The American Spectator

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Mormonism Spelled Out

12.19.05 @ 12:01AM

(Page 5 of 6)

The author evidently thinks he has done fabulous research on the Mormons in stating without equivocation that "Joseph Smith took dozens of wives, often claiming that he was commanded to do so by the Almighty Himself." Any serious research into the subject will reveal that that affirmation is indeed a troubling one. Much research has been done into the subject, and if indeed, Joseph had "dozens of wives," surely his first and only wife, Emma, would have known about it. If she, according to RLDS church history, would have taken the children and left Joseph were he to allow a bar to be set up in his home, for any length of time, as a favor to a tavern owner that had his tavern incapacitated, surely she would have denounced him as a fraud were he to have had "dozens of wives." Further, there is no historical document written during his lifetime that states Joseph Smith, Jr. claims "he was commanded to do so by the Almighty Himself."

Yes, there is a problem with "Mormons." Some of the problems stem from what has been perpetrated by Mormon-haters and bigots, who have no first-hand witness to offer, but who have chosen to repeat slander and libel, or make up stories out of pure devilishness, as a course of action against an historically peaceful and faithful people.
-- Kent Pedersen

Your article, although very lengthy, has not done justice to Gov. Romney nor to his faith and church, of which I am also a member. I don't appreciate it when my faith is portrayed as strange, or not approved of. One reason this tends to surface is because of poor press and poor articles like yours. Ask Charles Osgood, Renee Fleming, and many others who have been close to the church and have been delighted to be a part of media presentations by the church describing how Mormons are. Just be fair, OK?

Believing as a conservative that truth is crucial, and in that, generally speaking, The American Spectator does a first-class job, I am disturbed by the casual and inaccurate way you have portrayed my faith.

Not only do you quote doctrine but then you do so without any reference to basis for it or the context of it which is critical in having a fair and accurate understanding.

I can also quote a teaching from the Protestant or Catholic faith and the Bible, and without the background for it others would comment "Wow, is that what they believe?"

Sir, this is poor writing and you know it. Not once did you even bother to remark about what the church has been to Gov Romney and the integrity and values he lives and reflects.

I would urge you since you brought it up, to get a copy of the bio of Marion G. Romney. I think you might be rather amazed. Better yet, go to speeches.com and select one of his talks from the list and listen to it, his wisdom is profound. You may think differently of this "cousin." If you do this then also get Bruce R. McConkie and listen to one of his. He is also a "relative of Gov. Romney," and was one of the greatest doctrinal scriptorians in this generation.

A wise man said once that if you must use a hammer, use it to build your house, not to knock another man's down.
-- Pamela Johnson
Zionsville, Indiana

I was very interested to read about Mitt Romney's "Mormon problem." I guess believing in God and Jesus Christ and determining to personally follow them is a "real problem" for some people. I, however, think Mitt would be a great president! His morals are unquestionable and his standards are high. He is a Christian in every sense and one without any closet skeletons. If Evangelical Christians have a problem with that, then they are hypocrites and no better than the anti-Semite or local racist.
-- Elizabeth Beus
Idaho

CLONE RANGER
Re: Tom Bethell's Science, Fraud, and Steel Chop Sticks:

While it is good that Tom Bethell is monitoring the bogus claims of scientific research over which he has no moral control, I would disagree with his assertion that "The ethics [of human cloning and embryonic stem-cell research] could be left for another day." Human vivisection is evil. For that reason alone we ought not to encourage research into making possible that which we should be condemning.
-- Kevin O'Neill
London, England

Tom Bethell hardly fears molecular biology being "hamstrung by medieval qualms and superstitions" but then he at once believes that the molecular mechanisms "of immune-system rejection itself only became apparently quite recently" while "embryologists had been trying for over a hundred years to understand how the cells of the developing body manage to do this."

How exactly they did so a century before the sequencing of the human genome he does not say, but that does not deter him from an "I told you so' lecture averring one allegation of hype or fraud among the legions laboring on the problem of cellular compatibility and cloning proves there is nothing to it but scientific wishful thinking -- perhaps abetted by greed.

So he "decided to focus on the science", not that he has ever done or published any, confident that since cellular biology "clearly had not reached the stage where it could solve these problems." Ergo, "the ethics could be left for another day."

Letter to the Editor

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