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Posted on 07/26/2007 5:03:33 PM PDT by tantiboh
Democratic political consultant Mark Mellman has a very good piece up today at The Hill on the baffling and illegitimate opposition among voters to Mitt Romney due to his religion. I liked his closing paragraphs:
In July of 1958, 24 percent of respondents told Gallup they would not vote for a Catholic for president, almost identical to Gallups reading on Mormons today. Two years later, John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic to assume the oath of office. Within eight months, the number refusing to vote for a Catholic was cut almost in half.
[snip]
Mellman also discusses an interesting poll he helped construct, in which the pollsters asked half of their respondents whether they would support a candidate with certain characteristics, and asked the other half about another candidate with the exact same characteristics, with one difference. The first candidate was Baptist, the second candidate was Mormon. The Baptist had a huge advantage over the Mormon candidate, by about 20 points.
[snip]
However, more recent polls have attempted to fix the anonymity problem. A recent Time Magazine poll (read the original report here), for example, got to the heart of the question by asking respondents if they are less likely to vote for Mitt Romney specifically because he is a Mormon. The result is not as bad as some reporting on the poll has suggested. For example, while 30% of Republicans say they are less likely to vote for Romney because of his religion, fully 15% of other Republicans say that characteristic makes them more likely to vote for him. And while many have reported the finding that 23% of Republicans are worried by Romneys Mormonism, the more important (but less-reported) number is that 73% say they hold no such reservations...
(Excerpt) Read more at romneyexperience.com ...
A shorter and more concise rebuttal. I’ll even post a link so you can read more if you are interested.
http://www.goodmorals.org/mormons/index.asp?poetlist=ChapterFour.htm
Origins of the Book of Mormon
One item I wished to examine at Princeton was a manuscript by one Solomon Spaulding entitled The Manuscript Found. During the early days of the Mormon church, a number of individuals had claimed that the Book of Mormon was a revised plagiarism of a mock-biblical novel written by a Dartmouth-educated former minister Solomon Spaulding. Spaulding died in 1816 and, the story goes, his novel was stolen or copied by the young minister Sidney Rigdon, who teamed up with Joseph Smith to found a new religion based upon this eloquent document. The Mormons exulted when a Spaulding MSS. came to light in the late nineteenth century and, to their eyes, had no relation to the Book of Mormon, therefore proving the Spaulding theory the baseless invention of anti-Mormons.
I wanted to judge for myself. Princeton had a copy of the MSS. on microfilm. After reading a few pages I knew two things. First, this was not the MSS. of the Book of Mormon. Second, the author of the Book of Mormon wrote this MSS. Characters, plot, structure, style, names and religious content all paralleled the Book of Mormon. As one Hardy boys mystery is similar to another, so Spaulding’s The Manuscript Found is similar to the Book of Mormon.
One of the devices Joseph Smith employed in “translating” the Book of Mormon hieroglyphics he found on the golden plates delivered to him by the angel Moroni was a peepstone. He placed the oracular rock in a hat, buried his face in the hat, and read the translation written on the peepstone. The peepstone was later preserved as a prophetic relic. According to David Whitmer, one of the three “witnesses” of the golden plates, “God gave to Brother Joseph the gift to see the sentences in English when he looked into the hat in which was placed the stone.” In Solomon Spaulding’s The Manuscript Found is the following passage: “Hamack then arose and in his hand he held a stone which he pronounced transparent. Through this he could view things present and things to come. Such was the clearness of his sight, when this transparent stone was placed before his eyes. He looked firmly and steadfastly on the stone and raised his prophetic voice.”
An original Book of Mormon manuscript from which the first edition was published in 1830 is still in existence. Mormon scholars have identified the changing handwriting in the manuscript with the various scribes Joseph Smith employed in the process of “translation.” One section, however, is still a mystery to Church historians and is attributed by them to “the unidentified scribe.” One researcher into the history of the Book of Mormon, having developed a great familiarity with Solomon Spaulding’s handwriting, saw a reproduction of the portion of the original Book of Mormon manuscript attributed to “the unidentified scribe” in a Mormon publication. “What is Spaulding’s handwriting doing here?” he exclaimed.
The many challenges doctrinal, historical and literary to Joseph Smith’s claims for the Book of Mormon wearied him as a cloud of gnats does an elephant. At the dedication of the Nauvoo, Illinois temple, he produced a copy of the original manuscript to place in the cornerstone. “I’ve had more than enough trouble with this thing,” one astonished onlooker heard him say.
Sorry, colorcountry, those facts are stubborn little things! Solomon Spaulding is the dumbest criticism around by far!
Dumb to those who haven’t eyes to see, nor ears to hear.
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum
You are kidding, right?
“Mormonism is strongly judaizing in nature, commanding temple worship and temple faith, not Faithing in Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Grace.”
That’s funny because for every problem I have had, I have been counciled to draw closer to Jesus. Discuss in prayer what to do.
And in terms of Temple worship, I enjoy a quiet place to reflect where everything about our theology is crammed into a condensed ritualistic ceremony which by the way is similiar to the elect of God have always done -— Be it the Early Christians or the Jews.
that very nice it is your right to the interpretation!
Is Russell Anderson a Mormon?
Because you want to read news that is not updated that is your desire not mine.
Sorry not interested!
I find a quiet place beside a stream, in my kitchen as I watch the sunrise, at an art museum, in the sactuary of a Cathedral (and I’m not Catholic), in my husbands arms.
I guess if I wanted to pay 10% of my income and give up coffee, I could dress in funny looking clothes adorned with sashes and apron, and watch men in funny looking baker’s caps perform ritualistic ceremonies - - uh huh, that would be a quiet place to reflect.
On second thought, I’ll just keep my stream, kitchen, Cathedral sanctuary, and my husbands loving arms. My 10% (more or less as I feel moved) will go to a needy cause. I can’t see paying money to an organization who is building a shopping Mall in Salt Lake City, so I can go watch a movie in a McTemple.
You have your faith,
I have mye faith
I don’t need to kid!
Likely.
But I guess you missed these money quotes:
From Henry W. Silver: “Based upon that examination, it is my conclusion that the handwriting of the twelve pages from I Nephi of the Book of Mormon (the unknown scribe) is definitely not the same as that of Solomon Spaulding.” (Brown 1984, 20)
From Howard C. Doudler: “As I stated in my report dated March 4, 1977 of some writing similarities and letter charateristics appeared both in the manuscript and the Book of Mormon. I now contribute these similarities to the writing style of that century. I have found writing and letter dis-similarities that are unexplainable and are not attributed to individual writing variations of the same writer. It is my conclusion the handwriting in the name of Solomon Spalding is NOT the author of the unidentified pages, listed as Q-1 thru Q-9 in this report of the Book of Mormon” (Brown 1984, 37)
Gerald Tanner, a Mormon critic also viewed the original documents and stated, “After looking carefully at the revelation [D&C 56], I became convinced that it was probably written by the same scribe who wrote the 12 contested pages in the Book of Mormon manuscript. Both manuscripts in turn differed from Spalding’s work in important features.”
That’s you right and go at it 100%! Like Brigham Young said the ultimate solution to all of mankind’s problem is that “For each man to mind his business.”
From my view, at the minimum, living healthy is Biblical, at the maximum, a health code is a sign as it says in Isaiah and D&C of “a peculiar people”. Also, God has endorsed ritual before, and in Revelation states that the temple of the Lord will be in full force before the coming of the Lord, I find much comfort in that.
Bottom line, the heart of my ritual is Jesus Christ, and the heart of my service is to love my fellow man.
~”Is the Pope worthy to enter the Temple?”~
If he can pass the temple recommend interview.
I would imagine it an interesting assignment being the bishop that interviews President Hinckley for his temple recommend each year...
How about Harry Reid’s interview?
"I guess your brand of Christian you don't need to be baptized and repent, and if the dirt of the world rubs off on you, you feel no need to clean it!
Don't play coy/dumb with me...
Your response above seemed fairly denigrating,...of which I'm becoming used to here. A back-handed way to claim superiority once again...
You know dang-well....Christians ARE very often water baptized as an outward "show" of faith, and also feel the need to repent often.
The LDS are always being accused in our good works which the Lord expects us to do
This is just another example of your supposed superiority....Do you not think others are accused. Heck, I've been accused right here.
It's hard and interestingly it's not....to understand you don't see that.
IMO, you are the near perfect example of a Mormon.
Exactly.
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