By Ken Carroll

Editorial

There are daily attacks on Mitt Romney, in regards to his Mormon religion. Pundits are always musing if Christians would accept Romney despite him being a Mormon?

Before continuing, let’s see what a Christian really is: The American Heritage Dictionary says a “Christian is someone professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.”

There are some people that have the misconception that Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) worship Joseph Smith, an American prophet believed to have compiled a sacred history of the Americas, which were translated and published as The Book of Mormon in 1830, which they use in place of the Holy Bible.

As the church’s name suggests, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, Jesus Christ and His teachings are the focus of Mormons. It is not a church of Joseph Smith. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, similar to Isaiah, Abraham, Jeremiah and other ancient prophets that were called upon by the Lord to do His bidding.

Ironically, Catholics, who everyone assumes to be Christians, rarely mention Jesus Christ during their services choosing to pray to the virgin mother Mary; whereas, Mormons base their whole religion upon Jesus Christ and rarely mention the virgin mother Mary.

Catholics bow and kiss the ring of the Pope, but Mormons do not do that when in the presence of the president of their church. Mormons pray and conduct their meetings in the name of Jesus Christ. They do not pray to statues, Saints and imagery the way Catholics do.

If you were to attend a LDS service, you would understand everything they do and nothing would seem out of the ordinary. However, you would have to be a trained Catholic to understand most of the services if you attended Mass.

As far as The Book of Mormon, it does not replace the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is an integral part of their services, however they do believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is believed to be a sacred record of peoples in ancient America that traveled from Judea, and was engraved upon sheets of metal.

The bottom line is that Mormons worship and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is not a cult or a weird religion. LDS members are expected to practice what they preach, not just show up in church on Easter. They believe that the family is important, and that the Ten Commandments should be followed. They also are tolerant of other religions, unlike other religions of them.