Mitt Romney's religion- does it matter?

 I try to know a some personal facts about those running for the post of President of the United States.  Unlike some of my peers, I believe that the personal beliefs and actions of a politician are very important.  As a leader of our nation, setting a good example is very important, especially for our young people.  I teach my children that they must tell the truth, follow the laws established and to take responsibility for their mistakes.   For others to not be subject to these values also negates their very existence.

I wanted to do a little bit of research on Mitt Romney's religion- Mormonism, to see how it may or may not impact his future choices.   As Faith is very important to me, I feel that it does make a difference in how I may vote.  This is what I have found.

Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith who founded the Book of Mormon. According to Smith's account, and also according to the book's narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates. Smith said that he received these plates in 1827 from an angel named Moroni,  whom Smith identified as a resurrected  inhabitant of the Americas who had written and abridged parts of the book over a millennium prior to the encounter. According to Smith, Moroni had buried the plates in a stone box, along with other ancient artifacts, in a hill near Smith's home in Manchester, New York.

While living in Conneaut, Ohio in the early nineteenth century, Solomon Spalding (1761–1816) began writing a work of fiction about the lost civilization of the mound builders of North America. Spalding shared his story, entitled Manuscript Found with members of his family and some of his associates in Conneaut, as well as his friends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  where he lived prior to his death. However, Manuscript Found was never published.
In 1832, Latter Day Saint Missionaries, Samuel H. Smith and Orson Hyde, visited Conneaut, Ohio, and preached from the Book of Mormon.  Nehemiah King, a resident of Conneaut who knew Spalding when he lived there, felt that the Mormon text resembled the story written by Spalding years before. In 1833, at the urging of  Doctor Philatus Hurlbut, King, Spalding's widow, his brother John, and a number of other residents of Conneaut signed affidavit's stating that Spalding had written a manuscript, portions of which were identical to the Book of Mormon.

The premise of the book, is that voyagers from the Near East (Jerusalem area) around 600 B.C. And created a civilization here in the Americas.

The archaeological, historical and scientific communities have in general been skeptical about the claims of the Book of Mormon. Critics of such tend to focus on four main areas:

• The lack of correlation between locations described in the Book of Mormon and American archaeological sites.  In other words, with the bible the landmarks, towns vegetation, cattle etc can all be authenticated by archaeological evidence.   The places, people etc of the book of Mormon seem to have left absolutely NO trace of their existence.

• References to animals, plants, metals and technologies in the Book of Mormon that archaeological or scientific studies have found no evidence of in post-Pleistocene, pre-Columbian America, frequently referred to as anachronisms. Items typically listed include cattle, horses, asses, oxen, sheep, swine, goats, elephants, wheat, steel, brass, chains, iron, scimitars and chariots.   We do not see evidence of these things in the archaeological record until after the Europeans arrived and brought with them foreign plants, animals and technology.

• The lack of linguistic connection between any Native American and Near Eastern Languages.   Also no linguistic scholar has ever heard of the language "reformed egyptian'.

• The Lack of DNA evidence linking any Native American Group to the ancient Near East. If they had come, they would have had to inter-breed with the existing native population.

Most adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement consider the Book of Mormon to generally be a historically accurate account.  Within the Latter Day Saint movement there are several apologetic groups that seek to reconcile the discrepancies in diverse ways. Among these apologetic groups, much work has been published by Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), and Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), attempting to defend the Book of Mormon as a literal history, countering arguments critical of its historical authenticity, or reconciling historical and scientific evidence with the text. One of the more common recent arguments is the limited geography model which guesses that the people of the Book of Mormon covered only a limited geographical region in either MesoAmerica, South America or the Great Lakes area.


As far as the religion itself.  Although professed to be christian by its followers.. it has very different views than are held by most Christians.

1.   Joseph Smith taught that God was once a man.  And that Man can become a god.   Mormonism has a little saying "As Man is, God once was... As God is, Man may become."

"Here, then, is eternal life -- to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you,... To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God.... " (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 346, 347)

2.  The idea that there is more than one God.

Joseph Smith taught “that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father,” and that “you may suppose that He had a Father also.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith) Orson Pratt said, “If we should take a million worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more Gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds.” (Journal of Discourses, vol.2, page 345)

3.  The Book of Mormon is the MOST CORRECT book, even more correct than the bible.

This small book takes an innovative approach to Joseph Smith's well-known statement: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."¹ The author divides the statement (and the volume) into three component parts: (1) "the most correct of any book on earth"; (2) "the keystone of our religion"; and (3) "precepts to bring one nearer to God."


As a result of my research, I find I may have issues voting for Mr. Romney........however I cannot say that I have entirely ruled it out.   I guess I will have to see what my other choices are and balance that with my belief that Romney's business experience may prove to be helpful (or maybe not).  

Thank Goodness I have a lot of time to make my decision.   I encourage all of you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

The Book of Mormon states that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, Not Bethlehem.  Non-religious documents contradict this idea, as does the Bible.
Oh, and as a little side note.... they have employed a number of people whose job it is to look up the names of thoses deceased people... (they are currently gathering names of holocaust victims) and they have a special room dedicated to baptism by "proxy".  Basically some living person stands in for the deceased person and is baptized.    weird?