If Romney becomes leader of the republican party?

[_Rambo]

Is this good for the Mormon church or is it bad for it.

What I mean by good is will it increase converts, retain struggling members, and while basically make the church bigger.

What I mean for bad is will it decrease converts, will more people discover the hidden secrets of Mormonism and walk away, and will the church get smaller.

[_Buffalo]

Bad in the short term, good in the long term. Yes, more of Mormonisms dirty little secrets will become commonly known. But as corpsgrinder recently said, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Public exposure will force the church not only to deal with its history more than it has done to this point, but also to operate more ethically. This will be, in the long run, better for the church than the current status quo.

[_quaker]

I think whoever inherits the presidency is almost assuredly going to be a flop in terms of public opinion because they inherit problems bigger than they can fix, and that are probably going to get worse, regardless of the president. Indirectly his performance will impact people's judgments of Mormons. If he does a good job then the president 5 or 9 years from now will probably get the credit as things turn around and normalize :P

[_Quasimodo]

I voted bad for the Church. Most people in the world don't know all the things we discuss here on this board. They think the LDS Church is just another protestant religion.

All that will change if Romney is the Republican nominee. The news media will bring out all the skeletons in a very big way.

The Church can't change it's history and it can't change it's theology without becoming a different Church.

The really telling point is that it would need to do that to become acceptable to a world population.

[_Dr. Shades]

Romney isn't trying to become leader of the Republican Party. The Republican Party already has a leader: Reince Priebus.

[_Quasimodo]

Romney isn't trying to become leader of the Republican Party. The Republican Party already has a leader: Reince Priebus.

You know I hate to disagree with you Shades, but if Romney becomes the GOP nominee he will be the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Twas ever thus.

Reince Priebus is chairman of the RNC.

[_moksha]

But as corpsgrinder recently said, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Public exposure will force the church not only to deal with its history more than it has done to this point, but also to operate more ethically. This will be, in the long run, better for the church than the current status quo.

Then Republicanism can have a silver lining afterall!

[_sock puppet]

Boy, if Mormons think GBH was a deer in the headlights when Larry King asked if Mormons believed God was once a man like we are now, just wait until they see how TSM ducks questions like that. It could come across like this.

[_EAllusion]

Great long-term. Once Romney becomes the nominee, the Republican propaganda machine will get behind him full force. And once that happens, fundamentalist evangelicals will be exposed to defenses of Mormons and Mormonism as an acceptable part of the big tent from sources they are heavily influenced by.

[_sock puppet]

What about the impact on the Republican Party if Romney becomes its 2012 presidential nominee?

EAllusion's post made me wonder if a Romney nomination will further marginalize the Republican Party by further identifying it (in the minds of more Americans) by religious influences than any political ideology.