# Reid attacking Romney - you don't represent Mormons. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 25, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804 "2012-09-25T18:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/41 "2012-09-25T20:28:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Another reason why it’s a bad idea to drag any religion into politics. The Mormon Church frequently and aggressively inserts itself into political disputes. > [@](#): > > Do they really want to spark a fight within the church? Unless you’re a Mormon, who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/42 "2012-09-25T20:31:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Well Reid is the obvious Liberal face of Mormonism. 😉 I guess that makes Romney the conservative face. > > Another reason why it’s a bad idea to drag any religion into politics. Do they really want to spark a fight within the church? It’s a really bad idea to go down this road. Reid didn’t drag religion into politics, saying Romney is not the spokesmen for his faith is exactly the opposite. But then, you knew that. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/43 "2012-09-25T22:40:10Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > He never said he was a bad Mormon. I will say it, as a former member of the LDS church. Romney is a shitty Mormon. All the lies, the flip-flopping and the complete lack of compassion and empathy put him at total odds with every other Mormon I’ve ever met. The evasiveness about his taxes puts him square in the “appearance of evil” category and he’s done nothing to address that. A Mormon’s mission in life is to live like Christ. I don’t think Romney can claim to be anything like his Savior. I feel sorry for the church members who have been deceived by him and who are rooting for him simply because he’s wormed his way into a faith he’s not worthy of. Mormons are good people. Romney is not. PS: Hey Romney? Did you hear about that church doctrine that was squashed due to unpopularity back in the day? The one where all the members of the church give all their belongings to the church so that they may be redistributed according to need? I don’t remember what that doctrine was called but I do remember one of the brethren confidently promising that it will be back. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/44 "2012-09-25T22:46:19Z")
Hey, **Ace,** you might want to read up on some Mormon history. Splits all over the place, especially over the issue of polygamy. Murders. It is pretty wild. ---
**Author:** ![Astral\_Rejection](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Astral\_Rejection](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astral_Rejection)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/45 "2012-09-25T22:48:33Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Are you serious? > > Reid, a fellow Mormon, said that Romney isn’t the face of Mormonism. I take this to mean that Reid feels that Romney’s way of acting and thinking does not represent all Mormons. > > That is contrasted with those who falsely claim that Obama is not a practicing Christian, but is rather an atheist or a Muslim or a foreigner. > > These two things could not be further apart if you tried. Totally serious. There are all too many people who are truthfully claiming Obama is an atheist, Muslim, and foreigner, because that’s what they honestly believe. And yet, the OP isn’t outraged about all of the people who told those lies and led those people to that conclusion. One is really much worse than the other, and you’ve got them mixed up. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/46 "2012-09-25T22:54:07Z")
I don’t think **Euphonious Polemic** denies what people have called Obama is worse, only that it’s similar. As far as the OP goes, talking about it being way out of bounds, that this is a new low, and other crocodile tears, it’s absolutely fair to point out that ‘atheist radical Muslim Kenyan’ is far more out of bounds than ‘not the face of Mormonism.’ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/47 "2012-09-25T22:55:14Z")
I still don’t understand what the OP is actually outraged about. Romney hasn’t campaigned on his faith and Reid hasn’t criticized it. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/48 "2012-09-25T23:00:18Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I don’t think **Euphonious Polemic** denies what people have called Obama is worse, only that it’s similar. Exactly right. They are not similar at all. Reid is simply saying that all Mormons are not like Romney, they are not lockstep, and he does not represent all the Mormonism is about. The others are spreading simpleminded bigoted lies about Obama. Which is far worse. I agree that the OP seems to have forgotten this. Apropos of nothing, I met up with a group of Mormons a couple of weeks ago at an event I was attending. What a nice bunch. Invited me over for breakfast, had a great chat, and when they left, they thanked me very nicely for helping out some of the group. Really great folks. They were nothing like Romney at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/49 "2012-09-25T23:01:03Z")
Y’know, I’m a Catholic, as are many other people I know. I certainly wouldn’t say that I’m the face of Catholicism. Nor would I say that of my mother, or my pastor. And I mean no disrespect to myself, or my mother, or my pastor, by saying this. I _might_ say that the Pope is the face of Catholicism, but even there, I’m not sure, as there are some issues where the majority of Catholics disagree with him. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/50 "2012-09-25T23:16:14Z")
You might do best to say Jesus is the face of Catholicism. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/51 "2012-09-25T23:46:11Z")
I’m not sure why the reprehensible attacks on Obama are relevant to the article about Reid and Romney. The attacks are being made by ignorant people and are total fabrications. Reid is a Mormon commenting about about another member of his church. A totally different situation from the attacks on the President. > [@Bosstone](#): > > I don’t think **Euphonious Polemic** denies what people have called Obama is worse, only that it’s similar. > > As far as the OP goes, talking about it being way out of bounds, that this is a new low, and other crocodile tears, it’s absolutely fair to point out that ‘atheist radical Muslim Kenyan’ is far more out of bounds than ‘not the face of Mormonism.’ ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/52 "2012-09-26T00:02:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m not sure why the reprehensible attacks on Obama are relevant to the article about Reid and Romney. The attacks are being made by ignorant people and are total fabrications. > > Reid is a Mormon commenting about about another member of his church. A totally different situation from the attacks on the President. Which is exactly why this isn’t nearly as disturbing and ensaddening as your OP made it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/53 "2012-09-26T00:05:19Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Just going through and checking to make sure every thread on the Dope has at least one Star Trek reference. Looks like we’re all set here. It IS in the charter. Right there in section 5, subsection B, paragraph 110. I came on here to verify that the mandate was being fulfilled but found that another had already handled the situation. It is good to know that others are checking this as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/54 "2012-09-26T00:19:44Z")
Two of my closest friends (though now separated in space) are Greg and Amanda. They were at my wedding oh so many years ago. I have watched them raise 4 amazing humans who have since created new families of their own. And remarkably enough, they are all \ Mormons. Those four kids (kids… heh, not now, but back then) were as different in disposition as siblings can be. I am not completely certain what 2 of them do now since they moved away, but one of the young men is an accountant and the other (his younger brother) is a registered nurse. Sweet people. Yeah, it is a rather odd religion, but aren’t they all? But, the LDS members I have known are without exception, good people. So, if Mr. Reid has an exception to Mr. Romney being the public face of his chosen religion, then saying so at this juncture is probably the only ethical thing he can do. Like it or not, Mormonism is being judged in the public eye in a manner that it has not had to handle for a very long time. Mr. Romney has failed to follow the examples set by the church in his public life and that is a shame. I only wish that the first really public face of Mormonism had been Greg and Amanda instead of Mitt and Ann. But, then again, I am almost certain that they will be voting for Mr. Obama in a few weeks. They certainly did last time. I probably should call them. I certainly miss them. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/55 "2012-09-26T03:16:49Z")
I personally love how much descriptions of Harry Reid differ from the actual Harry Reid. ‘Blowhard’ is the one that got me from this thread. I’ve watched a fair amount of C-span. Harry Reid is the guy you can’t hear speaking into a microphone over a person moving a chair anywhere in the Senate chamber. The headlines about what he does and says are so overblown beyond the man himself. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/56 "2012-09-26T03:38:33Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m not sure why the reprehensible attacks on Obama are relevant to the article about Reid and Romney. The attacks are being made by ignorant people and are total fabrications. > > Reid is a Mormon commenting about about another member of his church. A totally different situation from the attacks on the President. The part you seem to miss is Reid’s comment was neither reprehensible nor a fabrication. So we are left attempting to put a bone in our nose and divine an answer from the chicken entrails of your argument. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/57 "2012-09-26T05:47:15Z")
I heard Prince on TV. What he was saying is that Mormonism involves charity and caring for each other and that he was offended as a Mormon by Romney saying that it was despicable for the 47% to think they had a right to not starve to death. No one is calling him a bad Mormon, or saying he should be kicked out of the church. Prince was just saying that Mormons are better than that. Hardly negative about the religion now, is it? ---
**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:** [September 26, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/58 "2012-09-26T06:01:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Willard Mitt Romney is a partisan blowhard _and_ a presidential candidate. So I guess that puts him one step up in the pecking order. > > No, I don’t judge the Mormon faith by Mitt Romney. > > However, I **am** inclined to judge the Mormon hierarchy by the fact that Mitt Romney, who really IS the public face of their faith at this point (being far more prominent and publicly visible nationally than any previous Mormon since Brigham Young), has based his entire campaign around blatantly bearing false witness against another, and is getting absolutely no public criticism from the Mormon hierarchy about that. Oh, yeah, that’d be grand: the church leadership making specific statements about the political positions, comments, etc. of a particular candidate, wouldn’t it? You do realize that they’re not going to do that and it hasn’t a thing to do with their “sales pitch,” don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/59 "2012-09-26T09:48:49Z")
They’ve already gotten a lot of backlash due to Prop 8. Personally, I see nothing wrong with what Reid said. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804/60 "2012-09-26T10:06:51Z")
This reminds me of Emily Litella getting exercised about some phrase that she’s misunderstood. It isn’t Reid’s fault if you don’t know what the phrase “is not the face of” means. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reid-attacking-romney-you-dont-represent-mormons/635804.md?page=4)