Romney, Mormons, and the Bible

I wonder what part of "There shall be NO religious test to hold public office in America" that America, and specifically Anderson Cooper, does not get???

Why is this (or any other 'religious question' even being ASKED? How offensive it must be for Hindu Americans, for Buddhist Americans, for Jainist Americans, for atheist Americans, to continually have these religious tests put to would-be leaders.

Mormons believe that Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni who dictated a new gospel written on gold tablets which were subsequently found missing. Furthermore they believe that the Garden of Eden was in this country and Jesus Christ made an appearance in America.

I'm a practicing Mormon (LDS) and like David, I didn't find Romney's comments on this occasion offensive.

Richard, as a practicing member of the LDS church, let me define my beliefs since your attempt to define my beliefs on this site was misleading.

1) LDS do believe Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni. However, no new Gospel was "dictated" to Smith (not by Moroni nor the gold tablets). Moroni was the last prophet-historian of the gold plates and informed Joseph where to locate the hidden record. It was Joseph's job to translate the record into English by the power of God. LDS believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the resulting record (Book of Mormon) is the same Gospel of Jesus Christ that is taught in the Bible. Therefore, the Book of Mormon does not introduce a new Gospel. On a side note, when Joseph was finished with the work of translation, Joseph gave the gold plates back to the angel Moroni who has been in custody of the plates since. The plates didn't go "missing".

2) The location of the Garden of Eden has not yet been defined in official doctrines of the Church, even in Joseph Smith's day. I've read second-hand statements saying Joseph Smith talked about it, but his statements of the Garden's location were not published as official doctine of the Church. If you're going to quote what LDS believe, quote official doctrine and not opinions of church leaders past or present.

3) On Christ's visit to America, you basically got it right but people who don't know our beliefs need to know where this comes from and how it fits in with the Bible. Jesus said in the Bible that he needed to visit his other sheep (John 10:16). LDS believe that The Book of Mormon people in ancient America were the other sheep that Jesus referred to. The Book of Mormon has the account of this visit.

One last point. The official doctrine of the Church says the following about the Bible:

"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

If evangelicals don't necessarily believe the Bible is completely without error, then LDS and evangelicals may not be so far apart in this area. Since it's an area of religious debate (and not political), it's understandable that Romney didn't want to go there during a political debate.

Virtually all American Indian legends tell of a Great White Spirit.