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Mitt Romney's son says father's faith not an issue with voters

By S.W. SHOPTAW, T&D Correspondent  Saturday, December 22, 2007

1 comment(s) | Default | Large

HOLLY HILL -- Craig Romney, the youngest son of Mitt Romney, Republican presidential hopeful, spoke to approximately 50 people at the Holly Hill Depot Wednesday while in South Carolina stumping for his dad.

The 26-year-old, who is married and the father of a son not quite two years old, said his father is the best candidate for president.

Craig Romney was asked what effect the media attention concerning his father's Mormon faith is having on the campaign.

"It is interesting to me that it is obviously something that comes up from time to time in the media. But on the road, it is something that we rarely hear about," he said. "Voters ... it is not usually a concern for them. It is something that the media loves to talk about."

The young Romney noted that, in politics, "everything is fair game."

"I think my dad has done a very good job of addressing his faith and the importance of faith in America in his speech. ... I am not sure what kind of impact it would have on the campaign. I think the important thing for me is that there are so many other things you could talk about with my dad. People in this county, I think, want a person of faith leading their county. I don't think they are too concerned about what brand of faith as long as it is a personal faith."

Asked what kind of a disciplinarian is father was with five sons in the household, Romney said he never remembers his father punishing him, adding, "The thought that he was disappointed in me was the worst punishment you could imagine. That says a lot about him in the fact that just being disappointed in me, or my brothers, was enough to prevent us from behaving too badly. It didn't work all the time, though, because we fought a lot as brothers would do."

Romney said he believes one of his father's "greatest skills is being able to work together well with others."

He said he and his four brothers are all involved in the presidential campaign, noting that his oldest brother, Tag, was the chief marketing officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers, his dream job, when his father threw his hat into the ring for president. Tag quit his job, sold his house and moved to Boston to work on the campaign for his dad full time, he said.

Romney said his middle brother, Josh, bought an RV online, wrapped it in Mitt Romney campaign posters, named it the "Mitt Mobile" and drove it to all 99 counties in Iowa campaigning for his father.

T&D Correspondent S.W. Shoptaw can be reached by e-mail at Swsx5@aol.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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1 comment(s)
The following comments are reader submitted. They do not represent the views of The T&D or Lee Enterprises.

MormonsAreChristian wrote on Dec 22, 2007 8:20 AM:

" The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion This article helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity's theology relating to baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. • Baptism: . Early Christian churches, practiced baptism of youth (not infants) by immersion by the father of the family. The local congregation had a lay ministry. An early Christian Church has been re-constructed at the Israel Museum, and the above can be verified. http://www.imj.org.il/eng/exhibitions/2000/christianity/ancientchurch/structure/index.html The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continues baptism and a lay ministry as taught by Jesus’ Apostles. Early Christians were persecuted for keeping their practices sacred, and prohibiting non-Christians from witnessing them. • The Trinity: . A literal reading of the New Testament points to God and Jesus Christ , His Son , being separate , divine beings , united in purpose. . To whom was Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and Who was speaking to Him and his apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration? The Nicene Creed”s definition of the Trinity was influenced by scribes translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin. The scribes embellished on a passage explaining the Trinity , which is the Catholic and Protestant belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The oldest versions of the epistle of 1 John, read: "There are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one." Scribes later added "the Father, the Word and the Spirit," and it remained in the epistle when it was translated into English for the King James Version, according to Dr. Bart Ehrman, Chairman of the Religion Department at UNC- Chapel Hill. He no longer believes in the Nicene Trinity. . Scholars agree that Early Christians believed in an embodied God; it was neo-Platonist influences that later turned Him into a disembodied Spirit. Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.” Divinization, narrowing the space between God and humans, was also part of Early Christian belief. St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox) wrote, regarding theosis, "The Son of God became man, that we might become God." . The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views the Trinity as three separate divine beings , in accord with the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts. • The Deity of Jesus Christ Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS), Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. Evangelical pollster George Barna found in 2001 that while only 33 percent of American Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists (28 percent of Episcopalians) agreed that Jesus was “without sin”, 70 percent of Mormons believe Jesus was sinless. http://www.adherents.com/misc/BarnaPoll.html • The Cross and Christ’s Atonement: . The Cross became popular as a Christian symbol in the Fifth Century A.D. . Members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) believe the proper Christian symbol is Christ’s resurrection , not his crucifixion on the Cross. Many Mormon chapels feature paintings of the resurrected Christ or His Second Coming. Furthermore, members of the church believe the major part of Christ’s atonement occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ took upon him the sins of all mankind. • Definition of “Christian”: . But Mormons don’t term Catholics and Protestants “non-Christian”. They believe Christ’s atonement applies to all mankind. The dictionary definition of a Christian is “of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ”: All of the above denominations are followers of Christ, and consider him divine, and the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. They all worship the one and only true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and address Him in prayer as prescribed in The Lord’s Prayer. It’s important to understand the difference between Reformation and Restoration when we consider who might be authentic Christians. . Early Christians had certain rituals which defined a Christian http://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/207/2070037.htm , which members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continue today. . If members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) embrace early Christian theology, they are likely more “Christian” than their detractors. • The Need for a Restoration of the Christian Church: The founder of the Baptist Church in America, Roger Williams, just prior to leaving the church he established, said this: "There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.” (Picturesque America, p. 502.) Martin Luther had similar thoughts: "Nor can a Christian believer be forced beyond sacred Scriptures,...unless some new and proved revelation should be added; for we are forbidden by divine law to believe except what is proved either through the divine Scriptures or through Manifest revelation." He also wrote: "I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it." The Lutheran, Baptist and Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) churches recognize an apostasy from early Christianity. The Lutheran and Baptist churches have attempted reform, but Mormonism (and Roger Williams, and perhaps Martin Luther) require inspired restoration, so as to re-establish an unbroken line of authority and apostolic succession. * * * • Christ-Like Lives: The 2005 National Study of Youth and Religion published by UNC-Chapel Hill found that Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) youth (ages 13 to 17) were more likely to exhibit these Christian characteristics than Evangelicals (the next most observant group): 1. Attend Religious Services weekly 2. Importance of Religious Faith in shaping daily life – extremely important 3. Believes in life after death 4. Does NOT believe in psychics or fortune-tellers 5. Has taught religious education classes 6. Has fasted or denied something as spiritual discipline 7. Sabbath Observance 8. Shared religious faith with someone not of their faith 9. Family talks about God, scriptures, prayer daily 10. Supportiveness of church for parent in trying to raise teen (very supportive) 11. Church congregation has done an excellent job in helping teens better understand their own sexuality and sexual morality LDS Evangelical 1. 71% 55% 2. 52 28 3. 76 62 4. 100 95 5. 42 28 6. 68 22 7. 67 40 8. 72 56 9. 50 19 10. 65 26 11. 84 35 So what do you think the motivation is for the Evangelical preachers to denigrate the Mormon Church? It seems obvious they shouldn't be denigrating a church based on First Century Christianity. The only plausible reason is to protect their flock (and their livelihood). "



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