DiscussMormonism.com

A few of days ago a couple of friends of mine and I were talking about the upcoming election and one of them asked whether we thought if Romney was a really a TBM (to be clear all of us were life long members who have since left the church). My first reaction was that of course he was a dye hard TBM. After all he has been a Bishop and Stake President etc. But as we continued to talk about it I began to wonder. He is certainly intelligent, well read and a world traveler who knows how to use the internet. Anybody who has come to the conclusion that the church is not true has had to do some sort of cost-benefit analysis of the impact on their lives if they leave the church. There are plenty of members of this board who still go to church because the costs of leaving (to their families or job) out weigh the benefits of leaving. Could it be the same way with him? He is such a high profile LDS member that the costs of leaving would be devastating to him and his family.

What do you think? Is it possible that Romney is a member in name only or his he a dyed in the wool, kool aid drinking TBM?

Well, last I checked he was not one of the testifiers on MST, despite two graduate degrees from Harvard and being a big name Mormon. I realize that a JD and MBA are not considered scholarly pursuits, but as I recall there were other MST'ers that only had similar professional graduate school creds.

Maybe the Mittster turned DCP down. Maybe because he didn't have a testimony to give; maybe because he did not want it to be splashed on the internet and so easily available during his run for the U.S. Presidency.

He wouldn't be the first person to have been bishop and SP that keeps his affiliation official despite disbelief.

son of Ishmael wrote:A few of days ago a couple of friends of mine and I were talking about the upcoming election and one of them asked whether we thought if Romney was a really a TBM (to be clear all of us were life long members who have since left the church). My first reaction was that of course he was a dye hard TBM. After all he has been a Bishop and Stake President etc. But as we continued to talk about it I began to wonder. He is certainly intelligent, well read and a world traveler who knows how to use the internet. Anybody who has come to the conclusion that the church is not true has had to do some sort of cost-benefit analysis of the impact on their lives if they leave the church. There are plenty of members of this board who still go to church because the costs of leaving (to their families or job) out weigh the benefits of leaving. Could it be the same way with him? He is such a high profile LDS member that the costs of leaving would be devastating to him and his family.

What do you think? Is it possible that Romney is a member in name only or his he a dyed in the wool, kool aid drinking TBM?

He is definitely a TBM. I have seen him speak at Stake conference and I know many folks who interact with his wife and him and they are all 100% TBMs. I saw the Facebook happenings before the whole presidential thing. But you are right, he could be like the many 1,000s of Church leaders who are not TBMs but maintain a strong stable of rhetoric and actions in order to maintain a TBM image. My old stake president comes to mind.

Now Harry Reid, I have also seen him speak and I think he is more of the cafeteria Mormon type, hence more reasonable.

A friend of mine did some legal work for weber county during the SLC olympics and had some interaction with Romney. He said that Romeny was not afraid to drop the F bomb from time to time. Of course that does not mean he was not a TBM but I thougt it was interesting...

son of Ishmael wrote:A friend of mine did some legal work for weber county during the Salt Lake City olympics and had some interaction with Romney. He said that Romeny was not afraid to drop the F bomb from time to time. Of course that does not mean he was not a TBM but I thougt it was interesting...

very interesting indeed. I am not surprised to hear this because for all I know he has maintained his Mormon stance perhaps to stay in good favor of his parents, business contacts, in-laws, or whatever.

I've had some exposure to some other stake president-level TBMs who are very successful at their professions who I am convinced are 100% TBM. I've got a relatively close in-law who is a member of such a family. About as dyed-in-the-wool as it gets. I'm convinced this one guy is way too smart to stay TBM, but it's possible he just refuses to engage the type of material that those of us who have left delved into and had to face. I've known others in this same situation - really smart, but never having taken the problem aspects of the church seriously and engaged them.

I'm thinking that Romney could be like this.

Sethbag wrote:I've had some exposure to some other stake president-level TBMs who are very successful at their professions who I am convinced are 100% TBM. I've got a relatively close in-law who is a member of such a family. About as dyed-in-the-wool as it gets. I'm convinced this one guy is way too smart to stay TBM, but it's possible he just refuses to engage the type of material that those of us who have left delved into and had to face. I've known others in this same situation - really smart, but never having taken the problem aspects of the church seriously and engaged them.

I'm thinking that Romney could be like this.

I sat down with a stake president for a temple rec interview in 2009ish (guesstimate). I told him my doubts and he said he has doubts like that all the time but he learned to deal with them or something of that nature. He said he would love to meet another time and go further into detail about my doubts. We of course never met or talked again.

He is a Yale grad with numerous degrees and subsequently highly successful. I am convinced he takes the cafeteria approach in his own life but publicly carries a TBM torch.

He is TBM. His children are an example of this. However, for this board, it all depends what is a TBM. Is he a Taliban Mormon? Maybe not. But does one need to be a Taliban Mormon to be a TBM? No.

Romney is just one face of Mormonism which is highly diverse in people and lifestyle.

lostindc wrote:
I sat down with a stake president for a temple rec interview in 2009ish (guesstimate). I told him my doubts and he said he has doubts like that all the time but he learned to deal with them or something of that nature. He said he would love to meet another time and go further into detail about my doubts. We of course never met or talked again.

He is a Yale grad with numerous degrees and subsequently highly successful. I am convinced he takes the cafeteria approach in his own life but publicly carries a TBM torch.

Faith and doubt go together like a horse and carriage. No big deal there. Without doubt there can be no faith.

why me wrote:
Faith and doubt go together like a horse and carriage. No big deal there. Without doubt there can be no faith.

I hear prostitution and chastity do wonders for each other, too.