Time Magazine* on Mitt Romney

Time Magazine* on Mitt Romney
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012

*Time - October 8, 2012
Preface: There is a foreboding mood in America. With the Presidential debate coming up on Wednesday. What is the best way to deal with this? I recall a Norman Vincent Peale biblical advice: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thy own understanding.”
I heard another speaker persuading us to pray daily for the next 40 days for America. And whatever God’s will is; so let it be. If it is dire punishment, we are judged, we deserve it, so let it be.

*Time “… in his (Mitt Romney’s) most expansive discussion of his faith and politics, a 2007 speech delivered at George H. W. Bush’s presidential library, “Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.”…

“I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor …. I saw my parents provide compassionate care to others, in personal ways to people nearby and in just as consequential ways in leading national volunteer movements … My faith is grounded in these truths. You can witness them in Ann and in my marriage and in our family. We are a long way from perfect, and we have surely stumbled along the way, but our aspirations, our values, are the self-same as those of other faiths that stand upon this common foundation. And these convictions will indeed inform my presidency.” …

“The Mormon sense of destiny gives followers a part in a divine story, a larger saga of the conflict between good and evil, infusing their lives with both great purpose and keen pragmatism. Viewing Romney through the lens of the Mormon understanding of history helps explain his ambition, his devotion to personal liberty and his comfort with expediency….

“The Mormons soon heard a prophecy from Smith that exalted religious liberty - a liberty the Mormons desperately needed America to protect and nurture. Smith said God had told him the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired and that the Founding Fathers were “wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose.”…

“Romney’s commitments to liberty and individualism as organizing American principles also have Mormon origins. “People from all over the world who prized freedom - the innovators, pioneers, the dreamers - came to America,” Romney wrote in No Apology. “And so they continue today … It is this love of liberty and the accompanying spirit of invention, creativity, daring to do, and pioneering that have propelled America to become the most powerful nation in the history of the world.”

“He told faith leaders in September, in a contrast reported by Christianity Today, “When our economy is healthy and growing, we have the resources to take care of those who still find themselves in need.” Moreover Romney said, “Our government rightly provides a safety net for the hungry, the homeless, the sick & the elderly, &we have the responsibility to keep it intact for future generations.

“Romney’s personal engagement in charitable works is formidable. The Mormon church requires its members to tithe 10% of their income to maintain good standing in the church. He and his wife are generous donors: in 2010, the Romneys gave $3 million dollars to charity, 1.5 million of which went directly to the church. The church runs more than 300 employment resource centers and 80 family- services offices. Some 9,800 missionaries work in welfare services, teaching English as a second language…LDS church encourages members to keep a three-to-six month food supply in reserve so the faithful won’t go hungry in case of a natural disaster. Mormon families also forgo two consecutive meals a month and give the money that would have been spent as a “fast offering” for the poor… With fast offerings and tithes, the Mormon system is designed both to make members self-reliant and to follow the biblical mandate to feed the hungry and clothe the naked."...

George H. Kubeck - Maybe all Americans, including Christians can learn something from Mormons?