Posted on 01/17/2012 10:08:09 PM PST by ynotjjr
As Mitt Romney spends the next leg of his campaign courting evangelical voters in South Carolina, his Mormon faith is expected to re-emerge as a subject of serious scrutiny. But concerns won’t belong exclusively to theologically suspicious Baptists: a newly revealed episode from the candidate’s time as a lay leader in the LDS church could raise eyebrows among women’s advocates.
While serving as bishop of a Mormon congregation near Boston in the early 80’s, Romney once threatened to excommunicate a young single mother if she did not give her soon-to-be-born son up for adoption, according to a passage from a forthcoming book, “The Real Romney.” excerpted this week in Vanity Fair.
The anecdote, which Romney has disputed, sheds new light on a compelling part of the candidate’s religious life—one that serves, politically, as a double-edged sword. On one hand Romney’s time spent as a minister of his faith gave him the unique opportunity of serving low-income Boston neighborhoods, undercutting the narrative that he’s an out-of-touch millionaire. On the other, his role as a representative of the church sometimes put him in a position of standing up for politically unsavory teachings.
Peggie Hayes had converted to Mormonism as a teenage along with her family, and told the book’s authors, Boston Globe reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman, that for a long time she found comfort in the faith’s teachings. After returning to the congregation as a 23-year-old divorced single mother, she soon got pregnant with a second child. Knowing she was in need of financial assistance, the Romneys arranged for her to do odd jobs for members of the congregation.
“Mitt was really good to us,” Hayes told the authors. “He did a lot for us.”
But while Hayes considered Romney a friend, he was also her bishop—which meant it was his job to pass along sometimes-harsh church counsel. The tension between the two relationships came to the forefront one day when he came over to her apartment, and encouraged her to turn her son over to the church’s adoption agency when he was born. (The church’s position is that if a happy marriage between parents of a newborn seems unlikely, adoption is preferable to single parenting.)
Hayes was offended by the suggestion, and told Romney she would never give up her son. But, according to Hayes, Romney told her, “Well, this is what the church wants you to do, and if you don’t, then you could be excommunicated for failing to follow the leadership of the church.”
Though she was defiant, the authors write, “In that moment, she also felt intimidated. Here was Romney, who held great power as her church leader and was the head of a wealthy, prominent Belmont family, sitting in her gritty apartment making grave demands.”
Romney has already admitted he called Utah to decide
events in Massachusetts under his thumb.
Stakepresident Bishop Romney knows where the power
over his shapeshifting facade does lie.
Just like with McCain..as soon as Romney is the nominee..all kinds of things will come out and his religion will become a major major issue with the MSM. Every weird story about Mormons will be given a special 30 minutes.
In a way he is the Manchurian Candidate..nominated by the MSM so that they then can kill him off and keep their own man in power.
More crack from the media crack heads. Whats really wrong with Mitt wont come from them..
I'm confused, she was divorced and then became pregnant? What the hell did she expect would come of having one child and then another out of wedlock? Of course adoption makes sense. She was intimidated by the frankness and having to confront the situation on adult terms.
That’s why the msm makes an issue if anyone else makes an issue out of his Mormonism. It’s their baby when the time comes.
She had one child already. And divorced. She was foolish enough to engage in behavior that resulted in another pregnancy. Keeping the second child in her circumstance is a childish and selfish act, not in the newborn's best interest. As faith leader who had helped her considerably by her own admission, Romney expressed the adult viewpoint embraced by their church. She betrayed the Romney's kindness by getting herself pregnant again. If it doesn't go over well with "women" they have no business having children or casting votes because they lack the capacity for adult thought and are trapped in perpetual adolescence.
I don’t want some SOB so called bishop coming to MY house in his magic underwear and telling me that he and his “church” wants me to give up my baby. What kind of cult is that? I’d like to hear him explain that. Did he claim his mileage on that one? Let’s see his tax returns for the last 10 years.
I have a Mormon friend (since High School) who is going through something similar. She is divorced twice, 4 kids. Rather than have an abortion when she got pregnant out of wedlock (to cover up her sin), she decided to have the baby and keep it.
She is now being excommunicated by the Mormon church for her decision.
Excuse me, but NOBODY has the right to tell a woman to give her child up for adoption. It doesn’t matter if it is something her church wants or not. She got pregnant and didn’t kill it. Why doesn’t the Morman church support LIFE??? I am a Catholic and have heard many many people say how awful the church is in their views, but they would not kick someone out because the decided to keep their own child.
Yes, the woman made bad choices, but wants to own up to them and take care of her responsibilities. She didn’t ask for a handout, she asked for work to earn her way.
I can’t believe some of the comments some of you have made, it makes me sick.....
WTHe*L
She was 23, divorced with one child - then got pregnant.
She wanted to keep her child but was being pressured - in her home - by her leading spiritual leader - to give up her child or lose her church membership, the one thing that should have been there for her.
Give her advice, maybe. Discuss possibilities, yes. But to pressure her to give up her own child?
Believe it or not, mothers have b een able to bring up children alone. Maybe they couldn't give them as much, materially, but they could give them the love with that silver thread intact from mother to child - the kind of love NO ONE else can, if the mother truly loves the child.
Bottom line, in this case, none of us were there - none of know the woman, none of us have a right to judge HER.
Romney, on the other hand...
And do we know the story is even true? If so, did he go to her home alone? If so, that is strictly against church policy. If it's true and he did go alone - why?
For the LDS it is all about controling their membership. They will spout things like they believe in ‘free agency’ but in reality the LDS church keeps tight reign on their membership. This was just one more area of spiritual blackmail.
And the LDS are not nearly as pro-life as people think. Their own Church Handbook of Instructions says abortion is permitted as long as it is prayerfully considered (ie you have a ‘burning in your bosom’ that they believe is personal revelation telling you it is ok).
People assume they are pro-life because they have a lot of kids, but it is more of a reflection of their theology. The LDS believe that we were all ‘spirit children’ of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother - created through Celestial sex (even Jesus and Lucifer) and that we have to come to this earth and gain a body in order to ‘progress’ further and become Gods ourselves. They have no statement on when the soul enters the body and several LDS I know do not believe life begins at conception.
and that because they have the ‘true’ gospel and are members of the ONLY true church, it is their responsibility to have as many children in order to provide bodies for these spirit children and the best of them are born into Mormon households. Having children is a duty.
I can source all of this and see my tagline. I used to be Mormon.
wow. I listened to some Mormons call into a radio show last weeks, and they swore that they were just as Christian as mainstream Christian churches. Slide like anything but. Are they just outright lying, or decieved at lower levels?
Yup. That’s why the media — assisted by their operatives like Gloria Allred — had to build up and then smear Cain and Perry right quick. They were unknown quantities who might have posed a problem for Obama. Their ammo for Romney has been carefully assembled and is just waiting for the day after the convention.
It's a free country. Want to join my association, then follow the rules. You don't like the rules, then leave. Self centered views like yours belong with the occupy Wall Street crowd. No one is forcing you to be a member of hte "cult."
You need to work on your argument. That sh*t may fly in Massachusetts but I don’t think that will fly in Free America. Just guessing. I don’t hang around with the Wall Street crowd, I’ll just have to take your word for it.
Romney has already admitted he called Utah to decide
events in Massachusetts under his thumb.
___________________________________
details and source please
Just so we have it on record...
:)
Who was the father of the child? You’d think that might be important to know.
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