New Romney Ad Embraces Mormonism

The Daily Beast.com ^ | Jan. 7, 2012

[Colofornian]

Mitt Romney has realized that he can't avoid the issue of his Mormon religion, so he might as well embrace it. The Republican frontrunner's new South Carolina mail campaign emphasizes Romney's deep religious beliefs and 42-year marriage, in an effort to win over 60 percent of the state's Republicans that are evangelical or "born again" Christians. The ad, however, doesn't dive head first into touting Romney's Mormonism, but instead refers heavily to his "faith" and how it will influence him as president, also assuring South Carolina voters that the White House contender is "pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-family."

[svcw]

Cured of you sins?
No cure, we are FORGIVEN of our sins, it is called Grace.
There is no bigotry towards mormons on FR, there is however exposing of mormonISM.
As a claimed Catholic you might do well to find out what mormonISM teaches about Catholicism before you defend it.
As a claimed Catholic you should understand Grace and forgiveness.

[RIghtwardHo]

lol Yeah, you said it better than I.

[reaganaut]

I just don’t like conceited bigots,

- - - - -
You mean like yourself?

[reaganaut]

Good points. A counter however to the rank and file going out on a limb rather than it coming directly from LDS inc is I was very clearly, very specifically told while I was training for my LDS mission to deny, lie, twist, dissemble or confuse the situation when certain LDS doctrines, history and teachings came up.

Fishtank is right, LDS is a factory for lying.

[reaganaut]

Notice he didn’t claim to be Catholic. He said he went to a Catholic church and then said he didn’t know where he would be next year.

Odd, don’t you think? Perhaps his wife is Catholic.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Mormon Cult Deception Method:

1. Convince you of their sincerity
2. Trick you into expressing faith first in the Book of Mormon by praying and asking for a sign (this takes you off the objective ground of Biblical truth and puts you into subjective ground of feelings - where you will have to forever remain to stay in mormonism.)
3. Convince you that the Bible has errors in its translation - though they won't tell you what is an error...
4. Trick you into expressing faith in the prophet Joseph Smith - totally based on feelings and not facts, evidence or logic
5. Trick you into expressing faith in the Restoration of the “Gospel” - totally made up need and a contradiction of the Bible's promises to the Church (see Galatians Chapter one)
6. Get you all the way into the baptismal font...

..........................................................

7. ONLY THEN... you will learn the true DEVIANT doctrines of
Mormonism. At this point, it is too late! You only have
feelings as a basis of truth! You will believe anything.

..........................................................

Such as the following “truths” taught in mormonism ...

The 3 Mormon Earth gods:

... The mormon “Heavenly Father” used to be a man, but became God. You will have to swallow that God could sin!
... The Jesus of mormonism was a created spirit being who became one of the three mormon earth gods
... The mormonic Holy Spirit is also a created spirit being. He doesn’t have a body because he is on probation! Yes, he was naughty. He sinned.

... In short, the mormon earth gods are sinful, created spirit beings. But there is more...

The FOURTH Mormon Earth God (plus 5th, 6th, 7th, etc.):

...The Mormon Heavenly Mother God

Yes, sadly, believe it or not, it turns out there is a mormonic “Mother God”

... SHE and the father god have celestial sex and produce offspring continually
... SHE is eternally pregnant
... SHE pops out spirit children who will some day get a human body on earth
... SHE is probably not alone. Mormons still believe and teach eternal polygamy.

The Mormonic Pantheon of gods:

... There are BILLIONS or TRILLIONS of mormon gods on other planets.
Hindus have approximately 350 million gods. They are
pikers compared to mormons.

How do they get so many gods? They manufacture more all the
time:

... Any mormon male can be a God with his own planet, plural mother goddesses, and spirit kids to worship him.
... Becoming a mormon god means lots of works to attain the god-level. This is why you see mormons working so hard. Now you know why.
... Speaking of levels, heaven has three levels.
... All the trillions of gods in the mormon pantheon get together regularly over spring break in Kolob Beach to “counsel together”

What will your life be like as a mormon?

... you have to give 10%?
... You will give up the total sufficiency of the death of Christ for your sins and rely on your own "worthiness" - which the Bible calls "filthy rags"
... your bishop is there to ask if you gave your FULL tithe
... your bishop is also there to ask many probing, personal, embarrassing questions
... Did we mention you will
... you will have to complete Masonic Temple rituals that involve strangers touching your private parts
... you will forever have to base your life on the false foundation of feelings that contradict the clear teaching of the Bible
... You will have to wear magic underwear 24/7/365

Once inside the Morg, you have to accept it ALL to move up the chain towards Godhood. ... It is nothing more than a Celestial Amway Organization

THAT IS THE REAL MORMON/LDS

[MHGinTN]

So Milt touts his religious convictions, then tells lies regarding his ‘pro-life’ goddiness. MormonISM is from the father of lies, so we should not flinch when a prominent LDS inc adherent lies about his ‘great faithfulness’. Milt is a disgusting human being. Except for his haughty facial revealing countenance, he lies as well as barry soetoro!

[Zakeet]

We should put people at Romney town halls to ask if he wears [magic] underwear

We should not ... but they will for sure.

As a Temple Mormon, Willard is expected to don the garb. Coincidentally, Willard is almost always dressed in long sleeved shirts buttoned to the top except for the collar. Some believe that is a dead giveaway.

God had intercourse with Mary (do they really believe this???)

Many Mormons will deny this was ever the case, but this doctrine was once clearly taught by Brigham Young and other LDS authorities as you can see HERE and HERE.

[Zakeet]

Notice he didn’t claim to be Catholic. He said he went to a Catholic church and then said he didn’t know where he would be next year.

Usually, I try to respond when challenged. In this case, however, the dude was so far off that I suspected a Mormon respondent trying the old tactic of trying to split Catholics and Protestants by starting an argument over doctrinal differences.

This is usually a sign of desperation. If you can't reply with facts, then: change the subject of the debate, call the opponent a name, or dismiss the entire discussion with a meaningless term such as "anti-Mormon."

[Zakeet]

You should have been included on the list to the previous posting.

Sorry for the inadvertent omission.

[Godzilla]

I just don’t like conceited bigots, be they Baptists, Catholics, Mormans or Islamists.

You must find it hard to live with yourself then.

[ansel12]

Respectfully, you're a generation off. Two of Mitt Romney's great-great grandfathers (Miles Park Romney and Helaman Pratt) practiced polygamy, but his grandfathers weren't polygamists.

You are right, I had accepted it after seeing it on a few threads and had not verified it myself.

Great grandfather Miles Park Romney had fives wives and 31 children?

[Not gonna take it anymore]

“We have no revelation on abortion”

Didn’t you assume Mormons were pro-life? That’s certainly the image their church attempts to broadcast, and most Mormons, in fact, mistakenly believe their church opposes abortion and regards it as an objective evil. But not so.

Indeed, the Mormon church accepts abortion for a number of reasons. The Church Handbook of Instructions, approved in September, 1998, states that abortion may be performed in the following circumstances: pregnancy resulting from rape or incest; a competent physician says the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy; or a competent physician says that the “fetus” has severe defects that will not allow the “baby” to survive beyond birth. In any case, the persons responsible must first consult with their church leader and receive God’s approval in prayer (156).

This same Handbook, the official policies of the Mormon church to be followed by all local church leaders throughout the world, also claims: “It is a fact that a child has life before birth. However, there is no direct revelation on when the spirit enters the body” (156). Previous teachings by former Mormon prophets referred to the unborn child as “a child,” “a baby,” a “human being,” and decried abortion as “killing,” “a grievous sin,” “a damnable practice.” Spencer W. Kimball, the prophet who died in 1985, taught, “We have repeatedly affirmed the position of the church in unalterably opposing all abortions” (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 189).

It appears that this “unalterable” position, constantly “affirmed,” is just another in a series of doctrinal and moral teachings that Mormons have reworded, reworked, rescinded, or reneged—though never officially renounced. Such is the quality of the Mormon belief in “continuing revelation.” Don’t expect dogmatic or ethical consistency. Rather, look for expediency and conformity with “the times.”

A further statement in the Handbook says: “The church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals or public demonstrations concerning abortion (156).” While the Mormon prophet claims to speak the mind and will of God, he can neither figure out when the unborn child becomes human or if it is God’s desire that we protect the unborn unconditionally.

Your Mormon friend will offer the excuse that his church leaves many decisions to the free agency (free will) of its people, and that abortion is one such concern. You might point out the irony in the fact that the Mormon church has no hesitation or uncertainty in making the following declarations:

1. “The church opposes gambling in any form” (including lotteries). Members are also urged to oppose legislation and government sponsorship of any form of gambling (Handbook, 150).

2. The church also opposes [correctly, of course] pornography in any form (158).

3. Church members are to reject all efforts to legally authorize or support same-sex unions (158).

There is no need for a member to pray for divine guidance or seek church approval for such activities, for there will be no divine or ecclesiastical finessing of morality to permit even an occasional bingo game. A prayerful game of poker, unrepented, will bar the member from the temple and ultimate salvation; a prayerful, by-the-book abortion, unrepented, won’t.

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/mormon-stumpers

[ansel12]

At least as a Catholic you would know better than to try and claim that Mormons are Christians, the Catholic church is clear that they are not.

This is from Catholic Answers and is part of their list of non-Christian religions.

[ansel12]

Sorry, I was wrong on him having 3 grandmothers, look at posts 33 and 52, it was the great grandads.

[reaganaut]

Thank you for posting that. People assume Mormons are pro-life because they have a lot of kids and generally oppose birth control for that reason.

However, rather than having kids because they believe life begins at conception and being genuinely pro-life, it is because their theology teaches that their job is to provide bodies for God’s spirit children who are waiting to come down and ‘work out their Salvation’. These spirit children cannot progress to godhood if they don’t have bodies and the best of them should be born to Mormon families where they grow up in ‘the Church’ and know the right doctrines rather than risk them not converting.

Officially the LDS have no statement about when the spirit enters the body, but most of my LDS friends believe it is at birth or shortly before, so abortion isn’t THAT big of a deal, because the spirit child will get another chance to get a body.

[Colofornian]

The whole argument is moot. Romney is as Mormon as Pelosi is Catholic. He takes his religion as seriously as he takes his conservatism...

(Hey, it's OK to be ignorant on certain subjects...I'm plenty of that on a LOT of topics...but when you are one on a given topic -- like you are on this one -- may I suggest you reconsider exporting that)

To expound on what Ansel12 told you, Mitt held Lds offices of Missionary, Missionary Zone Leader, assistant to…Mission President, Bishop and Stake President…

As one Lds bishop's daughter (Tricia Erickson) said, "…You cannot attain the 'calling'…to serve as Mormon Bishop or Stake President unless you are a thoroughly entrenched and obedient Mormon…"

Oh, and if you REALLY think if Mitt's Mormondom is at the same level as Pelosi's Catholicism, please...just tell us what convent she served in...what Mother Teresa missionary-like role she served in...etc. etc. etc.

Oh, you can't?

Your ignorance slip is showing.

You do that too much around here and your credibility wardrobe will be deemed highly lacking.

[Elsie]

The anti-Mormon bigotry on Free Republic is hilarious, yet sad.

Here: Have some MORE sad laughs!!!

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But do NOT call it bigotry...

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Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).

Joseph Smith: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).

 

 

 

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

 

 

 

Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).

 

 

 

Orson Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses

, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses , 18:172).

 

 

President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses , 10:127).

 

 

 

James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).

 

 

 

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).

 

 

 

More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).

 

 

 

President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).

 

 

President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 2, p.196).

[Elsie]

It was when I learned that the LDS says very ugly things about the Catholic Church that I began to dig into the BoM and other sacred Mormon documents.

[Elsie]

Holy smoke how can anyone believe all that fantastical poppycock!?

They haven't dug... yet.