New Romney Ad Embraces Mormonism

The Daily Beast.com ^ | Jan. 7, 2012

[Colofornian]

Mitt Romney has realized that he can't avoid the issue of his Mormon religion, so he might as well embrace it. The Republican frontrunner's new South Carolina mail campaign emphasizes Romney's deep religious beliefs and 42-year marriage, in an effort to win over 60 percent of the state's Republicans that are evangelical or "born again" Christians. The ad, however, doesn't dive head first into touting Romney's Mormonism, but instead refers heavily to his "faith" and how it will influence him as president, also assuring South Carolina voters that the White House contender is "pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-family."

[Elsie]

The racism such as sacred scripture and doctrine concerning the inferiority of Blacks and Lamanites (i.e. American Indians)

Oh...

That was THEN; and this is NOW!!

---

---

---

"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.

The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings.

This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race--that they should be the 'servant of servants', and they will be, until that curse is removed."

Brigham Young-President and second 'Prophet' of the Mormon Church, 1844-1877- Extract from Journal of Discourses.

---

---

Here are two examples from their 'other testament', the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 5: 21 'And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.'

Alma 3: 6 'And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.'

---

---

August 27, 1954 in an address at Brigham Young University (BYU), Mormon Elder, Mark E Peterson, in speaking to a convention of teachers of religion at the college level, said:

"The discussion on civil rights, especially over the last 20 years, has drawn some very sharp lines. It has blinded the thinking of some of our own people, I believe. They have allowed their political affiliations to color their thinking to some extent.I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after."

"He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn't that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage."

"That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, 'First we pity, then endure, then embrace'...."

(Rosa Parks would have probably told Petersen under which wheel of the bus he should go sit.)

---

---

1967, (then) Mormon President Ezra Taft Benson said,

"The Communist program for revolution in America has been in progress for many years and is far advanced. First of all, we must not place the blame upon Negroes. They are merely the unfortunate group that has been selected by professional Communist agitators to be used as the primary source of cannon fodder."

---

---

We are told that on June 8, 1978, it was 'revealed' to the then president, Spencer Kimball, that people of color could now gain entry into the priesthood.

According to the church, Kimball spent many long hours petitioning God, begging him to give worthy black people the priesthood. God finally relented.

---

---

Sometime before the 'revelation' came to chief 'Prophet' Spencer Kimball in June 1978, General Authority, Bruce R McConkie had said:

"The Blacks are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty.

The Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man's origin, it is the Lord's doings."

(Mormon Doctrine, pp. 526-527).

---

---

When Mormon 'Apostle' Mark E Petersen spoke on 'Race Problems- As they affect the Church' at the BYU campus in 1954, the following was also said:

"...if the negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory."

---

---

When Mormon 'Prophet' and second President of the Church, Brigham Young, spoke in 1863 the following was also said:

"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God is death on the spot. This will always be so."

(Journal of Discourses, Vo. 10, p. 110)

---

---

Yeah; Native Americans are althroughout the Book of MORMON; too.

 

“I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today ... they are fast becoming a white and delightsome people.... For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised.... The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.

At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl-sixteen-sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents—on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather.... These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness.

One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated.

 

(Improvement Era, December 1960, pp.922-23). (p. 209)

 

---

---

 

[Elsie]

AMEN!

At least the BOM is NOT very anti-christian like MORMONism is!

[Elsie]

A President Mitt will even need special devout Mormon secret service who share that 15% membership of the most holy, with him, so that they can escort him into the privileged, and secret, inner workings of the religion which rigidly forbids access to about 85% of the less devoted and committed Mormon ranks.

Only 15%???

But...

but...

What about that "Families are Forever" thing that MORMONism stresses???

[Rome2000]

Three grandmothers!

LOL

That’s gonna be the end of his run when that gets out.

FUMR and your 3 Grandmothers!!!!

[Diogenesis]

With Reid and Romney representing the “values” of Mormons
perhaps LDS ought consider other ambassadors.

[Scanian]

“uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits”

Sounds like a pretty good general description of most of the “ladies” that Brigham Young and his company of “missionaries” brought back to the US from the slums of London.(a quick way to increase polygamy opportunities for Mormon men on the frontier)

[Loud Mime]

Interesting points. Let us look at the other side of the argument.

Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Wayne Williams, William Bonin, David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, Jeff Dahmer, Gary Ridgeway, John Wayne Glover, Ted Kaczinsky, Dennis Rader, Richard Ramirez and Seung-Hui Cho were not Mormon. That list is LONG.

So, if being Mormon drastically reduces the odds that someone will be a mass-murderer, Mormonism may be a good thing, right? it’s for the Children!

On the other hand, what of this idiotic belief that all you have to do is “accept Jesus” and you are cured of your sins? This type of thinking reduces the Ten Commandments down to Ten Suggestions. It makes one believe that the quality of one’s spiritual work does not matter if you kiss up to the Boss. The comedian EMO had a great line: I prayed for a bicycle and nothing came of it. So I stole one and prayed for God’s forgiveness.

That’s modern-day religion for you. I dare not call it Christianity.

The anti-Mormon bigotry on Free Republic is hilarious, yet sad. Ya’ think you’re sent by God, doing God’s work, dontcha? By he way, I go to CATHOLIC Church - I was there last night and was there on Friday night as well for healing mass. “Heaven knows” where I’ll be next year. I just don’t like conceited bigots, be they Baptists, Catholics, Mormans or Islamists.

[trebb]

Mormonism is akin to Islam in that they both base their lore around a totally human “prophet” who has great standing as a channel to God. Of course, that’s just my Christian bias....

[cloudmountain]

I dread that conversation. I hope Rick - either one - can pull off the upset of a lifetime. I oppose Romney greatly, but then I think of the chaos that could be inflicted by an Obama totally unrestrained by the need to be popular or run for re-election. We have to fight hard to stop that from happening, and right now that means doing what we can to avoid having to have the Romney conversation in the first place. Go Rick(s)!

Where, oh where, are the Republicans I want to vote for, thinking that they might really win? I voted for Bush to Cain. The only ones I REALLY liked as a presidential candidate were Bush (43 and 41).
I DO like Rick Santorum but I doubt that he can pull off the upset. It seems that there aren't enough true conservative Republicans anymore. Hey, I remember John Birch!

[elcid1970]

This thread is making me farshimelt. If Romney is the Republican nominee, he will have all the freaky-deaky Mormon beliefs hung around his neck in every Obama reelection ad.

FWIW, I’m Catholic and OUAT I didn’t give a rip about Mormonism even when the mishies tried to convince me that holy underwear would save my, uh, self in a postcrash fire (I was in Army flight school on the way to Vietnam). It was when I learned that the LDS says very ugly things about the Catholic Church that I began to dig into the BoM and other sacred Mormon documents. Holy smoke how can anyone believe all that fantastical poppycock!?

Anyway, watch for anti-Romney ads from DNC with a Mormon twist, maybe photoshopping him with a flock of FLDS girl brides in their prairie dresses and upswept hairdos and it’ll go downhill from there.

[ejonesie22]

On the other hand, what of this idiotic belief that all you have to do is “accept Jesus” and you are cured of your sins? This type of thinking reduces the Ten Commandments down to Ten Suggestions. It makes one believe that the quality of one’s spiritual work does not matter if you kiss up to the Boss. The comedian EMO had a great line: I prayed for a bicycle and nothing came of it. So I stole one and prayed for God’s forgiveness.

By he way, I go to CATHOLIC Church

And yet as a Catholic and fellow Christian your Sins are forgiven through the simple gift of God Grace through belief in Christ. A belief held common between Catholics, Orthodox, Baptist on other mainline Protestant churches, a belief that as Methodist serving Christ with others including Catholics I share in several Ecumenical Ministries all blessed, supported and endorsed by our various authorities...

That’s modern-day religion for you. I dare not call it Christianity.

So since your Church believes in forgiveness of sins through the Grace of God, are you saying you are or are not a Christian, it is rather confusing given your statement...

(BTW what I find so ironic in your statement about "modern Christianity" is that in reality it is such that gives a pass to the cults like the LDS that denigrate and demean OUR savior, and use his name for unworthy purposes all in an effort to get along, to be like Oprah and say all paths are valid. Just a thought, but you may want to see what they really say about OUR most Holy family member as well as our faith....)

[fishtank]

Excellent post.

I’m more convinced than ever that the lds is a factory for lying.

[Scoutmaster]

Mitt had three grandmothers (polygamy)

Respectfully, you're a generation off. Two of Mitt Romney's great-great grandfathers (Miles Park Romney and Helaman Pratt) practiced polygamy, but his grandfathers weren't polygamists.

It's interesting that Helaman Pratt claims to have become a polygamist because LDS prophet Brigham Young told him to:

“On April 20, 1874, Helaman, on the advice of Brigham Young, married Dora Johanna Dorothy Wilcken [Anna Johanna Doratha Wilcken] as his second wife.”

Mary Pratt Parrish, “Helaman Pratt,” in Hatch and Hardy, Stalwarts South of the Border, 543-52. Cited by award-winning LDS historian Todd Compton in his online work on Romney's polygamous heritage.

Romney's family left Deseret - the theocracy Brigham Young attempted to establish in the Utah Territory (which led to the Utah Wars with the U.S. Army), and went to Mexico to help establish a LDS polygamist colony. Romney's grandfather, Gaskill, brought the Romney family back to the U.S. in 1912 due to the violence of the Mexico Revolution.

[greyfoxx39]

If, God forbid, Willard gets the nomination, the RINO establishment will find out that it cannot win without Conservatives.

Bingo!

[montag813]

The really silly stuff like magic underwear to protect against the boogieman and special hand grips to tell angels from demons

We should put people at Romney town halls to ask if he wears underwear, if he believes Cain's mark was black skin and a flat nose, if he believes God had intercourse with Mary (do they really believe this???), etc. PUT HIM ON THE DEFENSIVE over it. Stop pussyfooting around. Do we really think the ObamaNazis are going to avoid the long, vicious racism of the LDS? Not on your life. THEY are in it to win it. WE are in it to not offend anyone.

[Scoutmaster]

I’m more convinced than ever that the lds is a factory for lying.

Early church leaders publicly denied committing polygamy. Although the practice began by the mid-1830's, it wasn't announced even to the average members of the church until 1852. One reason offered is that God had told Joseph Smith that the world wasn't ready to hear about the commandment to practice polygamy. And it was a commandment. The LDS prophet Brigham Young said:

"Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned;

and I will go still further and say, take this revelation, or any other revelation that the Lord has given,

and deny it in your feelings, and I promise that you will be damned.

Brigham Young - Journal of Discourses 3:266 (July 14, 1855).

In 1998, LDS prophet Gordon B. Hinckley appeared on the Larry King show and was asked about polygamy. He said:

"When our people came west they permitted it on a restricted scale."

Transcript.

Of course, polygamy was practiced before the LDS came west to Utah. And there were no limitations on the scale of practice in Utah.

It's like my post here, where a group of LDS not 'officially' affiliated with the LDS Church corrects the media on what Mormons believe. Although the site told the media on 1/5/2012 that there were 'zero' instances on LDS.org where the concepts that Mormons would become gods over their own planets was taught, I found eighteen instances, including Church Educational System manuals for children (4-11), youth (14-18), college students, couples considering marriage, and a doctrinal announcement by the prophet and quorum of twelve. I link another post in which I provide links to this teaching from the LDS Gospel Principles guide on the LDS.org site, quotes from prophets, articles from LDS magazines on the LDS.org site, and so on.

How can this be?

There is a sense of us versus them. The Missouri Wars were a two-sided affair but Mormons have been taught that was entirely persecution. I've linked the history taught to LDS youth. It's hidden behind a portal that you need a LDS password to access; gentiles aren't supposed to see it.

Cynics call what the Mormons do "Lying for the Lord." You can Google what ex-Mormons have to say about it.

A member of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve (an Apostle of the LDS Church), Dalin Oaks, gave a famous speech justifying some kinds of lying - because there are appropriate lies. He said:

" My heart breaks when I read of circumstances in which wives and children were presented with the terrible choice of lying about the whereabouts or existence of a husband or father on the one hand or telling the truth and seeing him go to jail on the other. These were not academic dilemmas. A father in jail took food off the table and fuel from the hearth. Those hard choices involved collisions between such fundamental emotions and needs as a commitment to the truth versus the need for loving companionship and relief from cold and hunger. My heart also goes out to the Church leaders who were squeezed between their devotion to the truth and their devotion to their wives and children and to one another. To tell the truth could mean to betray a confidence or a cause or to send a brother to prison. There is no academic exercise in that choice!

I think too many Mormons have taken his message out of proportion and believe that denial or lying to protect the church is justified. They are supported by the teaching of LDS Apostle Boyd K. Packer in his famous speech, The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect, in which he instructed LDS historians to write "faithful" history that did not include facts that were harmful to the testimony of LDS members, or that showed the church, its leaders, or its history in a bad light. He said they would not have salvation if they did. It was, and had been, enforced with disenfellowshipment and excommunication.

As Packer said: "Some things that are true are not very useful."

[Scoutmaster]

What I said about LDS position that its historians who (a) write the truth but (b) hurt the faith of LDS members, lose salvation is powerful enough that I should quote from the Mantle speech cited above. Here is the admonishment:

"A destroyer of faith--particularly one within the Church, and more particularly one who is employed specifically to build faith--places himself in great spiritual jeopardy. He is serving the wrong master, and unless he repents, he will not be among the faithful in the eternities."

You should read it in context. LDS historians have been excommunicated. Start with the September Six. Others have lost their Temple Recommends, so they can't enter the Celestial Kingdom, the highest of the three levels.

"Some things that are true are not very useful" in writing Mormon history. You can lose your place among the faithful in the eternities just for writing or speaking those truths.

[svcw]

You are incorrect. Romney is a temple mormon. Only about 15% reach that status. It is an honor given to very few mormons. He is the highest of the high in lds.
In order to be a temple mormon a member has a list of rules which they must abide by. They swear that they are following these rules.
Romney is supported by mormons by a rate of about 94% because he is a good mormon.

[reaganaut]

Romney is as Mormon as Pelosi is Catholic. He takes his religion as seriously as he takes his conservatism,

- - - - - -
On that you are wrong. As a former Mormon, I can tell you Mitt is the PERFECT Mormon. He is ‘active’, Temple worthy, has held midlevel callings (church jobs). He is a True believing (or truly brainwashed) Mormon and follows LDS church teachings.

The thing is, Mormons are not nearly as conservative (or Republican) as the PR makes them look on abortion, illegals, gay ‘rights’ and other things. Mitt is the rule rather than the exception.

[Osage Orange]

I just don’t like conceited bigots, be they Baptists, Catholics, Mormans or Islamists.

Ya better look in the mirror, girly.