Source: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com

While President Obama was solidifying his support of the  LGBT community’s quest for equal rights including the right to marry, his opponent was raising eyebrows over allegations of aggressive behavior with a former gay classmate.

Mormon millionaire and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, has been accused of bullying a former classmate, who just so happened to be gay.  The incident allegedly took place at the prestigious boarding Cranbrook School, where Romney attended high school.

According to the Washington Post, Romney, then a senior, spotted: “something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it. “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney said.

A few days later, Romney allegedly lead a briefcase-carrying posse into Lauber’s room, tackled and pinned him to the ground and cut his hair with a pair of scissors as Lauber, cried and screamed for help.  While originally thought as an isolated incident, another former (and anonymous) high-school classmate of Romney’s has stepped forward to claim that other fellow students have “really negative memories” of the Republican presidential candidate, and that his behavior during those years bordered on the lines of “Lord of the Flies.”

This has set off a firestorm of controversy in which many folks are questioning whether or not this story is an indication of the man Romney is today. And in an interview with Fox Radio, Romney laughed off the incident saying that he didn’t remember it happening and didn’t know the kid was gay. He did admit to participating in a lot of “hijinks and pranks” during his time at the boarding school. He also apologized, well he kind of apologized: “…and if anybody was hurt by that or offended by it, obviously I apologize.”  Obviously.

Yet it was the ’60′s and a half-century later, we can all assume that he has grown beyond his formative years. I mean, he went on graduate college, recommitted himself to his Mormon faith, got married and raised a boatload of children. He also founded a successful business and ran a state. Lots of people are pretty horrible as teenagers. And surely a mistake we made when we were young – when we are still trying to decipher between what’s right and what’s wrong – should not have any bearing on what kind of person we are today.

Forget the United States not being ready for a black president—which was somewhat proven wrong in 2008 when President Barack Obama was elected into office. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say America isn’t ready for a Mormon president, specifically Mitt Romney, and that religious intolerance will prevent him from being elected into office.

Results of a survey published by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life showed 32% of respondents don’t believe the U.S. is ready to elect a Latter-Day Saint as President although they believe acceptance of Mormonism is rising. Another 46% of the members say they are strongly discriminated against because of their faith—so much so that it would stop Americans from voting Romney into office, although they voted a black president in previously.

Part of that discrimination stems from media portrayals according to respondents, 54% of which say depictions on television and in movies hurt their image; another 68% say they are not viewed as part of mainstream society at all. Interestingly, the highly conservative group is pretty new to tolerance itself. It wasn’t until 1978 that Mormons even allowed African Americans to become full members of their church—meaning they could be ordained as priests and participate in temple ceremonies. Results of this survey also show two-thirds of the church’s members believe homosexuality should be discouraged.

I agree with two-thirds of the members who feel Americans know little about their church but I’m not sure if the United States wouldn’t vote a Mormon into office, or just Mitt Romney?

What do you think about this survey? Are Mormons right in thinking Americans wouldn’t vote a Latter-Day Saint into office or do they think they’re discriminated against much more than they actually are?

The scope of religion has changed very much over the years, and if you’re going to switch up your beliefs and own it with pride, a good place to do that–for the most part–is in this country, where religious experimentation is tolerated (Muslims still get a lot of crap, though if you live under a rock). People that were once Christians are becoming Muslims, Catholics can become Buddhists, and many people simply describe themselves as spiritual beings these days. And black people are some of the most religious people out. But no matter what you claim to believe in, religion does seem to matter big time in the dating world.

Think about it. If you met someone at work and simply became friends, you probably wouldn’t trip if they told you they didn’t believe in God. But if you met that same person and were attracted to their physical attributes as well as their personality, then them telling you that when you die, that’s it, may have a huge effect on the length of your correspondence with one another. There are however, different levels of atheism, with the mildest form being a denouncement of religion, so keep an open mind to that. But I pose the question to you: Could you get over if a man you really like, or are already dating, told you they were an atheist? Could the couple that doesn’t pray together stay together?