Governor Romney Explains

Governor Mitt Romney gave a "big speech" to try and settle down that finicky electorate that is nervous about Mormons.
Why are people curious about Mormons---two words---South Park.
Not some park on the other side of the river, but South Park the cartoon series. (Search YouTube keywords South Park Mormons)
Remember, more people are watching South Park each week than vote in a presidential election every four years.
The problem isn't with Mitt Romney, he seems like a pretty nice guy, he's been a governor of a small northeastern state, but the problem that he has run into is being a Mormon.
I have worked closely with two Mormons in politics, both seem like nice guys, but they weren't running for president.
Romney attempted to do something in his speech, calm down those who may oppose him based purely on the BELIEFS of Mormons, not just being a Mormon.
If you have read anything about how the Mormon faith began and its founding principles, you may know of some of the things that raise concerns. Joseph Smith, the founder, claims to have found a new testament of Jesus Christ when, after the resurrection, Jesus came to the United States. Smith claims he found some gold tablets, written in what he called "reformed Egyptian" and translated the plates, despite the fact he had no linguistic training in other languages.
There are also claims that the Hebrews came to the New World 600 years before Christ and built cities and fought the natives.
Maybe that was the basis for the creation of the Mormon faith, if so, it appears to be different than the Bible's teachings and has been characterized as a cult by religious experts.
If that's how it started, okay, but are those the tenants of the faith that Romney believes in now? Or are those beliefs outside the main stream of Christian evangelicals?
Or does Romney think that the original things Smith explained were a little smudged around the edges?
Which is it?
Here's the rub: Romney appears to be bright and smart. But the Mormon faith appears to smudge the basic tenets of the Christian faith, and that's the problem Romney faces with voters. No where in the Bible does it state that Jesus travels to the New World, and no where in the Bible is there a reference to Hebrews going to the New World to battle the native people.
How does Romney solve this issue? You'll note how the media explained Romney's speech and "not addressing voters concerns about Mormons". Romney can't fix this without rejecting the conservatives of his faith and alienating the rocked-ribbed Mormons who are pouring lots of cash into Romney's campaign.
Mormons are wonderful people who have strong families and strongly held beliefs that take them around the world on mission trips spreading their faith.
Is this effort sincere? Certainly, but is it an accurate reflection of generally accepted principles of Christianity, or is it misguided because of Joseph Smith's creation of a new religion?
If Romney explained it this way, "You know, the Hebrews have many things in the old testament that were required to be good Jews. Some of the stories may be parables to make a point. My religion may have had some requirements and stories that may have been parables and may not be accurate based on what we know now. I won't talk about that, just as other organized religions may cringe about at one time demanding that everyone agree the universe rotated around the Earth at one time or their religions support of slavery."
"My faith believes in family, faith and friends, and these principles and beliefs are the ones that I will bring to the office I seek, and I will encourage and protect others to live their faith as best they can in today's world."
Then he should say, "Now it's time for me to get out there and ask for conservatives from both parties to support my vision for the great country that America can be. God bless you, and God bless America!"
Will it work? We'll have to wait and see