Sarah Pulliam Bailey has an insightful critique of how political reporters drove the coverage the Values Voter Summit last week. In short, she argues that political reporters took old news and turned it into big news. She writes: If you have been paying attention to religion and politics for at least the last four years, you know that Jeffress’ belief that Mormonism is a cult isn’t terribly newsworthy to religion reporters. I tweeted about the endorsement because I thought it was something to note but not something to write a story about. Jeffress has been saying these things for quite a while now and political reporters are just now taking…

I blogged last week about Pastor Robert Jeffress’ endorsement of Rick Perry for the Republican presidential nomination at the Values Voter Summit. As you no doubt have seen by now, the endorsement and his remarks about Mormonism caused an explosion of media attention. In the Sunday morning service at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, he addressed the congregation about what he had done. You can see his remarks above.

David Weigel reports at Slate.com that Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress has endorsed Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit. Jeffress reasons that—all things being equal—Christians should favor Christian political candidates over non-Christian ones. For that reason he supports Perry over Romney. The video of the interview is above. Here’s a little piece of it transcribed: I believe we should always support a Christian over a non-Christian. The value of electing a Christian goes beyond public policies. . . . Christians are uniquely favored by God, [while] Mormons, Hindus and Muslims worship a false god. The eternal consequences outweigh political ones. It is worse to legitimize a faith that would lead…

It is ironic that the same Republican who criticized the Democrats three years ago for having a messianic view of Obama are now casting about in search of a messiah of their own. I like how John Mark Reynolds says it: The quest by some in the Republican Party for a savior is unseemly.  We have a choice between the incumbent president and a long list of good men and women with strong backgrounds. This list includes the governor of one of our largest states, a former governor and business leader, a former senator, a successful business leader, the architect of the Republican congressional majority, and a congressional firebrand.  Whatever…

Does Mitt Romney’s Mormonism matter in his quest for the GOP nomination? Michael Gerson says no: Romney’s faith should not matter. Presidents are elected for their policy views, leadership skills and character, not their soteriology. Such theological convictions about salvation may be infinitely important, but they are politically irrelevant. The whole “no religious test for office” idea remains a good one. I think there is a little bit of overstatement here. It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which theological convictions might impact our evaluation of a person’s fitness for office. If a candidate’s religion teaches that killing infidels is a sure path to eternal life, then I…

From The Washington Post: “Lots of people are talking about a recently-undug clip of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) dancing with a group of rabbis at a 2010 Hanukkah lighting ceremony. Perry gets his groove on around the five minute mark.” Politics aside. As a Christian, I’m much less concerned with the dancing than I am with the praying and the “Thank, you brother” that Perry adds at the end. There has to be a better way for a Christian politician to serve and to be respectful of all of one’s constituents without falling into syncretistic play-acting.

Chuck Colson gives a needed rebuke to folks in the GOP who have been cheering death in recent presidential debates. He writes: Let me be clear: I think that there are times when capital punishment is necessary and justified. But the thought of taking another person’s life, however heinous their crimes, should give us pause. It’s never to be made lightly or causally.