People are always curious about Mormons and what they believe, especially recently with Mitt Romney in the headlines. He usually shys away from talking about it. Personally, I wish he’d talk about it more because it would show his personal side of how he may have helped people.
This report is a little old (April 2012), but I thought it was a good report on people’s experiences with Mitt Romney as their bishop.
Grace for Grace 
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August 17, 2012 at 9:21 pm
Doug
Brian Williams on NBC is doing a special report called “Mormon in America” next week. Should be interesting-I would imagine that the church is pretty pumped to be in the spotlight. What is the feeling in Latter-day Saint circles regarding the possibility of having one of their own as President? My son (who is a student at a Bible College and non-Mormon) loves Mitt and is planning on volunteering for Team Romney.
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August 18, 2012 at 7:52 am
graceforgrace
Hi Doug,
Feelings are mixed within Mormon circles and politics isn’t something that we talk about much at church at all anyways, so it’s hard to gauge.
I’m a moderate conservative, so I have been pro-Romney from the get-go. However, I’ve seen some LDS members who are liberal and who can’t stand Romney (hence Harry Reid who is in office, who is also a Mormon).
However, I live in Washington State where it is a blue state and my views and observations within Mormon circles are much different than if you asked a Mormon in Idaho or Utah… and possibly Arizona. I would imagine the Romney fervor there is much higher than here.
I’ve also heard some LDS members not want to be in the spotlight because they are slightly ashamed of some of the history of the Mormon church and some of the things past Mormon leaders did or said that we as a church try not to talk about anymore (i.e. black males not allowed to have priesthood, polygamy, wacky quotes said by a prophet, etc).
How are Evangelicals viewing Romney? Are they warming up to him at all?
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August 18, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Jettboy
“I would imagine the Romney fervor there is much higher than here.”
Not really. Its more like curiosity reversed; how are Mormons going to be perceived with Romney in the spotlight? The curiosity is mixed with ambivalence that it is a good thing (but not that it is a bad thing that Romney is high profile). There is no palpable excitement for Mitt Romney as a candidate any more than if another Republican were running for President. I have heard zero statements of support and seen zero yard or bumper stickers. Then again I have only heard minor grumbles that he is the one running instead of a more conservative candidate. Get back to this question after the conventions or a few weeks before voting day.
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August 19, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Cal
Doug, thanks for the heads-up on the NBC show!
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August 20, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Doug
White evangelicals, while uncertain about Romney’s faith, will vote for him over Obama-no question. Being a pretty conservative guy he isn’t my first pick-but he does bring a much needed business background to the table. While I assumed the church would be officially neutral I thought individual LDS members would be pretty pumped-sounds like I was wrong. Like evangelicals LDS are all over the place politically.
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August 20, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Stan Beale
One of the frustrating things is that there is a “good” Mitt and there is a “bad” Mitt. A great deal of what he did as Bishop and Stake President is very commendable. But, there is the infamous “but.”
I must confess that the “bad” Mitt sickens me. We had an exchange student from El Salvador at the high school I taught at. A very nice sweet young lady. She returned to her native country and within several months, she and her family were murdered by the death squads. The parents crime, they were teachers.
The relation to Romney? He started Bain Capital by reaching out and seeking investments from some of the families that funded the death squads. This was done while he was Bishop and Stake President.
Apparently, whatever misgivings he had were overcome by his need to find investors. As Molly Ivins used to say about unscroupulous Texas businessmen. “bidness is bidness.”
This story has been around for a while, but the two most recent sources are “Mitt Romney Started Bain Capital With Money From Families Tied To Death Squads” by Ryan Grim in the Huffington Post (8/20/2012) and “Romney Death Squad Tie” in Democracy Now (8/10/2012).
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August 25, 2012 at 8:31 am
Media and Mormons: Do LDS Members like all the Media Coverage « Grace for Grace
[…] one of my recent posts on a CNN interview with former members of Mitt Romney’s congregation, a reader asked me if we as Mormons enjoy all the media […]
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