Is this a man we can trust?
If you read the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of cult, the example given is thus: a Christian theologian can state that, say, the Mormon Church is theologically a cult of Christianity. Funny how I grew up with the notion, as an East Coast girl, that a perfect dictionary definition of a cult were these curious folks known as the Mormons. I truly had no idea what they were all about, but there was an apprehension about their legitimacy as a true “religion” I sensed even before organized religion became utterly preposterous to me. Something is certainly awry with Mormonism Inc. and I’m starting to understand why it is so. Hopefully, America will learn in time of the insidious truths buried deep in this religion/cult to which our GOP nominee is a lifelong devotee. It’s far more relevant than the conservative-owned media would care to admit, and here’s why.
1.) The Mormon Church has a history of sanctioning lying to further the objectives of the church.
In a Mormon Bishop’s account of “Lying for the Lord” he states: “Evidence presented in this essay establishes that when the church image or its leaders needed protection it was and is, okay to fib, deceive, distort, inflate, minimize, exaggerate, prevaricate or lie. You will read quotations by church leaders who admitted that deception is a useful tool to protect the church and its leaders “when they are in a tight spot,” or “to beat the devil at his own game.” They admit engaging in moral gymnastics; that God approves of deception – if it’s done to protect the “Lord’s Church” or “the brethren” as the leaders are called.” The polygamous lifestyle still practiced today in rural Utah, Arizona and Texas, illustrates how deception and misrepresentation of the truth is not just a thing of the past. Secrecy and lying are normal and sanctioned by the “one true word of God,” Mormonism. All practicing Mormons believe in a polygamous afterlife where a man takes as many wives as needed to populate more planets with his progeny.
There is an inherent mistrust of Christians as well. One of the original prophets, Brigham Young, stated: When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was groveling in darkness…With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world. The Christian world… are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God. (Journal of Discourses 8:199)
2.) Stealing from non-Mormons, cover-ups of murders and total historical omissions of events deemed unpropitious to the LDS Church are common. Reading books like The Apostasy of a High Priest by Park Romney and An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case Against Mormonism by Kay Burningham have helped me realize the depths of deception, crime and general malevolence that has been carried out in the name of Mormonism. These books are written by church insiders who would rather face the pain and ostracism of leaving the church and all its social networking than live a life based on a lie. These are two people who were among the faithful but learned far too many negatives to continue in the faith. If you study the history of the Mormon settlements and the pioneers who are so revered today, you’d find atrocities committed along the same lines as the way the native Americans were treated by so many settlers using “Manifest Destiny” as a justification for virtual genocide. However, the Mormons were guilty of murdering not just Native Americans, but “white” non-Mormons as in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 which has been literally sanitized by Utah history books to this day. A gruesome discovery of remains occurred in 1999, but the Mormon Church stifled the news as much as possible to avoid any controversy.
Willard Romney has adopted this same anti-controversial stance as his cult seems to adopt, by changing and “evolving” his beliefs as evidenced by his literal shifting on SO many issues. Park Romney explains: In their quest to cling to the warm and fuzzy feeling of the sweeter moments of their childhood, Mormons go way out of their way to avoid contention. They distance themselves from controversy, when possible, and avoid contributing to it. In this effort, they often overlook what shouldn’t be overlooked, in the name of being forgiving or charitable. They discourage discussion of, and often avoid, controversial issues. The evolution of the concept of Blacks suddenly becoming worthy of the priesthood in 1978 is a prime example of Mormonism “evolving” to accommodate more members and grow their unbelievable wealth from tithings. It seems the patriarchal nature of the religion will always subjugate women to a lower strata on the social scale, omitting them from governing roles.
As far as the acquisition of the vast wealth the Mormons hold (estimated at over $30 billion that we know of), money, property and treasure can be obtained by theft from “Gentiles” and other non-Mormons. In the early twentieth century, Bishop Andrew Cahoon (An American Fraud, chapter 7 pages 154-155) swore in testimony the following doctrine from the original scriptures: “It was considered no crime to take from those who opposed the Church, because they were the enemies of the Kingdom of God.” If you’re wondering about the morality of Willard Romney’s Bain Capital destroying lives, don’t despair. It is acceptable under the guise of the gospel according to Joseph Smith. Willard sleeps just fine at night, knowing the lives he destroyed were not Mormons.
3.) Willard Mitt Romney is first and foremost committed by “blood atonement.” This unwavering oath is cause for concern for any non-Mormon At the time he would have first gone through the temple (age 19 before his mission)—it would have been similar to this person ‘s experience:
“The first time I went through the temple was in September 1987. The thing I remember most vividly about that day, besides the naked touching, was the “penalties.” That’s where I was asked to make several blood oaths never to reveal the various signs, tokens and other bizarre things that went on there.
The penalties involved various pantomimes where I had to pass my thumb across my throat, chest and bowels (IIRC) indicating different kinds of suicide while chanting with the rest of the room “rather than do so, I would suffer my life to be taken.” (Short pause after “life” while the slashing motion is made.) That was the moment where I think I stopped caring whether the Mormon church is true or not. I didn’t want to be part of it and felt trapped by my family and partly by these oaths. I didn’t know how serious they were” See exmormon.com
That is blood atonement –that there are some sins which are just too egregious (here revealing temple secrets) that Christ’s sacrifice will not be enough and man must die for this particular type of sin.
This is a little bit confusing because another oath, the oath of vengeance where the patron would promise to never rest until those who killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith and their descendants were killed, was originally also a part of the early temple ceremony but that was removed in 1927 to the doctrines & covenants of the LDS church. This is paramount over the US Constitution. Any Gentile, Jewish or other American, (especially those without theism) should be aware of this primary oath Willard holds dear.
4.) The Church has a RICH history of bigotry and misogyny. Hate legislation towards any group the church disagrees with is common. As testified by Sue Emmett, the great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young: “In the Mormon culture, men have all the power in the church….Women do an awful lot of work in the church but they don’t really have any ability to have power positions or to make final decisions.” The makeup of the Utah legislature is quite indicative of both a theocracy and male-domination. Their intolerance of homosexual marriage was evidenced by the millions of dollars the church (and Mitt himself) dumped into funding Proposition 8 legislation in California.
In 2002, James E. Shelledy, editor of the Salt Lake Tribune said this (about Utah government): the fact is, we live in a quasi-theocracy. Eighty percent of office-holders are of a single party (GOP), ninety percent of a single religion (LDS), ninety-nine percent of a single race (Caucasian) and eighty-five percent of one gender (male). If you think Romney will run his government and cabinet any differently, you underestimate the role of the LDS Church on Willard’s psyche.
In conclusion….
In an article entitled: Mitt’s Soul isn’t Muffled, it’s Missing, Kay Burningham notes the close ties the LDS church has with Romney and the reluctance of key Mormon players to bring this alliance to the forefront of America’s minds. A grassroots support of his 2008 presidential campaign was initially begun in 2006 by LDS leaders and BYU groups across the nation. A theocracy remains in Utah. Recently, LDS leaders canceled their annual meeting with the Utah State Legislature, before the January Session began. This is something they had previously done for years. The Utah State Congress is over 80% Mormon. But there was concern about how this regular (LDS) pre-session meeting would be interpreted, now that Romney’s running has brought a more national focus on the religion. One congressman commented: “It seemed odd, because there has always been” a pre-session meeting, said House Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo.” The chance that a Romney presidency would be greatly influenced by the Mormon hierarchy is more than remote; despite Romney’s denial of such an influence, it is entirely likely.
I believe it’s high time we look very seriously into this cult and what the man who would be the first Mormon President of the United States truly believes. President Obama’s faith has been under the microscope since day one. Why should Willard, the racist, misogynist Birther be exempt from similar scrutiny?
