Romney and Religion

I don't understand how in this so-called era of enlightenment that religious bigotry is still tolerated in this country and that politicians and journalists would pander to ignorance and fear rather than truth. Did the mainstream media help to enlighten Americans about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? No! In fact, in many instances they helped to gleefully add to the misunderstandings. And when President Gordon B. Hinckley died, there was hardly a mention of what this great man did and how through his influence millions of people around the world have received aid in times of disaster regardless of their religious status, thousands of wheelchairs are sent all over the world to improve the quality of life of many individuals, doctors are sent across the world to help other doctors learn techniques to resussitate newborns, provide cataract surgery and eyeglasses, and engineers are sent to dig wells in places like Africa so people can have clean drinking water. He established the Perpetual Education Fund to help members in third world countries lift themselves out of poverty. But, no one reports this... Those who would say that Mormons are not Christians need to dig a little deeper and look in the mirror. And, those who would question only Mitt Romney on his religion need to ask themselves another question why not ask Mike Huckabee or Barack Obama about theirs or even John McCain for that matter?

I just want to say one last thing...what awful thing has the LDS church done to you? It stands for everything good, true, and pure, and yet it is constantly attacked...why?! Why should I be afraid to tell my little boy that he can grow up to be anything he wants to, except for President because he is a Mormon? Doesn't anyone else see how awful this "Mormon bashing" is? It doesn't just hurt Mormons, but their children and the good that we stand for. We are Americans, we are just like you, doing our best day-to-day, poor and rich, raising our families and trying to give them the best life possible. We are people too, just because we believe differently, doesn't make us any less than yourselves. So the question is, are you a true American? Can you accept anyone no matter their beliefs, their race, their gender? I do not vote for someone because they are Catholic, Baptist, etc. so why should it be any different with a Mormon?

Mainstream Voice, if the church was such a "secret society", why would they have thousands of missionaries out and about preaching what the believe in? If you want to know anything about the church, go visit either mormon.org or lds.org.

mighty mouse is a troll. he posted that specifically to rile people up so he can giggle while they write dissertations against him. It is what trolls do.

Many people feel favorably toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many do not. The terms Ms. Miller chooses to describe perceptions of Romney's faith ("unpopular", "oddballs or worse") show her own prejudice in this regard. People with this type of prejudice realize at some level that by attacking Romney's character they can also denigrate his faith by implication, and the chance to kill two birds with one stone is irresistible. A will to see the negative in his religion translates into a will to see negative traits in his character. People of this ilk took him to task from the beginning simple for being a politician who was trying to win.

Romney went into this political battle with one hand tied behind his back, figuratively speaking, because of this kind of religious prejudice. He did remarkably well considering -- especially among conservatives. It was not difficult for those who were not prejudiced toward his religion to sense his "authenticity and higher purpose."

Reading the article, I can see and understand some of the weaknesses in Mr. Romney's campaign. Looking at the last posted comment, however, brings me back to where I was before: religion is the issue impeding Mr. Romney's candidacy, sad as it is. If what Mighty Mouse says is so, if "true Americans can never accept Mormons into our society," then "true Americans" are no better than the worst of history's oppressive peoples. What's the point of the Constitution? What's the point of saying we have religious freedom if we really only accept one faith? If freedom of speech is used not to tell the truth but to accuse and demean the tenets an individual holds sacred? If that is the "true America", it's not my America. Cast me out, go ahead; I've got better things to do.

Why is it acceptable to project any and every anti-Mormon whim, as Lisa so kindly does: "Mormons are still regarded as oddballs or worse in America; in some conservative Christian circles, Mormons are seen as heretics." We've thankfully moved beyond it being acceptable for the media to give anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic rants such publicity. Why is the mainstream media so comfortable propagating Mormon hatred, ridicule and invectives? I???ve lived in NJ/NY for 14 years and have never heard one negative comment from any neighbor or friend about my religion. If they think the things Lisa says they do about Mormons, they???ve never shown it to me. This article is mean spirited and bigoted. Mormons give billions to poor countries and those in need in this country, among many other good things. If you don???t like what we Mormons believe fine, but please stop using Mitt Romney as an excuse to ridicule us and call us oddballs or worse. Some of us have kids who we???d like to be able to grow up without such scorn.

we really don't need a mormon president religion and politics just need to stay away from each other! Good for him that hes proud of his religion but honestly I could care less because the issues are what matter not religion. He's not real enough he was fake. I'm glad he's not running in the campaign anymore. People need to get over the fact that America doesn't want a mormon president =]

To the author:

As one of your Mormon "oddball" readers I am again disappointed with the lack of respect and religious tolerance given to me and fellow believers. A strike at Romney's religion hits more than just him. I am personally relieved to see the end of his candidacy, it has been a long year with a plethora of hateful bigotry targeting my faith. It's especially painful in our politically-correct society that frowns on sexism, racism and homophobia, yet Mormon bashing is fair game. After twelve months of close observation, I believe on the national level the media led the charge and now you are hear to put the final nail in the coffin.

I am certain history will eventually show that Romney was the only candidate wth a core, a soul, and a sense of himself that transcends politics. All these talking heads, plus the rest of the candidates still in the race, are so entrenched in politics they can't tell the real thing when they see it. I do agree that it is unclear that his religion was his main obstacle. With Huckabee in the race, it gave the Bible Belt states a specific candidate to chose as an alternative to Romney. Without Huckabee in the race, I think we would have been able to measure the discrimination (or lack thereof) more. With him in the race, we can no more say that there was prejudice against Mormons as there was Mormon prejudice against evangelicals, unless Huckabee himself felt it necessary to stay in the race simply to stand between a Mormon and the White House, even with no chance himself of winning.

Mighty Mouse, that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard anyone say. Mormonism is a religion, not a country, you dolt. For your information, Mormons who live in this Counrty are Americans, just like you and me. Where the heck do you get off telling people what religion they must be in order to be accepted as americans. In case you haven't heard, there is no national religion in this Country. People are free to believe (or not believe) as they see fit. Your position is more in line with the Taliban who believe that their religion is the only "right" religion on earth. What's more, the Mormons don't have to acknowledge their positions or prove anything to anybody - anymore than you have to defend your faith and religion to others. By the way, I'm not a Mormon, but you certainly are a moron.

Why is it acceptable to project any and every anti-Mormon whim, as Lisa so kindly does: "Mormons are still regarded as oddballs or worse in America; in some conservative Christian circles, Mormons are seen as heretics." We've thankfully moved beyond it being acceptable for the media to give anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic rants such publicity. Why is the mainstream media so comfortable propagating Mormon hatred, ridicule and invectives? I???ve lived in NJ/NY for 14 years and have never heard one negative comment from any neighbor or friend about my religion. If they think the things Lisa says they do about Mormons, they???ve never shown it to me. This article is mean spirited and bigoted. Mormons give billions to poor countries and those in need in this country, among many other good things. If you don???t like what we Mormons believe fine, but please stop using Mitt Romney as an excuse to ridicule us and call us oddballs or worse. Some of us have kids who we???d like to be able to grow up without such scorn.

wow mighty mouse, you sound like people back in the day who discriminated against blacks, only now you are discriminating against mormons. I am quite sure many don't agree with you since senators Orrin Hatch and Harry Reid (both mormon) were elected. I am a Mormon and I am an American. America's founding fathers came here for religious freedom and I can say that it is anything BUT American, you who call yourself a "true American", to discrimiate against anyone because of their religion. Shame on you MightyMouse.

Mitt Romney's faith had nothing to do with the way I felt about him. After all, Orin Hatch and Harry Reid are Mormons. I had a visceral contempt of Mitt Romney on the basis that he was a shameless panderer. I have no problem with millionaires funding their own politcal campaigns. However, the more Mitt Romney commented on financing his own campaign along with his little jokes about spending his family's inheritance showed a real disconnect between himself and the average American. Mitt Romney was a CEO when CEO's were making obscene amounts of money while their companies were struggling.