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Mitt Romney to give speech on his Mormon faith

I am for one glad he is going to take the opportunity to do this. It will help "disspell" many myths and falsehoods about his (Our) faith I hope. So many have taken "Pot-Shots" over the years in ignorance, and this will be his oportunity to be honest and flat out straight forward with America on the topic of "Mormonism" and the fact it is a clear cut Christian Faith which doesn't happen to believe in Man Made Articles and Creeds from the first 500 centuries A.D. and all the Paganism that goes into Mainstream Christendom of the Mainstream faiths which have so ensnared and coderized the Christian Belief System. Why can't God speak to man in this day and age, why can't their be living apostles and prophets, and where does it say they are gone? In fact the Bible tells us the opposite, but the mainstream has blinded mankind to the facts of the matter. I wish him well, and hope the Lord is with him in his speech.

Let's hope it will be on target and not just another political spin on the subject.

Mitt Romney's remarks on faith are inappropriate. He is a Latter-day Saint. So what?

He is not a national spokesman for the faith.

He is not a public affairs specialist.

Since Mitt Romney has entered the Republican Primary, I hear the same message from his liberal fanatics: If you don�t vote for Mitt, you are �anti-Mormon�.

It�s a dishonest tactic that only works among the gullible and feeble-minded.

Rudy Giuliani isn�t running an anti-Catholic defamation or anti-Italian defamation campaign. Hillary Clinton isn�t running as the �female candidate�. Fred Thompson isn�t saying �vote for me because I like buttered grits and country music�. Each candidate is running on their record. Mitt Romney has a liberal record, so he therefore is claiming faith.

Mormonism is Romney�s gimmick � and sadly, Mormonism is what Mitt Romney will use as his excuse as to why he lost the GOP Primary.

Well, Mitt Romney, I am a Mormon, and I will never vote for you because I am a CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN. I cannot vote for someone who raised the capital gains tax, legislated gun control, and legalized gay civil unions.

Mitt Romney should leave something as sacred as faith and doctrine out of his campaign.

As a former LDS public affairs person this concerns me. Some of what he has already said, though no doubt well intended, makes me cringe a bit.

So what does his faith have to do with Romney as a viable presidential candidate?

Whether you like Romney's politics or not, you have to admit that his faith has been more of a sticking point than Clinton II's gender, Obama's race, or any other personal characteristic of the other candidates. Wrong or right that's how the country feels. True, he's no spokesperson for the Church, but he should address the issue. How he does it will be interesting.

This speech will do little to change many Americans opinion of the Mormon religion. JFK's speech was not so much to explain Catholocism as it was to ease people's fears that the Vatican would have a huge influence in the White House. No one has such fears since the Mormon leadership is no where near as influential and powerful as the Vatican.

How can you say Gov. Romney is using this so called "anti-mormon" method when he has tried to stay away from the subject of religion for the most part of this process. I believe the speech is necessary because people have been taking many shots at not only him but at our religious beliefs as well. Good luck to Governor Romney.

Mitt, you are walking into a mine field. Not that the speech should not be given but, watch out!

I'm not sure there is a lot he can say.

Ultimately Christian Evangelicals are offended by Mormonism's claim to be the "only true church" and their missionary program that is aimed at getting Evangelicals to switch their religion. That is what led to the "Mormons are not Christian" campaign that was launched in retaliation more than thirty years ago.

Romney can say what he wants but the Mormon Church will keep proselyting and Evangelicals will continue to resent it and take it out on Romney. I don't see anything he can realistically say that will convince them that he is really "one of them".

Mr. Romney:

Be brutally honest or your campaign will be over. Don't stutter over the hard stuff.

I dont think Mitt is trying to convince anyone that he is "quote one of them". I think the goal will be to have people see that even in differences you can accept Mitt and support Mitt.
For too long now the narrative has been that Mitt is fantastically qualified, but he is Mormon so he cant be taken seriously. Anyone that would believe in such a thing can only be said to be easily duped or not very bright.
This speech is more about debunking that thought process and hitting straight on those who would otherwise vote for Romney but are using faith as an excuse.
Personally I dont believe that Romney is going to get on stage Thursday and go through the tenets of Mormonism. I think those who are afraid of this dont understand the context in which this "speech" is being given. No one is saying that Gov Romney is a spokesperson for the LDS faith. He knows he is not and so do most everyone else.
I wish the man good luck as he tries to diminish the hatred and ignorance of the LDS faith in this country. AS LDS shouldnt we feel the same

If he tries to spin he's done. I'm not LDS and don't care if he is or not. I care more about what he is going to do about Iraq, Iran, and $4.00 gas than if he is LDS. If he pulls out Iowa and New Hampshire then he won't have to worry about those Southern Baptists destroying him. He won't win in the south. Not only because he's LDS--but because he seems to perfect. He's not as charming as Bill Clinton.

Most people will still be turned off from a Mormon President, irregardless of a speech. The faulty assumption by the LDS faithful is that if people actually truly knew what the LDS believed, then they would accept or respect it within the hierarchy of the larger relgions. Clearly this is an assumption that is not correct.

Faith is not the point!
Political party leaders will tell you,
any isolated speech allowed is a jewel in the candidates purse/billfold.
Mitts speech will grab the news medias attention for days, if not weeks.
And right here before the Iowa vote, it will be Mitt Romney's name all up and down the air waves.
Congratulation's to his Republican handlers, and lets hope his speech writers come close to the truth.

I don't care about any of their religions. I want to know their position on illegal immigration, national debt, huge negative trade balances, and other national issues. He owes no one an explanation about LDS doctrine or history, any more than Huckabee does about the Southern Baptist doctrine and history, which is not so good when connected to the slavery issue.

As someone who has lived all over the nation I can tell you that one speech will not change those with a negative perception about the LDS faith. Mormons are such a small part of the American population that it is impossible for one speech to warm people to the LDS faith.

Good Luck Mitt!!

There's a lot of Ignorance out there on some basic
concepts. There are different ways to see basically the same eternal truths, but for years the "anti"
promoters have been spewing exaggerations and many "things out of context" to the point that many
have the idea the LDS don't even come close to being Christian. The "anti" have a desire to promote "wildly and to distort" the areas of difference and basically ignore ALL the VAST common ground.

The "Anti" agenda generally is get their listerners and followers to "hate" that which is presented. It's easy for those who don't know better (knowing the actual LDS positions) to become convinced by a well gifted speaker and follow in that hate and disrespect.

Good Luck Mitt in dealing with this situation, which you didn't create. Hopefully you can pierce through the distortions and bad feelings and get the message through. LDS do Believe in Christ and Worship Him in Sacrament Meeting Weekly!! Many don't really know that. The LDS DO actually believe that Jesus Died for their sins too! And they PRAY in His Name!

Again Good Luck and God Bless!!

There is a big difference between Romney's faith and Huckabee's faith, at least so far as caucus and primary voters are concerned. Those players are, for better or worse, more at home with evangelical christianity than with LDS. Romney is in a pickle b/c he needs to address concerns about his faith, but if he gets too specific (e.g., Manifesto, 1978, living prophet, etc.) he will only lose support.

Hence Romney's will 1) gloss over doctrinal matters, 2) emphasize commitment to common Christian values, 3) seek to distance himself from the LDS hierarchy while 4) claiming a close personal relationship with God.

He will speak in very strong but very vague language. If he chooses to address unique LDS tenets or history he will only lose votes.

If Romney does speak about his faith, it will be extremely interesting to me. I hope it goes well, not for him, but for the good of the Church.