Mitt the Mormon -- Why Romney needs to talk about his faith.

Slate ^ | November 26, 2007 | Christopher Hitchens

[Zakeet]

Mitt Romney appears to think that, in respect of the bizarre beliefs of his church, he has come up with a twofer response. Not only can he decline to answer questions about these beliefs, he can also reap additional benefit from complaining that people keep asking him about them.

[Snip]

It ought to be borne in mind that Romney is not a mere rank-and-file Mormon. His family is, and has been for generations, part of the dynastic leadership of the mad cult invented by the convicted fraud Joseph Smith. It is not just legitimate that he be asked about the beliefs that he has not just held, but has caused to be spread and caused to be inculcated into children. It is essential. Here is the most salient reason: Until 1978, the so-called Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was an officially racist organization. Mitt Romney was an adult in 1978. We need to know how he justified this to himself, and we need to hear his self-criticism, if he should chance to have one.

[Snip]

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., has had to be asked about his long-ago membership of the Ku Klux Klan (which, I would remind you, is also a Protestant Christian identity organization), and he was only a fiddle-playing member, not a Grand Kleagle or whatever the hell it is. Why should Romney not be made to give an account of himself? A black candidate with ties to Louis Farrakhan could expect questions about his faith in the existence of the mad scientist Yakub, creator of the white race, or in the orbiting mother ship visited by the head of the Nation of Islam. What gives Romney an exemption?

[Callahan]

Big Love!

[highball]

A black candidate with ties to Louis Farrakhan could expect questions about his faith in the existence of the mad scientist Yakub, creator of the white race, or in the orbiting mother ship visited by the head of the Nation of Islam. What gives Romney an exemption?

Setting aside my, shall we say, slight skepticism that a hypothetical black would be called to answer such a line of questioning, Hitchens does have a point.

[EagleUSA]

And now we must find out where Mitt is hiding all his other wives....

[Still Thinking]

“Mitt the Mormon”? You mean “Willard the giant RAT”?

[ASA Vet]

Supernaturalist food fights are so much fun to watch.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Wait, who is Harry Reid, and what Church does he go to?

[LifeOrGoods?]

If you can show how Mitt's faith has been a detriment to his decision making abilities while he was governor of Massachusetts or how Mitt is any less of a conservative because he is a Mormon, please do; because I find the fact that he is a Mormon entirely irrelevant otherwise.

Please grow up.

[twigs]

I like Hitchens, but he has no credibility whatsoever whenever he gets near a religious subject. I’m not a Romney fan for a number of reasons, even partly (but only a small part) because of his religion, but I see nothing he has to answer for in his ancestry and their choices.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

I think he plays piano at a Searchlight NV House of Ill Repute.

[trisham]

Not only can he decline to answer questions about these beliefs, he can also reap additional benefit from complaining that people keep asking him about them.

*****************

His supporters follow in his footsteps.

[agere_contra]

The mad cult invented by the convicted fraud Joseph Smith has been infinitely better for the human race than the crazed paedophile murder cult I don’t even have to name.

I know that’s not saying much, but its true. Mormonism doesn’t breed suicide bombers. Hitchens should pick on Romney’s socialist tendencies, not his rather inoffensive religion.

[Mr. Mojo]

"...part of the dynastic leadership of the mad cult invented by the convicted fraud Joseph Smith."

This coming from a guy (Hitchens) who thinks all organized religions are cults.

[ejonesie22]

I could care less about Romney being a Mormon, bully for him I say...

Now the fact that on his best day he is a moderate RINO...

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

$50 copay for the planned murder of the most helpless, some morals.

[Greg F]

Mormons tend to live moral lives with high moral standards and family values.

Remembering the Wives of Joseph Smith: Emma Hale, Fanny Alger, Lucinda Morgan Harris, Louisa Beaman, Zina Huntington Jacobs, Presendia Huntington Buell, Agnes Coolbrith, Sylvia Sessions Lyon, Mary Rollins Lightner, Patty Bartlett Sessions, Marinda Johnson Hyde, Elizabeth Davis Durfee, Sarah Kingsley Cleveland, Delcena Johnson, Eliza R. Snow, Sarah Ann Whitney, Martha McBride Knight, Ruth Vose Sayers, Flora Ann Woodworth, Emily Dow Partridge, Eliza Maria Partridge, Almera Johnson, Lucy Walker, Sarah Lawrence, Maria Lawrence, Helen Mar Kimball, Hanna Ells, Elvira Cowles Holmes, Rhoda Richards, Desdemona Fullmer, Olive Frost, Melissa Lott, Nancy Winchester, Fanny Young.

* 11 had living husbands at the time of marriage to Joseph Smith

[Colofornian]

And now we must find out where Mitt is hiding all his other wives....

Mormons are unique in the following consideration:

Mormon couple marry. Wife #1 is "sealed" to husband in temple for eternity. Wife #1 dies.

Mormon male remarries. Wife #2 is "sealed" to husband in temple for eternity. Wife #2 dies.

Mormon male remarries again. Wife #3 is "sealed" to husband in temple for eternity. Husband dies. Wife #3 dies.

Question: Where is this Mormon male "hiding all his other wives?"

Why, according to the Mormon belief system, if this Mormon male becomes worthy of godhood, then they are all "tucked away" on his own planet in the "celestial kingdom" where he will have all 3 wives as a polygamous god who has celestial sex with his wives, who will continue to bear him children (only they, unlike him and his wives, will be bodyless "spirit" children).