Are Mitt Romney's Policies Contrary to the Mormon Concept of Free-Agency?

I've lived in Utah for five months now and I have discovered that there is a lot of support among Latter-day Saints, (Mormons), for Mitt Romney here in the Beehive State. The local news stations regularly feature a story on Mr. Romney, even on no-Romney news days. He has the inter-mountain area media in his pocket, so there's no wonder the people here are so pro-Romney. They, for the most part, don't know any better.

I thought it would be a good idea to examine Mr. Romney's positions in light of Mormon theology, as well as some political positions of the first Mormon Prophet, and church founder, Joseph Smith Jr., who ran for president in the nineteenth century.

In the Beginning - Mormon Cosmology 101 - WAR in Heaven

To Latter-day Saints, everyone who has the opportunity to live on Earth, existed previously with God as His spirit-children.

God created the Earth to provide physical bodies for His spirit children to inhabit and exercise free-agency, and experience the cause and effect of mortal conditions... all part of the eternal progression of God's children, who can ultimately return to live in His presence.

To Mormons, free-agency is God's plan that allows man to chose his own destiny, learning from his mistakes, and hopefully, progressing toward perfection.

Some mortals however, will inevitably make decisions that result in their deviation from their path toward perfection, and being forever separated from God.

In Mormon theology, Lucifer is one of God's spirit children, who presented a plan by which ALL of God's children would be saved. Lucifer's plan would have done away with free-agency, and forced mankind to adhere to his commandments. Lucifer's plan that promised a 100 percent return rate was so popular among God's spirit children, that 1/3 of them sided with him on the matter.

A war in Heaven ensued. Lucifer and his hosts, attempted an overthrow of the heavenly kingdom, as God and His hosts fought for humanity's free-agency. The war resulted in 1/3 of Heaven's population being cast out, never to receive a physical body, thus thwarting their eternal progression. Lucifer became the Devil, and those who followed him are now demonic beings.

Mormon leaders have indicated that the war on free-agency continues, and that, in part, the earthly wars that we experience are a perpetuation or extension of the war in heaven.

Where does Mitt Fit?

Mitt Romney has taken the position that he will do anything, (crippling sanctions, espionage, preemptive strikes, war), to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power in the Middle East. In terms of Mormon theology, by preventing the sovereign nation of Iran from pursuing it's own interests, Mitt Romney is siding with Lucifer and those who would diminish free-agency in this world.

International sovereignty was a topic of major concern to the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith Jr. who, while running for President of the United States said:

“I will adopt in part the language of Mr. Madison’s inaugural address, ‘To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations, having correspondent dispositions; to maintain sincere neutrality towards belligerent nations; to prefer in all cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones; to foster a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights of others, too proud to surrender their own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them in others.’”

Romney's position couldn't be more in opposition to that of his church's founder, whom Latter-day Saints revere as a Prophet, Seer and Revelator.

Mitt Romney is also in favor of the intrusive bureaucratic leverage imposed by the Patriot Act, and it's policies that strip away more of American's free-agency than any previous legislation.

You don't have to be a Mormon to know that it is wrong to arrest people and detain them indefinitely, without charging them of a crime. Any moral person recognizes that unlawful imprisonment robs a person of his/her freedom, and is an affront to the Judeo/Christian principle of treating others in a way that will reciprocate like behavior...

Nevertheless, Mitt Romney is in favor of detaining uncharged individuals indefinitely, in prisons maintained and paid for with American tax dollars. He's also in favor of doing "whatever it takes" to extract information from these detainees that will help us to win the war on terror. So, to Mr. Romney, torture is just another tool in the war on terror. Never mind that torture is immoral, in addition to being illegal according to United States and international law. It's also downright un-American.

Unfortunately, most Mormons are satisfied with the quick soundbites they are fed, and are not interested in actually knowing anything substantive about Mr. Romney, other than he's a good family man and a snappy dresser.