Mitt Romney – Mormon

As the “Mormon moment” extends into 2012, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life today released a groundbreaking new survey, the first ever published by a non-LDS research organization to focus exclusively on members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their beliefs, values, perceptions and political preferences.

Entitled “Mormons in America: Certain in Their Beliefs, Uncertain of Their Place in Society,” the survey was conducted between Oct. 25 and Nov. 16, 2011 among a national sample of 1,019 respondents who identified themselves as Mormons. The results validate a number of long-held stereotypes (most American Mormons are white, well-educated, politically conservative and religiously observant) while providing a few interesting surprises (care for the poor and needy is high on the list of LDS priorities, while drinking coffee and watching R-rated movies aren’t as taboo among the rank and file as you might think).

“While this survey comes amid a contentious election campaign, it is not solely or even chiefly about politics,” said Luis Lugo, Pew Research Center director, in the published survey’s preface. “Rather, we hope that it will contribute to a broader public understanding of Mormons and Mormonism at a time of great interest in both.”

For example, in one very interesting section of the new survey, respondents were asked several questions about what is essential to being a good Mormon. According to the survey, 80 percent said “believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ” is essential to being a good Mormon, 73 percent said “working to help the poor,” 51 percent said “regular Family Home Evenings,” 49 percent said “not drinking coffee and tea” and 32 percent said “not watching R-rated movies. Read the rest…

Ann Lois Davies Romney was born on April 16, 1949, in Michigan.

Mrs. Romney’s grandfather David Davies was a  coal miner who worked down the Coegnant Colliery close to his home in the village of Nantyffyllon, near Maesteg, South Wales. [1]   After an injury at the mine, he moved  to the United States in 1929,  soon earning enough money to send for his family, which consisted of his wife, Annie, and his son, Edward. 

The Davies’ eventually had five children, but could only afford to send one to college.  That was Edward, who attended General Motors Institute of Technology in Flint, Michigan.   Edward met with success, and he eventually settled his family in a wealthy Detroit suburb.  He became mayor of Bloomfield Hills.  The Romneys have been described as elitist, but Ann Romney took her sons into a Welsh mine to remind them of their roots.  

Ann Davies was fifteen when she began dating eighteen-year-old Mitt Romney.  Partly because of his influence she converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (erroneously called the “Mormon Church” by the press) in 1966.  After attending Brigham Young University and enjoying a semester abroad in Grenoble, France, she married Mitt Romney in 1969 in a civil ceremony and then immediately afterwards in the Salt Lake Mormon Temple.  She earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard Extension University in 1975.

Ann Romney is involved with a number of charities and is an expert horsewoman.

Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis

Ann Romney was diagnosed with Mulitple Sclerosis in 1998, but has the syndrome under control and has been able to keep a busy schedule in support of her husband’s presidential bid.

She told of how he had supported her when she found out she had multiple sclerosis, and how he helped get her out of what she called a “deep dark hole” after her diagnosis.

“Not only do I have the absolute conviction that he would be a fantastic president. But I also know that he would have the character and the integrity.”

“He gave me permission really to just accept where I was and to let me move past so I could fight this disease,” said Ann Romney, who has recovered since her 1998 diagnosis through a combination of horseback riding, drugs and alternative therapy. [2]

Ann  is a board member for the New England chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and has been given the MS Society’s Annual Hope Award. [3]

Ann Romney campaigning for Mitt

Ann Romney has emphasized her husband’s strong values and the fact that he can be counted on at a time of crisis.  She was first lady of Massachusetts while Mitt Romney was governor, and campaigned actively for with him during his 2008 bid for the U.S. presidency.  In May 2008, she shared with her husband the Canterbury Medal from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, for “refus[ing] to compromise their principles and faith” during the campaign.

While Massachusetts First Lady, she was active in teenage pregnancy prevention efforts.  In 2005, the governor appointed her as head of a new special office whose purpose was to help the state’s faith-based groups gain more federal monies in association with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. [3]

An eight-point victory in a presidential primary race is not an auspicious win, but it’s still a victory, and that turned out to be Mitt Romney‘s lead in Iowa with Rick Santorum following close behind.

The Iowas caucus night took place on January 3, 2011.  With all of the state’s 1,774 precincts reporting, Romney received 30,015 votes to Santorum’s 30,007. Percentage-wise, the two tied with 25 percent of the vote. [1]   Ron Paul came in third.  Recounts do not occur in such cases, since this is an election within the Republican Party and not a government-sponsored vote.   The close vote will give both candidates momentum going into the New Hampshire primary to be held January 10, 2011.

Evangelical voters were key behind Santorum’s success. Santorum was endorsed Dec. 20 by Iowa social conservative leaders Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley, after a campaign in which such voters were sharply divided on whether to support Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry or Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. [1]

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum came up from behind after visiting every single one of Iowa’s 99 counties.  Bachmann dropped her candidacy soon after the Iowa vote, and Rick Perry went back to Texas to re-assess his candidacy.  Since 1972, no candidate that has finished worse than third in Iowa has gone on to win a major party presidential nomination.

Update:

Iowa election officials later said that Santorum beat Romney by 34 votes.  However, 8 precincts were omitted or lost from the tally, so no winner could be declared.   In Iowa Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum each took 7 delegates to the Republican convention, with Newt Gingrich taking 1 and 3 unprojected. [2]

Mitt Romney was the CEO at Bain and Company for one year, but that year changed the company forever. They were on the brink of bankruptcy when he was brought in to save it. In that single year, he brought them not just into the black, but made them profitable and did so without laying anyone off. A recent article in New York Mag said that no one who worked with Romney would swear or drink around him and everyone knew his social life revolved around his family, not his company.

Romney is described by Benjamin Wallace-Wells as a hard worker, egalitarian, and frugal. He never talked religion at work, but he lived up to the Church’s standards.

Read the article about Romney at Bain in Business Insider.

Mitt Romney comes from a long line of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Perhaps his best known ancestor is his great-great grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, one of the first Apostles of the LDS Church.[1] Mitt’s ancestors came to Utah with the Mormon Pioneers—those men, women, and children who endured unbelievable hardships in order to find a place where they could practice their religion without persecution.

In the early 1800s those Mormon Pioneers came from the Eastern United States, first to Ohio, then Illinois, and finally to Utah. They were joined by pioneers, equally escaping religious persecution, from Europe and Scandinavia. Today , The Church of Jesus Christ (inadvertently called by the media “The Mormon Church,”)  is to be found in almost every country in the world. But members of the Church of Jesus Christ (Latter-day Saints, nicknamed “Mormons”) are united in their faith which centers on three main beliefs:

(1) Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God.

(2) The Book of Mormon is the Word of God containing the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as a Second Witness of Christ along with the Bible; it was revealed to—

(3) Joseph Smith whom members of The Church of Jesus Christ acknowledge as a Prophet. He saw the Father and the Son and was divinely instructed to restore the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. Each successive prophet and president of the Church receives revelation directly from Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of our Heavenly Father; that He is a separate, unique being who took on human flesh in order to perform the greatest sacrifice for mankind, the Atonement in Gethsemane and on the cross.[2] Only a God could take upon himself every sin, depravity, every negative emotion, and suffer it in human form without being utterly destroyed, in order that we, His children[3] could have a chance to repent and thus not be cast out from the presence of our Heavenly Father when we leave this mortal life. In the words of Isaiah, “surely, he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4), where Isaiah is using a tense that signifies the future. In short, Christ is able to share every human experience with us, helping us repent when we have done wrong, taking upon His shoulders the burdens that we bear, being with us through His Spirit throughout our lives.

For more on Jesus Christ, please visit Jesus Christ.org.

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon  is a modern miracle in and of itself. Translated from metal plates which contained an abridgement of records inscribed by prophets over a period of a thousand years, it contains God’s dealings with three separate groups of people who formed part of the transoceanic migration from the Old World to the New. First were the Jaredites, a group of people under the leadership of Jared and his brother who left at the time of the confounding of the language as a result of Nimrod’s building of the Tower of Babel (see Gen. 11:1–9; Ether 1:3–5, 33–35). The second group, and the one whose record comprises the majority of the Book of Mormon, is the family of Lehi. Lehi was a prophet at the same time as the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah; from Lehi came the two major groups in the Book of Mormon, the Nephites and the Lamanites. Lastly, when King Zedekiah was carried captive from Jerusalem into Babylon (see Jeremiah 39), some of his people escaped to the New World.  They comprise the third group, the Mulekites.

Read more about the Book of Mormon.

Joseph Smith

The records of these three groups of people were abridged by the Nephite Prophet Mormon and his son Moroni around AD 400. It was Moroni, now a heavenly messenger, who, some 1400 years later, instructed Joseph Smith where to find the metal plates that contained the abridgment. Joseph was a young man aged fourteen, brought up in a good, hardworking family, who was inspired by what he read in the New Testament: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). He did just that, going to a quiet place in the woods to kneel down and offer a heartfelt prayer to know which church of the many that were springing up in the New World that he should join—which one was the true Church of Christ. He was rewarded by a direct answer from two members of the Godhead, Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. The Father introduced the Son to Joseph and Christ answered Joseph’s question. The true church was no longer on the earth and Joseph had been prepared, foreordained, to restore it in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.

The young prophet stayed faithful to that vision and a few years later was guided by Moroni to retrieve the metal plates from where they were buried in a hill in upstate New York, from which, by the gift and power of God, he translated the Book of Mormon.

Mormon Beliefs

Upon the foundation of these three central tenets of the Latter-day Saint religion are built the belief that the family is the “central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children”; [4] that the Church is a restoration of the true Church of Jesus Christ as it existed when He was on the earth, hence we have a Prophet, Apostles, and a lay Priesthood. We believe that revelation is an ongoing, continuing necessity for every man, woman, and child who belongs to the Church. And we believe in being subject to the rule of the government of the country in which we reside.

For more about Mormon beliefs, and to meet some Mormons, go to the LDS Church’s introductory website, Mormon.org.

Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”) talked with Parade Magazine about the blessings that his Mormon beliefs has brought to his life, and about how his faith has shaped who he is. Latter-day Saint members believe in living the commandments of God and following the counsel that comes from inspired Church apostles and prophets.

In the interview Romney was asked if it had been hard for him to follow the rules of not smoking, drinking alcohol, coffee, tea, or having premarital sex. Romney replied saying these things were more of a blessing than a restriction. He said:

My view is that the commandments of God—let’s take the Ten Commandments, the basis of all Judeo-Christian faiths—are not so much restricting as liberating. I think being faithful to one’s spouse is a wonderful source of passion and devotion in marriage and that paying tithes as suggested in the Book of Malachi makes one’s money less important.

While serving a mission for the Church, Romney was involved in a serious car accident in which one of the passengers involved was killed. The interviewer asked Romney if this changed him. Romney replied:

I think for me it deepened my sense of purpose. Growing up in a Judeo-Christian religious foundation, one measures one’s life by the contributions one has made to God and to the children of God. As the fragility of life becomes more clear in one’s mind, the need and passion to help others becomes more of a daily motivation.

To see the full interview, please visit Parade Magazine.

Additional Resources:

Find a local church meetinghouse.

Learn more about Mormon beliefs and God’s commandments from an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

For clarification on myths, and misperceptions of Mormon beliefs, read this article.

David French is a Calvinist who thinks evangelicals are asking the wrong questions about Mormons. He says he was asked if Mormons (a nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are a denomination, a religion, or a cult. He suggests it is better to understand the religion than to try to fit it into a category, and also feels Mormons should be allowed to define themselves.

One argument he uses to encourage better treatment of Mormons is that Mormons don’t back down on important moral issues. French says too many churches today are caving in and adopting “politically correct” views which are tolerant of the kinds of lifestyles that lead to poverty. Too many talk about how sad poverty is but don’t do anything about it.

“So we watch as the mainstream denominations (and even some evangelicals) slide into a meaningless and empty social religion that is utterly powerless to sustain the soul or to confront evil.

“But not Mormons. The LDS church still stands proudly for the family, for human life, and with the moral resolve necessary to confront the challenges of our time. They give generously, serve enthusiastically, and stand shoulder to shoulder with evangelicals on the great moral and cultural issues of our time. In my own life, every single Mormon that I have come to know has been kind, generous, and utterly devoted to their family.” (See Mormons: An Appreciation.”

In 1995, The Mormons issued a Proclamation on the Family that was directed to the entire world. It warned of issues that are now receiving intense political and social attention, even though they were seen as less prominent at the time. It is a blunt statement of the importance of the traditional family. They proclaimed “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.” This ideal situation was once the standard, but today it is often mocked. The proclamation called for families to raise children with solid Christian values and stated that God will hold parents accountable for their parenting and their marriages.

“By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.”

The proclamation makes clear the stand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes on issues of family life. The Church upholds God’s standards for the family, and not those of the world, which change from year to year.

David French mentioned the amount of service Mormons do. There are several programs the Mormons use to serve others, both in and out of the church. Non-sectarian humanitarian aid since 1985 has totaled 1.3 billion dollars in 178 countries. Money donated to the program goes entirely to the aid, with administrative costs paid for from other funds. This aid is given to without concern for the person’s religion or lack of religion and frequently helps an entire village. Current programs include clean water initiatives, wheelchair programs, neonatal resuscitation training, atmit, vision assistance, measles vaccinations, and tsunami relief. (Read more about humanitarian aid.)

Another interesting program specifically benefits church members. Every month, Mormons who can safely do so fast for twenty-four hours. This is a complete fast—no food and no drinks of any kind. They then donate the money they would otherwise have spent on food during that time to a special fund called a fast offering. This money is given to those with temporary needs to help with food, housing, utilities, and other essentials. Recipients don’t receive cash. Instead, they are given a list of foods available and they mark what they need for the next few weeks. A church leader reviews the list and increases or decreases amounts to be certain they are receiving just what they need and are also taking enough. They are then given the food, cleaning supplies, baby care items, and commodities they need at a storehouse. Unlike most food banks, where you receive a bag of groceries, members receive everything they need. This is possible only because it is restricted to members only. By helping a small group whose actual needs have been evaluated by someone who knows them, they can provide everything, rather giving them the supplemental foods a regular food bank must give in order to help everyone.

These fast offerings are not charity. The members who receive them have paid into the program and are asked to do service for the church in return. In addition to their regular church work, recipients are invited to help with building cleanups and with doing humanitarian work for others. Most who go to the storehouse to pick up their orders will stay and work for an hour or so, helping stock shelves or fill orders. While the work seldom equals what is received, it allows them to retain their self-esteem and to know they are actively working to help their family and themselves. There is a sense of pride that comes in earning what you receive.

Mormons appreciate the kind words of David French. In today’s environment, it can take a lot of courage to speak out in Christ-like ways for a group that is less popular in one’s own community, and Mormons value that kind of courage.

Additional Resources:

Mormons are Christian. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon.

Draw your own conclusions of the Mormon Church, learn some basic Mormon beliefs.

Mitt Romney has continued to receive a great deal of criticism from opponents and members of the media regarding his religious affiliation as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the nicknamed “Mormon Church” is officially known. Some allegations are so wild that they accuse him of being in sympathy with European politics because he lived in France for two years as a young man. Mitt Romney spent two years in France as a missionary for the LDS Church, teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to many who did not want to hear anything about organized religion. This experience, many argue, is exactly where he learned determination and perseverance in the face of opposition.

Mitt Romney arrived in France in the late ’60s and faced a public full of distrust for organized religion since the French Revolution in 1789 tore the church apart in its fury of oppression by the aristocracy, which it considered the church to be a part of. Many of these opinions have been passed down through now hundreds of years, and are still clung to by many people.

Despite their simple and earnest desire to share the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world, Mormon missionaries in France find most doors slammed in their faces on average days and guns pulled on them or dogs chasing them on particularly bad days. Yet, they continue to try and share the message that has brought them there, that of the life before this life and the purpose of our lives on this earth.

Christian Euvrard, director of the Paris Institute of Religion for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says that “Being a missionary [is] not an easy thing. You can’t go home without having learned a lot of lessons. Missionaries who served in France remember the experience as “character-building” and “life-changing.”

Mormon missionaries pay for their missions out of their own pocket. They receive no monetary compensation for their time and work, yet they still voluntarily sacrifice eighteen months (for women) to two years (for young men) to leave home, live a rigorous moral code, and face nearly constant rejection by many because they sincerely desire to share the message of Jesus Christ with the world.

Kenneth Cope, who served as a missionary in France in the 1980s, says of all missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “The main focus of a mission is to go out and help people find the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but a very great by-product would be you grow into a man, you grow into a woman, you grow up.”

Mitt Romney actually served for 30 months in France, during which time he developed people and leadership skills which led him to become assistant to the mission president of France. While in this position, and throughout his mission, Romney followed the mission rules and helped ensure other missionaries did as well, following a rigorous schedule of waking up at 6:30 a.m. and having lights out by 10:30 p.m., with a full day of hard work in between. This work consists largely of knocking on doors, following up on referrals (suggestions given to them of people who may be interested in their message), teaching interested parties, studying their scriptures, serving in their communities, and taking care of personal business like laundry and letter writing.

“Missionaries avoid entertainment, parties, or other activities common to this age group as long as they are on their missions, so they can focus entirely on the work of serving and of teaching others the gospel of Jesus Christ,” says official LDS News website.

The influence of a mission is so strong that it is nearly impossible, according to Carter Charles, who is writing his doctorate thesis for the University of Bordeaux on the role of Mormonism in U.S. politics, to find anyone who served a Mormon mission who has not been significantly altered by his or her experience, regardless of current activity in or affiliation with the LDS Church. Charles says former Mormon missionaries “have different world-views, they see the world in different ways. In that, you can say the Mormon church has something special that you don’t see in other religious groups who send out missionaries. It is unique.”

Mitt Romney is no stranger to responsibility. Romney also learned a lot of leadership skills on his mission after tragedy struck in a head-on collision which injured the mission president, H. Duane Anderson, and killed Anderson’s wife Leola. Romney was driving his companion, the mission president and his wife, and another woman, Suzanne Farel, back from a conference in June 1968. An oncoming car, driven by a man who had been drinking, hit them head-on. Romney was actually pronounced dead at the scene, but was still taken to a hospital, where he made a full recovery.

In the wake of the tragedy, President Anderson was sent home, and Mitt Romney and another missionary were put in charge of the mission for several weeks, until arrangements could be made for a new mission president to arrive

With so much to be done, Romney did not have time to “sit around and philosophize,” but got the work done that needed to be done. The sense of discipline which so many Mormon missionaries learn through experience keeps them focused and determined to do what needs to be done.

Mormonism is still largely misunderstood, with many people still believing that Mormons practice polygamy and live like the Amish. Many people consider the Book of Mormon evil, when it is in fact a companion book of scripture to the Bible and testifies of Jesus Christ. Mitt Romney’s involvement in politics and current candidacy for President of the United States of America is bringing the discussion of Mormonism to the foreground. It is important to understand his beliefs and history to also understand that Mormonism is Christianity and that Mitt Romney is a moral person.

Read more on Mitt Romney’s time in France.

Additional Resources: Mormon News

Learn more about Mormon missionaries at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Learn some basic Mormon Beliefs.

Mormons are Christian.

In October 2011 controversial comments made  by a Texas pastor and supporter of Gov. Rick Perry again inserted the issue of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s faith into the forefront of the race for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

The GOP field, including Romney, found themselves having to respond to comments made Friday by Dr. Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor of the 10,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, who, in his introduction of Texas Gov. Rick Perry at a social conservatives’ conference on Friday, called Mormonism a “cult,” and asserted that Romney was not a Christian. [1]

Romney’s comments were focused on the unproductive nature of the controversy, and fellow Mormon Jon Huntsman, also a Republican candidate for president, leaped to Romney’s defense:

“Here in New Hampshire that is seen as the most ridiculous sideshow in recent politics. It doesn’t create an additional job. The discussion of Mormonism doesn’t expand our economic base. It doesn’t secure our position in the world. I have no idea why people are wasting spending so much political capital and bandwith on this issue. It’s nonsense,” Huntsman said.

Rick Perry distanced himself from Jeffress’ comments, saying he did not think Mormonism is a cult, and other candidates said the pastor’s comments were in poor taste and judgment.

Jeffress claims that Mormonism is not part of historical Christianity, which is true, and Mormons would agree with that statement.  All protestant churches believe that there was an apostasy in Christian orthodoxy, in which early Christianity adopted many pagan traditions and incorporated Greek philosophy.  This is why there was a reformation, from which all protestant churches sprang.  The protestant churches cannot claim any authority from Christ and the apostles, however, because they were reformations of orthodoxy instigated by men.

Jeffress claims that Evangelical Christianity was begun by Jesus Christ, but Mormonism was founded by a man, and therefore, Evangelical Christianity is Christ’s and Mormonism is a cult.  However, his statement is the utmost in hypocrisy, as exposed on CNN by Anderson Cooper.  The Evangelical movement is only slightly older than the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Evangelical movement was begun by men and women trying to reclaim the  charismatic gifts lost to orthodoxy when the apostles and Christ’s authority disappeared.  New doctrines, such as the belief in a pre-tribulation rapture, were incorporated, and no line of authority from Christ exists.

Mormonism, however, claims to be not a protestant religion, but the restoration of the original church of Jesus Christ, with power and authority restored by Christ Himself through direct revelation to modern prophets.  No other religion can make this claim.  Some call the Mormon Church a cult, because Joseph Smith claimed to receive visions and heavenly messengers.  But how else could Christ restore His own church, except through those who held the keys and authority anciently?  John the Baptist with the authority to baptize; Peter, James, and John with the keys to the higher priesthood; Elijah with the keys to the sealing power — these men are long gone.  Under Christ’s direction, they would have to return as resurrected or “translated” beings in order to pass on the keys and authority to restore the original church of Christ.  This should make perfect sense to anyone who is Christian, especially one who considers himself an educated theologian like Jeffress.

Additional Resources:

Mitt Romney is a Mormon and the Mormon religion is Christian. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

The Book of Mormon is God’s word. Request a free copy and learn for yourself.

Attend a local meetinghouse.

Mitt and Ann Romney have a net worth of over $200 million, and they’ve given generously to various charities.  Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are among the most charitable givers in America already, mostly because they pay tithing to the Church.  Tithing equals 10% of one’s increase, and in pioneer days was usually donated “in kind,” that is, in wool, wheat, and eggs.  Nowadays, it’s paid privately to the bishop of one’s congregation.  Tithing is used to run the Church.  Mormons make another donation once each month to feed the poor through the Church’s welfare program.  They may also make separate donations to a humanitarian aid fund, missionary support fund, perpetual education fund, or temple-building fund.  All donations are confidential, but one must be a full tithe-payer to enter the Mormon temple and participate in ordinances there.

Most of Mitt Romney’s charitable donations have gone to the Mormon Church, over and above the tithing he has paid.  He and Ann have also donated substantially to Brigham Young University.  In 1998, Romney gave BYU $1 million to create the George W. Romney Institute for Public Management in honor of his father, George Romney.

The couple established the Ann D. and W. Mitt Romney Charitable Foundation in 1993, just as he was preparing his ill-fated bid to unseat Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). It lay mostly dormant until 1999, when the couple deposited more than $3.6 million worth of high-tech stocks in it and began to make significant contributions.  Now known as the Tyler Charitable Foundation, it is scheduled to release its 2010 financial reports in fall of 2011.

The foundation has been the Romneys’ main vehicle for giving, whether to keep the lights on with a $10,000 check to a homeless shelter for veterans that couldn’t pay its electric bill or to send relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina ($10,000) and the South Asia earthquake and tsunami ($25,000).

The GOP presidential hopeful has donated $127,000 in proceeds from his 2010 campaign book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.” Seven charities serving children, cancer and MS patients and severely wounded veterans got donations ranging from $10,000 to nearly $33,000.

The businessman-turned-politician has also foregone payment for work he did as governor and as head of the Olympics.

As head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney took no salary for three years while donating $1 million to the games. Later, while he was entitled to $135,000 annually as governor of Massachusetts, he drew a salary of $1 a year for serving as the state’s chief executive. And while he hasn’t explicitly said so this time around, Romney vowed during his last campaign for the White House that, if elected, he would donate his $400,000 salary as president to charity. [1]

Ann, who suffers from M.S., donates her time as her health allows.  She has worked as a board member of New England Chapter of the MS Society, and has been a long-time supporter of the United Way of Massachusetts. She also has served as director of the Best Friends Foundation, a controversial program that promotes abstinence-only sex education for inner-city girls.

The Romneys have given more than $100,000 to research and service organizations for multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, cancer, epilepsy, Lou Gehrig’s Disease and AIDS.   They have lent support to The Boy Scouts of America, the Boston Scholars program for disadvantaged students and the Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund to prevent child abuse — where Ann Romney served on the board.  They gave $10,000 to the United Way Faith and Action Fund started by Ann Romney to help at-risk urban youth. Romney has given more than $60,000 to City Year, the Boston-based community service organization on whose board he once served.

The Romneys have also donated to conservative groups—the Massachusetts Family Institute, which fought same-sex marriage in the state;  the anti-abortion rights group Massachusetts Citizens for Life; Washington’s right-leaning Heritage Foundation; the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group; Citizens for Limited Taxation; and  Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

The Romneys have donated to Right to Play, an international group that uses sports as a developmental tool for children in disadvantaged areas of the world. His money has helped restore community baseball fields, teach sailing in Boston and support the U.S. Olympic handball team. The Romneys also have given nearly $20,000 to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation. It’s a cause close to the heart of Ann Romney, whose therapy to cope with MS has included horseback riding.  They have also donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.

Additional Resources:

Mitt Romney gives generously to charities. Being charitable is important to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon.

Attend a local meetinghouse.