I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.
As a member of the church you are not "required" to do anything. In fact, a closer look at the doctrine of the church would show you that free agency is a cornerstone to the teachings of the church.
Members of the People's Temple probably thought they were "choosing" to drink the Koolaid.
Having said that , Romney's membership in the church is going to be an issue if he is nominated and the church is going to catch it during the campaign.
Recall that Romney got crosswise with Mike Huckabee over MH's comments about his religion during the 2008 primary.
The ONLY thing that Huckabee did was that he asked if Mormons thought Jesus and Satan were brothers, which apparently is what you jokers beleive. They wuz sharing bunk beds on Kolob and both asked to get sent down as the Messiah.
What made Huckabee so bad was just REMINDING the Crazy Baptists that Romney was a Mormon.
The more devastating things that Huckabee said about Romney had nothing to do with Mormonism. My personal favorites.
"I look like the guy you work with, he looks like the guy who lays you off."
"He's not Pro-choice, he's multiple choice!"
"He reached political maturity at age 60."
And when Romney ran against Ted Kennedy for the Mass Senate, the church's position on blacks and the priesthood became a key attack point of Kennedy's campaign (Romney facing a black president is going to be a very polarizing situation).
True. And Romney's dug himself in deeper by race baiting the immigration issue. But it's more than that. Mormonism is inherently racist in its scriptures, having been invented in a pretty racist time period. All the talk about how dark skin is a curse from God and stuff, that the Church is running away from today but it's still in there.
And then there is the church's position on gay marriage. Regardless of what Romney may or not may say, he will be tied to the church's pretty strong stand on marriage.
Mehhhh, not so much. Obama has taken the position that there shouldn't be gay marriage, but if the courts legalize it, (wink, wink) . I think gays will be mobilized against him, but that would be the case for any GOP candidate.
Where it hurts Romney is that it just shows another case of him saying whatever he thinks he has to get elected.
I don't look forward to all the myths that will fly, but if Romney is the best man for the job, then I guess it is just what will have to be dealt with.
If Romney is the answer, I don't want to think about what the question was.
Actually, even without his religion (which is the deal-killer for me personally), there's a whole lot of other reasons why Romney would be a horrible candidate.
He's stiff and wooden and doesn't connect to people.
He's lost 75% of the elections he's ever run in.
He's a guy who made his fortune putting working folks out of good-paying jobs, and leaving investors with bad paper.
He's a guy who thinks one of his four mansions isn't big enough while most people are struggling to just hold on to their modest homes.
He a guy who doesn't have any core beliefs, just says what his handlers say to beleive to get elected.