An open letter to Mitt Romney
January 14, 2012
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, colloquially referred to as the “Mormon Church”, or sometimes just “the Church”. Although I am no longer active in the Church, many members of my family are, and I believe it is often a force for good in the world and I want it to be fairly represented by those who are well known to be “faithful” members of the Church in public life.
Mr. Romney, you are one of its most prominent members, and you profess to believe in its teachings. I met you when you were the Stake President in Boston, when you were responsible as a local spiritual leader for hundreds of the Church’s members. You interviewed many of my friends for spiritual worthiness before they could serve as missionaries for the Church.
I cannot reconcile your recent campaign rhetoric with the Church’s teachings on honesty and your own professed belief in the Church. “But he’s a politician; they’re all hypocrites and they all lie,” some might say. Even if that is true, it neither excuses your behavior nor absolves you of your responsibility to represent the Church well to people who do not know it or its members well.
Frankly, Mr. Romney, your lies are setting a bad example. Moreover, they have eroded the trust you earned as my Stake President and the governor of Massachusetts, and they endanger your campaign among moderates.
I urge you to reconsider and pray about your campaign decisions. Seek the Lord’s wisdom on the question of honesty. I suspect that even President Monson himself might find time to talk to you about this important, urgent question. It is not only your campaign that depends on it, but also how millions of people around the world will perceive Mormons. Your prominence now means that your behavior reflects on the Church, its culture, and its members.
I believe that we are a people for whom honesty, transparency, and integrity are more important than monetary or political gain. One of our articles of faith states, “I believe in being honest [and] true…”
Mr. Romney, you have a stark choice to make. You must either abandon your pretense of believing in the LDS Church’s teachings and continue to operate your campaign with the status quo of deceptive speech, or you must change your campaign and stop the lies. It is not only the American people who will judge you, but also, according to your professed beliefs, the almighty God.
I offer you my heartfelt counsel in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Romney Lies
HAHAHAHAHAHAH
PEACE
TOS