Mormons on Cusp of New Powerful Era

The Hill ^ | July 23, 2012 | Cameron Joseph

[greyfoxx39]

Next year could be a banner one for Mormons in the nation’s capital, with their numbers and influence likely to grow whether or not Mitt Romney is elected president.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) could raise the number of Mormons in the upper chamber to seven, should he and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) win in November.

Depending on who controls the Senate, it will have either have a Mormon Senate majority leader in Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or a Mormon president pro tempore and Finance Committee Chairman in Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

And if Romney wins the White House, not only will the United States have its first Mormon president but a number of prominent Mormon Republicans might be selected for plum administration positions.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, especially in a Republican administration, to see members of my faith well represented,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a rising Tea Party star who is Mormon, told The Hill.

“I don’t think that Mormons will be necessarily any more or any less represented in a Romney administration than they would in others…. But sometimes people tend to hire other people that they know, that they’ve worked with in the past.”

There are currently 14 Mormons in Congress: Sens. Reid, Hatch, Heller, Lee, Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and Reps. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), Wally Herger (R-Calif.), Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).

Those numbers are likely to grow some in the fall.

Flake, who traveled with Romney during the Iowa caucuses, is the frontrunner in both his primary and general election, though another Mormon, businessman Wil Cardon (R), is giving him headaches in the primary. Heller is locked in a tight race with Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.).

Flake’s old House seat will be filled by a Mormon, either former Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) or former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams (R). Chris Stewart, a Mormon Republican, is considered a lock for a newly-created House seat in Utah. Mia Love, the African-American mayor of a small Utah town and a highly touted recruit running against Matheson, is also Mormon.

On top of that, if Romney wins the presidency there are a number of Mormon Republicans who are in line to gain political power.

Chief among them is former Utah governor and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt (R), a close Romney ally who has been tapped to head Romney’s transition team. He has been mentioned as a possible White House chief of staff.

A number of prominent Mormons have been major Romney donors — the types of people who often wind up getting offered ambassadorships.

These include Bill Marriott, a longtime family friend of Romney’s, and Kevin Rollins, a former partner of Romney’s at Bain & Company. JetBlue founder David Neeleman and Credit Suisse banking division CEO Eric Varvel, both Mormons, are on Romney’s finance team.

“A lot of these folks are very dear friends of his — they’ve known each other for decades now,” Hatch said. “I know every one of them and I don’t know of one of them that wants anything from their donations.”

But Hatch, who was an early Romney backer in 2008 and received Romney’s support in his contested Senate primary this year, said there was a natural tendency for anyone to bring along people they know and trust.

“Let’s face it, you do tend to want to bring some people with you that you know very well, that’s just a natural thing. I don’t care who it is, people all feel the same way,” Sen. Hatch said.

“Should Romney win and bring some of his people into the government, there will be a lot of people who are devout Mormons in positions of power,” said Paul Hatch, a longtime Republican strategist who grew up Mormon in Utah.

“As far as ambassadorships, Romney really does have a very strong donor base among Mormons that he’s cultivated since he ran in 1994 against Ted Kennedy for Senate.”

President Obama has appointed Mormons to serve in his administration, including former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R), who served as his ambassador to China. He also tapped Larry Echo Hawk, a former assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Sen. Mike Lee noted that President Reagan named a number of Mormons to top positions, including Lee’s father, Rex, who was Reagan’s first solicitor general.

“While he was there he happened to hire one or two people who happened to be members of the Mormon faith, but that was not a conscious decision of ‘I’ve got to get more Mormons here,’ ” he said.

One of them was Terry Crapo, the brother of Sen. Crapo, who Rex Lee picked to be his deputy but died of leukemia before he could take the job.

“They had gone to [Brigham Young University] together,” Sen. Lee said. “It wasn’t about Mormonism — he was just one of the people he knew, an exceptionally bright lawyer.”

Paul Hatch, who ran Leavitt’s gubernatorial campaign and is now a consultant for Love’s campaign, said that devout Mormons tended to spend more time involved in church activities than those in other religions. He cited the church’s policy of having lay clergymen rather than full-time ministers as a reason.

“For a lot of people the Mormon Church becomes the center of their life. It’s more than going to Temple on Saturday or Mass on Sunday for an hour. People’s social circles are centered on their religious experience, particularly in Utah,” Paul Hatch said.

While Romney had a highly active life outside the church, he had also been heavily involved in its operations in Massachusetts, he added.

“Mormons are often who Mormons know — that’s who they’ve worked with, who they’ve built trust with, and the natural result is they’d bring in some of those people as staffers and assistants.”

[pgkdan]

LOL! Is that supposed to impress me! Should I be afraid? Grow the hell up.

[colorcountry]

I can tell.

[gortklattu]

It’s really sad to see this dialogue on Free Republic. The hatred that some people have for Mormons shows why the liberals have sound reason to fear the Right Wing religious cult.

I wonder if some of these hate-filled posters are actually liberals inflaming the dialogue; maybe their satanists. I’m serious. What patriot could stand for anything that helps Obama?

Pride is elevated before a fall. I’m seeing way too much pride here.

[alicewonders]

This is an amazing thing to watch, isn’t it? Some people are so focused on the smaller picture that they can’t see the bigger picture.

They’re giving it their all - guarding one side of the fortress - while they’re completely ignoring the enemy climbing over the other side. At some point, they’ll turn around and be face-to-face with the invaders...who will just behead them.

It’s hard to fight back without a head.

[SZonian]

"I wonder if some of these hate-filled posters are actually liberals inflaming the dialogue; maybe their satanists. I’m serious."

If you're so "serious", then why don't you grow a pair and ask them instead of the stealth slander enjoined?

[Graybeard58]

LOL! Is that supposed to impress me! Should I be afraid? Grow the hell up.

No, it's to show how very ignorant you are but you're doing a fine job of it yourself in your own cowardly manner.

[greyfoxx39]

Notice that NONE of these defenders if mormonism have any factual rebuttal to what is posted here...all they can do is go after the messenger.

They'd better get used to seeing articles like this in the MSM...the media will be bringing up ALL the nasty history of mormonism, especially the racism. Stupidest thing I've ever seen, running a mormon against a black man!

Let's give them some more reason to rant and rave...post your favorite mormonisms...mine is the baptism of the Founding Fathers!

Source: Benson, Ezra Taft, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988. 602 - 604.

Those who say that in this country one's religion should be relegated to his private life alone and never be allowed to "intrude" on his public activities should study the Founding Fathers. This nation has a spiritual foundation. Its wellsprings are themselves religious. Its life is deeply rooted in faith.

When I became President of the Twelve and Spencer W. Kimball became President of the Church, we met, just the two of us, every week after our Thursday meetings in the temple, just to be sure that things were properly coordinated between the Twelve and the First Presidency. After one of those first meetings, we talked about the many sacred documents in some of the older temples. St. George was mentioned in particular because St. George is our oldest temple in Utah. I had a stake conference down there about that time, and it was agreed that I would go into the archives -- the walk-in vault -- of that great temple and review the sacred documents that were there.

We were planning for the remodeling and renovating of the St. George Temple and thought that the records might possibly be moved to Salt Lake for safekeeping. And there in the St. George Temple I saw what I had always hoped and prayed that someday I would see. Ever since I returned as a humble missionary and first learned that the Founding Fathers had appeared in that temple, I wanted to see the record. And I saw the record. They did appear to Wilford Woodruff twice and asked why the work hadn't been done for them. They had founded this country and the Constitution of this land, and they had been true to those principles. Later the work was done for them.

In the archives of the temple, I saw in a book, in bold handwriting, the names of the Founding Fathers and others, including Columbus and other great Americans, for whom the work had been done in the house of the Lord. This is all one great program on both sides of the veil. We are fortunate to be engaged in it on this side of the veil. I think the Lord expects us to take an active part in preserving the Constitution and our freedom.

The Founding Fathers of this nation, those great men, appeared within those sacred walls of the St. George Temple and had their vicarious work done for them. President Wilford Woodruff spoke of it in these words: "Before I left St. George, the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, `You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it, but we remained true to it and were faithful to God.'"

After he became President of the Church, President Wilford Woodruff declared that "those men who laid the foundation of this American government were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits [and] were inspired of the Lord."

The temple work for the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence and other Founding Fathers has been done. All these appeared to Wilford Woodruff when he was president of the St. George Temple. President George Washington was ordained a high priest at that time. You will also be interested to know that, according to Wilford Woodruff's journal, John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, and Christopher Columbus were also ordained high priests at that time. When one casts doubt about the character of these noble sons of God, I believe he or she will have to answer to the God of heaven for it. Yes, with Lincoln I say: "To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is . . . impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name and in its deathless splendor, leave it shining on."

Painting commerorating Founding Fathers appearance at LDS Church News

[T. P. Pole]

Exposure of mormonism has been going since before 2002, some just didn't notice.

And it will continue long after Romney is gone. I think I commented to the before and after in my post. Romney is just the trigger for more of it at the moment, which confuses those that don't understand this "exposure" and makes them think it is an attack on Romney (who deserves all the attack a wishy-washy seemingly-left-of-center deserves to get). But for some of you Romney is just the vehicle. Mormonism is the target.

It is not our eternal soul that is at issue it is the soul of those who follow mormonism.

Correction appreciated. Although I suspect if you look closely at it, you also feel it is a mandate that you do so, and that you come under some condemnation if you do not. So maybe a bit of both.

My current beef is with the temperature and tenor of the debate in recent times. It has taken the tone of a screaming match sometimes. I don't think that does either side any favors.

[Utah Binger]

Hopkinson must certainly have had a Mormon moment in his mind when he made this piece, however judging from his inventory of sold paintings he was way below average.

[Tennessee Nana]

Will someone please explain why having a Mormon, any Mormon, as president is worse then having Obama for another four years?
___________________________________________________

If you are so obsessed about havinhg a mormon president will you please explain why you no longer want the mormon president you already have ???

Obama is a mormon...

Dont get mad at me ...

Dead dunking is not my idea...

I’m not a mormon...

I’m a blood bought Bible believing born again Christian...

If you think all religions are equal and worthy of consideration and respect then you wont be upset to learn that in Mormonism there is no doctrine on undunking a dead dunked dead person...

When the mormons dead dunked sworn lifetime and died as a content atheist Stanley Ann Dunham into mormonism in June 2008, temple married her to her lover Barak Obama Sr as a 2nd wife, gave her every endowment available to mormons, ..making her equal to Joey Smith...and SEALED her to her children ,aking Barak Obama Junior A TEMPLE WORTHY MORMON equal to Willard Mitt Romney, it was for all time IRREVERSABLE...

So ya have ya Mormon president...

For better or worse...

ENJOY !!!

[greyfoxx39]

My current beef is with the temperature and tenor of the debate in recent times. It has taken the tone of a screaming match sometimes. I don't think that does either side any favors.

My current beef is with the posters that are ignorant of mormon doctrine and practices who jump on threads to post "bigot" and "hater" just because Romney is a mormon and they favor him.

There also seems to be a tendency of several to try and highjack the thread, none of whom will ever post a reasoned rebuttal but will try and show how bad Obama is.

Frankly though, T.P. you are correct in this.."And it will continue long after Romney is gone."

When the 52,000 mormon missionaries stop knocking on the doors of Christians to proclaim there has been a "Restoration" of the Gospel...(BTW, note how Beck and Romney use the "restore" theme) and when these missionaries stop trying to convince Christians that the Christian faith is bogus, then I personally might consider stopping my efforts on FR. However, I don't expect that to ever happen.

[fishtank]

Necromancy = talking to the dead = Witchcraft = no mistake Sauron's name was "The Necromancer of Dol Guldur"

To the lds: you need to repent.

[dragonblustar]

Might as well give the Mormons a shot.

Yeah, choosing between the lesser of two evils is still evil. This country is toast thanks to the GOPe.

[greyfoxx39]

Good post, Fishtank!

[fishtank]

Wow.

That is truly awful.

Sick.

Oh, I looked it up .... “Ringmasters” is the “CTR” ring creator...

[RaisingCain]

“You have a different point of view than I do - but I have prayed unceasingly for guidance about this & I am convinced that GOD does not want us to stand back and let Obama win(who I believe - if he is not the anti-christ - is a minion of the anti-christ and Satan himself).”

---

Here is the biblical definition of anti-Christ.

1Jn_2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

IOW, Obama and Mittens are both anti-Christs.

[RaisingCain]

“Will someone please explain why having a Mormon, any Mormon, as president is worse then having Obama for another four years?”

---

Because not everyone is a good choice. Mittens is a pathological liar and a usurper of our cause, just like Obama and the LDS. It’s just a coincidence that he happens to represent his religion so well.

Instead of chanting for ‘ABO,’ conservatives should have thought about what would happen if they got “ANYBODY but Obama.” We are now stuck with either Obozo or another liar and socialist with an (R) by his name.

[RaisingCain]

“I wonder if some of these hate-filled posters are actually liberals inflaming the dialogue; maybe their satanists. I’m serious. What patriot could stand for anything that helps Obama?

Pride is elevated before a fall. I’m seeing way too much pride here.”

---

You short sighted “patriots” are willing to embrace another socialist to replace the one we have, purely because he has a (D) by his name. What you call patriotism, I call utter stupidity. If a patriot is supposed to be a slave for the political party, you can count me out of that.

As for Mormonism, and calling people “satanists,” you must not be a Christian. If you understood the tenets of Mormonism and their haughty claims, you’d be just as disgusted by it as anyone else. It is a fraudulent religion that no intelligent person can possibly accept.

I’ll agree with the Apostle Paul on this one over you:

Gal 1:6-9 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: (7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

[Elsie]

...then, I'll begin to be "concerned."

AWwww...

You've left OUT the GOOD parts!!!

---

 

Acts 17:18-19
 18.  A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
 19.  Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

 

Acts 18:11
    So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

 

 

 

 

 

Romans 15:4
 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

 

 

Romans 16:17
   I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

 

 

1 Corinthians 4:17
   For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

 

 

1 Corinthians 11:2
 2.  I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,  just as I passed them on to you.

 

 

Ephesians 4:14-15
 14.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
 15.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

 

 

2 Thessalonians 2:15
   So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings  we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

 

 

2 Thessalonians 3:6
  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching  you received from us.

 

 

1 Timothy 1:3-4
 3.  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
 4.  nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.

 

 

1 Timothy 1:7
  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

 

 

1 Timothy 2:7
   And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:1-2
 1.  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
 2.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:6
   If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:11
  Command and teach these things.

 

 

1 Timothy 6:3-5
 3.  If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,
 4.  he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 
 5.  and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

 

 

2 Timothy 1:13
  What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

 

 

 2 Timothy 2:15-17
 15.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
 16.  Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
 17.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene.

 

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17
 16.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
 17.  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

 

 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  3.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
  4.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

 

 

Titus 1:11
   They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

 

 

Titus 2:1
  You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.

 

 

Titus 2:15
  These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

 

 

 Hebrews 13:9
 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.

 

 

 2 Peter 2:1-3
 1.  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
 2.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
 3.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

 

 

2 John 1:10
  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.

[Elsie]

 

Acts 17:18-19
 18.  A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods."

They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.