Someone explain it to me, please. Why is it perfectly legitimate for Mike Huckabee to be asked repeatedly about his religious beliefs and how they will effect the manner in which he governs; to be asked repeatedly about which portions of Christian doctrine he believes in, which parts he takes literally; and to be asked repeatedly about Mormonism and Mitt Romney's faith? Why, when apparently any such questions directed at Mitt Romney are apparently off-limits, for the media and for other candidates? It is a double-standard, and Mitt Romney has gotten away with it for far too long.

The fact is that Mitt Romney regularly espouses vague religious rhetoric, and speaks of his faith and how it will shape his governance. He courts the religious vote, and seeks to cast himself as the best choice for Christian conservatives. At the same time, however, if Mike Huckabee calls himself a "Christian Leader", if the media comes calling yet again to ask Huckabee about Romney's faith, then Mitt Romney lashes out and calls it religious intolerance. Mitt Romney, in short, thinks he should be allowed to discuss religion, to claim he represents Christian conservative views, and that all the while nobody else should be allowed to talk about their Christianity or question him on his beliefs. Of course, he never had any problem with the media ignoring Mike Huckabee for months except when they every so often turned to him to ask about evolution, Genesis, or some other narrow matter relating to religion designed explicitly to portray Huckabee as nothing more than a former preacher who shouldn't be taken seriously.

Now that Mitt Romney is paying the price for failing to take Huckabee any more seriously than the media once did, his response is to complain about everything and to demand special kid-gloves treatment about his Mormonism because... well, because apparently he realizes that any questions about the specifics of his beliefs will almost surely cost him a sizable number of votes. Moreover, it should strike people as a bit unnerving that he is so uncomfortable and ashamed about what he apparently believes – how can he on one hand ask to be taken seriously as the Christian conservative in this race, while on the other hand not only refusing to say what he believes but also denouncing anyone who asks the questions.

The time of that double-standard is at an end. We have every right to ask these questions, and to expect answers. And Mitt Romney is about to learn that he cannot expect to run away from his faith, while also insisting that we accept a vague non-specific assessment of it by him as representing Christian conservative values. The media, too, has some explaining to do in this entire, shameful situation – just what makes them think they can chase Huckabee around with a litany of questions about evolution and the Bible, and another list of questions explicitly designed to provoke a fight between Huckabee and Romney, and then refuse to ask their own questions about Romney's faith? What makes the media think they can lend credibility to Romney's assertion that asking legitimate questions about Mormonism – every bit as legitimate as the questions thrown at Huckabee for months – is religious intolerance, and that anyone who raises these issues owes someone an apology?

No, I'm not going to apologize to Mitt Romney, and it's high time he quit strutting around like a peacock demanding apologies from everyone. He may think he deserves some special treatment and has some special power to determine who owes whom an apology, but he's about to get a very serious attitude adjustment, and it starts now.

Perhaps Romney's superiority complex derives from the fact that he thinks he will literally become a sort of God himself, as his Mormon faith teaches him. Such a belief no doubt does indeed inflate one's ego a bit, and Romney's has been super-sized for some time now. You see, Romney believes that he was once a spirit-child fathered by God, and God sent him to Earth for a time of "probation" in a physical body (just like God's physical body, because God is a physical being from another planet, according to Romney), and of course the best spirit-children will become leaders here on Earth (like Romney!). If they are good enough during their probation time on Earth, they will become deities similar to God later on. So as you can see, Mitt Romney believes he has a past and future that clearly give him good reason to have such an exalted view of himself.

Romney has this belief about going from a human body to a state of being that is basically Godlike for a very good reason – because he believes God was in fact once a human, just like Romney. Now, that obviously conflicts with the Bible just a bit, but don't worry, that's no problem at all – Romney thinks the Bible is the word of God only to the extent it's translated properly, and that in a great many ways it is in fact translated totally incorrectly. Which is why it's a good thing Romney has the Book of Mormon to help fix all the things in the Bible that Romney doesn't believe.

It may be important here to also note that when Romney says "God", he is in fact not being clear enough, since Romney believes in more than one God. See, God is three distinct beings who make up what Mormon's call the "Godhead", each having a function and working together in perfect harmony.

The first being is God the Father, an all-knowing supreme being who was once an alien man on another planet. He became perfect and turned into a God. How did he become perfect? By learning everything and by following the rules... of his own God! Yes, surprise surprise, Romney's God has his own God! God is still in physical human form to this very day, just like Romney, and God has emotions just like Romney, and in fact God is literally Romney's birth father... because God, on the planet where he lives (as opposed to Heaven), has many wives and had many children, and those children are the spirit-children that came to Earth to live in "probation" as mere mortal humans. God himself was born once, you see, just like Romney and the rest of us, back in the old days when God was still just a human (but on another planet, remember, so he was a mortal alien being that looked just like us). God had a beginning, then, and was the spirit-child of his own God.

The second being in the "Godhead" is Jesus Christ. Christ was the first born spirit-child of God (who had many others, including... well, everyone on Earth, so Jesus is literally our brother!). Christ helped in creating the world (and, by the way, God didn't create everything out of nothing, he merely took things that already existed and organized them into our world, so God did not actually create everything, he just told Jesus how to mold it all together). "Jehovah" in the Old Testament is in fact Jesus Christ, according to Romney, and Jesus did the actual creating of Earth and the universe at the direction of God. Jesus, Romney believes, came to Earth in human physical form after God literally had physical sex with Mary to impregnate her. And Jesus, according to Romney's beliefs, didn't just go back to sit at his Father's side in Heaven after Christ rose from the dead – he took a trip to North America, where he visited the Indians and established 12 disciples and left them commandments. Jesus, like God, has a physical body. Which is why Missouri is a holy site.

The third and final entity in the "Godhead" is the Holy Ghost. This being is a spirit, so he has no physical body, but he looks like a man and can only be in one place at a time – just like God and Jesus, according to Romney.

Now, remember when Mike Huckabee asked if Mormons think Jesus and Lucifer were brothers? Romney got furious, the media (who originally approached Huckabee specifically to try and prod him into saying something negative about Mormons in the first place) pounced and played up the question and Romney's subsequent whining, and Huckabee was pressed for an apology. Meanwhile, nobody bothered to point out that, YES, Mormons do in fact think Jesus and Lucifer were brothers – they think Lucifer wanted to be the savior on planet Earth, was offended that Jesus was selected, and tried to rebel against his father (God). What's wrong with pointing out that Mormons believe this? What, are we supposed to keep it all a big secret, because Romney is embarrassed by his beliefs? Or are we somehow expected not to point out areas where Romney significantly disagrees with Christian conservatives to whom he is constantly saying "I'm like you"? Why is it everyone's job to not say anything about Romney's faith that he is scared will alarm Christians?

Well, the reason he is worried is precisely because he knows the details of what he believes WILL shock Christians and the general public. He is not actually concerned about "religious intolerance"; he's concerned about "people will think Romney's views are far from most common Christian beliefs, and are overall a bit alarming to most of the public". That's the truth, but the media simply refuses to be honest about it.

But these are important issues, because it gives us insight into the moral foundations of Romney's decisions – he says his faith will instruct his decisions, after all. So if his faith says he will become a Godlike being on another planet some day, don't voters have a right to know about it without being called intolerant? This is especially true when someone goes as far as Romney has to make his faith a "selling point", and he is explicitly trying to sell himself to Christian voters. Well, if he is allowed to claim common cause and belief with them, and expects them to support him and take his word, then he should and WILL be expected to answer questions about his faith and to discuss where it differs from other Christian beliefs. If Romney goes to an NRA event, aren't his past views on gun control relevant? So why aren't his extremely different views about God relevant when he tells an audience full of Christian voters that he thinks just like them?

But not only Christians should ask Romney about his faith – don't you want to know if your president believes he is wearing underclothes that help ward off evil and harm? Do you think that might effect his decisions just a bit? Well, then you better ask Romney about his sacred underclothes, because he has some. Now, other religions have all kinds of sacred garments, so that in itself isn't so strange. But then again, what other religious person gets offended and runs away from discussing their sacred garments – runs away explicitly because they fear mockery or judgment about their beliefs? Again, it should be important to the public and the media that Romney refuses to discuss his beliefs and acts offended whenever even minor aspects of his faith are discussed. And it is important if a man who asks you to elect him president believes his underclothes protect him and they aren't made of Kevlar.

Finally, I can't help but come back to that moment during a past presidential debate, when the candidates were asked if any of them disbelieved the theory of evolution. Only Mike Huckabee raised his hand. Now, in light of Mitt Romney's religious beliefs, how did he manage to not raise his hand? In fact, I'd like to pose the question to all the candidates again, but in a different way: Which of you does believe that we all evolved from apes? I bet that, once again, Romney won't raise his hand, nor will the others who refused to raise their hands when previously asked. No, just like Romney, they want to have their cake and eat it too.

*Sources, plus other good information about Romney and his views:

BBC Entry About Mormonism, With Multiple Pages Explaining Core Beliefs:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/

Good Short Video Explaining Mormon Beliefs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HeyFsu1ORU

News Story About Reaction to PBS Special on Mormonism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qikvga3WOw

Frontline PBS Special On Mormonism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijR-UpqTOOg&feature=related

Romney Goes Ballistic Over Questions About Mormonism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaIxdx03Eew&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0rcAByKUFM&feature=related

Romney lying about Mormonism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Xc-X8LckQ&feature=related

Mormon Sacred Undergarments:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment

Romney Hard Interview, Caught in Lies and Flip-Flops, Double-Standards, about his Faith:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MofWPexIabc&feature=related

Pastor Says He Made Error in Supporting Romney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcPmZaIOsIg&feature=related

Mormons Thought Blacks Were Satanic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTe3XBeE7cA&feature=related

More on the History of Mormon Racial Views (warning, this one does stretch farther into the past as well as the present, but the points are very valid and important, since Romney refuses to discuss any of this):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w9fdVJY-4k&feature=related