Ethnicity, gender and religion in campaign 2016

There's an interesting video out there with Rubio responding to questions about his religion.  One appears to be off the cuff (unless the question was planted) and the other in a prepared speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy2Fjk00tTA

 

Many Republicans who complained of Obama’s lack of experience (in anything), will have to eat their words if Marco Rubio is elected. Has Rubio done anything other than be a politician? The question in the video came from an atheist.  Atheists and agnostics are also condescending, accusing the religious people of being illiterate bumpkins and troglodites. Films for example, and some politicians with sketchy theology and history, but who pretend to be Christians. They are becoming very aggressive, putting up billboards that are anti-God and ads on TV. And of course, the anti-God people pretty much control the culture so they control the conversation.

 

The a second event on the video is linked to the first, with the audience member wanting to hear a "formula" statement about faith.  Rubio talks about his current church attendance and affiliation, which is Southern Baptist and Roman Catholic. Now that presents a puzzle, but he’s an excellent word crafter and seems to pull it all together. He says that when he and his family became Southern Baptist (had actually been Mormon for awhile) and he really studied the Bible it revitalized all the lessons and liturgy he’d learned growing up as a Catholic, so they “reverted” to Catholicism but continue to follow the Southern Baptist sermons (Christ Fellowship)  and still occasionally attend because they like the pastor (mentioned his name, but I’m not familiar with that). The Catholic church is a big umbrella with a lot of leeway on beliefs (Pelosi and Kerry for instance have not been denied communion for their abortion and gay marriage beliefs), whereas the Southern Baptist umbrella, if there is one, is pretty small with little deviation from doctrine allowed. Next to Cruz, Rubio is the most talented speechifier of all the candidates, and even if you don’t like him, you have to be amazed as his quickness.

 

If Rubio pulls ahead, Trump will find a way to smear Catholics, and then point to Rubio as being duplicitous because he attends two churches (like he stirred up the Cruz birther issue). However, this makes Rubio conversant in three religious languages and styles, Mormonism, Baptist and Catholicism—and all three have a very strong social action/justice commitment. Trump in a narcissistic know-nothing in any language. Especially religion.