Mitt Romney's Top Eleven Bizarre Beliefs

Let me begin this by stating that I'm a member of an organization that believes a Jewish prophet once made an axe head float, that another man was once reprimanded by his donkey, and that if we eat some Ritz crackers and drink some Welch's grape juice, it kinda represents the body and blood of God and we become more like him.  I'm what is called a "Baptist".

I have other friends who believe that it is best to get the virgin Mary involved if you want to communicate with Jesus.  They believe that when they eat the Ritz and Welch's, it literally becomes the body and blood of God, instead of just a symbol.  They are called "Catholics".     
   
My daughter believes that it's a good idea to split 10's against a dealer Ace.  She is what is called "lucky".   

We all have our quirks. 


Mitt Romney, who announced his candidacy for the presidency a few days ago, has his quirks.  Mr. Romney is a member of the LDS church, AKA the Mormons. 


Mitt has some strange beliefs relative to the irrefutable spiritual opinions that the rest of us hold.  As Mark Twain once said about the Christian Scientists, "he is no more insane than the rest of us.  But he is more picturesquely insane than some of us." 


Here are Romney's Top Eleven Bizarre Beliefs, courtesy of Listverse.com.  (The eleventh came from elsewhere). 

References to "D and C" are to the Mormon book of "Doctrine and Covenants". 

10. Tithing



While tithes are not uncommon among religion, rarely are they mandatory. LDS theology states that in order to make it to the highest kingdom of heaven, you must pay a full and honest tithe.

D and C 119: 3-63 And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.

4 And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

5 Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.

6 And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.

9. Pleasure in Life



This is one of the most famous pieces of LDS doctrine. It’s also the cause of many myths about Mormons. Basically; no coffee, no drugs, no tobacco.

D and C 89: 5-13
5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.

6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.

7 And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.

8 And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.

9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.

10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—

11 Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.

12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

8. Spirits



This one is very unique to the LDS faith. Basically, everyone on earth now was a spirit in the pre-existence. When we die, our spirits are separated from our bodies and if we were good they go to “spirit paradise.” If we were bad they go to “spirit prison.” The spirit world exists as a place for spirits to go while awaiting the second coming.

D and C 138: 8-14
8 “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

9 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18—20.)

10 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:6.)

11 As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great.

12 And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality;

13 And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name.

14 All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

7. Modern Revelation



Almost everyone who knows anything about the Mormon religion knows they have a prophet. What many don’t know, is anything that the prophet says in official capacity is considered official canon.

D and C 43: 2-9
2 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my church, through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations from my hand.

3 And this ye shall know assuredly—that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me.

4 But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him; for if it be taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead.

5 And this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations or commandments;

6 And this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me.

7 For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received and shall receive through him whom I have appointed.

8 And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given.

9 And thus ye shall become instructed in the law of my church, and be sanctified by that which ye have received, and ye shall bind yourselves to act in all holiness before me—

6. Jesus visited the Americas



The Book of Mormon is a book of LDS scripture that takes place during the same time as the Bible and takes place on the American continent. It follows the stories of two tribes who descended from the family of Lehi. After Jesus’ resurrection LDS people believe he visited the peoples of the Americas.

3 Nephi 11: 7-12
7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

11 And behold, I am the alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

5. The Nature of God



While most religions believe in God, the LDS religion believes in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as separate beings. They also believe that God, Jesus and resurrected beings have bodies of “flesh and bone.”

D and C 129:1-5
1 There are two kinds of beings in heaven, namely: Angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones—

2 For instance, Jesus said: Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

3 Secondly: the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.

4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.

5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.

D and C 130: 22-23
22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

23 A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.

4. Priesthood



In the LDS religion any worthy male can be given the priesthood and is given specific duties. Black people were not allowed to have the priesthood until 1978. Females are not allowed to have the priesthood.

D and C 107: 1-51 There are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood.

2 Why the first is called the Melchizedek Priesthood is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest.

3 Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.

4 But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood.

5 All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to this priesthood.

Official Declaration – 2, 1978
Aware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us that at some time, in God’s eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood, and witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom the priesthood has been withheld, we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.

3. Multiple Heavens



In LDS doctrine there are three heavens: the Celestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom, and Telestial Kingdom. The Celestial is the highest, where God and the ones who followed his law reside. The Terrestrial is the middle, where people who followed the Law of Moses reside. The Telestial is the lowest, where the ones who followed carnal law reside.

D and C 76: 94-98
94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;

95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.

96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one.

97 And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one.

98 And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world;

2. Forgiveness



In LDS theology you can be forgiven for any sin, save two. First, denying the Holy Spirit, and second, murder. Also, God is infinitely forgiving, until the second coming. After that, you end up where you end up, no matter what. There are no second chances. Period.

D and C 76: 43-45
43 Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him.

44 Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—

45 And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows;

D and C 18: 42
18 And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.

D and C 76: 111-112
111 For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared;

112 And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.

1. Multiple Worlds and Multiple Gods



This deserves some explanation. Mormons believe that God created multiple worlds and each world has people living on it. They also believe that multiple Gods exist but each has their own universe. We are only subject to our God and if we obtain the highest level of heaven we can become gods ourselves.

D and C 76: 2424 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

D and C 93: 10
10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.

Moses 1: 33
33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.

D and C 76: 108
108 Then shall he be crowned with the crown of his glory, to sit on the throne of his power to reign forever and ever.

D and C 131: 1-5
1 In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees;

2 And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];

3 And if he does not, he cannot obtain it.

4 He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.

5 (May 17th, 1843.) The more sure word of prophecy means a man’s knowing that he is sealed up unto eternal life, by revelation and the spirit of prophecy, through the power of the Holy Priesthood.

Ok, those are Mitt Romney's Top 10 Bizarre Beliefs. 
But there's one more.....

11.  Man-made Global Warming

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change.


“I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that,” he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“It’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors.”…

In addressing climate change and energy policy, Romney called on the United States to break its dependence on foreign oil, and expand alternative energies including solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal.

Notice that he didn't say "Climate Change", or cover his bets in any way.  Mr. Romney is accustomed to ridicule and doubled down on "Global Warming".  I applaud his courage. 

If Romney had stopped his press conference to advocate prayer as a means of changing the weather, he would have been ridiculed mercilessly. 

But Mitt supports wind power in an effort to change the weather.  Boldy, and without blinking.  No one in the mainstream media will criticize him for this, no one will compare goals with results, and no one will laugh.  But you can bet your ass that the Mainstream Media will ask Romney if he really believes that Jesus once came to America.  
  
Putting up windmills is a colossal waste, and future generations will look back on our new west Texas windmills the way we look at putting gargoyles on the sides of cathedrals, burying New Age crystals in your house foundation, or any other superstition.
 
Wind power is almost like being a Baptist.  Parts of it are silly, but nobody laughs. 

Mitt Romney - "The Mormon Speech"

Last Thursday, after months of speculation, Mitt Romney finally gave the “Mormon Speech”.
Relative to other Presidential campaigns, Romney’s group had already spent more time defending their candidate’s religious beliefs - with some advisors debating whether a speech addressing the political negatives associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would even be necessary.
Former Baptist preacher, Arkansas governor, and current Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee then clarified things for Romney by gaining ground in Iowa with Evangelical Christians. Polling indicated that religion was an issue.
Voters needed to hear something, anything, that explained Romney’s belief system, and Romney needed to stop the bleeding.
In the meantime, pundits and commentators analyzed, dissected, and deconstructed JFK’s well-received “Catholic Speech”, a 1960 address to The Houston Ministerial Association, in which Kennedy assured a group of Baptists that The Vatican would have no control over a Catholic President. This Kennedy speech has gotten more attention in the last three weeks than in the last three decades combined.
This is because, according to a recent Rasmussen poll, 43% of likely voters will not consider voting for a Mormon presidential candidate. 19% of us aren’t sure what we would do. Only 38% would consider voting for a Mormon politician.
Therefore, 61% of us view the LDS church with enough negativity to possibly rule out all other positives associated with a Mormon Presidential candidate.
Kennedy had it easy.
So last Thursday, after months of buildup and with his political future at stake, Romney went to the Bush Library in College Station, Texas and said....
Nothing.
He talked for almost thirty minutes, and didn't say a thing.
The political statements Romney made were bland enough for the side of a Starbucks coffee cup: “We cherish these sacred rights, and secure them in our Constitutional order. Foremost do we protect religious liberty, not as a matter of policy, but as a matter of right. There will be no established church, and we are guaranteed the free exercise of our religion.”
That’s a beautiful, well-written phrase and Romney delivered it well, but it had nothing to do with his problem. Very few people believe that Mormons want to take away our free exercise of our religion. Romney's bigger problem was Huckabee taking away Iowa, perhaps because Huckabee can speak fluent Evangelical.
“The diversity of our cultural expression, and the vibrancy of our religious dialogue," Romney said, "has kept America in the forefront of civilized nations even as others regard religious freedom as something to be destroyed.”
That can be read as an attack on Islamic fascism.
Most Iowans already dislike Islamic fascism.
The religious statements weren’t much more precise. Other than one sentence proclaiming Jesus as “the Son of God and Savior of mankind”, there was very little in the speech that would give offense at an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast.

But what’s not to like about Mormons? What has offended the Evangelical Iowans? Donny and Marie Osmond? Senator Orrin Hatch? Senator Harry Reid? Trampolines? (Google the words “Mormon” and “trampoline” when you get a chance….) They generally work hard, have close-knit families, and a low incarceration rate.
One could mention the early Mormon church’s practice of polygamy. But no Mormon has ever rivaled the 700 wives and 300 concubines of King Solomon, now revered by Christians for his wisdom.
The Mormon church didn’t reverse some of it’s anti-black policies and doctrines until 1978. Yet many white evangelicals still worship in churches that remain segregated by custom if not theology.
Polygamy and segregation are two examples of the LDS church accommodating America’s legal system by altering doctrine to fit the larger culture. If these were all that separated Mormons from, say, Presbyterians, I don't believe that Romney would be threatened by Huckabee.

What are some of the remaining doctrines that make the LDS church distinctive?

There’s the life and significance of Joseph Smith. According to Mormon doctrine, Joseph Smith found some golden plates buried in upstate New York, carried them to his house, put a blanket across the room so no one else could see the plates, and put on a pair of magic glasses. With the help from these supernatural spectacles, Smith was able to translate “The Book of Mormon” to a neighbor. The neighbor, unlike Joseph Smith, had the ability to read and write.
The LDS church believes in a 3-tiered heaven. There’s a Celestial Kingdom, a Terrestrial Kingdom, and a Telestial Kingdom. They also generally believe in something called “Celestial Marriage”, in which marriages can be sealed for eternity.
Then there are the Temple Garments. (I could be giving offense by even discussing these here.) The Temple Garments are a set of sacred underclothing worn by LDS church members who have participated in a Washing and Anointing Ordinance.
"Baptism for The Dead" is one of the reasons that Salt Lake City is one of the world’s great places to visit for Genealogical Research. This is a practice where living individuals are baptized on behalf of the deceased. The church recently caused some controversy by posthumously baptizing Holocaust victims and perpetrators, including Adolph Hitler.
Then there are the LDS beliefs that Lost Tribes of Israel inhabited North America.
To many of us, these beliefs are, well, strange.
But do they compare well to the religious beliefs of others?
Let’s look at the beliefs of Christian Iowans, a category I could be lumped into if I lived in Des Moines:
Iowa Christians generally believe that God, an invisible being in the sky, made man out of mud. The man was lonely, so God made a woman from the man’s rib. This man and woman lived in paradise until a serpent tempted the woman to eat forbidden fruit, which allowed evil to enter us all, a condition known as "Original Sin". The man and woman were thrown out of paradise and an angel with a sword guarded the gates to prevent them from reentering.
The descendants of the man and woman populated the earth but they, because of Original Sin, were also evil. God decided to wipe out everyone except the family of a man named Noah, who was instructed to build a boat that could accommodate his family, plus every species of animal. Polar bears from the Arctic circle, penguins from the south, duck-billed platypi from Australia, and Chinese pandas were preserved from death by drowning by walking to Noah’s neighborhood and getting on the boat….

Enough.

At the risk of growing tiresome, these are fundamental narratives believed by many Christians and Mormons. But outside of Creationist Museums in Kentucky, very few scientists spend much time using these narratives to explain the nature of Creation.
Some Christians and Mormons now see these stories as metaphor.
But others have an unquestioning belief in the veracity of anything Biblical.
And to avoid a false dichotomy, I should include the great middle section of humanity that isn't troubled by the historicity of Biblical narratives.
Science and Logic have made it increasingly difficult for other Christian denominations to turn up their collective noses at the stories of Joseph Smith finding golden plates in upstate New York. Does believing that Golden Plates were delivered to Smith by an angel named Moroni really require more faith than believing Jehovah delivered 10 Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai?
Does the Mormon account of Lost Tribes of Israel emmigrating to North America require a gullible suspension of disbelief, whereas a belief that our diverse languages originated at the Tower of Babel, well, that story is factual because "God said it, I believe it, That settles it"?

The theme of Romney's speech was the Diversity of Faith in America. I believe that he missed an opportunity for a different, more effective theme. He flew past it while making an unrelated point.
I'll try to make the point for him.
"There are some for whom these commitments (to keep church and state separate) are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers - I will be true to them and to my beliefs."
Now we're getting somewhere. The Faith of our Fathers....
I can understand that Mitt Romney believes in "Baptism For The Dead" much like I prefer baptism by "Total Immersion", while Hillary Clinton, as a Methodist, probably can make an argument for "Sprinkling", and Rudy Giuliani, as a Catholic, might say the same.
Our parents raised us this way. I have Methodist and Catholic friends who almost without exception were raised by Methodist and Catholic parents. My only Serbian Orthodox friend has Serbian Orthodox parents.
And we display a brand loyalty on these issues beyond anything the advocates of Ford or Chevy, PC or Mac, or McDonald's vs. Wendy's can imagine. To change camps isn't merely to change theological belief systems or to threaten our status in the next life - it's changing something more important.
To convert to another faith is to disavow what your parents have given you as a guide to life and the universe. To betray the The Faith of Our Fathers is to betray The Tribe.
I'm not suggesting that Romney should've thrown his Mormon convictions under the bus - distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than a personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts - but perhaps Romney would have been better served by a speech tracing Mormonism in his family, generation by generation, and how it has been a guide and aid for their obvious humanitarian, business and political accomplishments.

Non-Mormons would continue to think The Lost Tribes of Israel got no further than The Mediterranean. But more of them would have understood Mitt Romney and his loyalty to his church. We would be reminded that our own faiths have elements that are incomprehensible to outsiders, but we rely on these doctrines anyway.
They fit us so well because we were shaped by them.
Mark Twain had a lot to say about this in his forgotten classic "Christian Science", written at a time when Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Scientists were expanding as quickly as the LDS church is expanding today...."When I, a thoughtful and unblessed Presbyterian, examine the Koran, I know that beyond any question every Mohammedan is insane; not in all things, but in religious matters. When a thoughtful and unblessed Mohammedan examines the Westminster Catechism, he knows that beyond any question I am spiritually insane. I cannot prove to him that he is insane, because you never can prove anything to a lunatic--for that is a part of his insanity and the evidence of it. He cannot prove to me that I am insane, for my mind has the same defect that afflicts his. All Democrats are insane, but not of of them knows it. None but the Republicans and Mugwumps know it. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats and Mugwumps can perceive it....(Mugwumps were Republicans who protested corruption by voting for Democrats. They changed tribes, so to speak, and were therefore insane.)

Twain goes on to list all the religious denominations that differ from his Presbyterianism, and then asks:

Why is he insane? I told you before: it is because his opinions are not ours. I know of no other reason, and I do not need any other; it is the only way we have of discovering insanity when it is not violent. It is merely the picturesqueness of his insanity that makes it more interesting than my kind or yours."

Mitt Romney, in my opinion, is insane. His LDS faith makes him so.

If Mitt Romney values his LDS faith like I think he does, then I'm insane for rejecting it.

Now that Mr. Romney and I have that out of the way, I'm free to look at his record as Governor of Massachusetts, his role in saving the Utah Olympics, and his ideas to fix our health care system.

Despite his obvious mental illness, Mitt Romney might make a great President.

Click Here for a previous rant about religious texts, written in a bad mood after a bad week of news from Iraq.

P.S. - Someone at the LDS church also believes that Mark Twain had good things to say about the nature of belief. On December 6th, when I went to a website called classicreader.com to locate the Twain quotes from Christian Science, the scrolling banner at the top of the page said "Click Here For A Free Book of Mormon".