31 - 40 of 136 Comments

1. Adline Rose

   1 year ago

   I think the bigger question here is how much of a struggle it has become to vote in such a fallen world. I find it very difficult to vote this election without violating my moral conscience.

2. JoAnn

   1 year ago

   Central Texan: Great post to Pete Bartlett,, thank you. God bless

3. Pete Bartlett

   1 year ago

   @Central Texan - I clearly said that I do not believe that Romney is a religious fanatic. In fact I suggested that his exemplary devotion to his family and his faith should be something that is a positive for him. I merely pointed out that a large part of the electorate does not know what to make of Mitt Romney and, unless he tells them himself, they will be making their own conclusions. And make no mistake, for several reasons noted in my earlier post, Romney will be judged to a higher standard than an average candidate. As for his past actions being a guide for the future, that does not help; in fact it is the crux of the problem. Romney was a moderate/liberal Governor and a devout LDS Stake President in Massachussetts, a technocrat who enlisted massive LDS church support to make the Salt Lake City games work and a "severe conservative" who won't discuss his faith in the past two years. Rightly or wrongly, many of us are asking, if elected, which Mitt Romney would eventually show up as POTUS?

4. Central Texan

   1 year ago

   To Pete Barlett and others of the same mindset:
   
   Although you say you don't believe it to be the case, you float the idea that perhaps because Gov. Romney does not wish to make LDS theology a campaign issue that this somehow leads us to be suspicious of him, that he might be a closet religious fanatic. That's quite a stretch when you think about it. More likely, not making LDS theology part of his campaign = not making LDS theology part of his presidency.
   
   When Romney was governor, can you or anyone find where he came out as a religious fanatic who then used his office as Governor "for the benefit of his own church?" There have been MANY members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that have served at almost all levels of government, from federal to the local level. Can you cite examples of religious fanaticism among these public servants that would cause us to be alarmed at the possibility that Romney might become president? Look at the way Romney governed in Massachusetts, look at the way he took charge to rescue the Winter Olympics. He is not an ideologue, nor a "religious fanatic", but rather a hard-working, hands-on pragmatist who knows how to evaluate a problem and get people to work together to fix it.

5. Pete Bartlett

   1 year ago

   @CathyS - No Romney is none of those. In a sea of cynical politicians, his devotion to his faith and family should be his legitimacy. But until he defines this, the question will remain,not what he is not but what is he? Until he answers that question and addresses the tenets of his faith that guide him, others will be doing the talking for him. And for many of us, knowing what he is not,is not enough to vote for him blindly.

6. CathyS

   1 year ago

   Is Romney a communist? A socialist? A radical Muslim, or a wannabe tyrannical despot? No? Then he gets my vote. Not voting may be one Christian way to go, but if we do that, Obama wins, and that amounts to supporting evil.

7. Bill Sr.

   1 year ago

   One more time, to digest this article properly take a grain of salt and a look back over your shoulder at 2008 and the pleas of the renouned Catholic intellectual Doug Kmeic who was,praised my many clerry as he championed the cause of Obama under the banner of not being a one issue voter. Case Closed.

8. rob difrancesca

   1 year ago

   I would rather have a Baptist,Anglican, or Quaker than a Mormon in the White House

9. Central Texan

   1 year ago

   For those of you who have tried to portray Gov. Romney as somehow NOT a conservative, you need to REALLY examine his record, not just repeat what Rush Limbaugh has tried to get you to believe during this Presidential cycle.
   
   In 2008, Rush Limbaugh said of Romney that he was probably the candidate who best brought together the three legs of the conservative stool. Back in 2008, Laura Ingraham was on board with Romney and even Rick Santorum threw his endorsement behind Romney as one who understood the heart of Conservatism.
   
   Limbaugh let it slip once that some of his close friends were opposed to Romney (but didn't say on what grounds), but in any event, Limbaugh has been very critical of Romney, trying to portray him as a "dry-ball moderate" or anything but Conservative. Limbaugh's response to why he has flip-flopped on Romney has been little more than "that was then, this is now, ie, different circumstances, different candidates.
   
   Romney was against embryonic stem-cell research as Governor. This should be well known as this has been brought up in the debates. His decisions as governor have been pro-life. Check them out.
   
   Yet there are still those out there who persist in thinking it better to have Barak Obama back in office to "send a message" to somebody. There are others who find some obscure half-truths or non-doctrinal speculations on wikipedia and then believe Romney is somehow disqualified from public service. Show me where anything has affected Romney's judgment in business, in rescuing the Winter Olypics, or serving without collecting salary as the Governor of a very liberal state. A little more common sense is needed here.

10. Pete Bartlett

    1 year ago

    Ladies and Gentlemen,this discussion is seriously off point. The question is whether Romney's mormonism matters. David Jones believes it does and so do I. This is not a discussion about the theological issues of LDS - as we saw with polygamy and black priesthood, those can be and are frequently changed to suit the situation. Romney is only acting in the best footsteps of his own Prophets. "The end justifies the means" (with my apologies to signor. machiavelli). The question really is what is "the end" in Romney's mind and what does Romney really believe in? Not as a member of the LDS flock but as a potential future POTUS. I understand that his strategy is not to make the LDS theology a campaign platform but the problem is that it does not work for him. It would work for a less religious politician like Huntsman or some lapsed LDS member. Romney is neither and thus his silence opens up all sorts of conspiracy theories.
    
    The nightmare scenario of course is that he is some sort of a closet religious fanatic, who would use the office of POTUS for the benefit of his own church. For the record I do not believe that this is true, but as long he does not openly and honestly talk about his faith, his agenda will not be in his hands, and all kinds of bigoted crackpots will have a field day.
    
    And once again on the topic of abortion,to the many LDS apologists on this site, the LDS theology recommends against abortion but does NOT outright ban it. In 1998, then President and LDS Prophet Hinckley said: "While we denounce it (ref. to abortion), we make allowance in such circumstances as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother is judged by competent medical authority to be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have serious defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth." (Ensign, 11/98, p.71). Some would argue that this is not necessarily a bad position to take, but it illustrates clearly the difference between the Catholic and LDS position on abortion.

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