How Mormon is Romney?
Presidential hopeful declares that he will not obey his GodLast Friday, I was asked my thoughts concerning the candidacy of Mitt Romney and how his faith effects his chances of winning the Republican nomination. Personally, I’m not a fan. I think he, and anyone who is running for the office, have a mix of good and bad potential policies. Overall, I don’t think Romney is a winner within the Republican party. Even more importantly, and this dismisses the relevance of any focus on Romney, I don’t think the Republican party is a winner in current national politics.
In regard to Romney’s choice of religion, I answered that Mormonism is a hard pill to swallow for conservative evangelicals, the unfortunate base of the Republican party. I went on to say that Romney is unable to make the kind of public separation between himself and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Kennedy made between himself and the Roman Catholic Church. My reasoning was based on my experience as a Mormon, one who made solemn oaths and covenants, promises, to complete devote myself to the service of God. In the case of Mormonism, devotion to God equated to devotion to the church. Based on the fact that Romney has made these same promises, I didn’t think such a declaration of separation was likely.
However, Romney surprised me.
On the CBS show, “Face the Nation”, Romney separated himself from the Mormon church by saying, “I certainly don’t do what leaders of my church or any other tells me to do.”
Frankly, I’m a bit stunned at Romney’s statement. It is just about the most un-Mormon thing anyone can say. It is an admission of non-obedience to leaders who he believes are “prophets, seers, and revelators” to the world. Latter-day Saints believe that, ever since the founding of the church by Joseph Smith, that there has been a prophet at the head of the church who receives revelations from God. In Doctrine & Covenants, a book of Mormon scripture, we find that Mormons are commanded to obey the prophet by giving “heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith” (D&C 21:4-5).
Knowing this, isn’t Romney declaring that he will not be obedient to his prophet the same as declaring that he will not be obedient to his God? Yes. For Mormons, there is no separation. As much as Romney argues that he is “not going to try and distance myself in any way, shape or form from [his] faith”, he seems to have made a severe diversion from a foundational tenet of Mormonism: following the prophet.
It will be interesting to watch Romney and see how he further balances on the tightrope between being accepted politically and being true to his beliefs.
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