Mitt Romney and the Mormon Moment

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Ultimate Loyalty of Public Servants
If Muslim extremists were to pressure American politicians of the Muslim faith, would that concern the citizens of the USA. The Mayor of Chillicothe Missouri, Jeff Foli, had Mormon authorities take him into a quiet room, and threaten him with his church membership if he did not do what they demanded politically in 2003. He was ultimately excommunicated because he exposed these acts and would not cow-tow to their demands.
There are over 100 Mormon men in leadership positions with self interests that Mitt Romney would give ear to without question, above any other person including Billionaire Sheldon Aidelson, or even his Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan. This might be of concern to any voter, and if untrue, Mitt could personally put this to rest.
Both Mayor Foli and Former Governor Romney have raised their arms to the square in the Mormon temple and made covenants to the Mormon Church, which is sadly an unspoken loyalty and is expected to be far superior to any oath of office taken to serve the public.
Missouri is especially important to the Mormons, who have strong desires to control the message of their history and future intents, and will not blink twice to discredit anything that stands in their way. Mormon influence is felt nationwide, as Mormon members have filtered into almost every facet of American society. Loyalty to the church reigns supreme and could prove to create great unbalance in society.
Pro-Romney Evangelical leaders underestimate the effect that their decades long denigration of Mormonism will have on their voting base. The fact that even their leaders have had to consult each other to justify their new-found support for Romney should indicate that the lay members will, most likely, apathetically not show up at the polls on election day. Carl Rove's secret Evangelical weapon of the past might just be a negative this time around. To think that they can now so quickly support a Mormon, goes so strongly against the grain of the decade old disdain for Mormons, and is hard to imagine. Romney's non-transparency and flip flopping will make it difficult for Protestant Christians to support.
On a different note. Romney would definitely not release his tax returns if he did not pay an unvarnished 10% of his gross income in tithing to the Mormon Church. If something like that were true and exposed, it would greatly effect the balance sheets and income of Salt Lake City.

Jeff Foli of MO 2:24AM September 13, 2012

What would Mitt Romney have done if the Prophet had threatened him with his church membership as was done to Chillicothe Missouri Mayor Jeff Foli? What loyalty would Mitt have place first and foremost? His constituents who elected him, or the church?

Jeff Foli of MO 10:50PM March 06, 2010

How far should religious leaders be able to go before they cross the line and breach the legal separation between Church and State, and who will hold them accountable? Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Gordon B. Hinckley, Oral Roberts, and some Catholic leaders are just a few who have challenged these issues.
I hope it is not the case, but if my story is any indication, Mormon religious leaders will take Mitt Romney aside as needed and help him remember just where his ultimate loyalties lie. I, as well as Mitt Romney, have made sacred agreements to support the interests of God’s future kingdom, as we see it within the Mormon perspective. But are individual religious interests and National interest always necessarily the same? In the case of a President Mitt Romney, is what is good for the Mormon people, equally good for all the citizens of the USA, and will the leaders press him?
I don’t know if Mitt ever had this issue before him in the past while serving as Governor of Massachusetts, but this possibility was twice made clear to me while I was serving as Mayor/CEO of the City of Chillicothe, Missouri. During one incident, I was taken into church offices and verbally threatened, by President and Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley via Stake President, and attorney, Detlif Lehnardt in a private meeting, with excommunication if I did not rescind my recently proposed legislation. I believe Federal Law (Tax Code Title 26 section 501) states that a Church cannot engage in such activity.
In another incident, Mormon leaders confronted me and told me to support the Mormon party line on a specific issue instead of what I knew was legal, honest, and in the best interest of those in my City. Since my oath of office was to represent the citizens of my City, and not the interests of the Mormon Church, I pressed each issue as far as I could in an appropriate way. I believe we can serve in both capacities in an open, honest, and honorable way, if the leaders will just keep their noses out of places they don’t belong.
Charges and complaints have recently been filed with the Sheriff of Livingston County Missouri, the ACLU, and the IRS. At each and every turn, these charges have been stonewalled, with no one wanting to challenge the accountability. The Mormon Church is enormously popular as well as powerful.
Just to reiterate, I ask, will Mitt Romney be his own man if elected, or would he be controlled by Religious Leaders? The multi-million man re-migration of Mormons to Missouri could be triggered in a small way just by the election of Romney. These issues are not at all isolated to the Mormons, I am sure.
Jeffery Curtis Foli
Former Mayor
City of Chillicothe, Missouri
1999-2003

jeff foli of MO 2:19AM March 03, 2010