NY Times publishes major religious propaganda piece about Romney

NY Times - A prominent Republican delivered a direct request to Mitt Romney not long ago: He should make a third run for the presidency, not for vanity or redemption, but to answer a higher calling from his faith.

Believing that Mr. Romney, a former Mormon pastor, would be most receptive on these grounds, the Republican made the case that Mr. Romney had a duty to serve, and said Mr. Romney seemed to take his appeal under consideration.

Three years ago, Mr. Romney’s tortured approach to his religion — a strategy of awkward reluctance and studied avoidance that all but walled off a free-flowing discussion of his biography — helped doom his campaign. (The subject is still so sensitive that many, including the prominent Republican, would only discuss it on condition that they not be identified.)

But now as Mr. Romney mulls a new run for the White House, friends and allies said, his abiding Mormon faith is inextricably tied to his sense of service and patriotism, and a facet of his life that he is determined to embrace more openly in a possible third campaign....

Indeed, Mormonism has defined much of Mr. Romney’s life, starting with his late father, George — the governor of Michigan and a prominent Mormon — to when he traveled to France as a young missionary in the 1960s. Mr. Romney converted less than two dozen people behind the thousands of doors that he knocked upon, he later recalled.

Now those early church lessons of determination are on display as Mr. Romney, already a two-time Republican presidential candidate and his party’s 2012 nominee, contemplates another run.

Friends and former advisers say Mr. Romney does not believe he was divinely called to seek the presidency a third time, and is chiefly motivated by his concern over the direction of the country.

But many close to him also point to the perseverance he learned as a missionary; the sense of American exceptionalism and public service central to the church’s teachings; and his belief — buttressed by his faith — that if he feels in his heart he has something to offer the country, he is compelled to pursue it, regardless of the obstacles.

The Romney family has repeatedly turned to both God and the church when seeking guidance for political decisions. As early as 2005, the Mormon magazine Sunstone first reported, Mr. Romney began consulting the then-prophet of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, about seeking the presidency. Mr. Hinckley ultimately told him that it was not the church’s decision to make — but some Mormons saw Mr. Romney’s repeated visits as his wanting the church’s private blessing...

The Mormon Church also is steeped in a sense of patriotism. The religion was founded here in the early 19th century, and is in many ways intertwined with the history of the country.

“You’re taught from a very young age that you’re blessed to live in this country, and our church was founded in this country,” Mr. Whiteley said. “There is a stream of patriotism in the Mormon faith that you’re getting here.”