No man can serve two masters

Those of us who know Mormonism find the headline from the Reuters story in the graphic above wryly ironic. It's essentially saying "Mitt Romney vows he will break his vow."

At issue is the oath of allegiance to the Mormon church—and by extension, Mormon church leaders—that Mitt Romney has sworn before his god and angels that

you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and EVERYTHING which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [NOT to God, although in the mind of a Mormon, they are synonymous] for the building up of the Kingdom of God ON THE EARTH for the establishment of Zion [also on the earth, implied. That is, a Mormon theocracy.]

I have posted a warning from a former Mormon (who was a bishop's daughter) about this oath. She should know.

Actually, a lot of former Mormons are trying to warn you about the power of the Mormon temple oath and the blind obedience it brings. Steve Benson is the latest. (Thanks to a tipster for this!) When it comes to keeping the Mormon temple oath or the United States oath of office, if ever there's a conflict, Mitt Romney have to break a vow. And it ain't gonna be his vow to you.

How well do you know Mormonism?

Before I get to Mr. Benson's comments, he gives us a chance to test your general knowledge of Mormonism. Do you know who Steve Benson is? Why he's famous? Do you recognized the Benson name? If you're not in touch with Mormonism, you won't know. And you NEED to know to vote intelligently over Mitt Romney.

If you know anything about Mormonism, you know that Benson—as in Ezra Traft Benson— is a VERY important name in the Mormon church.


Ezra Taft Benson was second to the last 'living prophet' and President of the Mormon church. You can't get any closer to god than that in Mormonism.

Steve Benson is a grandson of E.T. Benson. ("E.T." I like that. It fits. Mormons think they came from another planet. So they really are extra-terrestrials.) In Mormon theology and Mormon thinking, that makes Steve Benson among one of the most valiant spirits, because not only was he born into a Mormon household, he is related to the head honcho. (He's white too, a necessary requirement to be valiant.)


So Steve Benson should know what he's talking about. He was born an über-Mormon.


In an ironic twist, Steve Benson, an editorial cartoonist for The Arizona Republic newspaper, made his own headlines when he left the Mormon church. He saw the church lying to its members, making them think his grandfather, like Fidel Castro, was still in control. But let's let Mr. Benson tell his own story.

That was the year Benson left what he calls the "Mormon cult." One reason for his decision was disgust with the way Mormon officials tried to fool church members and the general public into believing that Ezra Taft Benson — Steve's then-94-year-old grandfather and church president — was still capable of leading the church. "He was not mentally or physically in a place where he could make any meaningful decisions," recalled Benson. "I know it because I saw his condition with my own eyes."

Funny that Mr. Benson didn't ignore what he saw and instead, pray about it to know if it was true. He probably would have gotten a good feeling, like all the other Mormons out there who prayed about the prophet at the time. They knew that everything was just right. (What does that say about praying about something to know if it's true? Did any Mormons write to their paper saying, "You know, I prayed about it, and I testify to you that the prophet is senile, even though they're telling us he's not.")

But good for him. He went by the facts. By what he saw with his own eyes. (Which is how the Gospels came to us. See 1 John 1:1) He didn't stick with a blind faith.

Back to our program

Wow. I sure get off on some tangents, don't I?

Anyway, when Steve Benson heard Mitt Romney's faith speech and Mitt Romney's attempt at a J.F.K like assertion, all the bells went off.


Here's what Mr. Benson said:

In his talk, Romney said "I believe in my Mormon faith" while also noting that the church's "teachings" would not influence his decisions if elected president. [We'll parse that out in a moment.]

"Yeah, right," responded Benson, adding that "Romney also believes in misrepresenting what his Mormon Church actually espouses."

He told E&P that, in his view, a Mormon believer is required by church doctrine (as dictated by the church's "living prophet") to "obey God's commands" over anything else. He said "Romney, like all 'temple Mormons,' made his secret vows using Masonic-derived handshakes, passwords, and symbolic death oaths that he promised in the temple never to reveal to the outside world" -- and that Romney also secretly vowed to devote his "time, talents" and more "to the building of the Mormon religion on earth."

So, said Benson, the only way Romney could be truly independent of the church as U.S. president would be to disavow Mormon doctrine. "He hasn't done that," said the Creators Syndicate-distributed cartoonist.

"When Mitt says he belongs to a church that doesn't tell him what to do, that's false; it's a 24/7, do-what-you're-told-to-do church," asserted Benson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1993.

I've been telling you this for a year now. I hope you'll believe a former Mormon if you don't believe me.

Parse that like a lawyer

Now, did Mitt Romney REALLY say the Mormon church wouldn't run the White House? Remembering that, like Bill Clinton, ya' gotta read that like a lawyer (as Mitt Romney told Jan Mickelson), let's look VERY carefully at what Mitt Romney said.

From the transcript of the 'faith speech'

Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.

Is he purposely being ambiguous here? Sorry to sound so paranoid, but you have question EVERY WORD when a Mormon speaks to you because, Humpty Dumpty like, they redefine words to mean what they want them to mean.

In other words, is he speaking here for his church authorities, that THEY would never try to exert influence on presidential decisions?

If so, he cannot say that, for he cannot speak for them nor know what they will do.

If you take the more normal understanding of the sentence, the problem is, when you're in a cult, you don't know you're in a cult. You don't know that you're being influenced. You wear your Beehive underwear willingly. You would say you're not being influenced. The rest of us think you are.

You pay 10% of your intake for admission to an hour and a half movie. You think you're not being influenced. The rest of us, who know the Gospel is free, think you are.

As governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution - and of course, I would not do so as president. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.

I am worried about that word "doctrine." And the words "plain duties."

Look, Mitt Romney believes that his jesus is going to return to and rule from Independence, MO. How is going to separate that in his head when it comes to Mid-East policy concerning Israel? For me, as a Christian, were I President, I could not separate what I saw happening in the Mid-East with my Biblical understanding of end-time prophecy. I know that God said whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. So, as President, I would do what I could do to help Israel. Like Mitt Romney, I would consider my being President as part of God's Providence. Like Queen Esther, who knows that I wasn't put there for this very purpose?

There are some for whom these commitments are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers - I will be true to them and to my beliefs.

Well, he got some of that right. Yes, these "commitments" aren't enough. I will not vote a Mormon in the White House. Mitt Romney needs to reject Mormonism, as Steve Benson has, before I would consider voting for him.

What was it Paul told the Colossians about the "faith of my fathers?"

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

One thing Mitt Romney is not parsing, however it plays out, you can be SURE he will be true to his fathers and to his beliefs. He is damned if he doesn't. He can't make it to godhood any other way. (I shudder when I type that.)

Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters." Jesus wasn't lying. We are all "conflicted" by our beliefs. I, as a Christian. Mitt Romney as a Mormon. An atheist by "anything goes." You want a President that shares YOUR beliefs. If you're a Christian, Mitt Romney is not your man.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Not only by Steve Benson. But BY MITT ROMNEY HIMSELF. He will be true to his Mormon beliefs. And all that that implies. Which you may not know.

But go ahead. Vote a Mormon in the White House. He'll be the White Horse in the White House. Vote Mitt Romney for President. In his mind, he'll be fulfilling Mormon prophecy. Just want you want.

You'll get the government you deserve.