly 300 people commenting on the institution’s Facebook announcement [ http://www.facebook.com/LibertyUniversity/posts/340898819306825 ] within two hours of its posting.
“I am so disappointed in my university for their choice in commencement speaker Romney. You have lost a potential grad student,” wrote Paige Farmer. “It is shameful that you would allow him a stage for political gain. What could a Mormon possibly have to share with Christians?”
Others, like Josh Phares, who is graduating this year, took a different view: “All of us can learn something from this man, regardless of his faith. In life you are going to be surrounded by different people from different backgrounds and religions. Learn to embrace it!”
Students at Regent University, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, reacted similarly [ http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/2/152815.shtml ] to news that Mr. Romney would deliver the commencement address in 2007. He spoke [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/05/AR2007050501081.html ] about conservative ideas, but not his faith.
Mr. Romney is not the first Mormon commencement speaker at Liberty: Glenn Beck, the conservative radio host, spoke to graduates in 2010 [ http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2010/05/what_glenn_beck.html ]. (In addition to commencement, the university also holds a separate baccalaureate ceremony with a speaker in “complete theological alignment” with the university.) In 2006 [ http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/133782/falwell-mormon-question-next-two-years/kathryn-jean-lopez ], a year before his death, the elder Mr. Falwell said he did not think that Mr. Romney’s faith would “hinder his being a viable candidate among evangelicals.”
However, this year Mr. Romney is still struggling among this group. In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us/politics/new-york-times-cbs-news-poll-shows-doubts-on-economy-helping-romney.html ], 72 percent of white evangelicals said they would support Mr. Romney over President Obama — a figure close to the 74 percent who backed Senator John McCain in 2008. However, just 27 percent of white evangelical Republican voters said they would enthusiastically support Mr. Romney as the nominee, compared with 42 percent of other Republican primary voters who said they would.
Instead, 50 percent of white evangelical Republican voters said they would support him with reservations (compared with about a third of other Republican voters), and 17 percent said they would support him only because he was the party’s nominee.
Michael Barbaro contributed reporting from Cleveland, and Dalia Sussman from New York.
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/romney-to-give-commencement-at-evangelical-university/ [with comments]
===
Romney To Deliver Commencement At Anti-Gay Liberty University
By Igor Volsky on Apr 19, 2012 at 11:48 am
Mitt Romney — who at an earlier point in his career had promised to advance [ http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/01/17/405214/in-private-meeting-with-gay-leaders-romney-compared-lgbt-equality-to-fathers-fight-for-civil-rights/ ] the equality of gay and lesbian people — is scheduled to deliver [ http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/04/romney-to-liberty-university-121030.html ] the Commencement address at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University on May 12, an Evangelical Christian college that refuses to recognize people or ideas that don’t adhere to its social conservative worldview.
The university — founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell in 1971 — seeks to impress on its students a “commitment to the Christian life [ http://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/index.cfm?PID=6899 ]” that “leads people to Jesus Christ as the Lord of the universe and their own personal Savior” and forbids openly gay enrollees [ http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/09/01/309543/americas-top-5-most-conservative-colleges/ ]. Students are required to abide by a strict Code of Conduct [ http://www.liberty.edu/media/1190/documents/Honor%20Code.pdf ], which prohibits them from engaging in “[n]on-marital sexual relations,” drinking, smoking, watching R-rated movies [ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104754773 ], dancing, cursing or hugging for longer than three seconds. In 2009, the school attracted controversy after it revoked its recognition of a Democratic club, because “[t]he Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission [ http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2009/may/22/lu_pulls_plug_on_democratic_club-ar-221201/ ] of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine.” The school condemned the party for supporting abortion rights, “same-sex marriage, hate crimes, LGBT rights, and socialism.”
To that end, Liberty is heavily invested in the anti-gay and ex-gay movement. The school withdrew from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) [ http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/01/13/77056/liberty-cpac/ ] in 2010 to protest the inclusion of a gay rights group and hosted a one-day symposium [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/liberty-university-hosting-two-day-anti-gay-conference ] to address the consequences of being gay. The event offered sessions on “{u}nderstanding Same-sex Attractions and Their Consequences” and “Homosexual Rights and First Amendment Freedoms: Can They Truly Coexist?” Liberty University law professors Matt Barber and Judith Reisman have also linked gay and lesbian rights to “the pedophile movement [ http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/09/02/311604/liberty-university-professors-all-gays-are-part-of-the-pedophile-movement/ ],” while the school’s affiliates describe marriage equality as a “rebellion against God [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barber-marriage-equality-rebellion-against-god ]” and claim that gay people are more likely to commit suicide [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barber-suicide-rate-high-among-gay-youth-because-they-know-what-they-are-doing-unnatural-wro ] because they know “what they are doing is unnatural, is wrong, [and] is immoral.”
Significantly, this isn’t the first time Romney has embraced conservative Christian Evangelicals in an effort to endear himself to Republican voters. In 2007, he addressed Regent University [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/05/AR2007050501081.html ], the school founded by televangelist Pat Robertson.
© 2012 Center for American Progress Action Fund
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/19/467441/romney-liberty-commencement/ [with comments]
===
Speakers At Boston’s Tea Party Event Scream At Protesters: ‘We Will Not Be Silenced By Faggots’
Apr 16, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/16/465211/speakers-at-bostons-tea-party-event-scream-at-protesters-we-will-not-be-silenced-by-faggots/ [with comments]
By SARAH WHEATON
April 19, 2012, 1:24 pm
Mitt Romney will deliver the commencement address at Liberty University, the evangelical institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Va.
Mr. Romney’s campaign said the university invited him to speak to the approximately 48,000 people expected to attend the graduation ceremony on May 12.
Virginia is a swing state, but for Mr. Romney, this invitation offers a chance to shore up one of his weaknesses within his base, as many evangelicals remain wary of his Mormon faith.
Jerry Falwell Jr., the university’s chancellor, said in a statement [ http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=53438 ] that “we are delighted” that Mr. Romney would be speaking, and he compared the visit to those of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the elder George Bush in 1990. However, the decision has already sparked controversy among students and alumni of Liberty University, with nearly 300 people commenting on the institution’s Facebook announcement [ http://www.facebook.com/LibertyUniversity/posts/340898819306825 ] within two hours of its posting.
“I am so disappointed in my university for their choice in commencement speaker Romney. You have lost a potential grad student,” wrote Paige Farmer. “It is shameful that you would allow him a stage for political gain. What could a Mormon possibly have to share with Christians?”
Others, like Josh Phares, who is graduating this year, took a different view: “All of us can learn something from this man, regardless of his faith. In life you are going to be surrounded by different people from different backgrounds and religions. Learn to embrace it!”
Students at Regent University, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, reacted similarly [ http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/2/152815.shtml ] to news that Mr. Romney would deliver the commencement address in 2007. He spoke [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/05/AR2007050501081.html ] about conservative ideas, but not his faith.
Mr. Romney is not the first Mormon commencement speaker at Liberty: Glenn Beck, the conservative radio host, spoke to graduates in 2010 [ http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2010/05/what_glenn_beck.html ]. (In addition to commencement, the university also holds a separate baccalaureate ceremony with a speaker in “complete theological alignment” with the university.) In 2006 [ http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/133782/falwell-mormon-question-next-two-years/kathryn-jean-lopez ], a year before his death, the elder Mr. Falwell said he did not think that Mr. Romney’s faith would “hinder his being a viable candidate among evangelicals.”
However, this year Mr. Romney is still struggling among this group. In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us/politics/new-york-times-cbs-news-poll-shows-doubts-on-economy-helping-romney.html ], 72 percent of white evangelicals said they would support Mr. Romney over President Obama — a figure close to the 74 percent who backed Senator John McCain in 2008. However, just 27 percent of white evangelical Republican voters said they would enthusiastically support Mr. Romney as the nominee, compared with 42 percent of other Republican primary voters who said they would.
Instead, 50 percent of white evangelical Republican voters said they would support him with reservations (compared with about a third of other Republican voters), and 17 percent said they would support him only because he was the party’s nominee.
Michael Barbaro contributed reporting from Cleveland, and Dalia Sussman from New York.
© 2012 The New York Times Company
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/romney-to-give-commencement-at-evangelical-university/ [with comments]
===
Romney To Deliver Commencement At Anti-Gay Liberty University
By Igor Volsky on Apr 19, 2012 at 11:48 am
Mitt Romney — who at an earlier point in his career had promised to advance [ http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/01/17/405214/in-private-meeting-with-gay-leaders-romney-compared-lgbt-equality-to-fathers-fight-for-civil-rights/ ] the equality of gay and lesbian people — is scheduled to deliver [ http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/04/romney-to-liberty-university-121030.html ] the Commencement address at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University on May 12, an Evangelical Christian college that refuses to recognize people or ideas that don’t adhere to its social conservative worldview.
The university — founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell in 1971 — seeks to impress on its students a “commitment to the Christian life [ http://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/index.cfm?PID=6899 ]” that “leads people to Jesus Christ as the Lord of the universe and their own personal Savior” and forbids openly gay enrollees [ http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/09/01/309543/americas-top-5-most-conservative-colleges/ ]. Students are required to abide by a strict Code of Conduct [ http://www.liberty.edu/media/1190/documents/Honor%20Code.pdf ], which prohibits them from engaging in “[n]on-marital sexual relations,” drinking, smoking, watching R-rated movies [ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104754773 ], dancing, cursing or hugging for longer than three seconds. In 2009, the school attracted controversy after it revoked its recognition of a Democratic club, because “[t]he Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission [ http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2009/may/22/lu_pulls_plug_on_democratic_club-ar-221201/ ] of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine.” The school condemned the party for supporting abortion rights, “same-sex marriage, hate crimes, LGBT rights, and socialism.”
To that end, Liberty is heavily invested in the anti-gay and ex-gay movement. The school withdrew from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) [ http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/01/13/77056/liberty-cpac/ ] in 2010 to protest the inclusion of a gay rights group and hosted a one-day symposium [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/liberty-university-hosting-two-day-anti-gay-conference ] to address the consequences of being gay. The event offered sessions on “{u}nderstanding Same-sex Attractions and Their Consequences” and “Homosexual Rights and First Amendment Freedoms: Can They Truly Coexist?” Liberty University law professors Matt Barber and Judith Reisman have also linked gay and lesbian rights to “the pedophile movement [ http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/09/02/311604/liberty-university-professors-all-gays-are-part-of-the-pedophile-movement/ ],” while the school’s affiliates describe marriage equality as a “rebellion against God [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barber-marriage-equality-rebellion-against-god ]” and claim that gay people are more likely to commit suicide [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barber-suicide-rate-high-among-gay-youth-because-they-know-what-they-are-doing-unnatural-wro ] because they know “what they are doing is unnatural, is wrong, [and] is immoral.”
Significantly, this isn’t the first time Romney has embraced conservative Christian Evangelicals in an effort to endear himself to Republican voters. In 2007, he addressed Regent University [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/05/AR2007050501081.html ], the school founded by televangelist Pat Robertson.
© 2012 Center for American Progress Action Fund
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/19/467441/romney-liberty-commencement/ [with comments]
===
Speakers At Boston’s Tea Party Event Scream At Protesters: ‘We Will Not Be Silenced By Faggots’
Apr 16, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/16/465211/speakers-at-bostons-tea-party-event-scream-at-protesters-we-will-not-be-silenced-by-faggots/ [with comments]
Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
F6
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