I won't even try to answer questions about Mitt Romney's faith. He should be given the right to answer those questions himself if he desires to do so. I would like to point out though, that if you understand the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and also are familiar with Romney's record, you will find several views that he has championed and several decisions that he has made that at least on the surface seem to be in conflict with the teachings of his faith. Personally, I don't think Mitt Romney worries as much about what the church teaches when he has a dedecision to make as he does about what he feels is right or the best course to pursue. He seems to have an internal, moral compass that serves as a foundation for his views and decisions. I'm not particularly concerned that his faith  probably influences that internal , moral compass.

Also, just for the record, the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have never individually or as a body, tried to tell the Preident of the United States or any political candidate what they should believe or do. They have simply counseled the members of the church to be informed and to try to make wise decisions concerning who they should support for the various political offices.

Unfortunately in America, a candidate has to have the correct religious affiliation to be elected to public office. You don't currently, and won't likely in the near future see an atheist candidate supported for any office here in the United States. A person's religious faith should not have any bearing on whether or not they will make a good leader for the public in general. The persecution of homosexuals in America can be directly attributed to the religious faith of those making legislation in this country, and that issue alone can determine whether someone is elected or not.  This is even more of an issue in conservative states such as Idaho. Religious persecution has been accepted as the norm in America, and I think it is very unfortunate, and reflects very horribly on our culture as a whole. Romney's faith shouldn't be under any more scrutiny than that of the fundamental Christians who hold the majority of the power in this country. All faith is based upon completely unfounded fairy tales, and if society as a whole could break free from this type of mental enslavement, we'd be a lot better off as a species. I personally cannot think of anything beneficial that is bestowed upon humanity by religion that cannot be acquired through simple use of common sense in your analysis of this world (morals). And common sense itself is destroyed through religious faith as it is forced upon people as children, teaching them to accept information without any type of investigation as to that information's validity.

mbogo wrote:

"... if you understand the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and also are familiar with Romney's record, you will find several views that he has championed and several decisions that he has made that at least on the surface seem to be in conflict with the teachings of his faith."

I thought I saw this happening also. But I really didn't follow the decision making closely enough to be clear about what exactly Romney did. For example, was it Romney or the activist judges who made Massachussetts the first state to allow gay marriage? What was Romney's role in that particular legal decision, if any? What other decisions did you see from Romney as Governor that seemed to be different than standard LDS teachings?

I think that the major deviations from Mormon beliefs, was Mitt Romneys support of abortion rights under Roe VS Wade and his support of the military's," Don't ask, Don't tell," policy. He has recently reversed his opinion on abortion, and now supports abortion only in cases where the mothers health is jeopardized or cases of rape or incest. As far as I know, he has not changed his support of "Don't ask, don't tell".

I can't be sure, but his original support of legal abortion may have been influenced by  the death of a relative's wife while undergoing an illegal abortion.

My father who was a physician, always told me that women who wanted to get an abortion, were going to get one whether it was against the law or not, so why not make it available from trained physicians? My father made it sound like a pretty sensible alternative to the risks of illegal abortions. I didn't always agree with my father on everything, but I respected him and listened to his views. Years later I'm still thinking about this issue, but am more comfortable suporting abortions for medical emergencies and not just because someone requests it. Both my father and I served missions for the church, but our basically similar values didn't always lead us to the same opinions.

As far as Mitt'S role in allowing Gay Marriage in his state while governor, I'm a little confused also. It appears that he was basically against gay marriage, but the courts approved it and the legislators overwhelmingly passed it. Mitt apparently was successful in getting legislation passed that barred people from a state that that didn't allow gay marriage from being married in Massachussetts.