Extreme Views of Mormons

[hollister]

This is from an ex-Mormon site (so take that into account) about the top ten extreme beliefs held by Mormons. And it is political as well - but it does seem to be a pretty clear outline. Anyone know more?

www.exmormon.org/boards/w-agora/view.php?bn=exmobb_recovery&key=1197002822

[Jaga]

Holly,

this is a very good and short description of mormonism. Additionally, Mormons take a bible and a book of Mormon literally. They believe in celestial marriage, they believe that people will still live together after their death :0

But for me the problem is a strength of Mormon Church. Mormons pay 10% of their income to the church, much more than people of other denominations (I guess, Catholics pay usually only 1%). They are excellent businessmen since B. Young, they own Mariott hotel etc. We do not hear about it but Romney campaign is run by mormons. He may say, that he does not care for the religion, but the Mormons around him act like clique. Otherwise why he is coming all the time to Utah and Idaho for fund raising? So, I feel somewhat dishonesty that he is claiming that religion is not important but he surrounds himself with Mormons all teh time.

Other denominations are not that cliquish.

[Jaga]

If you do not believe me and Holly that Mormon Church is very well organized, just remember that both of us spend some of our lives in Idaho where about 50% of population are Mormons.

Here is an interesting info from WashingtonPost about Mormon organization and Romney:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR2007040301737.html
Mormon Base a Mixed Blessing for Romney

It is the rare presidential candidate who comes to Idaho to raise money, but there was Mitt Romney last month, packing more than 100 people, at up to $2,300 a head, into the Crystal Ballroom in Boise.

"Nearly every seat was filled. Just about everybody that's anybody was there," said Grant Ipsen, a former Idaho state legislator. "I don't think I'd ever attended another fundraiser for a federal candidate in Idaho."

There was no great mystery why Romney was in town. The former Massachusetts governor is a Mormon, as are about one-quarter of Idaho residents, including Ipsen and many others who turned out for the lunchtime event. The fundraiser was bracketed by two others in the Mountain West: one in Las Vegas and another outside Phoenix. At both of those events, Mormons made up at least half the crowd, organizers said. Altogether, the two-day swing brought in well over $1 million for Romney.

As he vies for a place in the top tier of contenders for the Republican nomination, Romney is reaping enormous benefits from being part of a growing religion that has traditionally emphasized civic engagement and mutual support. Mormons are fueling his strong fundraising operation, which this week reported raising $21 million, the most of any Republican candidate. And they are laying the foundation for a potent grass-roots network -- including a cadre of young church members experienced in door-to-door missions who say they are looking forward to hitting the streets for him.

"When Mormons get mobilized, they're like dry kindling. You drop a match and get impressive results quickly," said University of Notre Dame political scientist David Campbell, who is Mormon. "It's almost a unique group in the way in which it's organized at the local level and the channels through which mobilization can occur."

But the intensity of this support has a potential downside as Romney tries to establish an identity separate from a religion still regarded warily by many Americans -- a quarter of whom, polls suggest, do not want a Mormon president.

[Jaga]

more:

The dilemma faced by Romney and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS, as the church is known, recalls in some ways what John F. Kennedy faced running as a Roman Catholic in 1960. Among the factors that make this situation different, say political scientists, is that Mormons are almost unmatched in their cohesiveness and capacity for unified action.

Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said Romney welcomes the backing he is receiving from Mormons, which he compared to the help that other candidates have received from their ethnic or religious roots, such as Michael Dukakis's support from fellow Greek Americans in 1988. But Madden said Mormon support makes up only one element of Romney's base.

...
Wealthy Mormons giving to Romney's PACs include the Marriotts, the Bethesda-based hotel family, who have given more than $390,000; the family of Jon Huntsman Sr., the owner of a major Utah chemical company, which has given more than $170,000; and the family of Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, which has given $100,000.


After Romney last fall sent direct-mail solicitations to Republicans nationwide, his two biggest state-level PACs received 319 checks from Utah, which is about two-thirds Mormon -- a third of the total number of checks he received in the year's final quarter. In the same period, he received seven checks from Massachusetts, where he has lived more than 30 years.

...
A Stronghold in the West



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After Utah, which holds a quarter of the church's 5.7 million U.S. members, the highest concentrations of Mormons are in Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona, in that order. California, by virtue of its size, has the second-largest Mormon population in absolute terms -- about 750,000.

While the church is strongest in the West, it is represented in almost every corner of the country, in congregations organized into "stakes," "wards" and "branches." Its hierarchy is headed by a president and two counselors and a Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, while congregations are led by laymen, a role Romney served.

Church leaders encourage members to vote and be involved in politics, and they occasionally weigh in on "moral" issues such as ballot initiatives on same-sex marriage or gambling. But to preserve the church's tax exemption, its leaders warn against making endorsements inside churches or using membership lists or the church's Web site for partisan purposes.

[Jaga]

Can you imagine such an organized campaign on behalf of Catholic presidential candidate?

Romney's campaign edged against these boundaries last fall when Kem Gardner, a Utah developer whose family has given $140,000 to Romney's PACs, set up a meeting in Salt Lake City with a church apostle, a Romney consultant and one of Romney's sons. Documents obtained by the Boston Globe showed that the apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, suggested promoting Romney via the alumni association of the business school at church-owned Brigham Young University, a group with 5,500 members in 40 chapters.

Days later, two deans from the business school sent an e-mail rallying support for Romney to 150 members of the school's advisory council and 50 chapter leaders of the alumni association, the Management Society. Because it is legally part of church-owned BYU, the society is also prohibited from backing candidates. After the Globe reported on the efforts in October, church leaders disavowed any campaign on Romney's behalf.