Letter claims LDS conspiracy

With primaries near, mailer says Romney part of a Mormon plot to oust the Constitution

CLINTON, Iowa - Another anti-Mormon mailer, this one alleging Mitt Romney is part of an LDS Church conspiracy to topple the government, has hit voters' mailboxes in Florida, continuing a string of attacks on the presidential candidate's faith just days before the first primary contest.

The rambling letter, from an organization calling itself the Freedom Defense Advocates, alleges Romney is running for president at the bidding of church leaders and that Mormons are a violent people who want to overthrow the U.S. Constitution.

"Help me sound the alarm that one day the Mormon Church plans to replace the Constitution with a Mormon theocracy," reads the letter, signed by John Boyd.

"Mitt Romney's political success indicates this may be sooner than most have thought. Do you really want a president who believes he will someday become a god? Is that who you want occupying the most powerful position in the world . . . the United States presidency?"

It was unclear Monday how many voters received the mailer, though the group said it was "widespread." The Romney camp said it had only heard of one recipient.

Boyd says he runs a political action committee, though no group by that name has registered with the Federal Elections Commission or the Internal Revenue Service.

The letter - which is also posted on the group's Web site and makes a plea for donations - is one of a string of attacks on Romney's Mormon faith in the past few months in the states with the earliest presidential primary balloting.

South Carolina voters received a Christmas card raising the specter of plural marriage, and phone calls critical of the Mormon faith were reported in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Romney traveling press secretary Eric Fehrnstrom said the letter was a ''contemptible piece of literature and whoever is behind it ought to be ashamed of themselves.''

But Fehrnstrom said the campaign is not going to ask for an investigation and is focused on winning the early Iowa caucus and other primaries and not on the dirty politics going on under the radar.

"Is it a concern? Sure. Whenever people engage in this type of gutterball politics, that is a concern," Fehrnstrom said. "But the vast majority of people that we meet, either in South Carolina or other parts of the country, they don't look so much to what church Mitt Romney belongs to, but they look at the values that he shares with them. Mitt Romney's values are as American as you can find."

Boyd, from Lynchburg, Va., declined to say who belongs to his group or how many mailers went out and to where, but he said it is ''widespread all over the U.S.'' and in the thousands.

He said he shipped out the letters "because Romney is a member of the Mormon cult" and people need to know his plans so he can be stopped. He accuses the campaign of a direct connection to the LDS Church, but offered no direct evidence.

"We just want to alert the voters in these early states, in these key states, the truth of what the church is," Boyd said. Asked what he thought of the Romney campaign's response, he said, "It's not despicable. [But] if telling the truth is despicable, I guess we're guilty."

The St. Petersburg Times first reported on the letter on Monday and noted that the group's Web site was registered Dec. 6 - the day that Romney gave a much heralded speech in College Station, Texas, on the role his faith would play if he were elected.

Now, my understanding is that Mormons have a great reverence for America, as it is the "Zion" of their religion, and some even consider the U.S. Constitution to be a divinely inspired document. So that bit seems unlikely.

As for Mormons being involved in a conspiracy to take over the world, well, DUH!, where have these guys been? Everyone knows that Mormons are conspiring to take over the world.

The question is... whose side will be you on when the revolution comes?

The smart thing to do is to cut your losses and ally with Romney now, before it's too late.

WWhat a hit peice. Clintonesque!

Here are references to our God-given Constitution found right in Mormons scriptures:

D&C 109
54 Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever.
55 Remember the kings, the princes, the nobles, and the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the churches, all the poor, the needy, and afflicted ones of the earth;

D&C 101:
77 According to the laws and Constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;
78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
80 And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.

D&C 98:
5 And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.
6 Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land;
7 And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil.
8 I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free.
9 Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn.
10 Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.

D&C 134:

1 WE believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.

2 We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.

3 We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same; and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice should be sought for and upheld by the voice of the people if a republic, or the will of the sovereign.

4 We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.

Further, in our own articles of faith, it's clear...

Articles of Faith 11 and 12.

11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

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