Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Romney candidacy has resurrected last days prophecy of Mormon saving the Constitution
The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | June 4, 2007 | Thomas Burr

Posted on 06/08/2007 10:35:59 AM PDT by Colofornian

WASHINGTON - It's Mormon lore, a story passed along by some old-timers about the importance of their faith and their country.

In the latter days, the story goes, the U.S. Constitution will hang by a thread and a Mormon will ride in on a metaphorical white horse to save it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says it does not accept the legend - commonly referred to as the "White Horse Prophecy" - as doctrine.

The issue, however, has been raised on those occasions when Mormons have sought the Oval Office: George Romney was asked about it during his bid in 1968, Sen. Orrin Hatch discussed it when he ran in 2000, and now Mitt Romney.

"It is being raised," says Phil Barlow, a professor of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University. "I've heard it a bit lately."

Romney says he doesn't believe in the supposed prophecy, nor did his father when he ran.

"I haven't heard my name associated with it or anything of that nature," Mitt Romney told The Salt Lake Tribune during an interview earlier this year. "That's not official church doctrine. There are a lot of things that are speculation and discussion by church members and even church leaders that aren't official church doctrine. I don't put that at the heart of my religious belief."

The disputed prophecy was recorded in a diary entry of a Mormon who had heard the tale from two men who were with Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Ill. when he supposedly declared the prophecy.

"You will see the Constitution of the United States almost destroyed," the diary entry quotes Smith as saying. "It will hang like a thread as fine as a silk fiber."

Not only will the Mormons save the Constitution, under the prediction, but the prophecy goes further, insinuating that Mormons will control the government.

"Power will be given to the White Horse to rebuke the nations afar off, and you obey it, for the laws go forth from Zion," the prophecy says.

The LDS Church denounces the premonition, which was recorded 10 years after Smith's death. A church spokesman pointed to a quote from the faith's sixth president, Joseph F. Smith, who called the prophecy "ridiculous."

"It is simply false; that is all there is to it," the church prophet was quoted saying.

Joseph Smith, who Mormons believe found ancient gold plates and transcribed them into the Book of Mormon, ran for president in 1844, a year after he supposedly told of the White Horse Prophecy. Smith was murdered by a mob shortly thereafter.

So far, it hasn't been overtly discussed in reference to Romney's bid, but he told The Tribune previously that it was raised in the 1968 presidential run of his father, George Romney.

"It came up in the race, but he didn't believe in it," the younger Romney said in 1999.

In fact, George Romney said there are different interpretations of what Smith and Brigham Young, another Mormon prophet, were saying, according to a 1967 edition of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought:

"I have always felt that they meant that sometime the question of whether we are going to proceed on the basis of the Constitution would arise and at this point government leaders who were Mormons would be involved in answering that question," George Romney was quoted as saying.

In the 2000 presidential race, the prophecy again made news during Hatch's failed bid for the White House. The Utah Republican and Mormon commented on the Constitution hanging by a thread during a radio interview, fanning thoughts of whether he was referring to the prophecy. Hatch says he was not referencing the premonition.

Mitt Romney has faced a barrage of questions about his religion from the news media but few in public from voters. One man in New Hampshire last week told Romney he wouldn't vote for him because Romney's a Mormon. But the guy added that he was a liberal and voting for Hillary Clinton.

On the trail, Romney talks generally about his belief in God but does not engage in doctrinal debate over details of his faith. He declines often to go into the specific tenets of the Mormon religion, saying that he is not a spokesperson for his church.

Ann Marie Curling, a Mormon in Kentucky who backs Romney, knows of the prophecy but puts no stock in it.

"It's definitely not playing into why I support him," says Curling, who runs a pro-Romney blog.

She says the few who believe in the prophecy are in the "extreme" fringes of the faith. "I don't see it being the reason everyday LDS persons are supporting him."

While the LDS Church does not accept the White Horse Prophecy as doctrine, several former leaders of the faith have spoken of the threat to the Constitution at various times, according to research by George Cobabe, who studied the prophecy's origins for the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research. The group's mission is to defend the church and correct misunderstandings.

He says the concept of religious people saving the Constitution in the last days is a common theme for many faiths, but adds the White Horse Prophecy is bunk.

"I don't think the White Horse Prophecy is fair to bring up at all," he says. "It's been rejected by every church leader that has talked about it. It has nothing to do with anything."

Barlow, the Utah State University professor, says probably 10 percent to 20 percent of Mormons in America have heard of the prophecy by name but that many more have likely heard bits and pieces of it.

"It's dubious whether this originated with Joseph Smith but it seems to have a life of its own," Barlow says. "While most Mormons may not have heard of it, there are some themes that have some currency."

The main theme is the apocalyptic end of the world and the phrase that the Constitution - which Mormons believe was divinely inspired - will "hang by a thread."

Still, Barlow says it's doubtful the so-called prophecy will make a big splash during the campaign.

"It's too esoteric than bigger things like polygamy that will get brought up," he says, referring to the practice of marrying multiple wives that the church officially denounced in 1890.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections; lds; mormon; president; prophecy; romney; rudymcromney
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-88 next last
To: MrEdd
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
61 posted on 06/08/2007 1:19:56 PM PDT by greyfoxx39 (If you're a FREDNECK and you know it, clap your hands!...and DONATE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Taxbilly
FULFILLMENT: The United States rejected the Mormons’ petitions; their wrongs were not redressed; they were not protected from their enemies. The United States government was never overthrown and is still in existence.

Well actually the petitions were granted, the extermination order was repealed, the US Army was virtually defeated when it was allowed to enter SLC and the Mountain Meadows Massacre did a lot to redress the wrongs. The Mormons aren't going to put up with any more crap like they did in Missouri.

62 posted on 06/08/2007 1:32:24 PM PDT by LeGrande (Muslims, Jews and Christians all believe in the same God of Abraham.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: MrEdd

Cool, write your pastor in!


63 posted on 06/08/2007 1:32:30 PM PDT by nowandlater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: LeGrande
the extermination order was repealed,

1976, just two years before the LDS Church was finally forced to repeal the ban on Black men holding the Priesthood. God moves in mysterious ways. ,-) Oh yes, you don't believe in God.

64 posted on 06/08/2007 1:35:26 PM PDT by colorcountry ( We need to move away from the Kennedy Wing of the Republican Party. (Duncan Hunter))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: colorcountry

You are so sweet!


65 posted on 06/08/2007 1:36:56 PM PDT by nowandlater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: nowandlater

Thank you.


66 posted on 06/08/2007 1:40:35 PM PDT by colorcountry ( We need to move away from the Kennedy Wing of the Republican Party. (Duncan Hunter))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: colorcountry

Remember, I got pictures!


67 posted on 06/08/2007 1:51:51 PM PDT by nowandlater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: nowandlater; Religion Moderator; colorcountry
Remember, I got pictures!

That sounds much like a threat.

68 posted on 06/08/2007 1:54:28 PM PDT by greyfoxx39 (If you're a FREDNECK and you know it, clap your hands!...and DONATE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: nowandlater

You got nothing on me. But I would guess you DO indeed have pictures and use them often.


69 posted on 06/08/2007 1:55:14 PM PDT by colorcountry ( We need to move away from the Kennedy Wing of the Republican Party. (Duncan Hunter))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Colofornian
OK. Who are we to believe?

There is a reason why Walter Martin named his book The Maze of Mormonism. It is also why anti-Mormons are chastised for setting the words of the dead prophets against the living prophet. Because it betrays a troubling lack of consistency in Mormon doctrine.

70 posted on 06/08/2007 1:56:07 PM PDT by CommerceComet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: MrEdd
This issue is one of those issues which will cause people to refuse to vote. Even if it means someone like Hillary wins. People like me. I refused to vote for Dole and I won't vote for Rudy, McCain, or Romney either. Period. I am answerable to God and the lesser of two evils is still evil. I am not going to be judged on whether or not the United States stands or falls. I will be judged on my obedience to the mandates of God, as revealed through the Bible. I can't make decisions based on what is less unpleasant or what is easiest. There is no debate here, and I am not alone, which the Republican party refuses to learn from. I am not a member of a political party, and owe none of them my allegiance.

Well, you're starting to pick up enough critical mass for a standing ovation.

71 posted on 06/08/2007 1:59:10 PM PDT by Colofornian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: greyfoxx39; Religion Moderator; colorcountry
Geez, calm down. Ask colorcountry, it’s a joke about the bikinini controversy!
72 posted on 06/08/2007 1:59:49 PM PDT by nowandlater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: Colofornian

Well . . . isn’t the Constitution pretty much “hanging by a thread” right now? The whole world is upside down.


73 posted on 06/08/2007 2:02:40 PM PDT by Saundra Duffy (Romney Rocks!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Colofornian; MrEdd

You are also answerable to God for making a wrong choice before God too! Read the Book of Ether and see what God actually says about the issue which is the opposite of your conclusion. I submit to you your position is 180 degrees in the contrary of what the Bible actually says.


74 posted on 06/08/2007 2:03:36 PM PDT by nowandlater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: nowandlater; colorcountry
Geez, calm down. Ask colorcountry, it’s a joke about the bikinini controversy!

Are you aware of this being a joke, CC?

75 posted on 06/08/2007 2:08:58 PM PDT by greyfoxx39 (If you're a FREDNECK and you know it, clap your hands!...and DONATE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: greyfoxx39; nowandlater

I do now. I really didn’t know what nowandlater was talking about, but now that I have been reminded, I remember the bikini references.


76 posted on 06/08/2007 2:13:50 PM PDT by colorcountry ( We need to move away from the Kennedy Wing of the Republican Party. (Duncan Hunter))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: colorcountry; nowandlater

I remember now too, and it wasn’t funny when it happened either. That post really did sound threatening. NAL, I suggest you might want to be clearer when you post something that might be misconstrued.


77 posted on 06/08/2007 2:17:05 PM PDT by greyfoxx39 (If you're a FREDNECK and you know it, clap your hands!...and DONATE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: greyfoxx39

No problemo, I can be pretty dry and tarty.


78 posted on 06/08/2007 2:26:12 PM PDT by nowandlater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: JohnnyZ
What kind of fool would fall for this crap?

Our supply of fools is unlimited. Pick a topic. Blackbird.

79 posted on 06/08/2007 2:35:00 PM PDT by BlackbirdSST (Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse, another day dawns!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

I think Romney's agents found the White horse

80 posted on 06/08/2007 3:47:15 PM PDT by Rameumptom (Gen X= they killed 1 in 4 of us)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-88 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson