A Mormon's view of Romney: -- Romney: Gold Medal in Dishonesty

[Jessy169]

Amazing insights on Romney from a member of the same faith who watched Mitt rise through the ranks:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/20#.UAm8_IPP1cs.twitter

Mitt was distinctly impersonal and it seemed his interest in me was only to the degree that I could further his career, which I couldn't--I had no pedigree to enhance the value of my Harvard appointment. He was nakedly ambitious and it was widely assumed he would eventually run for President.

Mitt went on to climb quickly up the Mormon Church ladder, becoming a "Stake President" at a very young age, while simultaneously laying the foundation of his high profile political career. Within the Mormon community his ascendency to the door step of the Presidency is viewed with almost as much anticipation as the Second Coming of Jesus. They look to a Romney Presidency as validation of their belief system, and a golden opportunity to disseminate it worldwide. To them Romney embodies simultaneous theological and political triumph.

[Laurian]

1. Very interesting article. Thanks for providing the link.

[oldhippydude]

2. thanks for the link.... great read

happy pioneer day.... (google it)

[Jessy169]

3. And happy pioneer day to you too

Looks like they're having a good time out there in Utah today. That's another factoid I've learned about the Mormon religion today -- thanks!

[oldhippydude]

4. grew up in Mormon country..

in parts of the west its almost a holiday... In Pocatello Idaho where i grew up there was always a big parade, the usual horse mounted sheriff's posse, and every ward (church) had a float.. big deal... most folks dropped the pretense and simply called it "Mormons day"...

[dougolat]

9. With an additional French community: 4th, 14th, and 24th

And only one year in 7 would fail to have at least one on the weekend!

[Downwinder]

5. It is amazing to think that was only two lifetimes ago.

I feel honored to have known pioneers.

[icarusxat]

8. happy pie and beer day!

[Raster]

6. BRAVO! BRAVO! from this former Mormon.

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As Mitt flies from one megamansion to another, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from the country's billionaires to put him in the driver’s seat of a new government even more hostile to the less fortunate, one wonders where are the scriptures that suggest the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Billionaires are one and the same.

Mitt’s now legendary and record breaking flip flopping is routinely written off as political pandering and insincerity. Those terms are too soft. It is another form of lying. It is simply not believable that a politician could so thoroughly change every one of his core beliefs over the short time that Mitt professes to have done so. That is unless he had no core beliefs, other than that he should be President. In that case, pretending that he has core beliefs is another manifestation of dishonesty.

Mitt has arrogantly dismissed criticism of his wealth as the ugly underbelly of envy. This will probably come as a genuine surprise to Mitt, but many of us, perhaps most of us, aren’t envious at all. Most of us don’t need a private jet, multiple Cadillacs, or horses with aristocratic names in order feel OK about ourselves. Many of us would feel embarrassed or ashamed to allow ourselves that much grotesque self indulgence.

Mitt, many people’s lives were ruined in building your pot of gold. Not everyone is willing to do that. My criticism of your wealth has nothing to do with envy, but everything to do with the dysfunctional moral compass you use to guide your life’s work. Despite your high profile position in the Mormon Church, it is a compass that seems grossly at odds with the teachings of Jesus Christ. And your ambition has allowed you to rationalize that dishonesty as well.

[freshwest]

7. The three most important paragraphs to me:

Second, contrary to pronouncements by many evangelicals that Mormons are not Christians, Mormons do consider the life and teachings of Jesus Christ to be the centerpiece of their spiritual beliefs. All of the purported teachings of Jesus described in the New Testament--the four Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount, etc.--are the heart and soul of Mormon theology and the standard by which they believe their behavior will be judged, from both a mortal and an eternal perspective.

Eschewing personal wealth and materialism and giving generously to the poor is a core tenet of New Testament theology. The hallmark of that tenet is Jesus comparing the difficulty of a rich man entering into the kingdom of God to the difficulty of a camel passing through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24). Everyone knows Mitt is extraordinarily wealthy, but, as is currently being heavily exploited by the Obama camp, he acquired at least some of his wealth in dubious ways. In fact, if the business model of Bain Capital were to be placed in a New Testament backdrop, the most obvious candidates to play the role of Bain would be the money changers in the temple that Jesus dispatched with an outburst of fury, or the robbers in the parable of the good Samaritan. How does one coldly order the calculated financial demise of thousands of workers, pocket hundreds of millions of dollars in the process, and walk away "on water," ala Jesus Christ?

One has to ask: if Mitt was a genuine "Christ-like" spiritual icon, just how many "million dollar dressage" show horses would Jesus own? How many multi-million dollar estates with car elevators would Jesus need for his vacations? Which of the Cayman Islands would Jesus shield his wealth in? There is little evidence that beyond paying his Mormon tithe of 10%, he spent any significant percentage of his hundreds of millions of dollars feeding the hungry, helping the poor, ministering to the sick or visiting those in prison. Mitt certainly seems to be at odds with Luke 12:48: “For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required.”