Mormons, Christianity and Politics

I read an article today from the Los Angeles times about Mitt Romney and his Mormonism. The author goes on to discuss the "darker" side of Mormon history including the Mountain Meadow Massacre, polygamy and Warren Jeffs (who she states is "Mormon.")

First of all, when you want your information about Mormons, maybe you should talk to a Mormon or read about them from an author that is Mormon. Right now you are doing that. I was born and raised Mormon, served a two-year church mission to Taiwan and I am a practicing Mormon. Now, if you say, well, this guy has never been outside of Utah or the "Mormon cult," you would be wrong. I have done things in my life that are outside the scope of Mormonism. I am not proud of all my actions but no one can tell me I don't know what it is like "out in the real world." Among the things I have done that exposed me to the "real world" would be my enlistment and deployment in the US Army. I was part of the Military Police corps that was in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and currently serve as part of a unit near Houston, TX. I also lived near New Haven, CT for four years. But regardless of my past history, there are a few things people need to know about the Mormon church:

1-The name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So if you are paying attention you might notice that the name of Jesus Christ is actually part of the official name of our church. In other words...

2-Mormons ARE Christians. We believe in the miracle of Jesus' birth to Mary, in his crucifixion and literal resurrection. We believe in the God of Abraham, Moses and Adam. Yep, we believe in the same God and Savior that all the other Christian churches do even if some of our more specific beliefs are different. (But isn't that the definition of having different churches to begin with?)

3-Polygamy has not been practiced or authorized in the Mormon Church in over 110 years. If you were to try and enter a polygamist marriage you would be immediately excommunicated from the church.

4-Warren Jeffs is not Mormon. He is a leader for the RLDS (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.) The difference is the current LDS church believes Brigham Young was the prophet after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the RLDS believes that the leadership should have stayed with Joseph Smith's offspring. (If you understand religion it is actually easy to compare this split with the Sunni/Shi'a split in Islam.)

5-The Mormon church generally stays out of politics. Yes, they back some bills that they consider harmful to the society as a whole such as the gay marriage act of some states but the church does not tell you who or what to vote for. In fact, before every election there is a letter from the leadership of the church that is read on Sunday in every ward (congregation) that states the church does not endorse any individual running and that it is simply the duty of church members to carefully consider who they should vote for and do so out of civic duty.

I could go on but if you get to this point you should have a pretty good idea that Mormons aren't that different from everyone else. We might not drink or smoke but those are good things, right? We teach that we should follow the golden rule and treat others how we want to be treated.

And just to make it clear for those who didn't quite catch it: WE BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER AND IN HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST.

So if someone tells you they won't vote for someone who is Mormon, just remind them that JFK ended the litmus test for voting for someone or against them because of religion.