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.
Agreed, there are a lot of great Mormon people out there. Good-hearted people.
I am not a bit concerned about Mitt Romney's faith. Of the top tiered candidates, he is the only one who has remained faithfully married to one woman.