# Mitt Romney and his Temple Garment **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832 "2012-02-14T18:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/41 "2012-02-15T03:40:34Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > So why does this guy want to be President anyway? I dunno, why did W? [insert your own Oedipal argument here] ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/42 "2012-02-15T03:41:03Z")
Didn’t Nostradamus say the Anti-Christ would be a Mormon? Or was it the Aztecs said that…? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/43 "2012-02-15T03:43:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Didn’t Nostradamus say the Anti-Christ would be a Mormon? Or was it the Aztecs said that…? Both, but scholars have conclusively identified both sets of prophecies with Donny Osmond. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/44 "2012-02-15T03:45:03Z")
Of course. Should have been obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/45 "2012-02-15T04:05:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I dunno, why did W? > > [insert your own Oedipal argument here] The Oedipal argument seems plausible in this case (or you could call it the family business), but W also appeared to enjoy himself to some extent. He liked politics, he liked pushing his conservative agenda and he fashioned himself as a Decider. Staff members learned they could get greater traction with their proposals by calling them, “Game Changers”. W was also actively recruited for the job. I’m not sure the same could be said about Romney. More generally Reagan, Nixon and Eisenhower seem easy to suss out; same for Carter and Clinton. I’m less sure about Bush the Elder, although he may have found responsible management of the nation’s foreign affairs attractive. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/46 "2012-02-15T04:11:56Z")
I hear when GeeDubya phoned his brother Jeb he rigged it so that the ring tone would play “Hail to the Chief”. But not when he called Neil. Nobody calls Neil. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/47 "2012-02-15T04:16:52Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Both, but scholars have conclusively identified both sets of prophecies with Donny Osmond. Years ago, Al Franken was a guest on Geraldo Rivera’s show, and the other guest was Jerry Falwell. Falwell had earlier said that through his studies, he had determined that the Antichrist was presently alive, and was a male Jew. Franken asked Falwell if it might be Marvin Hamlisch. Falwell said he didn’t know. But he didn’t rule it out. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/48 "2012-02-15T04:53:12Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Years ago, Al Franken was a guest on Geraldo Rivera’s show, and the other guest was Jerry Falwell. Falwell had earlier said that through his studies, he had determined that the Antichrist was presently alive, and was a male Jew. > > Franken asked Falwell if it might be Marvin Hamlisch. Falwell said he didn’t know. > > But he didn’t rule it out. Well, of course, whoever they turn out to be, it is foretold (by me, just now) that the Jew Antichrist and the Mormon Antichrist will have to have it out in a Contest of Evil before the Apocalypse goes forward. Place your bets now. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/49 "2012-02-15T05:14:54Z")
Isn’t it a bit of an LDS faux-pas to have your garments seen? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/50 "2012-02-15T12:21:38Z")
The practice is to have the garments covered. The garments themselves aren’t visibile in the photos I’ve seen of Romney. Their outline is. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/51 "2012-02-15T14:59:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Maybe TMI 😛 > > His Temple Garment undershirt is clearly visible under his shirt. The neckline is pretty unique and that’s not a regular T-shirt. > > I really don’t want the image of his cotton cod piece in my mind. :smack: way to TMI > > Is it significant? Well, maybe or maybe not. The voters can decide. It’s my understanding your average Mormon doesn’t wear Temple Garments. Its reserved for the more devote ones. Meaning Mrs. Romney is wearing her set too. A great natural birth control method if I ever saw one. 😉 > > I wasn’t planning on voting for Romney regardless of what drawers he wears. But I do find it interesting that someone this devote is running. The last super religious President was Jimmy Carter and that didn’t work out too well. Although he did admit to lust in his heart in a Playboy interview. 😛 > > [Mitt Romney shows strength of faith by wearing special Mormon underwear | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100995/Mitt-Romney-shows-strength-faith-wearing-special-Mormon-underwear.html) I think my grandfather must have been a muslim, he had knickerbocker underwear too. I think Mitt Romney’s religion hurts him, not because of bogitry against mormons but because he is so in the closet about it. There is a significant part of himself that he feels he has to hide and it makes him seem less genuine. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/52 "2012-02-15T16:23:07Z")
Unless his churchly connections are like those of most Americans. How many Presbyterians do you know? How many of those know what a “presbyter” is? How many Lutherans know about Luther’s virulently anti-Semitic views? What “method” is Methodism about? I would personally be curious to know if he had ever read Mark Twain’s take on the Book of Mormon, but thats at least in part because I think that any citizen’s intelligence, probity, and perspicacity can be roughly measured by how much of the Master he has read, and the degree of his reverence thereof. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/53 "2012-02-15T16:29:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The last super religious President was Jimmy Carter and that didn’t work out too well. [The Last Super.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DaVinci_LastSupper_high_res_2_nowatmrk.jpg) I was afraid that Carter might base a decision on religion, but I don’t recall that he did. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/54 "2012-02-15T16:40:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > What “method” is Methodism about? "By rule they eat, by rule they drink, "By rule do all things else but think. "Accuse the priests of loose behavior. "To get more in the laymen’s favor. "Method alone must guide 'em all “When themselves ‘Methodists’ they call.” – [Some wag at Oxford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Club) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/55 "2012-02-15T18:09:32Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I normally have no issues with a candidate’s religion unless its too fervent. Any politician has to be open to compromise to govern. If your beliefs make you too rigid then that can limit the persons effectiveness and ability to govern. > > I only posted this article because it indicates the degree of religious passion this candidate has. Its been mentioned here on the dope that your average Mormon doesn’t wear Temple Garments. > > Romney has said he won’t govern by his religious beliefs. Is that true or not? Its something to consider when selecting a candidate. Yes, of course. That explains why you said: > [@](#): > > A great natural birth control method if I ever saw one. Was that a comment on his fiscal policies or his foreign policies? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/56 "2012-02-15T18:12:06Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Unless his churchly connections are like those of most Americans. How many Presbyterians do you know? How many of those know what a “presbyter” is? How many Lutherans know about Luther’s virulently anti-Semitic views? What “method” is Methodism about? > > I would personally be curious to know if he had ever read Mark Twain’s take on the Book of Mormon, but thats at least in part because I think that any citizen’s intelligence, probity, and perspicacity can be roughly measured by how much of the Master he has read, and the degree of his reverence thereof. I’ll start dropping more references to celebrated jumping frogs and million pound notes. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/57 "2012-02-15T18:25:22Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [The Last Super.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DaVinci_LastSupper_high_res_2_nowatmrk.jpg) ☹ I was expecting the Justice League, Superman as Jesus, Batman as Peter, WW as Mary Magdalene, let’s see, who’s Judas? . . . ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/58 "2012-02-15T18:28:11Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I would personally be curious to know if he had ever read Mark Twain’s take on the Book of Mormon . . . Pray forgive/fight my ignorance, what was his take? I do recall an anectdote where Twain was arguing polygamy with a Mormon. Finally, the Mormon posed, “But can you cite any Scripture that forbids polygamy?” Twain replied, “Certainly! ‘No man can serve two masters!’” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/59 "2012-02-15T18:34:16Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Was that a comment on his fiscal policies or his foreign policies? On his (potential) social policies, as you know, which are also relevant, as you know. And the magic-underwear shit is always _ipso facto_ funny, as you know, and this “Temple Garment” is funnier because it’s even weirder. If Romney is the nominee, The Church of JCoLDS will get more public attention in America than it ever has at any time since Utah’s statehood. Mormons should complain? They make all their young men work as missionaries to get public attention. Of course, that means public attention on **all** aspects of the religion’s practices and history. And that will be funny. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832/60 "2012-02-15T18:57:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Pray forgive/fight my ignorance, what was his take? His famous quote is “chloroform in print.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-and-his-temple-garment/612832.md?page=4)