Website reviews/Exmormon Foundation/Richard Packham's media questions for Mitt Romney

FAIR Answers—back to home page

A FAIR Analysis of: Questions For Mitt Romney (Complied by Richard Packham) A work by author: Richard Packham

High Level Summary
Title	Questions For Mitt Romney
Type	E-mail and web posting (The item is labeled: "COPYRIGHT: This material is not copyrighted in the hope that it will receive wide distribution in any form")
Author(s)	Richard Packham
Affiliation	Atheist former member of the Church.
Accuracy	Virtually every item either subtly or overtly distorts LDS belief and teachings
Temple content	None, though Packham has elsewhere discussed temple matters in great detail.

Summary

 ^{[needs work]}

Sources used

• None included. The argument is by assertion only.

FAIR's evaluation of the "Questions For Mitt Romney"

Quotations from Packham's list are in the blue boxes below. (All language is as in the original, except where LDS temple language has been removed. FAIR will not discuss temple specifics in a public forum.) FAIR's commentary and links for further reading are included below each section.

FAIR does not, of course, speak for Governor Romney. FAIR does not endorse or oppose any political candidate for any office. Our concern here is only with correcting misapprehensions or distortions about LDS belief and practice.

News reports say that Governor Romney. looking ahead to the possibility of presenting himself as a candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2008, is meeting privately with Christian leaders to allay their concerns about the fact that he is a Mormon. (See Boston Globe, Nov 2, 2006 at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/02/romney_consults_evangelical_leaders) These leaders apparently are concentrating on areas such as Romney's view of gay marriage, abortion, and whether Romney is really a Christian. Undoubtedly Romney's answers in those areas will satisfy most of these Christian leaders.

However, not knowing much about Mormon doctrine and practices, most Christians are unaware of some of the areas in which the idea of a Mormon as president would raise serious doubts in their minds. They simply don't know what to ask the governor.

Below are some suggested questions which should be asked of Governor Romney, both by Christian leaders and by journalists.

It is ironic that Packham, an atheist, is instructing Christians about what should concern them. The list is a clear effort to alienate Christian voters from a Mormon candidate by distorting LDS theology.

Readers should remember that Packham does not share Christian's concerns, beliefs, or theology—he just wants to use them to embarrass Romney and his faith.

According to Mormon scripture, the founder of your church (Joseph Smith) was told by God in 1820 that all the churches of the day were "an abomination." Do you agree with God's view of other churches, as quoted by Joseph Smith? (Pearl of Great Price, JS-H 1꞉18-19)

This is a standard anti-Mormon claim, and it is false. Joseph Smith did not say that "all the churches of the day" were "an abomination."

What Joseph reported that God said was that the false creeds taught were an abomination. False beliefs keep people from approaching God more fully. Joseph Smith praised the true beliefs of other Christian groups: "Have the Presbyterians any truth? Yes. Have the Baptists, Methodists, etc., any truth? Yes. They all have a little truth mixed with error. We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true 'Mormons'."^[1]

This attitude probably matches those of most Christian denominations: each tradition believes that it is the 'best' approach to Christian truth, but does not deny that other branches of Christianity contain truths and things of value. (Almost all Christians, for example, share the LDS belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the divine son of God born in the flesh.)

Church leaders have also taught that members of other faiths are also instruments for the accomplishment of God's purposes.

According to your church's Articles of Faith, number eight, the Book of Mormon is the "word of God." Do you believe that?

Yes.

The Eight Article of Faith:

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

According to the Book of Mormon there are only two churches: the "church of the Lamb of God [presumably the Mormon church]" and the "church of the devil," "the whore of all the earth." Do you agree with that Mormon scripture? (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14:10)

Great and abominable church

Summary: What is the "great and abominable church" referred to in the Book of Mormon? Critics claim that Latter-day Saints believe that the scriptural terms "church of the devil," the "great and abominable church," and the "whore of all the earth" refer to a specific denomination. Critics claim that the Book of Mormon teaches that "all mainstream Christians fall into the world system know as the devil's church (or Satan's kingdom)."

According to the Book of Mormon a dark skin is a curse imposed by God on the unrighteous and their descendants as a punishment for sin. Do you agree with that doctrine? (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 12:22-23, Alma 3:6, 2 Nephi 5:21-22, Jacob 3:8, 3 Nephi 2:15-16, Mormon 5:15; references to the "Lamanites" are taken to be referring to Native American "Indians".)

Packham is simply wrong: The Book of Mormon does not say "a dark skin is a curse imposed by God on the unrighteous." Rather, the Lamanite curse was a specific curse against a specific people at a specific time, and nowhere indicates that it is a general curse applied across other times and peoples.

A close reading of the Book of Mormon shows that the Lamanite curse was one of separation from the blessings of God, and the mark itself was not the curse.

According to Mormon doctrine, the president of the Mormon church is a prophet of God, receiving revelations and commandments (God's laws) directly from God. Do you believe that? (Doctrine and Covenants , 21:5, 43:3, 58:18)

 ^{[needs work]}

One of the most sacred rituals for adult Mormons, performed only in a Mormon temple, is a ceremony called "the endowment." Have you undergone this ritual? If so, in what year?

This question is not controversial in and of itself; it's merely a setup for a later question on aspects of the temple endowment that changed after Romney received his own endowment.

Romney left to serve an LDS mission in France in July 1966. It has long been the practice to endow missionaries shortly before they leave for service, so it's likely that Romney received his temple endowment within a few weeks or months prior to this date.

To be admitted to the temple for the endowment ceremony a Mormon must be "in good standing" in the church and undergo a personal interview with church leaders, who examine the member as to whether the member obeys church commandments, supports church leaders, pays full ten percent tithe, wears the prescribed Mormon underwear, abstains from coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco and extramarital sex, and other matters. If the member answers correctly, a pass to the temples (called a "temple recommend") is issued, good for two years. Do you have such a temple recommend now, indicating that you are in good standing in your church?

 ^{[needs work]}

In the secret Mormon temple ceremony Mormons take an oath of obedience to "the law of the Lord." Did you take that oath?

 ^{[needs work]}

Before 1990, the endowment ceremony required members to take an oath of secrecy not to reveal anything that happened in the temple under penalty of death. Did you take that oath?

This is another exaggeration. In the temple endowment, Latter-day Saints promise not to reveal a few, very specific aspects of the ceremony, not "anything that happens." The Church has published numerous explanations of the ceremony and its contents, open houses at newly-built temples take non-members through tours of the temple and explain what goes on in each room, and any endowed Latter-day Saint is free to discuss the endowment in general terms with respect and reverence.

Prior to April 1990, the temple endowment included "penalties," which were symbolic of the endowed person's commitment to not discuss these few aspects of the ceremony. They were not meant to be taken literally, and there is no credible evidence that any Latter-day Saint has ever been put to death for revealing or breaking his temple covenants.

In the temple ceremony Mormons also take a secret oath to [dedicate everything you have to God] Did you take that oath? Would you consider the office of the presidency of the U.S. to be a "blessing" with which the Lord had blessed you?

Consecration of time and talents to the Church

Summary: Critics claim that covenants that they make to consecrate all they they have to the Church implies that those who have been elected to political office must be subservient to the dictates of Church leaders rather than their constituents.

Mormons teach that by obedience to all the commandments of Mormonism, a Mormon may attain the highest degree of heaven and ultimately become a god, creating and ruling over his own universe. Do you believe that? Is this your ultimate personal goal?

Gods of their own planets?

Summary: Critics claim that Mormons believe that they can push themselves higher in a type of 'celestial pecking order.' This is often expressed by the claim that Latter-day Saint men wish to become "gods of their own planets." One critic even extends this to our "own universe."

Although your church presently condemns the practice of polygamy, the scripture commanding it is still in the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132. Many early Mormons were polygamous and married ("sealed") to numerous wives "for eternity." Do you believe then that there will be polygamous families in Mormon heaven?

• Note the pejorative use of the term "Mormon heaven." Given that Mr. Packham is an atheist, it is obvious that the use of this term is designed to appeal to evangelical Christians.

The extensive interest of Mormons in genealogical research is to enable them to perform "baptisms for the dead," thus posthumously inducting previous generations into the Mormon church. Many non-Mormons become angry when they learn that the names of their ancestors - having often been faithful members of some other religion during life - have been used in this way. often without permission of the living descendants. The posthumous baptism of many Holocaust victims caused considerable anger among Jewish groups, and your church agreed to stop the practice as to them (but admitted that it was unable to do so). Do you feel that such anger is justified? (Would you feel anger if some voodoo cult was using your deceased grandparents' names in some voodoo ritual, and then announcing to all the world that they were now voodoo worshippers?)

 ^{[needs work]}

It is well documented that Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, secretly had many wives. Some of those women were at the same time married to other men, some were as young as fifteen, He claimed that he was commanded by God to enter into these marriages. Do you feel that these early marital practices of the church founder were really commanded by God? (See the book In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Mormon historian Todd Compton for detailed biographies of these wives.)

Joseph Smith and polyandry

Summary: Joseph Smith was sealed to women who were married to men who were still living. Some of these men were even active members of the Church.

Mormons believe that when Christ returns to earth, a millennium of peace will begin under Christ's rule (Article of Faith number ten), presumably as a single theocracy. Most Mormons believe that during that time, Mormons will be Christ's appointed officers and that the law will conform to Mormon teachings. Do you believe that?

 ^{[needs work]}

According to Mormon scripture (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3) Joseph Smith did more than any other man except Jesus Christ "for the salvation of men in this world." Do you agree with that, keeping in mind the contributions of men like the Apostles, Saint Paul, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, and others?

 ^{[needs work]}

== Notes ==

1. [note]  History of the Church, 5:517. Volume 5 link