Mormons Believe?
I appreciate the hearty discussion of “Mitt Romney Mormons Believe,” though I am surprised by the responses from my fellow Mormons to our beliefs in print. For Romney to win the White House, Latter-day Saint members need to set aside perceived offense in order to rationally discuss beliefs.
I will address only one point to illustrate. Most comments were by members of the Church who were offended by the prophecy that the U.S. Constitution will “hang by a thread” and that the Church will come to its rescue. The members’ reluctance to claim this belief puzzles me. I provided evidence from the source—the words of Joseph Smith as recorded in writing by Brigham Young. Perhaps I should have provided a more recent source.
In further research, I found that I was in error when I said that 1976 was the last time this was pronounced by prophets. At LDS.org, the official Church website, the public can view the address of the Prophet, President Benson, in General Conference on October 4, 1987. For LDS members, the words of prophets in these semi-annual world conferences are scripture, and President Benson stated:
“We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said: ‘Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.’”
I cannot state it more clearly than the Prophet here. This should lay the issue to rest, and I suggest that we Mormons not take offense, but discuss our beliefs. In attempting to conceal them, we seem disingenuous, and we feed the public perception that Mitt Romney has something to hide. I trust that readers will research the remainder of my arguments before rushing to judgement.
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