Park Romney: Why he turned against the Mormon church (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By John Sweeney
BBC News

Mitt Romney, the front runner in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination for the White House, is a devout Mormon, but his cousin, Park Romney, also in the past a committed member of the church, now denounces it as a cult.

"I became convinced that it's a fraud," Park Romney told the BBC, explaining his reason for leaving the Mormon fold.

The two visions of Mormonism the Romney cousins present could not be more starkly opposed.

Park Romney, 56, is a former Mormon high priest, who turned against the church.

On the stump Mitt Romney, 65, has avoided mentioning Mormonism, instead talking generally about his faith, but he has been an active lifelong member of the church.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17487873




Religious freedom does NOT mean that discussion of a candidate's "faith" is out of bounds. Just because you are free to believe any foolishness you want, that does not mean others cannot point out its foolishness.

ETA: Title is a little misleading. There's more than that discussed in the article.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. I agree completely

I'd like to add that I don't believe discussion of any religion's tenets is bigoted. It is up to the individual to decide whether these tenets are loony or cult-like.

[polichick]

2. "for the purpose of deceiving their members into a state of mind"...

..."that renders them exploitable"

Sort of like most organized religions and the GOP.

Interesting article!

[get the red out]

3. Freedom of Religion

Seems to mean in this country that we have zero freedom to discuss what any particular religion is all about.

[FreeState]

4. Shunning is not part of the Mormon church - I left and my family still talks and visits n/t

[marble falls]

5. The very first thing the Church does when it excommunicates is to try.....

to bring the individual back into the Church. They will go out of their way to stay in contact, from state to state if required, someone from the Stake is assigned to see to you and offer any sort of help needed to be brought back into the fold. The offshoot polygamous sects do cut people out and off.

[DannyHaszard]

6. Mainstream vs 'cult'

The Cult word gets over-used,but in some cases it is appropriate.
The Watchtower came into existence as false prophets to 'announce' Jesus second coming in 1874 then they switched it to October 6 1914.
The definition of a destructive religious cult is like alcoholism-if booze controls you instead of the other way around you are an alcoholic.
Jehovah's Witnesses are cult-like in their dogmatic tactics.
The Watchtower society is not benevolent and won't let you leave their organization in peace.
If they try to ruin your reputation and break up your family for trying to get out then they are a cult!
Whenever you surrender your logic and reason to anyone who asks you to trust them because they know better and to please donate generously, it's a cult. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck...
-
''tell the truth don't be afraid--Danny Haszard http://www.dannyhaszard.com