A Romney, A Political Loss, and a Lesson for Latter-day Saints
Cousins: Marion G. Romney, former member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mitt Romney, a potential President of the United State of America.
Tuesday 6 November 2012 will be a historic election day for many reasons. The first African American President of the United States up against the first major Mormon candidate for President of the United States.
A hundred years ago the mere thought of such an election would have had people’s sides aching with laughter.
When Reed Smoot, the elected Senator from the State of Utah, first arrived in Washington D.C. in February of 1903 to take his seat in the Senate he was met by violent opposition. That opposition stemmed from the fact that Senator Smoot was also an actively serving apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was believed to still be promoting the practice of polygamy among church members. After years of government hearings, and even a prophetic appearance by President Joseph F. Smith to testify on Senator Smoot and the Church’s behalf, the opposition eventually dissipated and Senator/Elder Smoot served in the senate faithfully for thirty years.
We have come many miles as Mormons in the field of social acceptance.
The history of polygamy that plagued Elder Smoot over 100 years ago is still alive and sometimes mentioned on the campaign trail during the current presidential race. One headline I saw a few months ago read brightly:
Mitt Romney: A Mormon with a Polygamous Past
It is true.
One of Mitt Romney’s great-great-grandfathers, Parley Parker Pratt (one of the original apostles called in 1835), began to practice plural marriage during its initial inception into LDS religious faith under the direction of church leadership in Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1852 Brigham Young, the second President of the Church, publicly acknowledged the practice of plural marriage through a sermon he gave. Additional sermons by top Mormon leaders on the virtues of polygamy followed. Controversy followed when polygamy became a social cause among many in the United States, and writers began to publish works condemning polygamy. The key plank of the Republican Party’s 1856 platform was “to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery”. In 1862, Congress issued the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act which clarified that the practice of polygamy was illegal in all US territories. Church leaders believed that their religiously-based practice of plural marriage was protected by the United States Constitution. However, the unanimous 1878 Supreme Court decision Reynolds v. United States declared that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution, based on the longstanding legal principle that “laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices.” Increasingly harsh anti-polygamy legislation in the United States, which included imprisonment, fines, and voting privileges being revoked, led some Latter-day Saints to emigrate to Canada and Mexico where they believed they could still legally practice this demanding aspect of their faith.
In the summer of 1885, Miles Park Romney, another of Mitt Romney’s great-grandfathers, boarded a train in Salt Lake City with his wife, Annie Woodbury Romney, and her three young children. Wearing a disguise so as to be able allude federal authorities who wished to jail him for his practicing polygamy, Miles even sat apart from his family during their long train ride to preserve his incognito. They traveled first to San Francisco, then east through California and then into Arizona. At the San Simon railway station in southeastern Arizona near the New Mexico border, Will and Miles Archibald Romney, two of Miles Park’s older sons, met their father and Annie with a team and wagon, which would transport them to the Mormon settlements that were just beginning in Mexico.
Another of Miles Park’s sons, Gaskell Romney, also made the move to Mexico with the family. Gaskell would assist his father in establishing the Mormon colonies in Colonia Dublán, Galeana, and Chihuahua, Mexico, as more Mormon settlers moved in. While the original intent of the settlements was initially reached, to preserve the practice of plural marriage, eventually the Church itself would ban polygamy entirely in coming years.
In 1907 Gaskell’s wife would give birth to a boy which they named George. Growing up in Mexico amidst a colony of polygamy practicing Mormons, George Romney, loved his surroundings. However, the Romney families, extensive in size by this time, would lose their holdings in Chihuahua during the Mexican Revolution in 1912, and Gaskell’s family, including the young George, wound up emigrating back into the United States and eventually settling in Salt Lake City Utah.
George Romney grew up and would end up working in a number of jobs. He served as a Mormon missionary in England and Scotland, and attended several colleges in the U.S. but did not graduate from any. In 1939 he moved to Detroit, Michigan where he ended up becoming amazingly successful working in the auto industry, and would end up serving as the Governor of the State of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973. In 1947 George’s wife Lenore gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Willard Mitt Romney, or as I like to call him, Mittens.
“So why the story about the Mittens’ and Mormonism’s polygamous past?” you may be asking yourself at this point.
Because Mitt Romney isn’t the first Romney to delve into the political arena, and his progenitors created a real fireball of offspring that would run for public offices from sea to shining sea. One of these Romneys being Mitt’s own cousin, Marion G. Romney.
It is Marion G. Romney which provides us with what is one of my favorite stories in all of church history.
Born in 1897 in Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua, Marion G. Romney loved growing up as a young man in Mexico among his extended family. Marion studied at Juarez Academy until his family left Mexico in 1912 as the violence from the ongoing Mexican revolution spread to their region. He spent the remainder of his youth in California and Idaho. In 1917 his family moved to Rexburg, Idaho where George S. Romney (his father and cousin to Gaskell Romney) took the position of principal of the Church’s Ricks Academy (now BYU-Idaho). Romney completed his high school studies at Ricks and graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1918.
From 1920 to 1923 Romney served as a full-time missionary in Australia, and after his return from his mission he worked in construction in Salt Lake City for his uncle Gaskell Romney (the father of George W. Romney). Marion studied at BYU for a year and while there he renewed his acquaintance with Ida Jensen, a former teacher at Ricks who was working on a master’s degree. The two wed in 1924. Afterwards he began studying at the University of Utah. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history in 1926. Romney then studied law at the University of Utah, but did not complete his course work there. After some time working for the postal service, he passed the Utah bar exam in 1929 and became a practicing attorney.
A hard worker and voracious lover of the political system, he was elected to the Utah state legislature in 1934 as a Democrat. – Then, like today, it was as rare to see a Democrat in Utah. – But he ran in that election and won. While running for the state legislature he also accepted a call as a bishop from his stake president, Bryant S. Hinckley (father of Gordon B. Hinckley). Due to his election to the state legislature his ordination as a bishop was delayed until after the end of the legislature’s term in April of 1935. Among the many church callings he would hold before becoming a General Authority, he was a stake president and managing director of the Church Welfare Program. During his time as director of the Welfare Program that he first became closely associated with a fellow stake president, a man by the name of Harold B. Lee.
It was during this period of life, amid trying to raise a family, serving in the Church, and trying to fulfill a variety of demanding church assignments, that another election came around.
And that finally brings me to the main story that I would like to share.
Harold B. Lee, who would later serve as 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often taught that we must all face great trials in order to prove ourselves before the Lord. Any cursory study of scripture or church history makes this plainly evident. Marion G. Romney was one who was tested most thoroughly before his sacred call came as the first Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve ever called in the Church.
Like I stated, Marion G. Romney was a Democrat. And perhaps I cannot stress enough to those of you who are from states elsewhere, but a Democrat is a rare find in Utah. Imagine trying to find a Marilyn Manson CD for sale in Vatican City. It’s just not something you see a lot of.
Romney, like his dear friend Harold B. Lee, ran for public office. He was quite aware that his election hung on the coattails of the national election. The president of the United States at the time was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, in the language of many journalists at the time, had “packed the Supreme Court” with his supporters. Just before the election there was a four-column, front-page editorial in the Deseret News, a newspaper owned by the Church, that blasted this move by President Roosevelt and many of his other policies. When Marion read the column he knew that, as a Democrat, his chances of being elected were over. An editorial in a paper owned by the Church had suddenly dashed all of his young political hopes and dreams.
He described his turmoil as he went to bed that night. He prayed, “O Lord, I feel all right about it and I’m going to sleep now.” Then he got into bed and thoughts started going through his mind: “Why can’t the Church lay off matters political? Why do they have turn these issues into moral issues? Why…?” The more he thought about it the more and more upset he got. So he got out of bed and prayed again: ” Father in Heaven, I want to forgive the Brethren if there’s anything here amiss, and I want to you to forgive me for my feelings, but…”
This inner debate and wrestling with himself lasted all throughout the night.
The next day as he walked down Main Street in Salt Lake City he saw his friend Harold B. Lee. Harold beamed brightly at his comrade in Christ and said, “Good morning Brother Romney!”
“Good morning.”
“How are you Brother Romney?”
He gave the standard answer: “Fine.”
“Did you read the paper last night, Brother Romney?”
“Yes, I did, Brother Lee.”
“Well, what did you think?”
“Well, Brother Lee, I’ve had a bad night, but I’m determined to sustain the Brethren.”
It wasn’t long after this experience that both Marion and his friend Harold were both called to high and holy callings within the Church at the April 1941 General Conference. Elder Romney would end up being called as an apostle in 1951 and would serve as a counselor in the First Presidency of the Church to two different Church Presidents, and as President of the Quorum of the Twelve before his death in 1988.
So why the story?
Perhaps to show that faithful Mormons can be Democrats too?
No.
Was I emphasizing that in the Church every Mormon is connected to every other Mormon in a weird Six Degrees of Separation way?
No.
Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to write about The Mittens?
I think not.
My point is merely this: No matter who wins the presidential election in a few short day, it will all end up being alright.
Marion G. Romney, Mitt’s good ol’ cousin, is perfect proof of that the Lord’s purposes will all be fulfilled in the end.
And most importantly for us as Latter-day Saints: We must be determined to follow the Brethren.
Since hearing this story many years ago I’ve often thought to myself, “What would I do if my political views came in direct opposition to the Brethren? Could I be as humble as Elder Romney was?” And I’ve also wondered, “Well what if Marion had just rebelled, gone against the Church, and cursed the Brethren for fiddling with political matters? Where would he have ended up in life?”
Of course those are questions that no one will ever know the answer to.
But for Marion G. Romney, during an election many years ago, his faith was tried and tested. His greatest decision in the turmoil was in that he determined to sustain the Brethren, despite the crushing personal loss he felt at the time.
The other day The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story entitled “Mitt’s Bid: Would his loss crush Mormon backers?” The brief article said in part,
“For some Mormons, Romney’s bid is more than just a political contest, it’s almost a matter of religious destiny, an event rooted in the faith’s belief of the major role Mormons will play in saving the world in troubled times.”
Sadly, I know of a handful of people that will be wailing and gnashing their teeth come Tuesday night if Mitt Romney loses the election. It will be hellfire and brimstone, and a sure sign that our government is going to fail and Jesus will be coming to take out that Mean old Obama soon.
I think it is far safer to place our faith on something more solid than politicians whose views seem to shift as the sand.
Will I be voting for Mitt Romney? Yes. I want a person who represents my moral values and my old fashioned stance on social issues as Commander in Chief.
But will the world end if Mitt Romney loses his presidential bid? No.
As a believing Christian I believe that Jesus Christ will again come to this earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, a time which some people dreadfully refer to as “the end of the world”. But frankly, whether it’s Obama or Romney in the Oval Office, all that matters is that I’m living my life faithfully to the covenants I have made.
I hope Mitt follows in the fine example of his cousin Marion no matter what the results are on Tuesday. The Lord will find a terrific way to use him win or lose.
6 November will be a historic day, and in the past century we Mormons have come a long way in being socially accepted, but I hope that we as Latter-day Saints can remember that there are things far greater than an election, namely our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His teachings, and in His living oracles
In the end I have a feeling campaign successes or campaign failures matter very little to the Lord. All that matters is that we, as His covenant people, serve Him and our fellow man with full purpose of heart. The government can fend for itself.
If you’ve stumbled upon this site and you’re not a Mormon please click here to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and what we believe.
To learn more about the Romney Family’s history you can click here to read Amy Tanner Thiriot’s excellent guest post at the blog Keepapitchinin. You can also see Todd M. Compton’s elaborate essay entitled “Plural Lives: Mitt Romney’s Polygamous Heritage“. For a full account of the experience between Marion G. Romney and Harold B. Lee on the street please see Marion G. Romney, Look to God and Live: Discourses of Marion G. Romney, comp. George J. Romney (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), xi–xiii. For the best overall view of Mitt Romney’s life I would recommend Michale Kranish and Scott Helman’s The Real Romney.
Russia to Kick Mormons Out?
Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Moscow in March of this year. – Photo from the RIA Novosti news agency.
Mormons have a history of being misunderstood.
Case in point would be this past week when the youth wing of the ruling United Russia party held a protest on Thursday 1 Nov. calling for a ban on Mormon missionaries in Russia, and charging that full-time missionaries are potential American spies. The Young Guard defended the move on its website, describing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is based here in the United States, as a “totalitarian sect” whose missionaries seek to gather Russian intelligence and genealogical records.
“This is an American sect,” said Ekaterina Stenyakina, co-chair of Young Guard’s coordinating committee. The RIA Novosti news agency further reported Stenyakina as saying, “They are funded by the United States of America, and it’s been proven that many young Mormons return to the U.S. to work for the CIA and FBI.”
Full-time missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ministering in Russia.
Mitt Romney, perhaps currently the most prominent member of the Church in the world, has made numerous comments about Russia in the past few months leading up to this weeks’ presidential election, including calling Russia our “number one geopolitical foe”. That comment, made in a recent debate with President Barack Obama, caused many liberal pundits to make joking references to Mr. Romney thinking we were still living during the Cold War era. Two days ago Matt Romney, a son of the Republican presidential nominee, traveled to Moscow seeking Russian investors for his California-based real estate firm, Excel Trust, just days before his father is to wrap up a campaign in which he has vowed to take a tougher stance with the Kremlin with “more backbone”. The Romney campaign has described the visit as “friendly”.
While we may not be in a nuclear arms race any longer, Romney’s off-the-cuff and frequent remarks may cause more friction in Russia’s relations with his church than with his country.
On 26 October Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official state visit to the small Province of Samara in west central Russia. While there he attended a meeting with Nikolai Merkushkin, acting President of the Samara Province, and representatives of the local community. During the meeting a local employee of the Samara Regional In-Service Teacher Training Institute, Elena Belchikova, asked Mr. Putin if the government could do more to help regulate and control “totalitarian sects”. Specifically, Mrs. Belchikova was complaining about various religious sects in the region. According to her, many of the foreign religions in the area promote their ideas and sectarian views using educational programs that mask their true intent to win over converts. She said that as a school administrator it is easy for her as an adult to see “what is behind” such programs, but that often the young people in her community do not know what they are getting into.
Mrs. Belchikova’s remarks could have easily been prompted by remarks made earlier in the week by Alexei Grishin, president of the information and analytical center “Religion and Society”. As the Russian version of a religious think-tank, Religion and Society’s purpose is to study the influence of different religious groups, especially foreign, and the effects they have upon Russian society. Earlier in the week Mr. Grishin had made the recommendation to create a central government database which could “more fully track” movements made my members of certain religious sects. Recently Russia has been plagued by a string of radical Muslims attacking more moderate followers of Islam, leading to numerous deaths. And while these are the kinds of groups which are obviously in need of being tracked for society’s safety, other sects were not dismissed. According to Grishin, who is also a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, an effective fight against totalitarian sects would need a general method of initial detection. Such totalitarian sects include any group which requires extreme sacrifice or adherence to an “unorthodox set of beliefs”.
Belchikova’s direct request during the meeting in Samara provides a clear view of how many Russians still feel towards outsiders in their country. A nation with 142 Million residents, Russia is still a country saddling between an old Soviet world view and a capitalistic future which may be more godless than communism. Asking President Putin for the federal government to improve resistance to totalitarian sects, the educator further expressed the need to create a data bank of totalitarian sects with brief information about them, which would be accessible to regional education ministries and schools.
In response to the request, Vladimir Putin noted that Russia has four traditional religions, but stressed that representatives of other movements and faiths should feel free. ”As for the totalitarian trends that are a threat to society, their hunting is not only for souls, but they are also hunting for property,” said the President. He noted that often during his visits to the region he hears about problems with the activities of totalitarian sects. He then said, ”As the mushrooms grow, and the cabin, where all sorts of secret rituals are held, and where it is not clear what is happening, and where our people are being driven into the ground, this is a problem.” While no specific commentary was given as to what particular group or rituals the president was referring to, he then said directly to Mrs. Belchikova’s requests, “I agree with you.” However, the head of state then noted that it is a very sensitive issue because Russia must respect freedom of religion. “We have no restrictions,” he said in reference to religious practices among citizens.
Although Mr. Putin’s remarks in regards to totalitarian sects seemed to end on a positive note for all, his reference to religious freedoms obviously did not strike tune with the Young Guard of United Russia, the highly organized youth wing of the United Russia Party. As a group which claims to have over 160,000 members in their late teens and early twenties, the Young Guard of United Russia is the political action group of youth in Russia. – Picture University Republicans on steroids, only more organized and more popular. – The Young Guard are known for their ability in assisting young Russians in registering to vote and becoming involved in the political process for the first time. The Young Guards’ use of the internet, social media, and the media at large has also been impressive in the past few Russian elections, and their theatrical rallies and organized protests are known to create passion in young Russians.
It was this past Wednesday, 31 October, as the youth of Russia logged onto the Young Guard of United Russia’s webpage they saw a headline which read:
Young Guards Open Campaign Against the Presence of the Mormon Sect in Russia
The call to to campaign by Russian youth was then set forth on the web site by planning the above mentioned protests for the next day throughout Russia, and then giving a brief outline of the history of the Church. It was in this posting that the Young Guard claimed that Mormon missionaries have direct contact with the U.S. military while also ominously pointing out that a certain proportion of young Mormons returning to the United States after missionary work enter the service of the CIA and FBI.
A screenshot of the Young Guards statement on their website as it appeared Wednesday 31 October 2012.
To make certain they conveyed how evil Mormons’ foreign influence is, the Young Guards also warned that polygamy and pedophilia were a “widespread practice” in the Church, and linked their webpage to a story about Warren Jeffs, leader of a fundamentalist sect of polygamists who are no way associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The group also mentioned that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and accused him of holding anti-Russian beliefs which are common among church members.
As groups of protesters gathered outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Russian headquarters in Moscow and hoisted signs reading “No, to foreign agents!” and “Foo, CIA!”, there were similar protests occurring across Russia at each of the Church’s mission offices in the country the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
In Moscow some Young Guard members held up a makeshift one-way plane ticket reading “back to Washington” for Mormon missionaries.
The protests in St. Petersburg, Samara, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok were also well covered by local and national media outlets such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The protests have came in the wake of President Putin’s recent remarks in Samara, and other remarks from Mr. Putin condemning alleged foreign influence in domestic affairs and calling for an end to the presence of non-governmental organizations with foreign links that promote democracy and civil society within Russia.
On Wednesday, the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house, passed a bill that broadens the definition of treason to potentially include foreigners that provide “consulting services” for foreign governments or organizations. Under this new law, missionaries could be prosecuted for treason merely by their presence within the country fulfilling their proselyting duties.
Last month, the Kremlin ordered the United States Agency for International Development to end all operations in Russia. The organization had funded many Russian civil society organizations for two decades.
The statement on the website of the Youth Guard also noted that Putin has called for the need “to confront totalitarian sects operating in the territory of Russia.”
“In this regard, the Young Guard as a social organization intends to attract the attention of questionable activities of totalitarian sects operating in Russia, in particular, the sect of the Mormons,” the statement said.
Stenyakina, the same young woman who made allegations about a link between Mormons and the CIA, warned Russia’s youth that they could be easily wooed by the free English lessons and community service that the Mormon missionaries provide in their communities.
Young Guard members hold up a makeshift one-way plane ticket “back to Washington” for Mormon missionaries.
According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Elena Nechiporova, director for the Church’s East Europe Area’s public affairs department, stated emphatically that the allegations that Mormon missionaries are foreign agents is baseless. ”It is somebody’s opinion without any facts, without any legal investigation, without court decisions,” she said, adding that “preaching the gospel is our main goal.”
Russia is home to approximately 16,000 Latter-day Saints in roughly 100 scattered congregations throughout the country. The Moscow Russia Stake of the Church was dedicated last year on 5 June 2011.
Surely, no matter the outcome of recent political frictions or newly passed laws, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Church members will strive to honor and obey the laws of the land in Russia and to serve their fellow man and their communities. A basic tenet of Mormon faith is that,
Misunderstandings about the Church and Church members is expected, but as Christians we always welcome an open dialogue of common courtesy and respect. Although the full causes for last weeks protests may never be known, they ended peaceably and with little disturbance.
As missionaries and Church members continue to labor to build up Zion in their part of the world I have little doubt that their shining examples as good Christians will erase any harm done by recent simple misunderstandings, and the work of the Lord will continue in Russia.
Stan Way
If you’ve stumbled upon this site and you’re not a Mormon please click here to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and what we believe.
A section of the Young Guard’s statement and call for protests on their website 31 October 2012. This section began with the heading “Dubious Mormon Missionaries in Russia” and accompanied a picture of two elders.
You can read more about the history of the Church in Russia online here.