Although, many (including the mainstream media) avoid Mitt Romney's religious beliefs, I believe it is a discussion we should have.
Romney himself opened the door for this discussion when he said,
"Unfortunately, possibly because of the people the president hangs around with, and their agenda, their secular agenda -- they have fought against religion."
Romney also said,
"President Obama used his health care plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith."
So, that can of worms is now open ...below the fold.
William John Cox, published an ebook just this morning, which sheds some light on the business of Mormonism, among other things. It is a free download, and I recommend that you read it in its entirety. The 50 page document is available in Kindle format and HTML.
Here are some excerpts from "Mitt Romney and the Mormon Church: Questions"
Historical Information
[Joesph] Smith believed the ideal government to be a theocratic monarchy and that he was an instrument in the destruction of secular government, which would be replaced by a "theodemocratic" Kingdom of God." [28]
He [Smith] organized a secret Council of Fifty as a shadow government and authorized it to decide which secular laws the Mormons would obey. The Council elected Smith as "prophet, priest and king" of the millennial monarchy. [29]
A "White Horse Prophecy" arose among Smith's followers that a day would come in which the U.S. Constitution would "hang like a thread as fine as a silk fiber" and it would be saved by the Mormon priesthood.
Congress legally dissolved the Mormon Church in the United States in 1882 because of its practice of polygamy and seized all of the Church's property, including the tithes it had on deposit. [38]
Mormons, Inc.
President Joseph F. Smith may have served as the president of various Mormon corporations, but with the incorporation of the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1923 as a "corporation sole,' everything owned by the Church is the property of the corporation under the "sole" control of the President and Prophet of the Church. [47]
With the candidacy of Mitt Romney, two recent business magazine articles have concluded that the Church takes in approximately $7-8 billion a year in tithes from its active members and owns temples, meeting houses and other Church properties around the world worth approximately $35 billion. The Church also controls commercial ventures, including shopping malls, ranches, farms and a theme park that are worth billions of dollars. These and its financial and stock investments produce additional billions of dollars in profits. The total value of the "Mormon Corporation" may be as great as $40 billion. [50]
As a religious organization, the LDS Church enjoys several tax advantages. Like other churches, it is often exempt from paying taxes on the real estate properties it leases out, even to commercial entities, says tax lawyer David Miller, who is not Mormon. The church also doesn’t pay taxes on donated funds and holdings. Mitt Romney and others at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded in 1984, gave the Mormon Church millions’ worth of stock holdings obtained through Bain deals, according to Reuters. Between 1997 and 2009, these included $2 million in Burger King (BKW) and $1 million in Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) shares. Under U.S. law, churches can legally turn around and sell donated stock without paying capital-gains taxes, a clear advantage for both donor and receiver.
Included in the inventory are 14,465 acres of land in Jackson County, Missouri which the Church has reserved for the City of Zion as a "New Jerusalem," when Jesus returns to earth. [51]
The subsidiary, Deseret Management Corporation nets about $1.2 billion each year from its for-profit operations which include a $2 billion megamall in downtown Salt Lake City, "a newspaper, 11 radio stations, a TV station, a publishing and distribution company, a digital media company, a hospitality business, and an insurance business with assets worth $3.3 billion." [52]
Another for-profit corporation, AgReserves, "together with other church-run agricultural affiliates, reportedly owns about 1 million acres in the continental U.S., on which the church has farms, hunting preserves, orchards, and ranches. These include the $1 billion, 290,000 acre Deseret Ranches in Florida...." This makes the Church the largest rancher in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. [53]
According to an article in Bloomberg Businessweek, the church realizes tax benefits that protect many of its holdings (total estimated at $40 billion) from taxes.
Separation of Church and State Issues
President Joseph F. Smith may have served as the president of various Mormon corporations, but with the incorporation of the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1923 as a "corporation sole,' everything owned by the Church is the property of the corporation under the "sole" control of the President and Prophet of the Church. [47]
Someone needs to ask candidate Romney which of his two opposing statements is true.
In a speech in 2007, Mitt Romney promised, "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law."
He also said, "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." Which promise will prevail when the inevitable conflict arises?
Cox Endnotes
[28] "Theodemocracy," Wikipedia.
[29] "Joseph Smith," Wikipedia.
[38] "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," Wikipedia.
[47] Winter, Caroline, "How the Mormons Make Money," Bloomberg Businessweek, July 18, 2012.
[50] Winter, Caroline, op. cit.; Henderson, Peter, "Insight: Mormon church made wealthy by donations," Reuters, August 13, 2012.
[51] Van Biema, David, op. cit.; Heinerman, John and Shupe, Anson, The Mormon Corporate Empire (Boston: Beacon Press, 1985); Osling, Richard N. and Joan K., Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, (HarperOne, 2007).
[52] Van Biema, David, op. cit.
[53] Winter, Caroline, op. cit.
[91] "Romney: Obama has 'fought against religion,'" CBS News, http://www.cbsnews.com/... February 22, 2012.