Romney candidacy has resurrected last days prophecy of Mormon saving the Constitution

The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | June 4, 2007 | Thomas Burr

[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.

[MrEdd]

Jeremiah and Isaiah faced days when the iniquity of the people brought the Israelites to ruin. I will follow my Lord. I will not support evil.

The three front runners have opposed different portions of the constitution. Just as David could not oppose Saul, whom God had anointed over Israel, we are to follow the ruler God has appointed over the United States. In our Case the ruler is not a man, but a document called the constitution. God removed Saul, but as of yet the constitution still stands. When David was old, and by sin had squandered his responsibilities, many people supported Absolom in a bid to take the throne. A majority did actually. Read the books of chronicles to see how that worked out.

In the next election I will support a conservative constitutionalist. If neither major party submits one, well this won't be the first time. I can vote write in or third party. I can be certain though that the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac does not wish me to support an abortionist, an advocate for homosexuality. Nor does he want me to vote for someone who wishes to overthrow the constitution outside the amendment process. That eliminates all of the democrats, and Rudy, McCain, and Romney.

Semper Fidelis

[nowandlater]

From the website http://www.evangelicalsformitt.org/front_page/what_does_ezra_have_to_tell_us.php

WHAT DOES EZRA HAVE TO TELL US?

While some of our e-mailers seem to think we here at EFM are Mormons, we are evangelical Christians, which means we think reading the Bible is important. Which is why the other morning I was reading through the book of Ezra, which then was one of the remaining Old Testament books with which I was unfamilar. (My current project is working through those.) But before beginning Ezra, I read the introductory notes in The MacArthur Study Bible, in which I found the following passage to be rather striking:

The decrees, proclamations, letters, lists, genealogies, and memoranda, many of them written by the Persian administration, attest to the sovereign hand of God in Israel's restoration. The primary message of the book is that God orchestrated the past grim situation (captivity) and would continue to work through a pagan king and his successors to give Judah hope for the future (return). God's administration overrides that of any of the kings of this world, and thus the book of Ezra is a message of God's continuing covenant grace to Israel.

Why was this striking? Well, as we discuss Gov. Romney with evangelicals across the country, one frequent refrain is that folks want some sort of example from Scripture that God has worked through unbelieving rulers to the benefit of His people. And as MacArthur brilliantly points out, in Ezra (the book, not the man) we have just such an example. As the book begins:

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

So God worked through Cyrus--and his successors--to bring the exiles back to Jerusalem. To my mind, this data point thoroughly dispels the idea that our almighty Lord can or will only work through a leader with certain views. If He wants to, He can, because He can do all things--and He has done this particular thing before. Period. The only question is whether He wants to bless his people through the man whose picture can be found at the top of this site--and if we thought the answer to that question were clearly "no," we wouldn't be here.

Of course, this whole line of logic is predicated upon the idea that terms like "pagan" or "unbeliever" do indeed apply to Gov. Romney. To be clear, the man has made public professions that his eternal hope lies in Jesus, and I don't think it's my place--or that of anyone else on this earth--to judge whether those professions are true. Yes, Mormonism is absolutely not orthodox Christianity. As we have said before, we have profound doctrinal differences with the man we support for president. Do doctrinal deficiencies make any real reliance on the cross impossible? In general, I don't think so. I disagree in major ways with Roman Catholic doctrine--in fact, I was raised in the Roman church and (obviously) have left it--but I do think there is such thing as a believing Roman Catholic (although I was emphatically not one). Yes, in general they believe some things that are not true, but some have the important part (Jesus) right. As for this specific case, I don't know, and it's not really my business either way.

So let's put that aside, because any way you slice it, examining Ezra shows that the idea that God can only work through an orthodox leader is clearly not biblical. Our Lord worked through Cyrus and his successors; certainly He could work through a President Romney, too. And should there be a President Romney, it will only be because He allowed it to happen. Of both of these we have absolute conviction, and the rest is gravy.

[MrEdd]

God can, and does work through even his bitter enemies, like pharaoh, and Satan himself. Not one word of your post counters the fact that I as a believer am not to support the unrighteous. Romney, in countering the bill of rights outside the amendment process is revealed to be a follower of Absalom. And in supporting giving homosexuals access to children has condoned an evil that I can never be part of. There is no counter for that. No children are to be sacrificed on the alter of Mitt's political ambition.

Mormonism has no relation to these actions. These are Mitt's choices, not dictated by his religion. I would never vote for Mitt, and it is because of the things he does and the positions he takes.

[nowandlater]

More power to you!

But before you condemn him so easily to the ash heap, please look here at he actually said, it is totally different than what is reported. Imagine that! Lies and distortion about what he actually said. It just shows that the Liberals are scared of him. Just because he is Mormon, don’t let that colorblind you of what the Libs are trying to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnMt2BnZXUI

[gondramB]

You know - the Senate majority leader is a Mormon and his politics bother me a hundred times more than his religion.

[MrEdd]

[svcw]

I just saw this post, sorry its a late reply...but its a joke...right? Like scrapple face?

[stevio]

Any means to the end.