"Concerned? Hells yeah! But, I can't help you, seeing as I'm kind of, oh, what's the word...oh, dead. So call the Orkin man, he can help you. Tell him the 'Guv sent ya!"
Posted on 03/31/2007 11:40:02 AM PDT by Reaganesque
There has been much controversy here at Free Republic about a Mormon running for President. Mitt Romney has been questioned about his faith and many people here have posted things here expressing concern about what they consider to be "weird" doctrines. Today and tomorrow, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is holding their 177th Semi-Annual General Conference in which the leaders of the church address the membership around the world directly.
In light of the many misconceptions regarding the LDS (Mormon) church here on FR, I offer the following links for those who have questions and concerns about Mitt and his faith. Conference is a great opportunity for those who know little about the Mormon church to have a few questions answered; to get your answers straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Therefore, here is a link to the broadcast website:
April 2007 LDS General Conference
There are audio streams available in multiple languages and video from KSL TV in Salt Lake City and KBYU, Brigham Young University's television station. The video links are in the first paragraph at the top of the page.
The next session begins at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central. Tomorrow's sessions will be at 12 noon/11 am Central and 4 pm Eastern/3 pm Central. Sessions are 2 hours long.
It is a public broadcast so no passwords or registration are required.
Hey "Senator Goldwater" that is what they said about Goldwater in 1964!
Before Lucifer fell he was in Heaven you should become familar with your scriptures!
Isaiah 14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
BTW Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God in the Flesh. Lucifer never recieved a body as you and I have yet at one time he was a brother in Spirit before he became one of the Sons of Perdition!
Sadly you continue to quote from ignorance and give out disinformation I am sure you love the Lord but this approach is not of him
I'm too worried about my own to be concerned about anybody else's.
You are entitled to your opinions but not to your own facts. Romney is not 'pro-abortion', he VETOED a bill that extended stem cell funding.
See:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~unmarkedpackage/#abortion
For all the concerns about religion, remember that being a Chritian doesnt make you cosnervative or a good President. E.g., born-again baptist Jimmy Carter was/is a complete leftist, and even Clinton went to church. (Whether the Clinton's worship anyone but themselves for real is an exercise for the reader.)
I don't think there's much controversy about his religion - the media is trying to manufacture one to make conservatives look like bigots to be sure...but the problem is his past support for the gay agenda, waffling on abortion, less than clear support for the second amendment, and general kerryitis.
I'm not concerned in the least about Mitt Romney's faith. Although I'm not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I grew up in a LDS community in Utah. I'm one of the 8% in the country (from a recent poll) who are more likely to vote for someone of the Mormon faith. Since only 1.6% of the U.S. population is LDS, there must be many more in the country who feel as I do.
Nearly every person with whom I had any meaningful contact from age five to twenty-one, including friends, teachers, employers, Boy Scout leaders, etc., were members of the LDS Church.
Everything I need to know about the LDS Church I learned and remember from the wonderful examples the members set for me, including the following to name just a few:
• I remember my LDS schoolteacher in kindergarten who hugged me and dried my tears while my Mom raced to the school after I had fallen from a playground slide and broken my leg.I count my time in that wonderful LDS community as one of the greatest blessings from God that I have received in my life. I will always be grateful for a wonderful childhood that I owe in large measure to the influence of Mormons.• I remember my elementary school LDS principal who consoled me and calmed my fears the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
• I remember the LDS man and his loving wife in the house across the fence in my backyard, with seven children of their own, who treated me like their eighth child and included me routinely in their family activities and meals. Their third-born son became my dearest friend in life, and to this day I think of him as a brother. I remember the stand-in advice and counsel I got from those fine people while in their care and it always seemed to be the same advice I received from my own Mom and Dad.
• I remember the LDS Den Mother who put up with my boyhood antics and taught me pride in achieving goals as she helped me progress through Cub Scouts and eventually earn the Webelos rank.
• I remember the many LDS men who served as my Scout Masters and Merit Badge Counselors in the Boy Scouts and gave willingly of their time and talent to help me progress through Scouting to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.
• I remember the LDS man who gave me my first paying job in life as a bag boy at the local grocery store, who appreciated hard work, promoted me and trusted a young man of seventeen with the keys to his store and cash registers.
• I remember the LDS professors in my university undergraduate engineering program that stuck to the curriculum of science and engineering and never once strayed into political speech during a time when other university campuses were on fire and in turmoil with anti-Viet Nam War protests.
Jatopilot99,
Our critics like to throw a lot of garbage out there against us Mormons which are not true. They also like to publish misleading statements without all the reference points of information. There are so many items in your post I could talk about that meet those two criterias that it would take way too much effort to go through. However, let me be clear on two points:
First, I believe that Jesus Christ pays for all my sins and all mankind sins. To Mormons, he is the complete and only Savior of all mankind. The basics of the gospel is to have faith in Jesus Christ unto repentance of our sins, accept Jesus Christ through baptism, and receive the Holy Ghost. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ we become 100% clean. To me the highlight of my week is during my weekly worship with my fellow Mormons where I take the Sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ and promise to remember Jesus Christ in all my words and deeds.
Another issue, is the junk about believing that Satan and Jesus are brothers. Mormons do not put these two at the same level, they are complete total opposites. Although Satan was a fallen angel which enjoyed the presence of God, he has became the father of all evil and has lost any relationship with God the Father. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is the express full image of God the Father, in word and deed. Jesus Christ is our savior, the only way to heaven, and is full of truth and light. There is nothing we can do to please the Father, unless we do it in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.
NO!
Hey "Senator Goldwater" that is what they said about Goldwater in 1964!
You can say that again.
Sadly, Goldwater would have no home in today's Republican party.
Much like myself.
I'd have less concern about Romney if he was more like the LDS folks I have met personally. (Generally conservative both economically and socially, and completely trustworth). I don't see those charecteristics in Romney.
Be careful here. Anybody who would believe that nonesence might believe anything.
Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. I recognize and profess Him as such. He atoned on the cross for my sins and He is the only path to the Ftaher and to Heaven.
I believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are absolutely perfetly united and one in their dedication to and offering salvation to us, their children.
I also believe them to seperate and distinct, which is supported in the New Testament by any number of versus (Stephen's testimony, the testimony associated with Christ's baptism, Peter, James and John's experience and testimony on the mount of transfiguration, Christ's own great intercessory prayer in John, the testimonies associated with christ's resurrection, and His ascention to the Father).
That nature of the three of them is a matter of discussion and disagreement among other Christian Churches as well (The Church of Christ for example) and is one of interpretation, not bearing on the essential fact and faith in Christ's atonement of all mankinf who will come to Him, as the Son of God and the author of salvation.
I am LDS and this is what I have been taught and accepted as my faith.
So, please, before repeating what others who either are not LDS, or who are disaffected, say we believe, talk to those of us who profess the faith and let us bear our witness to you.
Then you can more easily judge for yourself...and in any case, in the end, just like with your own heart-felt witness of Christ...which I accept without reservation despite whatever other differences exist...that final judgement and decision is between each of us and our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.
His suddenly joining the NRA on the eve of his annoucement for the Presidency is a recent example of what would appear to be actions based on political pundits advise as opposed to true conviction.
As a result, with Romney, I prefer to wait a good while...perhaps years...before judging for myself that these new found pronouncments are genuine and not made out of political expediency. They are too important, IMHO, to risk to any other course.
In the mean time I will trust the track records and firm commitment to those principles of others, who are also Christian, like Hunter and or Thompson.
Now, if it came down to Romney or Rudy (and I will work to try and ensure it does not come down to that choice), then I would pick Romney over Rudy because Romney may well be changing on these issues when I know good and well that Rudy is not.
I'm not concerned about his being a Mormon from the point of view of what he'd do in office. I accept that he may lose the votes of some Christians who would otherwise vote for a man whose background and positions matched Mr. Romney's background and positions. The loss of those votes is a concern, but if he wins the nomination, I'll still be glad to support him. If only he, Giuliani, and McCain are running when the primaries come to Louisiana, I'll gladly vote for him.
If on the other hand, LDSers are really seriously aware of the tenets of their faith, and its history and genesis, and they subscribe to those, and if Mitt is of that ilk, I'd say yes.
I'd say run away fast and hard.
I happen to think that Mitt is a very cool guy, I admire him, and he is the best one out there currently for FReepers.
I ain't voting for him though. That Health Care Bill he signed here took care of that for me.
Note: I have a certain luxury...I live in Massachusetts, and so my vote does not count.
No problem at all with his creed.
Not likely to support him in the primary season, but not for religious reasons. We all sin and fall short.
Thank you for shedding light, rather than heat.
Have Hugh Hewitt's book yet?
I had a long talk with a Mormon friend yesterday.
I noted that I thought the Joseph Smith plates and strange underwear and planet Kolob and all that were pretty stupid. But I also noted that Catholic mass is pretty much a stage play when the priest goes "abracadabra" and turns bread and wine into flesh and blood, and then encourages us to all eat it.
Bottom line, Mormons are great people, they take care of each other and happy with what they do and don't make fun of other religions, same goes with Catholics and Jews and Buddhists and Hindi.
As far as Romney goes, I don't want his religion doing the thinking for him, same goes for any candidate. Leave the religion at your church and temple.
Your Tag Line has some garbage in it Newbie.
"Concerned? Hells yeah! But, I can't help you, seeing as I'm kind of, oh, what's the word...oh, dead. So call the Orkin man, he can help you. Tell him the 'Guv sent ya!"
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