"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." - 1 Peter 2: 13-16
This seems to go against the modern Republican idea that government is evil and should only exist to push a moral agenda. In fact, it is LDS doctrine to keep Church and State separate, as is written into the Constitution.
"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied." - Doctrine and Covenants 134 : 9
If the Book of Mormon were to be used to outline a true doctrinal Latter-day Saints position on how they would run a nation, because let's face it, an individual's personal beliefs will affect their jobs, even when to keep them separate, there are ten points they would have to follow.
- They would have to work for the people (not businesses, special interest groups or corporations) (Mosiah 2: 12).
- They could not do anything to oppress any people, religion, races, gender, etc. (Mosiah 2: 13)
- They could not over tax the people to overly support themselves. (Mosiah 2: 14)
- They would be humble. (Mosiah 2: 15)
- They would encourage people to work together (Mosiah 2: 18, 26)
- They would ensure that children have food, shelter and are properly (not religiously) educated (Mosiah 4: 14-15)
- They would encourage welfare programs to care for the poor without judgment or prejudice (Mosiah 4: 16-19)
- They would lower or taxes for the poor, or not tax them at all (Mosiah 4: 24)
- They would tax the middle class and up fairly to cover the cost of government, keeping the government out of debt without overburdening taxpayers (Mosiah 4: 27 & Mosiah 7: 15)
- They would get us out of all the unnecessary wars and only declare war in defense of US soil (Alma 48: 15)
Looking at Romney's platform, it should be clear that he is a Republican running for office, not a Mormon aiming at the White House. He has stated that corporations are people. He is unwilling to stand up for gay rights, even if they differ from his own moral views. He is not bringing people together, he is furthering the distance between the right and the left by reaching out to Tea Party voters. He is not focusing on bringing our troops home.
While Sanatorium is the GOP's current favorite, his current surge will not last. Eventually Romney will retake the lead. When he does, rather than focusing on his religion, it might be better to set prejudices to the side and begin focusing on the fact that he would just make for a poorer president that the one we have now -- which sadly isn't saying very much.
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