I come from a Mormon family, and I like to think of myself as strong in the faith. My dad is very much so, also. He loves Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney is a Mormon, too. Dad loves him because of that, and says he really likes some of his other positions and such... but... I could never see myself voting for Romney. Well... if somehow he won the primary, and he was up against Hillary Clinton, and there were no suitable third party candidates to pick... maybe I would. We'll see when we get to that point. But here's why I wouldn't:
Mitt Romney says that some people might be troubled by Mormonism's former practice of polygamy, which was ended in 1890. He even goes so far as to call it "awful." Hmm. Calling something your founding prophet called a revelation from God "awful?" I guess I'd add that to Romney's former pro-choice, pro-abortion stance. I don't think any thinking Mormon should advocate abortion, if he knew anything about his own religion. Of course, he's changed that stance in recent years, so I'll have to give him points for that. But it's just a little unsettling...
His recent comments on polygamy may or may not have been prompted by the recent PBS series on Mormonism, where they spent a great deal of time on polygamy. As I see it, it was woefully misrepresented, and it is a terribly misunderstood doctrine, even by those inside the Mormon church. As we see, Romney seems to be one of those who doesn't quite get what it's about. It's not about some guy going out and marrying a bunch of women because he feels like it, without their consent. It's about God saying "I've decided you need to marry this particular wife," and giving that particular wife to him, by revelation, through his servant, the prophet. This happened the same way to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and a few other prophets in the Old Testament. Read up on it. It'll do you good.
As for Romney... Sorry, Dad, I won't be voting for him.
Posted by Shenlon at May 10, 2007 10:53 PM