MSNBC is airing "Mitt Romney: The Making of a Candidate," a one-hour documentary featuring an exclusive one-on-one interview with the presidential candidate himself.
The program comes at a time when many media voices are calling on Gov. Romney to tell the story of his Mormonism with more candor. After remaining tight-lipped throughout the campaign, he now appears more willing to oblige, even by incorporating stories from his faith life into his presentation at the Republican National Convention.
As a Mormon, I am glad Romney will share a bit more of his Mormon story because his avoidance of the subject has given off the impression that Mormonism is something to be ashamed of.
I know Mitt Romney doesn't feel that way about his faith. Neither do I.
Still, the fact remains that many LDS people are ambivalent when it comes to talking about our religion with non-Mormons. Sometimes we proselytize; sometimes we circle the wagons defensively, a habit we've learned in response to the curiosity, ridicule and even antagonism that have been a fact of Mormon experience since the faith's founding in the 1830s. In response, non-Mormons often interpret our guardedness to mean that Mormons are being less than candid about our history and doctrine.
What's missing from the public conversation are more stories from the lives of everyday Mormons -- stories focused not on points of doctrine but on the human dimensions of living this demanding faith.
I've hungered for those stories too. Growing up in an observant Mormon household in Southern California, I was a voracious reader who fell asleep pointing a flashlight at a book under the covers. But I never encountered books about Mormon girls like me -- girls who inhabited a world of Book of Mormon stories, Utah vacations, interminable church meetings, bench-seated family vans and home-baked bread. I turned, instead, to the Little House on the Prairie books, silently imagining through their feisty and flawed heroine Laura Ingalls Wilder what life must have been like for my Mormon pioneer ancestors as they crossed the American plains.
As a tween-aged volunteer at the local public library, I discovered painfully tender puberty sagas like "Deenie" by Judy Blume. I even stumbled into experimental works of African-American literature like Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide and absorbed its stories of grown-woman heartbreaks with wide-eyed amazement. Books like these were quite a departure from the volumes of just-for-teenagers short stories I found at LDS Church-owned bookstores. Those Mormon stories always seemed to end with Sunday-School-perfect answers, but I didn't care: I was so hungry for Mormon content that I was even willing to swallow a little saccharine.
As an adult, I've made books my profession. I've studied inspiring and heart-stopping life writing from every conceivable American era, region, race and culture. Yet I've seen the "Mormonism" shelf at the bookstore stacked with breathless confessionals or sensational exposes written by non-Mormons, with stories written by everyday Mormons about our regular lives few and far between.
That's why I wrote "The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith," putting onto paper my own Mormon story of growing up an ordinary American girl in an extraordinary American faith and of confronting big questions about belief and belonging -- as all people of faith do.
I wrote this book because I believe that one person tells his or her story with honesty, humor and tenderness it encourages others to do the same as well. More Mormons need to start writing and telling our own stories -- stories that spare none of the hard parts and reflect the deeply human yearnings and flaws we share with people of other faiths, and no faith at all.
Mitt Romney is not the one to lead that charge. He is, after all, running for president, and has some pretty serious challenges on his plate. But if he does decide to reveal a bit more of his Mormon story at the Convention and during the last weeks of the campaign, he will show by example that Mormons have nothing to be ashamed of in sharing our stories more openly, and nothing to fear.
Follow Joanna Brooks on Twitter: www.twitter.com/askmormongirl
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 |
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
....."The questions concerning Mormonism can be resolved by knowing the answer to one key question; is the Book of Mormon true? If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Also, the LDS Church is the restored Church referenced in the Book of Revelation."
1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the Church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say “Thus saith the Lord” to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by men’s reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may be involved in civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency — the highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidency — the living prophet and the First Presidency — follow them and be blessed; reject them and suffer.
Here is a website called, "Follow the Prophet."
http://www.followtheprophet.net/
Mitt Romney's religious beliefs DO matter.
The white horse prophecy fullfiled.
Given off the impression?
Believing that a known conman found gold tablets in his back yard in ancient egyptian text, and was able to translate them through a magic rock or glasses or something.....and could communicate with an invisible God that is the creator of the Universe, and that a demi god (really God) came to human life, died, was resurrected, in Israel, then made a side trip to Missouri or something, all to "save" us from something that seems rather unclear, so we can have planets or whatever, when we die.....
I could go on...but if you really believe that, then you should be ashamed.
No, he's not going to say much about Mormonism.
1) There are over 70 prophets in the Mormon Church. All of these officials are men, and almost all of them are white. Would the Mormon Church ever select a woman to be in the Quorum of the Seventy?
2) A quick look at Wikipedia shows that Mormonism and Free Masonry were combined during Joseph Smith's time to create the secret rituals that are practiced in Mormon temples around the world. Not one Protestant denomination builds temples or practices these non-Christian rituals. Can you explain what these rituals are all about?
3) Many ex-Mormons have left the LDS Church because they felt that the culture was too oppressive and conformity was mandatory. Do you know any ex-Mormons? Do they have a point?
4) Can you tell us about Joseph Smith's attempts to translate the Book of Abraham and please explain why historians since the 19th century have said that Joseph Smith's translation is fraudulent. Is the Book of Abraham still used by the LDS Church today?
5) If the LDS Church continues to evolve, what essential parts of the Church will always remain? Is the First Presidency selected by God? Is Thomas Monson God's selected prophet for the world? For Mormons and non-Mormons?
6) Do you think there is a disconnect between the LDS members and their leaders high up in the Mormon Church?
<strong>"President Marion G. Romney tells of this incident, which happened to him: I remember years ago when I was a Bishop I had President Heber J. Grant talk to our ward. After the meeting I drove him home….Standing by me, he put his arm over my shoulder and said: “My boy, you always keep your eye on the President of the Church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it.” Then with a twinkle in his eye, he said, “But you don’t need to worry. The Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray.” (In Conference Report, October 1), p. 78"</strong>
Here is more proof.
First, a video on the subject:
<strong>Examining the Mormon's Fourteen Fundamentals</strong>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BJ0alO-fSEM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And now for the entire list:
<strong>The 14 Fundamental Ways To Follow The Prophet of the Mormon Church
1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the Church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
The Catholics believe theirs is the one and only true Church founded by Jesus Christ who commissioned St Peter as the first pope, and they have an unbroken line of succession from the current pope back to St Peter. They also believe that the pope is God's representative on earth and that the restoration of the Gospel spoken of by John in the Book of Revelation will happen when all the other Christian denominations will reunite with the Catholic church and acknowledge the authority of the pope (or so I was told by the Catholic nuns who taught me in parochial school.
The Muslims believe that non-Muslims are infidels.
I suspect that there are other religions that teach that their faith is the one and only true one.
They’re so sure they’re the one and only true church that they must "save" the dead by baptizing them into their church.
But only until 1978.
If we're allowed to state our opinions in these forums, Mormonism in my view is arguably the silliest religion in human history.