Mormons- members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints- have been increasingly active with technology usage. Utilizing these tools to connect with other members across the US, to bring LDS to homes of people without knocking at their front doors and drawing support for the Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
According to the church, they forbid members to use LDS owned resources for political crusades and promotion of electoral ideas. But with a Mormon candidate in the running, this policy can be easily forgone and simply justified as one community supporting its member.
Take the LDS Tools app for example; it is available in the App Store for free and works just like a directory and organizer. Church members from one locality to another may be viewed together with their contact information and voter registration data, if available. Other features include calendar and community events listings.
Facebook and Twitter have been revolutionizing the way Mormons do their required Gospel spreading. Back in the day, preaching was knocking from one door to the next to look for willing converts. Elder Erich Kopischke, told The Times in an interview that “one post on Facebook could reach 900,000 people in an instant.” Math done, it would take one Mormon years to achieve that, and months for one ward. The official LDS Facebook page has reached over half a million likes alone. An estimated one million online chats with Mormon members have been conducted last year alone. Now, even the official Mormon Twitter account has an astounding number of 13,000 followers.
If you think about the idea of door-knocking, Jesus once said, ‘Your mouth speaks what your heart is full of’. Why do people knock on doors? Because their heart is full. Why do people use social networks? Because they have something to say. Door-knocking is sometimes understood as aggressive proselytizing. If I want to share with you what is really on my heart or that I have observed something, social networking is easier than to make the trip. –Erich Kopischke
For a relatively new religion- LDS have been around for 200 years- the increasing numbers are quite a surprise. Census reports show that 6.1 million Americans were affiliated with the religion in 2010, a 45% growth since 2009. The faith has already branched out to other continents during the past decades and membership number has not yet been accounted for. But for the UK, it was noted that there are around 200,000 for the past year.
Although Mitt Romney’s faith is rarely discussed in his campaign trail and it is most likely to still affect the electoral outcomes in November. In a recent poll by Gallup, roughly 18 percent of people say they would not vote for a Mormon to be president but only 57 percent of those polled knew Romney is a Mormon. This could change however when the spotlight shines brighter on these candidates and more probes are carried on into their personal lives. If only Romney talked about his faith more freely, it would help debunk or confirm myths about the religion.
Yes, y vote for someone who doesn’t drink alcohol. After all, we want our most powerful leader occasionally intoxicated. Yes, y vote for a man who has a long record of volunteer service. Yes, y vote for someone who strives to lead a more charitable life (never took a wage as governor). Yes, y vote for someone because he believes in Christ, but our pastor disagrees with his brand.
Sorry, I couldn’t get through your comment with its occasional text speak. You do not have a 160 character limit here, type out the whole doggone word; you read like a preteen otherwise.
There are many reasons to NOT vote for Mitt Romney, Kevin. And more are bubbling up every day (see toady’s report of his off shore assets).
He has flipped and flopped on abortion. He has flipped and flopped on the Vietnam war. He has flipped and flopped on federal mandates. He has flipped and flopped on Roe v. Wade. he has flipped and flopped on whether his dad marched with Martin Luther King.
And while he was protesting for the war in Vietnam and while his cohorts were dying there, he was in a palatial Paris mission home on a religious deferment. And when someone asked if his sons were going to serve their nation in the war on terror, he replied they are serving by helping get him elected.
And there has never been a candidate more out of touch: “Ann? Oh she drives a couple of Cadillacs.” “Corporations are people, my friend,” “I like being able to fire people,” “I am not worried about the very poor.”
Not thanks. I did not vote for Obama last time, but I am this time when Romney is the alternative.
“According to the church, they forbid members to use LDS owned resources for political crusades and promotion of electoral ideas. But with a Mormon candidate in the running, this policy can be easily forgone and simply justified as one community supporting its member.”
The Church does not get involved in partisan electoral politics, but it does occasionally speak out on political issues such as redefining marriage, or gambling.
This policy is strictly followed. As a well followed rule, there is no Romney promotion from the pulpit or in class.
The church membership app only gives a person access to his or her own congregation’s membership directory. A Mormon who shares that information with a political campaign will be admonished by the Church for violating Church standards and invading the privacy of other members and have their access to the directory information revoked. No campaigning is allowed in church and no distribution of literature is tolerated. Romney is not gping to be invited to speak in church meetings. The author of this article is slandering the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members.
Democrats have no hesitancy to lie and slander Romney. He said that the rich don’t need help, and the poor have all sorts of programs to aid tgem whether it is a recession or not–that includes Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps, etc.–but the Middle Class is hurting now and has no government welfare picking up the tab. That is what Romney actuallynsaid.
Rombey said he likes to be ABLE to fire people he buys services from, so they will pay attention to what he wants, and that is tge principal of ELECTIONS, so we can fire politicians who don’t do what they promised to do.
What is wrong with having some assets in another country? Tge vast majority of his accounts are right here in the US. Do you have an Apple iPhone? Itbwas made overseas, so you are suppirting overseas employment. Some US car brands are made in Canada and Mexico, just as many Japanese cars are made in the USA.
Romney had student deferments and could have kept them. He served as a missionary to fulfill a duty to God. I also had a student deferment and then a missiobary deferment. Tgebdifference between me and Romney is that when studentbdeferments were ended and the draft lottery started, everyone born on his birthday got nember 300, while everyone born on my birthday got numver 16. So I joined ROTC and ended up servingb20 years in the Air Force. Romney obeyed the law just lije I did. He did notndodge thebdraft by going to Canada.
Obama could not enlist in the military because he was a drug abuser during high school and college. That is in hisbautobiography.
The author lost credibility right off the bat by claiming that the LDS Tools app contained voter registration info.
As an Englishman I have political bias when it comes to US Politics. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints however, I would like to clarify that the Church does NOT promote any particular political party or candidate. As members of the Church, we are asked to be good citizens and active in voting for honest, upright leaders in the countries where we reside. (You have to remember also that there are more Mormons OUTSIDE the US these days. The Church is using social networking for its prime (and ONLY) purpose – to tell people about our beliefs and to invite people to come to Christ. This article is incorrect that these methods are being used for political ends, with a view to promoting Mitt Romney. That is simply not the case.
My first comment should have read…I have NO political bias when it comes to US Politics.
It is not true that the church will ignore its political neutrality rule to help Romney. You must remember there are many LDS politicians, including Harry Reid. The church has never helped any of them get elected. While there are membership lists (private) for each congregation, and there are Facebook groups, members are absolutely not allowed to use official lists to campaign. Anyone caught doing so will be warned. You must also remember that Mormons are not necessarily going to support a candidate just because he is the same religion. As mentioned earlier, Reid is Mormon and many Mormons dislike him. Many Mormons are actively supporting President Obama or Ron Paul and are free to do so. It makes no difference to the church who wins, because we are a world-wide church and not an American church. There are more Mormons outside the US than in it. No matter who is in office, the church will follow the same guidelines in its political efforts–non-partisan, but free to speak out on moral issues. However, no LDS politician is required to follow church teachings in their work. Romney most frequently has not.
By the way, you took many Romney quotes far out of context. Journalism 101–give appropriate context. (He said the poor already receive government help but the lower middle class and middle class do not. He also said he likes to fire people who are lazy and don’t do their jobs–name one company that will keep you employed if you’re not doing your job and I’ll tell you a company that will be out of business fast. I may not be a big Romney fan, but my faith teaches me to defend anyone against half-truths and gossip.