With Eric K's permission, I'm promoting my book on RfM, "A Cult Member in the White House? A Journalist and Former Mormon Warns America." Here's the online description:

"Would you vote for a presidential candidate who has been indoctrinated to believe that the ancestors of Native Americans were Jews cursed with dark skin by Jesus Christ nearly six hundred years before he was born? Or that people in ancient America worshiped in synagogues, drove chariots, used elephants, knew Hebrew, and wrote a mysterious language called 'Reformed Egyptian' on gold plates that were supernaturally translated centuries later in upstate New York using magical stones?

"How about voting for a presidential candidate who has simulated cutting his throat, chest, and belly as 'sacred' penalties in a secret religious ritual – would you be okay with giving him your political support?

"Republican Mitt Romney is the candidate in question and, disturbingly, he is a lifelong member of the dishonest and manipulative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). It’s also known as the Mormon Church and has been categorized as a thought-control organization by Steven Hassan, America’s leading cult expert.

"In 'A Cult Member in the White House? A Journalist and Former Mormon Warns America', Blair Watson not only exposes the fraud of Mormonism – Romney has called it his 'faith' and supported the LDS Church with his great wealth – but provides an alarming analysis of why Mormon 'programming' on the 'hard-drive' of Romney’s mind could be disastrous for the United States and American people.

"More than a year in the making, 'A Cult Member in the White House? A Journalist and Former Mormon Warns America' is a must-read for every rational, liberty-loving American concerned about the future of their country in these troubling times."

More info. is online at http://www.blairwatson.net/book/

The long version of the book's Table of Contents is as follows:

Preface

“I believe in my Mormon faith”
“Overall, cult is the most frequently used word”
Mormon Church denounced “as a cult”
“Mormons are not Christians”
“Not a cult” but “you can call us a cult”
“Bigger than Nike and the Gap”
Romney’s largesse flows to the Mormon Church
People leaving the Mormon Church “in droves”
Not telling the truth, even to family members
Same religious background, different life paths
My professional background
More information about this book

Chapter 1: “Hail to the Prophet”

A smorgasbord of religious and mystical ideas
Hunting for buried treasure
The "Glass Looker” in court
The “infamous impostor”
Seer stones and Jesus’ church anew
A “curious instrument”
A collection of seer stones
Smith’s pirate “vision”
Authorized witness of God?
The official First Vision
So, why try to join the Methodists?
Mormonism’s “whole strength”
Verification problem

Chapter 2: Interacting With “Divine” Kolobian Beings

Nephi or Moroni?
Kolob: “The first creation”
Other aspects of the Mormon universe
Ancient Christian apostles stopped by for a visit?
The Great Apostasy
Luther, the unhappy Catholic
“Fundamental to Our Faith”
Against the “powerful tide” of “political correctness”
No John the Baptist or ancient Christian apostles mentioned
Mormon priesthood: “The eternal power and authority of God”
“The kingdom of God on the earth”
Revelation
The Mormon Word of Wisdom

Chapter 3: The Mystical Amphibian, the Book of Gold, and a Dead Swede

The official First Vision
A First Vision amphibian
Inspiration for a master forger
“No christian experience”
The “boy of no consequence in the world”
Smith’s written First Vision v1.0
The First Vision v2.0
Even more First Vision accounts
Plenty of competition
The famous dead Swede
The unreliable witness
Shaping the message
Necessity is the mother of invention
“Zion” in Missouri and the “Abuser of men”
Family feuding
A “vast treasure”
The “audible voice” wanted a financial institution?
“Beautiful paper money”
Not the “slightest chance” of succeeding
Run on the “bank”
More legal woes
Failure to take responsibility
Bipolar “prophet”?
Accomplishing more than Jesus Christ?
The masterful Mormon storyteller

Chapter 4: The Book of Mormon - Part I: Holding up the LDS Belief Arch

More conflicting stories
The disappearing golden plates
The “first race”
Submersible barges – without the “windows” option
Centuries of kingdoms in ancient America?
The Smithsonian Institution speaks out
Millions of Jaredites slain in ancient America?
The Hill Ramah/Cumorah
The Hill Cumorah Pageant
Where are the bones?
Urim and Thummim problem
Urim and Thummim not used for translating
The “second race”
The remnant: Native Americans
“Dark”, “loathsome”, “filthy”, “bloodthirsty” and “idolatrous” natives
Mormon Indians to become “white and delightsome”
Another massive ancient American slaughter?

Chapter 5: The Book of Mormon - Part II: The Unbelievable in Ancient America

Book of Mormon problems known for generations
Book of Mormon anachronisms
Old World languages in ancient America?
Studies of the Book of Mormon - “very grave” difficulties
“Institutional priorities” overshadow “integrity”
Jesus visits the Americas?
Christ’s extended visit to Mexico?
Text “borrowed” from the Bible
View of the Hebrews
Comparing View of the Hebrews and Mormonism’s “keystone”
The Book of Mormon and two volumes of American history
More nails in the Book of Mormon coffin
The “Asian branch”
Pre-Clovis Paleo-Indians
The Western Hemisphere kept “from the knowledge of other nations”?
Native Americans existed millennia before their Lamanite “forefathers”
The disintegrated Mormon “keystone” and collapsed “arch”
Another “revelation” from Smith’s peep stone

Chapter 6: Premortal Existence, Three Kingdoms of Glory, and Outer Darkness

Immortal intelligences
The premortal existence and Satan, our spirit brother
Spiritual combat
Premortal “valiancy”
“Foreordination”
The Veil of Forgetfulness
"Mortal probation"
Become “perfect” and earn “exaltation”
More than one kind of death
The spirit world
Resurrection
Joseph Smith, the resurrection gatekeeper and “certificate” provider
The Final Judgment
Lots of judges, and the return of “Prophet” Smith
“Kingdoms of glory” and “outer darkness”
More “contributions” to Mormonism from Swedenborg and the occult

Chapter 7: Cain’s Cursed Seed, the Little Factory, and the Bedeviled Missouri River

The genesis of Mormon racism against blacks
The Egyptian connection
Ham preserves the “curse”
The liberally-minded “prophet”
“A blackness came upon the children”
Brigham Young: “We must believe in slavery”
Cain, “the father of an inferior race”
Blacks were less “valiant” than non-Negroes before mortality?
“One of the few uncracked fortresses of discrimination”
Jettisoning LDS “truths” about blacks
The non-virgin Virgin Mary
Mormon sex dogma
“Homosexuality is a result of biological orientation”
“The Gods went down to organize man in their own image”
The “little factory” – don’t “tamper” with it!
LDS “worthiness” interviews and “courts of love”
“Sexual sins” are “destroying the world”
Satan controls “cursed” waters
The devious “destroyer”

Chapter 8: Blood Atonement, the Crystal Earth, and America on the Brink

Blood Atonement
The Second Coming
Body piercings and short skirts are Second Coming “signs”?
The “elect” need to “recognize the signs”
“We may be living in the most peaceful time”: non-Mormons
Collapsing under scrutiny
The Millennium
“This earth will be made like unto crystal” and Mormons to get a “white stone”
America’s Constitution “on the brink of ruin”
“The kingdom of God means the government of God”

Chapter 9: Mormon Polygamy: Joseph Smith’s Infamous “Legacy”

Hundreds of “Lost Boys”
“The plurality of wives”
Polygamy is essential for Mormons’ salvation
Mormon gods are polygamists
The ol’ angel-with-the-drawn-sword tale
Why wait twelve years, and why threaten Emma?
Smith’s cunning strategies and tactics
Isolate the female prey, then strike
A Machiavellian plot
Seducing mothers “to keep them quiet”, and Smith’s “evil genius”
Mormon polygamy exposed
“The foul fiend who perpetrated the diabolical deed” and “innumerable Gods”
“Audacious wretches”

Chapter 10: Get Endowed and Sealed and do Work for the Dead

A global network of temples
Freemasonry and Mormon temple "worship”
And now for something completely different...
Eternal families and becoming gods and goddesses
“The god and goddess you both inherently are”
The Elohim-Jehovah cosmos creation team
Premortal “Council of the Gods” and Biblical Adam, polygamist deity incarnate
One god in the Bible and Book of Mormon, but multiple LDS deities
Christian apostles visit earth millennia before their birth?
LDS indoctrination about temples starts early
Naked “holy” touching in the temple
Magical Mormon underwear
The Mormon “law of consecration”
Adolf Hitler, Holocaust victims, Pope John Paul II, and Gandhi might be Mormons
“Holocaust Survivor Calls Out Romney Over Proxy Baptisms”
The Mormon oath of vengeance “upon this nation”
Vengeance covenant scrutinized by the Senate

Chapter 11: Mind Abuse: The Psychological Effects of Cultic Mormonism

Fear is foundational to cultic Mormonism
LDS cognitive dissonance
Mormon guilt
Mormon shame
Cult forms of control
Other findings by cult expert Steven Hassan
More symptoms of Mormon dysfunction

Chapter 12: A Mormon President: An Unwise and Potentially Disastrous Choice

Presidential attributes
Suppressed cognitive abilities
Crucial questions
Inescapable consequences and huge challenges
“The single, biggest threat to our national security”
Washington wasn’t always broke
“A blind man in a roomful of deaf people”
“From the very first instance, it was about Iraq”
Millions of people knew it was BS
“Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction”
Duping Powell was key
The taxi driver who unwittingly started a trillion-dollar war
“A severe lack of critical thinking”
The ultra-expensive “dumb war”
“The Iraq War is largely about oil”
“This confrontation is willed by God”
“Gog will be the leader of a great army that attacks the land of Israel”
“The great war between Israel and Gog and Magog”
A war with Iran?
Discord in Israel over Iran
“Colliding cultural traumas”
Romney’s take on Iran
Romney’s “muddy thinking”

Notes

Index (in the print version; the e-book has no index because e-readers have a search function)

Sorry, I have a real problem with this. I am not a fan of the LDS church, but it's ridiculous to say that membership in the church makes it impossible for a person to be an effective leader and politician.

Exactly right. Would we deny a Catholic because he/she prays to the Virgin Mary for help? Or believes in transubstantiation?

I've been wanting to say this throughout the entire Romney Season:

You can only state what the Mormon Church teaches, not what an individual member believes.

As a convert, I would look around the chapel and assume that everyone present knew church doctrine and believed it all. I was a literalist and saw no shades of grey. I thought that membership in the church was contingent on absolute belief and I saw no reason for people to belong if they didn't believe.

Now, reading ex-member accounts, I see that many people have questions and doubts and fears and lack of belief in some, if not all, the church teachings, yet they continue to attend and participate, afraid of the consequences should they state their lack of fervent belief.

Therefore, I think we can all see that Romney affirms his membership and accepts his Mormon heritage and culture. We cannot assume, though, that by his mere membership he believes every bit of Mormon doctrine. Perhaps he is like a lot of members who do not know all the history and doctrines of Mormonism.

Perhaps as ex-members and nevermos we attribute absolute belief where it does not exist. Perhaps he picks and chooses what portion he believes or accepts. Maybe he is a go-along-to-get-along type member?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2012 03:31PM by Nightingale.

+1

This is very close to how I have come to see Mormonism as well.

if he is a go-along/get-along type member then I would hope he'd be honest about that. If he's of nu-mormon or whatever they're calling themselves type thought, then he should make that clear. I think the problem is that he never says anything which makes me and a lot of other people very suspicious.

I agree. I think Romney is a doofball but being a Mormon doesn't necessarily disqualify him on its own.

I think alot of people here hate the Mormon church (for many good reasons), but it is a church alot like the Catholic Church which many people have reason to hate--but an individual member of either church may make a reasonably good president or a bad one independent of their membership in said mystic society.

Totally agree with runtu.

By and large, the mormon people are wonderful, caring, highly important contributers to society.

I disagree with their religious theology, but to "warn" America and suggest that a person couldn't do the job is just bigoted and silly.

there are many many conservatives (even evangelical Christians like my husband and me) who don't want anything to do with Mormonism, would prefer not to have a Mormon in the White House but who understand the difference between the two present candidates and would prefer a Mormon to four more years of Barak Obama

or do you just think whatever Fox News tells you to think?

Uh - Yes - Because they have been God Awful.

Gee, Evangelical Xians voting for Romney? Whod'a thunk it?

BTW – If you were once Mormon and now evangelicals, why not apply the same skepticism you had for Mormonism to your new religion? If it’s plausible for an Evangelical Xian to be right, then it's just as plausible for a Mormon to be right. Right?

I'm going to go check out your book site there.

There may be many perfectly nice mormons in spite of their religion, but they are taught to be bigoted, discriminatory and stuck in a fantasy of the 50s that never happened.

What an ugly statement. My family is largely LDS, and they are not bigoted, discriminatory, or stuck in a fantasy of the 50s. Most Mormons I know do not fit your stereotype.

Stop painting with such a broad brush. I don't like it when Mormons tell me how awful we apostates are, and it's not right for us to do the same.

I said "taught to be". C'mon now. Don't take it personally. Read what I wrote instead.
"Many perfectly nice mormons in spite of their religion."

I do generally like what you write, but don't fly off the handle at me because you think I'm insulting your family.

Go ahead and read whatever you want into my comment, but _I_ meant nothing more than what I said. How does "many" equal a few "exception"s?

I strenuously object to what they teach, so go ahead and hate me, like I give a shit. You are obviously reacting to the OP and taking it out on me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2012 04:30PM by WinksWinks.

I'm not insulted. You made it sound as if "nice mormons" were the exception, whereas most are bigots, and I take exception to that.

I dislike the institution of Mormonism, but I love and respect Mormons. Saying what you did implies that most Mormons have absorbed the bigotry you describe. That is just not so, and it isn't fair.

You are reading shit into my post that is. not. there. And you want to say I'M not being fair? Wow.

You read what you wanted to read, not what I wrote.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2012 05:43PM by WinksWinks.

I'm sorry if I misread it, but that's how it read to me. I'm pretty sure you didn't mean it to come across that way, but that's how it came across.

And no, I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to be clear where I stand.

I've been the target of Mormon Bigotry. It is institutional. And they have demonstrated that they are more than willing to force their bigotry on others by political means.

This is what I mean by "taught to be bigoted, discriminatory," etc. The sexism, racism, and attempted legislation against anything not included in the proclamation on the family is institutional, and in their holy books, talks, and doctrine. To straight, white, gender normative individuals, it is often invisible.

all of the mormons I know do.

Romney's not 'just a member' of LDS Corp, and he cannot be compared with being a run-of-the-mill Catholic or even candidate John F. Kennedy. Romney was a LEADER in his church, Kennedy wasn't. Romney likes to refer to his time when he was "a pastor" in his church. But he was both a bishop and then a stake president. These positions have been compared to being a priest and a bishop in the Catholic church. Comparing Romney to a Catholic bishop is more accurate.

Now, look at his candidacy in those terms. Would it be appropriate to assume that a Catholic bishop just may take direction from the Vatican? Would a Catholic bishop be appropriate for the president of the secular government of a major world power?

As a leader in his church, Romney carries with him the baggage of that church's heirarchy. The common members of LDS Corp are often honest, decent people. But the leadership of LDS Corp have proven themselves to be dishonest and manipulative, both of their own members as well as withing the general community (Prop 8, ERA). Romney has carried on this pattern of deceit and deception during his public service and campaign.

Also, given the death oaths and promises of the law of consecration that Romney has certainly made hundreds of times in his temples, it is not that unreasonable to see that his cult is likely a threat to this government and country.

The OP wants to warn others about this. That is his/her right.

Totally agree. I saw a post somewhere here where he had to ask the profit if he could be pro-choice. I feel like we get Monson as VP if Romney gets elected.

If he could separate the will of the church from the will of the people, I would be more likely to vote for him.

Would a Mormon be O.K. but a Scientologist not O.K?
If so, what is the significant difference?

nothing. They are both cults with f#cked up agendas.

I disagree with runtu, (which is very seldom for me), the LDS church in no way has ever been forthright in their real intentions for power, nor the Masonic connections to their foundation. Consequently, any attempt to understand what end goals are important to the LDS church is a worthy exercise.

To praphrase B. H. Roberts explanation about statements made by Smith and Young during the nauvoo period, the church's goal was to have all governments of the world have to bow down to the ultimate authority of the "Kingdom of God on Earth" the Mormons. Therefor, I believe it is Well worth some "free rational inquiry".

It's the conditioned, habitual betrayal of reason, including the suppression of critical thinking, combined with other dysfunctional aspects of Mormon "programming" that makes Romney a poor choice for president - and potentially a disastrous one. As explained in my book, he's publicly said that he will not disavow any aspect of Mormonism, a fraud-based, nonsense-saturated religion that has, since 1830, systematically employed fear, guilt, and shame to coerce its duped membership.

For decades, Romney has failed to scrutinize Mo-ism in light of the large and expanding body of evidence - scientific and other - that overwhemingly proves that it's a fraud, and terminate his membership accordingly. The fact that he has consistently not paid attention to the many "inconvenient" truths disproving the LD$ religion and acted with integrity to them (having learned the truth, who would remain a member of the chronically dishonest Mormon Church?) speaks volumes about his unsuitability to be president, IMO.

History provides examples of leaders who avoided the truth because it conflicted with what they believed, often resulting in very expensive crises. Evangelical Christian George W. Bush was one such leader. The total estimated cost of his disastrous Iraq War, which he launched in March 2003 based on neo-con fantasies about Iraqi WMDs and Saddam Hussein being in league with al-Qaeda, is, according to news reports, $3.2 trillion.

How much will a "revelation" from Mormonism's deity to Pres. Romney (if elected) to attack nuke-seeking Iran end up costing Americans? A lot more than the Iraq War, I assure you.

The latest polls show Romney catching or slightly passing Obama in both the overall race and in some of the battleground states still considered up-for-grabs and therefore vital to both candidates' chances.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/15/politics/romney-polls/index.html

Being mormon doesn't automatically disqualify a candidate IMHO. If I thought they could be objective and impartial as an administrator, if I thought they could apply whatever positive qualities being mormon might bring to the job, and if I thought they wouldn't allow SLC's influence on the, they yea I might be inclined to vote for them. For example, if I live in Nevada, I would have had NO problem voting for Reid over that loon who escaped from the nut house!

BUT Romney? I can think of a myriad of reasons NOT to vote for him, and being mormon is WAY down that list. Romney? NO THANKS!

A wise(ass) man once said, "You can't judge a book by its index."

I probably have no business saying anything right now. But such as it is...

I have been studying Romney. For almost two years now. Here's the thing: he's NOT a go along to get a long Mormon. Many of my friends are still Mormon, and they're awesome people. But I feel very strongly when I say, I wish there was a a test that could be given to ensure us that this person is not a sociopath.