Category Archives: Mitt Romney

So was it good for the Mormons?

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I don’t think all the press attention that has come to the church in the last year because of Mitt Romney will go away but I am fairly certain we have just entered a lull. The attention seemed to come to a high point with two recent articles in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Even the church discussed these two pieces in particular in one of the latest press releases found in the Newsroom, part of the online church web sites.

The headline from the Washington Post was “Did Mormons Get A Bounce From Mitt?,” while the headline from the WSJ was “Mormons Dismayed by Harsh Spotlight.” These are two major publications, well read and referred to by many other journalists. I’m sure you know that staff writers don’t always choose their own headlines. My own headline for this post was taken from a line in the Washington Post piece. Headlines are meant to get people to read the story.

I liked both of these stories. I thought they were well written, professional and easy reading. Of course they were interesting to me because I have been following Mitt’s adventures across America for the past year. The WSJ article in particular included some great quotes that have come up during the past year. I always like when Jan Shipps is quoted. She knows her stuff even though she is not a member of the church. She served as the President of the Mormon History Association a number of years ago, the only non-Mormon to ever do so.

But the most interesting piece to me is the church’s press release on the how the church itself perceived all this attention. Elder Ballard expressed concern that there is still so much misunderstanding to be cleared up. In fact, although he did not say it, the WSJ article pointed out that much of the anti stuff on the internet can be compared to anti-Semitism. He said, “What is much more important to us is that people base their opinions on fact, not on myth or mischaracterizations.” It always amazes me what people will believe instead of getting facts.

I know Elder Ballard and Elder Cook have been tireless lately in visiting national editors and in doing everything possible to point them to official sources of information about the church. The Church Newsroom has come a long ways in the past few years and is a great resource. Of course the same can be said for all the church web sites. I guess the truth is just not sensational enough for some readers who only want salacious gossip and hearsay. 2 Tim 4:3 comes to mind.

What do you think? Did Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign do a lot of good for the church?

Thank you Mitt Romney

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Mitt Romney gave one of his greatest speeches today at CPAC – The Conservative Political Action Conference. In that speech he announced that he is suspending his campaign for the candidacy of the President of the United States. Some pundits and commentators lamented, “Why is it that now he comes alive, just to announce he is quitting?” I think he was just happy.

If you haven’t watched his great speech from earlier today I highly recommend you do. I would include an embed but it slows down the loading of the post. It was one animated, exciting speech for a guy who just admitted he got trounced in the elections two days ago. You watch him go through the issues one by one in a manner that rings true and lays them on the line. He hits on every conservative point I hold dear and tells it like it is.

Mitt has his pulse on America, or at least on conservative America. Unfortunately, as he said, the Republican Party no longer represents conservative America. That’s too bad. McCain said we need to give him a chance. I say there’s no way he can replace someone like Mitt Romney. I know I am in the minority as a middle-aged, conservative, religious male of white European ancestry but Mitt Romney represented me better than any other candidate today.

In a CNN poll the other day, the readers were asked which was more important: a candidate’s stand on the issues or his character. As expected from a CNN poll, the overwhelming majority voted that the stand on issues was more important. What about future issues that have yet to come up? Knowing a man’s character will allow you to judge how he will stand on future issues. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. When I hire someone I do it based on my impressions of character formed in an interview, not necessarily based on what’s listed in the resume.

Thank you Mitt Romney. You have brought so much good attention to the church and to conservative values. I hope that by suspending your campaign you are only placing yourself in the background, available for recall at a moment’s notice when your party realizes that it needs you. I voted for you Tuesday but I don’t have a candidate I can vote for in November. John McCain is no conservative in spite of what he claims. That judgment is based on character.

Article VI: Faith. Politics. America.

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I received an email from a PR firm for the new movie Article VI that came out today. I normally ignore blatantly commercial stuff like this but after reviewing the trailer I just had to respond. I am impressed. If the movie is anything like the trailer you are going to come away with a distinct impression that the presidential election this year is different from any other.

From the Executive Producer, John Carosella:

“It is our earnest hope that through this film, we can raise the level of inquiry about the role of faith in politics, and catalyze what will be an energizing, provocative, and, yes, combustible debate. Because it’s a necessary debate, perhaps never more so than right now.

“In the end, my faith (or yours) is irrelevant to this story. What matters is how America can express her spiritual and moral values in our political process without relying on, focusing on, or forcing those values into a straight-jacket of a particular religion or religious expression.

“It matters to me because I am a patriot: because I love my country, and the ideals it represents. I believe in the ability of the Constitution of the United States to serve as a guide to the American people in exercising their moral prerogatives and obligations in governing themselves.”

“I encourage you to see the film. The movie isn’t about Romney, or even about how he’s being treated in the narrow sense you may be thinking. It’s really about an American guy (Bryan Hall, the director) who steps out into the political world out of interest — interest in the political process and the political dialog — and comes face to face with much, much more than politics.

“The film doesn’t try to answer questions. It attempts to ask them, and in the process, promote a healthy discussion about the right and wrong ways for religion and politics to mix.”

Update: The movie is now planned for a September release in theaters. I think you will be impressed. The trailer is still available online and is intriguing to review. Take a look.

Mitt, if you read this, stay in the race

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Ken Jennings recently wrote an opinion piece in the New York Daily News. If you’ll recall Ken Jennings is the Latter-day Saint who became somewhat famous after winning over two and a half million dollars on Jeopardy in 2004. He suggests that the only way to get Mormonism out of the race is for Mitt Romney to withdraw. That makes sense but I hope he doesn’t.

Mitt, if you read this, please stay in the race, all the way to the end. Being the smart man that you are, I’m sure you can appreciate how much good you are doing by being in the race. I believe the Church is receiving more attention than it ever has because you are running for the office of the President of the United States. Thank you Mitt Romney.

If Mitt Romney is elected to the office, it will restore my hope in the decency of the people of America. If not, it will only confirm what I have long suspected, that we are on a long slow slide to dissolution as a great nation. Don’t get me wrong. I love America and appreciate the benefits and blessings of living in this great land.

But win or lose, it is amazing to see the number of articles about the church in recent months. Yes, I agree with Ken that a lot of them are negative and full of lies, but hey, we are used to that, aren’t we? Ken points out two specifics that are particularly troubling lately – the sly innuendo by Mike Huckabee about Jesus and the devil being brothers and the tirade by Lawrence O’Donnell.

I wrote about this previously but I loved Ken’s response: “The truth, Huck, is that Mormons believe that God is the Father of us all, which does, I guess, in some sense, make Jesus and Satan brothers. And by the same logic, we also believe that Moses and Orville Redenbacher and Attila the Hun and Neil Diamond are brothers. Happy now?”

The opinion piece made big news in Utah, where a writeup of the column was the most popular news item for a few hours today on the Deseret News Web site. I am glad that Ken is speaking up. He is a high profile Latter-day Saint and is doing a good job of using his celebrity status. Thank you Ken. Well done. Those were good explanations offered.

The race for the office of the President to the United States really is a popularity contest, isn’t it? We vote for the man or woman who we think most represents us or who we feel can best lead the nation today. I’m still convinced that both Mitt represents me well and can do the best job of leading the nation. But will America feel the same way? I wonder.

What do you think? Should Mitt drop out of the race like Ken Jennings suggests? I agree that will probably stop the pundits from saying stupid things about Mormons. Do you feel as I do that no matter what they say, the attention helps bring the church more into the light?

The Ron Paul – Mitt Romney poll in Meridian magazine

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So I was on the phone walking one of my associates at work through a printer install when I hear a knock at the door. I work from home most of my work week. The boss is very kind that way. There stands a neighbor with a Ron Paul hat on.

‘Nice hat,” I say.

“Thanks. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh? You’re selling Ron Paul hats?”

“No. I’m a volunteer and we’re visiting Republicans in our neighborhoods to get the word out about Ron Paul.”

“Oh,” I replied, “I’ve read a lot about him – mostly from Digg articles.”

My neighbor Lance is now animated. “You’re on Digg? What’s your profile name?”

I tell him and we continue our conversation. I congratulate him on his grass roots activity. We both lament on the state of affairs in our nation and he gives me some Ron Paul literature. Nice material. But what impresses me more is the idea of neighbors visiting neighbors to ask them to read up on their candidate of choice. This is real grass roots political activity at its best.

One of those Digg articles I missed is this one on Meridian magazine’s Web site. It’s a straw poll asking which of the Republican candidates would be your choice if you were voting today. Now Meridian magazine is an LDS-oriented publication and Web site. You would think that the results would show that Mitt Romney would be the clear leader.

Guess again. I suspect that because Ron Paul supporters are incredibly tech savvy that they got the word out and the survey got an uncharacteristically skewed response. Of course, that then became a news article in itself – more Mormons voted for Ron Paul than voted for Mitt Romney. Somehow I just don’t think that is accurate but I can’t prove it.

By the way, after extensive review of the Ron Paul Web site and the Wikipedia Ron Paul entry (very well done guys) and the Ron Paul YouTube page and the Ron Paul Paul MySpace page, I like what I read. Now what differentiates Mitt Romney from Ron Paul? Who could represent the people better and lead this nation better than the other?

What do you think? Are there more Ron Paul supporters among the Mormons than there are Mitt Romney supporters?

It’s all in the way the question is asked

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I was wondering when stuff like this would come up. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who happens to be running for President of the United States asked of Mitt Romney’s religion, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” Mitt also happens to be campaigning for the office of the President of the United States.

The AP writer, Libby Quaid did a good job of elaborating on the question and offering an explanation. She both quoted from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism and got a quote from a church spokesperson in public affairs. I guess the Encyclopedia of Mormonism has become a semi-authoritative source, since it was published by BYU and Macmillan under contract. Apostles quote from it in General Conference.

Of course the best authoritative source for explaining Mormon doctrine is the conference report, which contains the words of the prophets and apostles, when they are speaking in an official capacity. It is certainly not from ‘Mormon Doctrine’ originally written by Elder Bruce R McConkie back in the 1950′s. It is also not the Journal of Discourses, which did not always contain accurate quotes.

“We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all,” said the spokeswoman, Kim Farah. “That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for.” I like that explanation.

When another reporter asked Mitt Romney to answer the question he refused saying that Church leaders had already done a good job of doing so. He said, “Attacking someone’s religion is really going too far. It’s just not the American way, and I think people will reject that. I don’t believe that the people of this country are going to choose a person based on their faith and what church they go to.”

I believe Mike Huckabee’s question shows the basic tactic of a dishonest attack. It has all the elements of FUD – fear, uncertainty and doubt. If one has never considered the question before and does not understand the underlying doctrine that God created everything then it can be a shocking thing to consider. Mitt is right. The question does not belong in a presidential campaign.

What do you think? Was it a fair question? What do you think was the intent of the question?

Mormons and mainstream America

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Of all the commentary on Mitt’s ‘religion’ speech today, I like this one from Patrick Buchanan. He called it “a splendid and moving defense of his faith and beliefs.” While declaring, “I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest,” he did not back away an inch from his Mormon faith.

He also said, “Each religion has it own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.” As Pat Buchanan commented, “Surely that is right.”

Another article I liked was one in which Elder Ballard responded to the charge of the church influencing public policy in this AP article. I don’t know why this is such a big concern of the evangelical crowd out there. It seems ludicrous that a Mormon who may become elected president would take policy direction from the leaders of the church.

Jennifer Dobner from the Deseret News, whose article I commented on yesterday wrote, “Evangelical concerns that the Mormon belief in continuing revelation could somehow threaten the country by influencing public policies are overblown, Ballard said. Revelation, he said, is most often experienced as a simple answer to a prayer.”

Saying that we’re going to have to agree to disagree on theological questions about God, Elder Ballard said, “They’re locked into the Nicene Creed . . . We’re locked into the restoration and the experiences of Joseph Smith, and that will undoubtedly be an issue until God himself comes.” We will keep talking about our faith, hoping to bridge the gap by sharing our beliefs.

For all their differences, Mormons have a lot in common with other churches, Elder Ballard said. He said he’d like to see all faiths work together to preserve shared values and grow in mutual understanding. Some of those shared values are a love of truth, of peace, family, education, freedom, honesty, service, faith, healthy lifestyles and many, many more.

What do you think? Do Mormons have a lot in common with most of Americans today?

Mitt Romney to give ‘The Speech’

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Governor Mitt Romney will deliver a much-anticipated speech on religious faith at the George H. W. Bush library on Thursday. Romney’s Mormon faith has been an underlying theme of his presidential candidacy but, until today, it has been an area he and his campaign have shied away from addressing directly.

“This speech is an opportunity for Governor Romney to share his views on religious liberty, the grand tradition religious tolerance has played in the progress of our nation and how the governor’s own faith would inform his Presidency if he were elected,” said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden in a statement released this evening.

Throughout this campaign year, Romney has frequently been asked whether he would address his faith directly. Many evangelical Christians view the Mormon Church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, critically. And voters in general have expressed hesitance about voting for a presidential candidate who subscribes to that faith.

Last June, 43 percent of registered voters in a CBS News poll said they would not vote for a presidential candidate who is Mormon. Romney has frequently been asked whether he would consider delivering a speech about his faith along the lines of the address John F. Kennedy gave when his Catholic faith provoked a similar discussion in the 1960 presidential campaign.

When asked about the possibility of giving such a speech by CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer last month, Romney replied, “I probably could never do something that would compare to what John F. Kennedy did – his was a masterpiece in American political history.”

Romney continued, “Maybe there’s a time when I talk mostly about religion. Although, I don’t know, at this stage I’m getting good support across the country, people want to know a bit … a bit about my faith. They learn a bit about it, and they’ll say, ‘OK, that’s fine, now what do you think about the jihad? What do you think about being competitive with China? How can you fix your schools? What’re you going to do about health care?’ And those issues overtake any differences with regards to religion they might see.”

The speech comes at a moment in the campaign when Romney’s once-dominant lead in Iowa has eroded. He trails former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, in the most recent poll in the first-in-the-nation caucus. Social conservatives in Iowa, who wield plenty of influence in the caucuses, seem to have vacillated between candidates like Romney and Fred Thompson but appear to be coalescing around Huckabee.

Romney’s decision to address his faith directly looks to be an attempt to soothe evangelicals who may be having second thoughts. “Governor Romney understands that faith is an important issue to many Americans, and he personally feels this moment is the right moment for him to share his views with the nation,” Madden said in his statement. For Romney, it is a crucial moment in the campaign, one which will put his faith under the kind of spotlight he has sought to avoid until now.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/02/politics/printable3564183.shtml

We knew it was going to get ugly

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From Politico: “In an apparent push poll, a research firm has called Iowa Republicans this week praising John McCain and criticizing Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith. …there were “lots of negatives on Romney, including mentions of his “flip-flops,” hiring illegal immigrants as landscapers and extensive discussion of Mormonism.

“Statements were on baptizing the dead, the Book of Mormon being on the level of the Bible, and one about equating it to a cult,” said the Iowan, deeming them “common criticisms of Mormonism.” “I think they asked twice if being a Mormon would be an issue,” this person added. Let’s see, “Book of Mormon replacing the Bible, Baptizing the dead, Mormonism being a cult.” What do these subjects have to do with a man’s capability to lead a nation?

Romney communications director Matt Rhoades offers the following statement: “Whatever campaign is engaging in this type of awful religious bigotry as a line of political attack, it is repulsive and, to put it bluntly, un-American. There is no excuse for these attacks. Governor Romney is campaigning as an optimist who wants to lead the nation. These attacks are just the opposite. It’s ugly and divisive.”

I predict we will see more and more of this as Mitt Romney continues to grow in popularity as the most trustworthy candidate. I also predict it will do a tremendous amount of good as everyday members of the church get asked about stuff like this. How would you respond when asked about Baptism for the Dead? “What, you actually dig up dead people and baptize them?” What a great opportunity to discuss the things of eternity and ordinances of salvation.

Update: Mitt comments on the attacks and is attacked for his ‘attack’ on the attackers.

What do you think? Will criticism of Mormonism get more intense in the year to come?

News Flash: Mitt Romney is a Mormon!

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Quoting the Dallas Morning News: “Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said that Mormonism is a false religion and that Mr. Romney was not a Christian. “Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise,” Dr. Jeffress said in a sermon Sept. 30. [ed: (sarcasm on) Well duh! Is this a revelation? (sarcasm off)]“Even though he talks about Jesus as his Lord and savior, he is not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult.”

Some in the large crowd began to applaud as Dr. Jeffress continued with his remarks. “What really distresses me is some of my ministerial friends and even leaders in our convention are saying, ‘Oh, well, he talks about Jesus, we talk about Jesus. What’s the big deal?’ ” he said. “It is a big deal if anybody names another way to be saved except through Jesus Christ.”

What a disconnect! I can’t believe that otherwise intelligent people actually believe this lie. And why was he pointing out that Mitt Romney was a Mormon as if anybody was trying to hide it? How many years will ministers of other churches put their fears on public display as they continue to claim that Mormonism is not Christianity? It never ceases to amaze me how they can call the fastest growing church in the world a cult.

The best response I can think of is to refer people like this to Elder Holland’s latest General Conference talk but it’s doubtful they would seriously consider it. “…any criticism that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not hold the contemporary Christian view of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost is not a comment about our commitment to Christ but rather a recognition (accurate, I might add) that our view of the Godhead breaks with post–New Testament Christian history and returns to the doctrine taught by Jesus Himself.”

As Elder Holland points out that Harper’s Bible Dictionary records that “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the [New Testament].”

So I guess it’s true that we don’t believe in the same Jesus Christ because they have created a God that is not Biblical. Their understanding of God is based on non-authoritative creeds of men, established many years after the Lord taught the truth about Himself and His Father in the gospels. It is amazing to me that people like Jeffress can say that we claim there is some other way to be saved except through Jesus Christ.

He is either naive, has been mis-informed or simply will not accept what 13 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know and teach. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. It is only through Jesus Christ that can return to the presence of God. There is no other way to be saved from the effects of our sins except through Jesus Christ. Dr. Jeffress, get your facts straight. Or do you delight in mis-representing what Mormons believe?