1. Just the fact that Romney chooses not to brag about the
countless hours he has spent as a church leader serving others should tell you
something. He will never brag about it. It is not what members of our church
do. We volunteer more hours to alleviate suffering and donate more money
(percentage-wise) to the poor that members of any other church in history and
here we are being punished for not bragging about it. Just know that every time
there is a huge disaster, we are near, we are helping, and we expect NOTHING
for it. Case in point—CNN story
yesterday about a lady who had lost everything (Michele McComb) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
2. I am not a
subordinate in our church. I feel an equal in every way. In many ways, I think
our church leaders are more in tune with the needs of women than anyone. It is
a great mistake to think that gender equality means women should become men and
vice-versa. Men and women are divinely different. That difference is important.
It is how children are raised with the best of both worlds. This confused movement
in America concerns me. Our church’s Family Proclamation tells you all you need
to know about what we believe as far as men and women’s roles go. http://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng
You can disagree with us, but I assure
you, anyone living by the principles therein will greatly benefit you and your
posterity. It is a sad day when society pretends to help the poor by placing
abortion centers in every poor neighborhood they can (ethnic cleansing
anyone?), and telling women they have to go take all the jobs from men and
throw their kids into daycare to be a truly fulfilled women. So now more women
than men have college degrees, fewer men are working and 90% of single parents
are women so they have managed to not HAVE it all, but rather DO it all. Is
that gender equality? As for old white males being in charge of our church, it
is true that for the most part older, white males make up the leadership in
Salt Lake City but that is changing too and it is definitely not a requirement.
We believe God calls these men to lead us and in leading us, they mostly just love
and serve everyone they can, just as any disciple of Christ would. Take a look
at our most recent General Conference and listen to what the leaders of our
church have to say. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/10?lang=eng
And as for race in our church, one of my
family’s closest friends in the church through the years has been with an
African-American family with four children. The love God, family, country and
are some of the best people we know (of any color).
3. Remember
when I said we don’t think Romney is perfect? Well, this was one of those
moments he could have said things a little better, a little more sensitively. I
don’t believe for a second that he would let the poor suffer to reward his rich
friends. After serving as a Bishop and Stake President in our church he knows
all too well how great the need is for compassion to the poor and suffering. He
put in so many hours in those callings responding to the needs of the poor and
suffering and it was completely without pay. He knows how to work hard to make
money, but he also has seen the pain of those working hard who still do not
make money. Yet he sees policies in place now that are doing nothing more than extending the
pains of the truly suffering and rewarding things like apathy and indolence. I
can’t believe the leaders of this country would rather terrify people that
change means no more handouts when instead change could mean education, independence,
and real happiness. Our church has one of the best run welfare programs on the
planet. Check out http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/excellence_in_philanthropy/a_welfare_system_that_works
Please take the time to read this. And then this: http://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/03/the-celestial-nature-of-self-reliance?lang=eng&query=feeding+birds+welfare
Families and nations would benefit so
much from following the advice in this article.
4. Our church
believes more in the separation of church and state than any other religion.
Our church leaders will NEVER give any kind of “nod” to Romney. While the
beliefs of our religion absolutely are part of Romney, our church has stayed
completely neutral in this political race. There are very few churches that
would have maintained that kind of distance. Of course, we are more visible
now, yet people do not see us. It is strange to report the things we’ve had
people say about us and to us and yet they make no effort to know us. Have you,
reader of this lengthy comment, gone to any links I’ve provided? I hope so. http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng and http://mormon.org/ are both our Church’s official
websites where you can find out from the source what we believe and then make
up your minds, but rather people read little snarky comments here and there and
form the basis of their beliefs. We invite people to make up their own
(informed) minds about us—don’t we deserve a chance? A chance untainted by
suspicion, falsehoods, and downright hatred—a basic mob mentality exists now
coming from those who will not look and will not listen. Our church was one of
the first to stand up against slavery in this country and our ancestors and
early church leaders were hunted down, murdered and driven from their homes for
it.
5. As mentioned
before, our church does not believe Romney to be perfect. We do not believe
ourselves to be perfect either. Our church is run by imperfect men and women—you
will be able to find people in our church that do all sorts of terrible things.
This is probably true of any church, any country, etc. We do believe that Jesus
Christ was perfect and he suffered for all of our sins while He was here on the
earth and He has made it possible for us to return to Him and God in Heaven. We
believe we are His church restored to the earth and we do the best we can to
try and serve Him and become Christ-like. As for requirements to enter our
temples which are our most sacred buildings, you do answer questions regarding
your honesty and worthiness. It is between you and God as to whether you are
telling the truth or not. Most of us are doing the best we can and we assume
that in others as well. There seems to be some great social punishment for
being rich in this country and understandably so. The rich grind the faces of
the poor and laugh while doing it. BUT there are rich people who are good
people. Rich people who quietly help and serve. I know it would make Romney
more palatable if he were poor, but he would be in NO position to run for
president. You are kidding yourself if you think a commoner can become the
president of this country anymore. I admire Romney for having such a great love
for his country that he used his wealth to try and make a difference-- exposing
himself, his family, and his church to open ridicule and hate. That takes a lot
of courage, a lot of belief that he is doing this for the greater good. I don’t
believe for one minute he is a dishonest businessman—I think people in general
don’t understand economics and investments and he knows that. He knows
everything can be twisted for political gain. I cannot understand this article
that does not mention the blatant dishonesty from the other campaign. I believe
Romney is generally a good and kind man who could do great things for this
country. I think his ability to stop and listen to both sides and work in
bipartisan manner is a great contrast from a president who passes executive
order after order when he can’t get his way. This country was not designed for
a dictatorship. To every voter in America--please don’t go down that path.
Please see the country’s highest employee has not been very good at his job and
let someone else try. I firmly believe Romney will give this country a fighting
chance in a global economic downturn. Our children deserve that chance.
