# Some fair questions for Mitt Romney about Mormonism **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 17, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419 "2010-04-17T00:45:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/221 "2010-04-24T23:17:50Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I don’t understand how any woman with even a shred of self-esteem can embrace Mormonism. Heh. One of my best friends is a pretty strong Mormon woman. I think it’s a matter of being conditioned to believe things from childhood & rationalizing it to yourself. She says she’s going to be a goddess, she doesn’t see herself as a pet or something. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/222 "2010-04-24T23:30:34Z")
Apropos of nothing, I played pool last night with two Mormons. I drank beer. They drank water. I smoked cigarettes. They wrinkled their noses. I beat the tar out of them at pool, though. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/223 "2010-04-25T06:22:39Z")
You must not’ve been playing against me in Seomyeon! If you find yourself in Busan, send me a PM and I’ll happily play you in either pool or billiards (both popular games in Korea). ---
**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:** [April 25, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/224 "2010-04-25T06:34:34Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Part of the LDS church’s doctrine of “ongoing revelation” is that the leader of the church, officially called the “Prophet”, receives perfect revelations from God, and thus the Prophet cannot lead the church into error when acting on these revelations. (In other words, Mormons have a doctrine similar to what many people wrongly accuse the Catholic Church of having.) Not really … there are quotations about some revelations not really being from God, and there is plenty of discussion in Mormonism about how the prophets are only prophets “when acting as such,” and how any time a prophet did something wrong, either we just don’t know the whole story or the prophet was not acting as a prophet at the time but just following his own judgment. However, it’s not the ordinary Mormon’s purview to question the leaders, and they’re expected to follow the counsel of the leaders and obey the prophet, essentially. I’ve heard this humorous note numerous times: “Catholicism says the Pope is infallible, but no Catholic believes it. Mormonism says the prophet is not infallible, but no Mormon believes 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:** [April 25, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/225 "2010-04-25T06:38:19Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > If you have a religion like Buddhism that has no designs of taking over the world and is peaceful, I am behind you. May I suggest you read up on the history of Buddhism, then? It hasn’t always been a peachy keen love-in. > [@](#): > > If you follow an aggressive religion that creates enemies ,I am not behind you. You do realize that some people consider others to be enemies for simply not being exactly like them, do you not? > [@](#): > > Any religion like the Muslims that believe they should expand and conquer non believers, is not a religion. Not all Muslims believe that. > [@](#): > > It is a political power movement disguised as one. If peace and not allowing other religions to coexist is not part of the teachings, it is not a religion. That is where the Christians fail. They have a long nasty history of cruelty to non believers and those they decided were heretics. That is not allowed in a religion. It is a political system that calls itself a religion. Silly of me for believing my own experience, huh? I know plenty of denominations of Christianity that preach both peace and tolerance. But feel free to group all Christians as one, all Muslims as one, all Buddhists as one, all whatever as one, and living in the distant past. Somehow, I don’t think that’s going help your argument here, though. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/226 "2010-04-25T10:22:50Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > So you are implying that Romney is a weak Mormon? I don’t know that. Do you? I never arm-rassled him, so I wouldn’t know. But seriously, your complaint seemed to be about him somehow banning other religions once he’s president. I think his record shows that he isn’t likely to do something so crazy. Do you think Romney would favor the Mormon (or religious) minority as POTUS? Or do something else unseemly yet distinctly Mormon? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/227 "2010-04-25T11:20:07Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Do you think Romney would favor the Mormon (or religious) minority as POTUS? Or do something else unseemly yet distinctly Mormon? We’ve already gone over this, but I think the issue is that if someone believes something that has so many obvious faults and issues that their judgment has to be questioned because of 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:** [April 25, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/228 "2010-04-25T11:45:30Z")
**Uzi** : Seems to me that last statement applies to members of any religion. Why not base your appraisal of the person’s performance in political office on his performance in political office? I guess that’s too novel an idea. By the way, the USCG a few years ago had a Mormon as its Commandant. Was his judgment bad? Was he any less capable an admiral than his predecessors? Did he force the Coast Guard to follow his religion? Did he take orders on how to run the Coast Guard from the leader of his church? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/229 "2010-04-25T11:56:29Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > **Uzi** : Seems to me that last statement applies to members of any religion. Why not base your appraisal of the person’s performance in political office on his performance in political office? I guess that’s too novel an idea. Because not all religions are the same. Some are definitely kookier than others. Would you vote for a Scientologist? It isn’t much different than Mormonism other than Mormons have had time to settle down into the mainstream somewhat over the years. Both are obvious constructions of con-men. At least most religions have the legitimacy of time to cover up the blemishes of their founder. But then I wouldn’t vote for a devout Muslim, either. If a person claims to be Muslim and eats pork and drinks, then I’d vote for them because I’d know they don’t take their religion seriously. Maybe Romney is that variety of Mormon? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/230 "2010-04-25T14:07:59Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > You really really love Superman. And it pisses you off that there is a dude across the room wearing a Captain Marvel shirt. You say “Great Krypton” and he says “Shazam”. You’re both nerds and you shouldn’t be talking about how his guy is powered by a magic word when your guy gets laser-beam eyes from the sun. > > In the framework of this metaphor, the atheist is too busy boning hot chicks to read comics. 😃 Profound and a good laugh with the morning coffee. That was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/231 "2010-04-25T15:00:22Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I assume that we’re defining inferior as “lower in quality” or “of less importance”, as that’s what I see in my dictionary. In that case none of these examples constitute designating one gender as inferior. If you start reasoning from the assumption that all organizations and professions should have equal representation from both genders, then maybe you can justify the belief that any one that excludes a gender is treating that gender as inferior. But as I see no reason to start from that assumption, I don’t reach that conclusion. In these cases, I believe “lower in quality” would be the most accurate usage. In which case all of those examples constitute designating one gender as inferior; inferior in terms of lacking quality of skill at basketball, to use one example. You’re simply wrong on that. All of them constitute it. I, too, do not start from the belief that all organisations and progessions should have equal representation from both genders. So we’re agreed on that. I am merely pointing out that, in many cases, the reasoning behind those organisations not having equal representation is because they believe one gender to be inferior in some way to the other. > [@](#): > > I don’t believe that the Catholic Church views women as inferior for the same reason that I don’t believe that the moon landings were a hoax or that a huge Jewish civilization covered North and South America during biblical times. Plenty of people believe those things, but none can offer evidence for their truth. Thank you for calling my views equivalent to a conspiracy theorist. It’s very kind of you to suggest that my argument is akin to nutjobs; i’m just sorry I can’t be so generous to you in return. The Catholic Church believes that women should not be priests. They believe that men (to be more accurate, \*some \*men) should. They believe that while some men lack the qualities necessary to the priesthood, each and every woman is entirely ineligible for that position. That says to me that the difference does indeed lie in gender for the Church. Given that you have already admitted you have no idea what the Church’s view on this is, yet, it’s again worth noting, you have strong views that they are **certainly** not in the wrong on this issue you know nothing about, i’m not entirely sure how you can be so sweeping in your disagreement. Not only is one view on a topic you’re ignorant about wrong, why, it’s akin to conspiracy theory! That’s some _mighty_ impressive latitude you’re willing to give there. Were I you, I would question why I was so willing to give such massive benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/232 "2010-04-25T17:52:46Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > **Uzi** : Seems to me that last statement applies to members of any religion. Why not base your appraisal of the person’s performance in political office on his performance in political office? I guess that’s too novel an idea. > > By the way, the USCG a few years ago had a Mormon as its Commandant. Was his judgment bad? Was he any less capable an admiral than his predecessors? Did he force the Coast Guard to follow his religion? Did he take orders on how to run the Coast Guard from the leader of his church? Don’t keep us in suspense. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/233 "2010-04-25T20:06:05Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I never arm-rassled him, so I wouldn’t know. > > But seriously, your complaint seemed to be about him somehow banning other religions once he’s president. I think his record shows that he isn’t likely to do something so crazy. > > Do you think Romney would favor the Mormon (or religious) minority as POTUS? Or do something else unseemly yet distinctly Mormon? I am sure nobody thinks Romney would ban other religions. That is not a fear I have. It is that Mormonism is a religion that has far too much determination in a followers life. It is not a religion for the casual follower. It is very demanding. It also is pretty goofy. A guy who is a follower has to be able to mentally trick himself into accepting some strange ideas. I have seen no indications that the violence of the Mormons when they moved into Utah is a precedent for future behavior. As a matter of fact ,I am continuously disappointed that our religious leaders have no trouble embracing war and violence. What the hell kind of religions do you people follow, ones of convenience? Would Romney push for Mormons to occupy important government positions? Your damn right he would. What did the religious right do during Bush? They put the Christian Right into lots of jobs they did not merit. They favored Religious Colleges over high class institutions. They had unqualified people all over the place. Why should I think Romney would be any different? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/234 "2010-04-25T21:51:00Z")
[Romney's Anti-Muslim Bigotry Gets Worse | Crooks and Liars](http://crooksandliars.com/2007/11/28/romneys-anti-muslim-bigotry-gets-worse) Romney is clearly biased against Muslims. How does that bode if he gets to be president? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/235 "2010-04-25T22:21:33Z")
I’ll be candid: I haven’t read this entire thread, and I have only skimmed the OP. Why am I here, then (I hear you cry)? Well, it’s the thread title. This is what I think I have a right to see when I read the title **Some fair questions for Mitt Romney about Mormonism** : 1. Is it permissible to ride the Ferris Wheel with a young person of the opposite sex whom you are not married/betrothed to? 2. Is attendance at the fair on Monday night an acceptable way to dispose your Family Home Evening? 3. Is the “Guess Your Weight” game considered an example of an impermissible game of chance? 4. Can green jello be battered and deep-fried? My point is this: The OP, having proclaimed himself, quite vocally, to belong to a faith which is not Mormonism, is hardly in a position to baldly state: _These questions about Mormonism are **FAIR** _. He may believe they are fair questions, but it is debatable whether they are in fact, fair. If he’s going to insist that the thread title declare them to be fair questions right out of the box, I think the actual questions should somehow relate to displays of agricultural prowess, and the midways that accompany them. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/236 "2010-04-25T23:20:51Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Would Romney push for Mormons to occupy important government positions? Your damn right he would. You got any proof of this or is it just more of your conspiracy theory? ---
**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:** [April 25, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/237 "2010-04-25T23:32:12Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [Romney's Anti-Muslim Bigotry Gets Worse | Crooks and Liars](http://crooksandliars.com/2007/11/28/romneys-anti-muslim-bigotry-gets-worse) Romney is clearly biased against Muslims. How does that bode if he gets to be president? Well, not really. He just said they aren’t well-enough represented in the populace to deserve representation in the Cabinet. Of course, this is an astoundingly _stupid_ position- since when are Cabinet appointees supposed to reflect the makeup of the population? But it’s not a racist one. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/238 "2010-04-25T23:37:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, not really. He just said they aren’t well-enough represented in the populace to deserve representation in the Cabinet. > > Of course, this is an astoundingly _stupid_ position- since when are Cabinet appointees supposed to reflect the makeup of the population? Especially since Mormons represent less than 2% of the population of the United States, and shouldn’t get a Cabinet post until there are about 50 Cabinet positions. Perhaps the Ministry of Musical Theater? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/239 "2010-04-25T23:51:24Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I am sure nobody thinks Romney would ban other religions. That is not a fear I have. It is that Mormonism is a religion that has far too much determination in a followers life. It is not a religion for the casual follower. It is very demanding. It also is pretty goofy. A guy who is a follower has to be able to mentally trick himself into accepting some strange ideas. Yeah, but Romney was born in, not ‘born again’ in. I think there is a big difference. People who have to sacrifice their integrity to get into a social organization are more obligated to parrot all the nonsense than people who have always been members. I don’t think Mormonism is the only religion like this. > [@](#): > > I have seen no indications that the violence of the Mormons when they moved into Utah is a precedent for future behavior. As a matter of fact ,I am continuously disappointed that our religious leaders have no trouble embracing war and violence. What the hell kind of religions do you people follow, ones of convenience? Yeah well you’ve heard of the Iraq Massacre, no? Pretty much a pubbie endeavor. And Romney is a pubbie, so here I start to think of some tough questions for him. > [@](#): > > Would Romney push for Mormons to occupy important government positions? Your damn right he would. What did the religious right do during Bush? They put the Christian Right into lots of jobs they did not merit. They favored Religious Colleges over high class institutions. They had unqualified people all over the place. > Why should I think Romney would be any different? Because he is kind of Bugs Bunny to W’s Porky Pig. Romney seems pretty sharp to me. Bush and his evangelicals were pretty crude. See what I mean? ---
**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:** [April 25, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419/240 "2010-04-25T23:52:32Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Especially since Mormons represent less than 2% of the population of the United States, and shouldn’t get a Cabinet post until there are about 50 Cabinet positions. Perhaps the Ministry of Musical Theater? I didn’t want to bring that up, since Mormons self-describe as Christian, but yeah, that too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-fair-questions-for-mitt-romney-about-mormonism/536419.md?page=13)