:00:19. > :00:22.Meet Mitt Romney, he's the front runner for the Republican Party, in
:00:22. > :00:27.the race for the White House. President, you were elected to lead,
:00:27. > :00:32.you chose to follow, and now it's time for you to get out of the way.
:00:32. > :00:38.But for some reason, the chap they call The Tin Man, can't connect
:00:39. > :00:43.with the voters. Maybe it's because he has loads of money. $10,000 bet?
:00:43. > :00:47.I'm not in the betting business. Perhaps it's because he's too
:00:47. > :00:54.moderate. I'm running for office. Who is this guy, can you trust him.
:00:54. > :01:00.Or is it his take on God? I can't, in good conscience, vote for him, I
:01:00. > :01:10.can't do it. Mitt Romney is a Morman, and they believe that Jesus
:01:10. > :01:10.
:01:10. > :01:16.came to America. Are the Morman- Barbers religious bigots? I go on
:01:16. > :01:22.the road to find out. The Mormons don't talk about their polygamist
:01:22. > :01:27.past. I meet a man with multiple wives, just like Mitt's great
:01:27. > :01:32.grandfather. How does it work in the bedroom? I go to a different
:01:32. > :01:35.bedroom every night. On a rotational basis? Yes. What happens
:01:35. > :01:42.if you miss a night? It doesn't happen.
:01:42. > :01:47.The man who might soon be the most powerful man on earth, some say
:01:47. > :01:51.belongs to a cult, it includes Mitt's cousin. I don't think they
:01:51. > :02:01.understand the degree to which they are engaging in brain washing.
:02:01. > :02:12.
:02:12. > :02:16.Mitt's faith stop him becoming Romney looks a good Republican bet,
:02:16. > :02:24.he's handsome, confident, rich, reelous, he's a Morman, and he has
:02:25. > :02:33.served Michigan well. Meet Mitt's dad, back in 1968, millionaire,
:02:33. > :02:37.George Romney, ran against Richard Nixon for the Republican place.
:02:37. > :02:43.Vote for the right people, and stop people keeping you from doing what
:02:43. > :02:46.you need to do, to see the little differences are on the right side.
:02:46. > :02:49.Mitt idolised his father, and George's failure is a big reason
:02:49. > :02:54.why his son is tilting at the White House. There is probably a little
:02:54. > :03:00.part of him that does want to avenge his father's loss in 1968,
:03:00. > :03:06.it was a bruising experience for him and the family.
:03:06. > :03:08.Back then, George Romney's Mormanism wasn't a big issue, it
:03:08. > :03:13.was his heresy on Vietnam, he was against the war, that cost him the
:03:13. > :03:19.nomination. 44 years later, the God vote has
:03:19. > :03:23.never had more clout. The Republican Party kneels before
:03:23. > :03:29.Evangelical Christians. Never have we had this close organisational
:03:29. > :03:32.embrace of organised religion of one political party. That race has
:03:32. > :03:36.got tighter and tighter, two-thirds of the people voting in Republican
:03:36. > :03:40.primaries across the United States now, are members of the religious
:03:40. > :03:43.right. I'm proud of my faith, it is part of my heritage. I think the
:03:43. > :03:46.American people respect individuals with faith, that is the kind of
:03:46. > :03:53.person they want to lead the country. Republican politics now
:03:53. > :04:01.boils down to two things, hard cash and God. Mitt Romney has both. What
:04:01. > :04:04.is the problem? The problem is, for some, he has the wrong kind of God.
:04:05. > :04:10.One in four Americans, according to a major poll, said they would be
:04:10. > :04:20.less likely to vote for a Morman. For Evangelical Christians that
:04:20. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:31.rises to one in three. I come to the home of Mormanism,
:04:31. > :04:34.Salt Lake City in Utah. The church of the Latter Day Saints
:04:34. > :04:41.craves respectability, and what could be better proof of that an a
:04:41. > :04:46.Morman in the White House. There is talk of a Morman moment. The church
:04:46. > :04:49.claims 14 million members, and it is thought to be the world's
:04:49. > :04:53.fastest-growing religion. As Mormans must give a tenth of their
:04:53. > :05:03.earnings to the church, it is also one of the richest, with an
:05:03. > :05:14.
:05:14. > :05:18.# I want Jesus # To walk with me
:05:18. > :05:25.To capitalise on Mitt Romney's campaign, and to create the called
:05:25. > :05:32.Morman moment, the church is spending millions on an ad campaign
:05:32. > :05:38.called "I Ama Morman", four words, that Romney, in this race, does not
:05:38. > :05:47.use. I believe that music heels the soul, that's what I want to be part
:05:48. > :05:52.of, helping people to be closer to Christ. I'm a father, musician and
:05:52. > :06:02.my name is Alex and I am a Morman. I come to see Alex perform with the
:06:02. > :06:04.
:06:04. > :06:09.tab better knackle, the Morman church's world famous choir. Alex's
:06:09. > :06:14.singing isn't the only thing that stands out here. The Morman church
:06:14. > :06:18.in Utah is almost entirely white. Alex, from Tottenham, North London,
:06:18. > :06:23.was working in McDonalds when he got the call. I'm coming home and
:06:23. > :06:27.sweating, I head up to my doorstep, there are these two girls standing
:06:27. > :06:32.at my doorstep, that is very rare, for me any way, at the time. So,
:06:32. > :06:34.they turn around and they have these black badges and these
:06:34. > :06:37.American accents. The sister missionaries taught me more about
:06:37. > :06:41.the gospel, and they started talking about Salt Lake and
:06:41. > :06:45.headquarters, I thought that's where I'm supposed to be. I didn't
:06:45. > :06:50.know why, but I'm here now. Mormanism has come a long way since
:06:50. > :06:59.its creation, almost 200 years ago. As depicted in their film, they
:06:59. > :07:09.believe that in 1820s New York State, Prophet Joseph Smith, found
:07:09. > :07:10.
:07:10. > :07:16.golden plates, buried by the Angle Mu -- Moroni. He said his name was
:07:16. > :07:21.Moroni, and that got had a work for me to do. He told me of an ancient
:07:21. > :07:24.record written upon gold plates. Smith preached that Jesus had come
:07:24. > :07:28.and will return to America, and Mormans are God's only chosen
:07:28. > :07:34.people. Smith promised that they too could become gods, ruling over
:07:34. > :07:43.their own planets. To many Christians, the foulist heresy of
:07:43. > :07:46.all, polygamy. Joseph Smith had dozens of wives. The Mormans,
:07:46. > :07:53.because of their polygamy, was on the run from the United States.
:07:53. > :07:58.Most of them walked 1500 miles from the Midwest to here, Utah. And it
:07:58. > :08:06.was here, the story goes, Brg hamYoung said, stop, this is the
:08:07. > :08:14.place. Back in the 1960s Utah was beyond
:08:14. > :08:18.the borders of the United States, so the polygamist Mormans felt safe.
:08:19. > :08:25.The official church turned its back on polygamy in 1890, but outside
:08:25. > :08:30.the church there is a spliter group, 40,000-strong, of fundamentalists,
:08:30. > :08:35.that believe to be a true Morman, you should have more than one night.
:08:35. > :08:40.A raid that nets every adult in the place in polygamy. Living co-
:08:40. > :08:42.operatively under three elders, the men arrested are thought to have
:08:42. > :08:46.half-a-dozen wives. These polygamists have been on the wrong
:08:46. > :08:56.side of the law for decades, just like Mitt Romney's great
:08:56. > :09:00.grandfather. Today the church establishment,
:09:00. > :09:08.critics say, is terrified of having its good name dragged through the
:09:09. > :09:16.mud by the polygamists. For Mitt, polygamy is political cyanide.
:09:16. > :09:21.I want to meet the people the church seems afraid of.
:09:21. > :09:26.This man, has two wives, and ten children.
:09:26. > :09:30.I think it is something they would like swept under the rug and to be
:09:30. > :09:34.done with. But, it is part of the past, part of the heritage.
:09:34. > :09:39.moment you said you were a polygamist, do they look at you as
:09:39. > :09:42.if you have two heads? Sometimes. It depends on the people. We have
:09:42. > :09:47.had neighbourhoods we have lived in where once people have found out
:09:47. > :09:51.who we were, their kids were no longer allowed to play with our
:09:51. > :09:54.kids, we would get scowls, they would avoid us. How does it work in
:09:54. > :10:00.the bedroom? Everyone loves to ask that, they always think it is
:10:00. > :10:04.something interesting, it is not. Two separate marital relationships.
:10:04. > :10:10.Two separate bedrooms? Yeah, sorry to burst everybody's bubble.
:10:10. > :10:14.No, no, no. We just rotate every other night. That must be
:10:14. > :10:20.exhausting? It is a regular marriage relationship, it is
:10:20. > :10:26.nothing kinky. There is nothing peculiar about it in your minds?
:10:26. > :10:32.have one distinct marriage, just like any man would, with my first
:10:32. > :10:35.wife, and one distinct marriage with wife number two. I have been
:10:35. > :10:40.married twice, but to different people, at different times. I think
:10:40. > :10:49.it is fair to say. My idea of having two wives at the same time,
:10:49. > :10:53.to be honest with you, it is my idea of hell! It came out the wrong
:10:53. > :10:57.way, I think! To be honest with you, there are times when it does feel
:10:57. > :11:03.like you are going through that, emotionally. These people strike me
:11:03. > :11:06.as being strange. But not evil. Is the church's hostility towards
:11:06. > :11:11.them, generated by real concern, or does it fear damage to its own
:11:11. > :11:21.reputation. This is my first polygamist cookie,
:11:21. > :11:24.
:11:24. > :11:28.I have to say, it is rather good! Last year, a scandal involving
:11:28. > :11:35.polygamists caused Mormanism huge embarrassment. Warren Jeffs, the
:11:35. > :11:39.leader of a small group of breakaway Mormans, was convicted of
:11:39. > :11:45.sexually assaulting small children. Jeffs ruled over a huge compound in
:11:45. > :11:55.Texas, and had dozens of wives, some as young as 12.
:11:55. > :12:03.
:12:03. > :12:08.Both the church and the polygamists Hi, I'm John. I'm Vicky. Second
:12:08. > :12:12.wife, first wife, second wife? First wife, second wife. What makes
:12:12. > :12:17.polygamy even more toxic for the Morman candidate, is the campaign
:12:17. > :12:21.to make it legal. Meet Joe, he has not two, but three wives. And 24
:12:21. > :12:26.children. Joe is now fighting a public battle
:12:26. > :12:31.in defence of his family's way of life, after the police began to
:12:31. > :12:36.investigate them. They looked at taking away our kids, and making
:12:36. > :12:41.all kinds of allegations against us as parents, and that we were some
:12:41. > :12:45.how unfit parents. Thateningered me, and I thought this isn't healthy,
:12:45. > :12:49.this fear that we have lived in all of our lives, and our grandfathers
:12:49. > :12:54.and our parents lived in, it has to change. That's when we decided to
:12:54. > :12:59.be more public. The official Morman church is saying that you are
:12:59. > :13:03.absolutely no part of the Morman church? Well, they would like me to
:13:03. > :13:08.not even use the term "Morman", most people associate Mormans with
:13:08. > :13:12.polygamy, it is true, we are not in my way associated with the official
:13:12. > :13:15.Morman church. But we are very much considering ourselves Morman in our
:13:15. > :13:18.doctrine and our history. married two of his wives on the
:13:18. > :13:25.same day, and Valerie, ten years later.
:13:25. > :13:30.In the eyes of American law, Joe is only wedded to Alena, the other two
:13:30. > :13:35.marriages are only recognised in the fundamentalist community.
:13:35. > :13:39.really what makes it a criminal element is simply that I call them
:13:39. > :13:43.my wife. If these are my three mistresses, which is probably more
:13:43. > :13:50.common in Britain. At no point would you introduce your three
:13:50. > :13:53.mistresses to each other, not that I have any. Not in America either.
:13:53. > :13:58.What is ironic is we are not the legal wife, we don't have a legal
:13:58. > :14:03.marriage, but we are still criminal and prosecuted and persecuted.
:14:03. > :14:11.Despite the church's efforts, polygamy keeps on coming back. A
:14:11. > :14:15.boomerang, from history. My brother and sister were born
:14:15. > :14:18.before me, they were still in Haiti, my parents came here with
:14:18. > :14:23.absolutely nothing. That means they have to work hard on their ad
:14:23. > :14:27.campaigns to change America's idea of a typical Morman family. If I
:14:27. > :14:33.can be that role model for my children, if I can get them to go
:14:33. > :14:39.out and be good people and serve, I have done a good job. I'm a wife,
:14:39. > :14:46.I'm a mayor, my name is Mia Love and I'm a Morman.
:14:46. > :14:49.The church put up Mia for me to visit, at her home in Saratog a
:14:49. > :14:54.Springs. Like all Mormans, Mia's family
:14:54. > :15:00.lives a very strict lifestyle, they cannot drink tea, coffee or alcohol.
:15:00. > :15:04.Family is at the core of Mormanism. They are encouraged to have lots of
:15:04. > :15:09.children. This part of Utah has a higher birth rate than Bangladesh.
:15:09. > :15:12.Every day starts with the family reading the book of Morman. And I
:15:12. > :15:19.knew not at the time when I made them that I should not be commanded
:15:19. > :15:25.of the Lord, to make these plates. Like many Mormans in Utah, Mia is
:15:25. > :15:29.excited about Mitt Romney's run for President. We have a candidate that
:15:29. > :15:36.could possibly be President, that is the front runner to becoming
:15:36. > :15:41.President. We have Mormans that are in the Senate, that are in the US
:15:41. > :15:46.House, that are normal people. If you looked at them in a crowd, you
:15:46. > :15:51.wouldn't know who was who. There were some people who still have a
:15:51. > :15:59.prejudice against Mormans, has that ever affected you? I heard somebody
:15:59. > :16:05.say before, I can't trust a person who doesn't drink beer. Do I
:16:05. > :16:14.believe that we're misunderstood, sometimes, yeah, I think the
:16:14. > :16:19.perception of the Morman church is different than what it actually is.
:16:19. > :16:25.Almost two thirds of people in Utah are Morman. Every few blocks a
:16:25. > :16:30.Morman temple. The church dominates local Government, state schools,
:16:30. > :16:37.and it even owns shopping malls. The power of the church here making
:16:37. > :16:44.life difficult, if you fall out with Mormanism.
:16:44. > :16:49.There is a significant body of people who question Joseph Smith's
:16:49. > :16:56.prophesis, something not mentioned in the film. There is a conviction
:16:56. > :17:03.for him in the books for 1826, the conviction, he was a conman. Some
:17:03. > :17:09.say he never changed his spots. He desieveered Egyptian hieroglyphics,
:17:09. > :17:13.and created the book of Morman. UnEgyptling toist called his
:17:13. > :17:19.version a fraud. With a prophet taking a funeral scroll, air
:17:19. > :17:26.brushing out an embarrassing fall lays, and sticking a man's head on
:17:26. > :17:32.a backkel God. The Morman church has ten apostles, under the current
:17:32. > :17:38.prophet, President Monson. Apostles rarely speak to the media, but I
:17:38. > :17:44.get to meet one of the core of 12 Elder Holland. Joseph Smith got
:17:44. > :17:54.these and translated them, and subsequently, as the Egyptling
:17:54. > :17:58.
:17:58. > :18:04.toist cracked the code, something bleat Egyptologist cracked the code
:18:04. > :18:09.and got something else. As a matter of historical fact was Joseph Smith
:18:09. > :18:16.convicted of being a conman in 1826. There is a court record in New York.
:18:16. > :18:21.We have an e-mail of it. There is a good deal of difficulty in the
:18:21. > :18:26.early frontier life in America. But that's an incidental matter to the
:18:26. > :18:34.character and integrity of the man. Since that interview the church has
:18:34. > :18:38.written saying no charges against Smith ever prevailed.
:18:38. > :18:41.Mitt Romney spent two formative years in the 60s in France,
:18:41. > :18:45.spreading Smith's teaching, like 50,000 missionaries around the
:18:45. > :18:51.world. He said he spent his time telling the French, give up your
:18:51. > :18:56.wine, I have a great religion for you. More often than not, they said,
:18:56. > :19:01.non! It was a pretty tough slog, he has said he can count on two hands
:19:01. > :19:05.the number of people he converted and baptised in over two-and-a-half
:19:05. > :19:09.years. Point of it really is for personal growth and to grow closer
:19:09. > :19:14.to your own faith as a missionary. This was a real turning point for
:19:14. > :19:18.him, and emerges from that more or less the Mitt Romney we see today,
:19:18. > :19:28.very serious and focus, as he said, determined to live a life of
:19:28. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:36.purpose. God appeared to Joseph Smith.
:19:36. > :19:41.come to see a class of missionaries being taught mad reign in the weeks
:19:41. > :19:48.before they set off to Taiwan. Who gives you the call? We are called
:19:48. > :19:52.by our prophet, Thomas S Monson, he issues the call. He didn't call you
:19:52. > :19:56.up? We get a letter in the mail, after an application process. He
:19:56. > :20:00.tells us a letter telling us where we will go. What criticisms would
:20:00. > :20:06.you make of the church, the Morman church? I wouldn't make any
:20:06. > :20:12.criticisms of the Morman church. I think it is a faith that represents
:20:12. > :20:20.love and respect, and that teaches us to care about things in life
:20:20. > :20:23.that really can make us happy. It's huge on family, it is huge on
:20:23. > :20:28.accepting others. You can't have sex until you are married, is that
:20:28. > :20:36.right? I would like to keep myself morally clean before I get married.
:20:37. > :20:41.I have never been tempted to do anything like that. So I don't know,
:20:41. > :20:46.it is a commandment that I have been given and I respect it, and I
:20:46. > :20:55.want to follow it. As best I can. The Morman church has sent more
:20:55. > :20:59.than a million missionaries around the world. After his own mission in
:20:59. > :21:03.France, Mitt Romney returned to Boston.
:21:03. > :21:06.Throughout his life Mitt Romney has been committed to Mormanism, here
:21:06. > :21:15.in Boston, at this church, Mitt Romney wasn't an ordinary
:21:15. > :21:22.parishioner, he was a Morman bishop. # Good choices help me
:21:22. > :21:27.# And my family too Great job, Samuel wants to be
:21:27. > :21:31.baptised, is that a good choice? Thumbs up. Romney led Sunday
:21:31. > :21:36.services, ran Bible classes for children, and looked after his
:21:36. > :21:40.4,000-strong congregation for five years, here in the 1980s.
:21:40. > :21:45.He was a bishop and then also the President of the Boston Stake,
:21:45. > :21:49.which is like being the President of a Catholic diocese. Some people
:21:49. > :21:52.describe him as a very flexible leader, somebody who was very
:21:52. > :22:02.sensitive to their concerns, somebody who cared deeply about his
:22:02. > :22:04.
:22:04. > :22:13.flock, so to speak. Many here speak highly of Bishop
:22:13. > :22:18.Romney, but not all. Peggy, hi, John Sweeney. Peggy was
:22:18. > :22:22.one of Mitt's congregation, and used to babysit his sons, she has
:22:22. > :22:25.never given a television interview before. He looked like a typical
:22:25. > :22:30.young Morman missionary, someone who just returned serving a mission,
:22:30. > :22:35.he was very clean cut. You know, nice, dark suits, and white shirts.
:22:35. > :22:39.You know, looked like a nice family guy. When Peggy fell pregnant, she
:22:39. > :22:44.got a visit from Romney, having a child out of wedlock is frowned
:22:44. > :22:48.upon by the church. She says Bishop Romney told her to give up her baby
:22:48. > :22:53.for adoption. He said, well are you suggested that I give up my child
:22:53. > :22:58.to the church? And he pretty much said, yeah, that is exactly what we
:22:58. > :23:03.are asking you to do, give your child up to the church. He said,
:23:03. > :23:09.some what casually, well you know you are facing some serious
:23:09. > :23:13.consequences, pretty much, and if you don't give up your child, then
:23:13. > :23:16.you would be considered to be in violation of the doctrines of the
:23:16. > :23:23.church. And in effect what that would mean is you would be
:23:23. > :23:27.excommunicated. Excommunication is pretty much the most serious thing
:23:27. > :23:31.that can happen in the church. Ace continued to resist, he came off
:23:31. > :23:34.more stern, more firm, digging his heels in, no, this is what the
:23:34. > :23:39.church wants. My son was a gift to me. There was no way that the
:23:39. > :23:44.church was taking him. Peggy went ahead and had her son,
:23:44. > :23:48.Dane, when he was a baby, he fell ill, Peggy called Mitt Romney from
:23:48. > :23:51.the hospital, asking him to come and bless the child. He sent two
:23:51. > :23:55.people who I had never seen before, and didn't know who they were. At
:23:55. > :24:00.this point he's still my bishop, and I felt like I was really
:24:00. > :24:05.reaching out to Mitt, because I was scared, and I was worried. Perhaps
:24:05. > :24:10.one of the blessing is -- wanting the blessing as much for myself as
:24:10. > :24:14.for Dane. That he sent someone else was hurtful. I think that was
:24:14. > :24:19.pretty much my last contact with the church. Peggy's son survived
:24:19. > :24:24.and is now 27, living in Salt Lake City. I'm so glad that I didn't
:24:24. > :24:30.listen to Mitt's advice, and if you could meet my son, we're so much
:24:30. > :24:34.alike. We're like two people that should never have been separated.
:24:34. > :24:37.Mitt Romney denies he threatened Peggy with excommunication. The
:24:37. > :24:43.Morman church is not only accused of aggressively watching over the
:24:43. > :24:48.lives of its parishioners. There is a bigger problem for the Morman
:24:48. > :24:52.candidate. His enemies play up America's suspicion of his faith.
:24:52. > :24:57.Do we prefer somebody who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ? Or
:24:57. > :25:00.somebody who is a good moral person but is part of a cult, and it is
:25:00. > :25:10.not politically correct to say, but it is true. Mormanism is a cult.
:25:10. > :25:11.
:25:11. > :25:16.Mormanism is a cult. The church vehemently denies being
:25:16. > :25:22.a cult. Mitt's campaign reportedly branded
:25:22. > :25:27.such voices religious bigots. But it is harder to condemn critics
:25:27. > :25:32.from within. Kay is a lawyer who left the church after 45 years.
:25:32. > :25:38.is very cultish in its behaviour, and what it demands of its people,
:25:38. > :25:43.it doesn't allow them free thought, it makes them perform these
:25:43. > :25:46.legalistic, symbolic very strange behaviours, and tells them that
:25:46. > :25:52.those are required of God for their salvation.
:25:52. > :25:56.I have heard about special undergarments, the critics call
:25:56. > :26:00.them "magic pants", which Mormans must wear once they are man and
:26:00. > :26:04.wife. When Kay married a Morman, she was given them on her wedding
:26:04. > :26:08.day. I was drenched in sweat, and I woke up and realised that on my
:26:08. > :26:12.garments there were these signs, on each breast and on the naval, and I
:26:12. > :26:17.didn't know what they meant. I won't speak more about them, but
:26:17. > :26:21.you can find out about them on the Internet, they are pagan signs, and
:26:21. > :26:25.they are signs that came from masonry, they have nothing to do
:26:25. > :26:29.with Christianity, or God, or loving people, or anything like
:26:29. > :26:34.that. It is a pagan, cult iark thing, that you are required to
:26:34. > :26:37.wear -- cultish thing, that you are required to wear all the time.
:26:37. > :26:42.you will committed Morman, Mitt himself is believed to wear these
:26:42. > :26:46.undergarments. In Utah, the power of the latter day saints, the LDS
:26:46. > :26:56.Channel Tunnel, means people who leave Mormanism struggle to adjust
:26:56. > :26:58.
:26:58. > :27:04.to life outside it. I come to a bar, outside Salt Lake City, to meet
:27:04. > :27:08.Jeff, he comes to meet ex-Mormans every week. Is Mormanism a cult?
:27:08. > :27:13.Yes it is. It has the primary features of a cult. There is a
:27:13. > :27:18.figurehead at the head, that members essentially worship, you
:27:18. > :27:23.get your rules for behaviour from the church, down to what you can
:27:23. > :27:27.and cannot eat, the underwear that you wear, it has risen to social
:27:27. > :27:34.acceptability because of the money it has. It can create these
:27:34. > :27:42.marketing campaigns, and do like its current campaign, I Ama Morman,
:27:42. > :27:45.that is misleading. The people they feature in those, are people that
:27:45. > :27:49.are on the fringe of Mormanism, they are not the typical Morman.
:27:49. > :27:53.Tell me about the temple and the oath, there is something like this?
:27:53. > :27:59.I'm a little uncomfortable with doing it, not because of the people,
:27:59. > :28:04.because of the people at the table there. They might be LDS. Shall we
:28:04. > :28:10.move away, they can see you? Even for someone as bold as Jeff, there
:28:10. > :28:15.is still a stigma attached to being an ex-Morman in Utah, and fear.
:28:15. > :28:20.the temple you learn secret handshakes, and you go through
:28:20. > :28:25.various motions, and one of those that became controversial, and they
:28:25. > :28:32.did away with it, was this motion of slitting your throat. When you
:28:32. > :28:36.do that you say I will suffer my life to be taken. Then you do it,
:28:36. > :28:39.there is another one where you slit your bowels open by doing the same
:28:39. > :28:47.sort of a motion, that was done away with too.
:28:47. > :28:52.Would Mitt Romney have sworn that oat? Oh yeah. -- Oath? Oh yeah.
:28:52. > :28:55.adult Mormans would have sworn the oath until it was abandoned in 1990,
:28:55. > :28:59.including Mitt Romney. That raises questions if they have a hold on
:28:59. > :29:03.the man who may end up in the White House. Let's talk about Mitt Romney,
:29:03. > :29:09.the man who may well become the most powerful man on earth. As a
:29:09. > :29:17.Morman, in the temple, I have been told, he would have sworn an oath
:29:17. > :29:23.to say that he would not pass on what happens in the temple, lest he
:29:23. > :29:28.slit his throat, is that true? That's not true. We do not have
:29:28. > :29:33.penalties in the temple. You used to? We used to. Therefore, he swore
:29:33. > :29:42.an oath, saying I will not tell anyone about the secrets here, lest
:29:42. > :29:49.I slit my throat? Well, the vow that was made was regarding the
:29:50. > :29:54.ordinance, the ordinance of the temple. It sounds Masonic, Sir?
:29:54. > :29:58.is similar to a Masonic relationship. Potentially, the most
:29:58. > :30:02.powerful man in the world, has sworn an oath, which he meant at
:30:02. > :30:07.the time, whatever it is now, that he must not tell anyone about what
:30:07. > :30:14.he has seen, lest he slit his throat? That he would not tell
:30:14. > :30:21.anyone about his personal pledge to the Lord. I'm assuming that any
:30:21. > :30:31.religious candidate, and an evangelical, a Roman Catholic, Newt
:30:31. > :30:32.
:30:32. > :30:37.Gingrich, Osama -- I mean President Obama, I'm assuming -- Osama, I
:30:37. > :30:42.mean President Obama, I'm assuming has pledged some loyalty to God, or
:30:42. > :30:50.else what kind of God is that. Romney seems to recognise that the
:30:51. > :30:58.American public harbours suspicions about Mormanism, in part because of
:30:58. > :31:02.its secrecy. On the stump he avoids the "M" word, ands beginerically
:31:02. > :31:04.about his faith. This is in the constitution, and there is no
:31:05. > :31:07.religious subtext for office, this is something Mitt Romney says when
:31:07. > :31:10.asked about his faith it's conscious about the political
:31:10. > :31:17.environment, he has seen the same polls that you have, showing
:31:17. > :31:22.sceptics out in the general population about his faith.
:31:22. > :31:26.Romney speaks about his dedication to Jesus, but leaves it at that.
:31:26. > :31:30.The issue is not what Mormans believe in, in the 21st century,
:31:30. > :31:34.you can believe that Jesus walked on water, you can believe in space
:31:34. > :31:37.aliens, nothing, it is your right. What I want to find out, is what
:31:37. > :31:46.happens if you are a Morman and you stop believing, and decide to leave
:31:47. > :31:55.the church. Paul straten to was, he says,
:31:55. > :32:00.disowned by his parents, after leaving Mormanism. He took me to a
:32:00. > :32:04.group, they call themselves post- Mormans, they help each other
:32:04. > :32:08.adjust to life outside the church. In time they will take away your
:32:08. > :32:18.relations with your families, they will take away your status and your
:32:18. > :32:19.
:32:19. > :32:23.community and your family. For some people it can affect their jobs,
:32:23. > :32:27.and for a community that talks about community and love, they have
:32:27. > :32:32.nothing of it. Each one has a similar story about being cut off
:32:33. > :32:36.from community and loved ones if you leave the church. If you leave
:32:36. > :32:40.their small little nest, they use the leverage of destroying the
:32:40. > :32:49.family to keep you there. People who leave aren't allowed to attend
:32:49. > :32:53.their children's weddings in the Morman holy of holeies, the temple.
:32:53. > :32:56.-- holies, the temple. I did have to stay outside the temple during
:32:56. > :33:01.her marriage, it was probably the hardest thing I had to do. I
:33:01. > :33:05.couldn't get control of myself. I should be there, I should be there,
:33:05. > :33:10.they shouldn't keep me from this. I think the church deliberately
:33:10. > :33:18.tries to make people feel this way, suppose her daughter really wanted
:33:18. > :33:23.to include her parents, she would be under tremendous pressure not to.
:33:23. > :33:28.I hear of an organisation called The Strengthening Church Members
:33:28. > :33:35.Committee, set up to investigate polygamists. Based in the Morman
:33:35. > :33:39.corporate affairs building. No-one at the meeting is a
:33:39. > :33:46.polygamist, but some here suspect they too have been investigated.
:33:46. > :33:54.I don't know how they do it, but my membership records find where I'm
:33:54. > :33:58.living at, and they send either the home teachers, or missionaries to
:33:58. > :34:02.my home to try to get me to come back. I work in the records
:34:02. > :34:05.department, this is how I know what I'm saying firsthand, they do
:34:05. > :34:09.follow you around in the records, they have a whole team and
:34:09. > :34:16.department, that literally calls up any relative, any acquaintance of a
:34:16. > :34:20.member to find out where they are. What is the Strengthening Church
:34:20. > :34:26.Members Committee? It is a group and bunch of employees of the
:34:26. > :34:30.church, many composed of retired CIA and FBI people, who are set to
:34:30. > :34:34.watch people that the church considers dangerous, any apostate
:34:34. > :34:39.who gets too famous or is selling a book that is selling too well.
:34:39. > :34:44.met a former CIA man who does not want to be identified, but confirms
:34:44. > :34:51.the agency employs a large number of Mormans, and some who go on to
:34:51. > :34:56.work for the church. I personally left the church some years ago, and
:34:56. > :35:02.came back in. When I was accepted back into the church I was given my
:35:02. > :35:05.file, my file was that thick. These were letters from, and reports from
:35:05. > :35:10.state Presidents, and letters that I had sent to other people in the
:35:10. > :35:16.church, and so, I felt extremely violated.
:35:16. > :35:26.I want to find out more about the mysterious Strengthening Church
:35:26. > :35:27.
:35:27. > :35:37.Members Committee. Off to the church, to meet its
:35:37. > :35:38.
:35:38. > :35:44.chief spokesman, and the mastermind behind the ad campaign. Michael
:35:44. > :35:47.Purdy. What is the Strengthening Church Members Committee, and does
:35:47. > :35:57.it still exist? I don't know, that is a question not for me. I
:35:57. > :36:02.couldn't tell you that, I don't know. You are the head of media
:36:02. > :36:06.relations for the church, ex- members from the church who say the
:36:06. > :36:11.Strengthening Church Members Committee does exist, does it still
:36:11. > :36:15.exist? Yeah, there is a Strengthening Church Members
:36:15. > :36:19.Committee, but I couldn't tell you the details. When I originally
:36:19. > :36:25.asked you, you weren't sure, now you do know that it exists, and you
:36:25. > :36:31.will give me somebody who knows something about it? Absolutely.
:36:31. > :36:35.on the Strengthening Church Members Commit year, the spokeman for the
:36:35. > :36:42.Morman church couldn't give me a straight answer, maybe the apostle
:36:42. > :36:52.could. What is the Strengthening Church Members Committee? That was
:36:52. > :36:53.
:36:53. > :36:59.born some years ago to protect predatory practices of polygamists.
:36:59. > :37:04.It does still exist? It does. it looks, it is there to defend the
:37:04. > :37:08.church against polygamists? Principally. That is still the
:37:08. > :37:15.principal task. And what is its subsidiary task? I suppose just to
:37:15. > :37:19.be protective generally. Just to watch and care for any insidious
:37:19. > :37:23.influence. But for all intents and purposes, all that I know about it
:37:23. > :37:28.primarily to guard against polygamy. That would be the substantial,
:37:28. > :37:32.essential part of their work. I'm not on that committee, so I can't
:37:32. > :37:37.speak. Does the Morman church shun people who leave? No, no. Of course
:37:37. > :37:42.we don't. We don't use that word, and we don't know that practice.
:37:42. > :37:46.If I had a son, this very day, given the office that I have, and
:37:46. > :37:51.the visibility I mean, if I had a son or a daughter, who left the
:37:51. > :37:58.church, or was alienated or had a problem, I can tell you, I would
:37:58. > :38:01.not cut that child out of family life.
:38:01. > :38:11.The charge made against Mitt Romney's faith, by some ex-members,
:38:11. > :38:16.is that it's a church that spies, and a church that shuns.
:38:16. > :38:21.To check that out, I tracked down a former member of the Morman
:38:21. > :38:25.aristocracy, a Romney, Mitt's second cousin, Park Romney has
:38:25. > :38:28.never given a television interview before. You look quite like him?
:38:28. > :38:34.have been told that. Why did you leave the church? I became
:38:34. > :38:41.convinced that it is a fraud. There is compelling evidence that the
:38:41. > :38:47.Morman church leaders, knowingly and willfully misrepresent the
:38:47. > :38:55.historical truth of their origins, of the church, for the purpose of
:38:55. > :38:58.deceiving their members, into a state of mind that renders them
:38:58. > :39:05.exploitable. I don't think they really understand the degree to
:39:05. > :39:11.which they are engaging in brain washing. These are masters of
:39:11. > :39:16.mendacity. I think it is a $30 billion multinational corporation,
:39:16. > :39:20.that one can expect to have the best PR staff in the world. The ex-
:39:20. > :39:30.Mormans we have met, they are talking about shunning, is that the
:39:30. > :39:30.
:39:30. > :39:34.right word, did that happen to you? I am alienated from my family.
:39:34. > :39:39.Their doctrine, protocol and culture, as enforced by bishops,
:39:39. > :39:44.encourages the families to disassociate themselves from the
:39:44. > :39:51.apostate. We heard there are some number of ex-FBI and CIA people who
:39:51. > :39:55.now work for the church. If -- If you allow it to get to you, you can
:39:55. > :40:02.be concerned about things, I have been followed. When? As recently as
:40:02. > :40:05.this past month. Do I know this is from the church? No. But you have
:40:05. > :40:12.been followed, no question? question.
:40:12. > :40:17.On more than one occasion. The church categorically denies
:40:17. > :40:27.they shun, spy on or brain wash. Park Romney left me with more
:40:27. > :40:27.
:40:27. > :40:31.questions about the Morman church, and the man who would be President.
:40:31. > :40:37.The allegations are a million miles from the slick images of loving
:40:37. > :40:41.families, the modern church is trying to portray.
:40:41. > :40:45.It is definitely not normal in this business, at my age, to have a wife
:40:46. > :40:48.and children. I guess for me it all heads back to my roots, and the
:40:48. > :40:52.example set from my parents. I think they were married for 44
:40:52. > :40:57.years, and there was always a happiness in my home, and that is
:40:57. > :41:01.what I want. My name is Brandon Flowers, I'm a
:41:01. > :41:07.father, I'm a husband, and I'm a Morman.
:41:07. > :41:11.But however hard they try, there are aspects of Mormanism, which
:41:11. > :41:15.threaten to undo the good work. Mormans believe that you can
:41:15. > :41:19.baptise the dead. They have done that to thousands of Jews who died
:41:19. > :41:26.in the Holocaust. The church claims to have stopped
:41:26. > :41:31.the practice, but last month it was revealed that it still happens.
:41:31. > :41:39.Recent converts, reportedly include, Princess Diana, Whitney Houston,
:41:39. > :41:43.and, for the tenth time, Anne Frank. You baptise people after death?
:41:43. > :41:51.Why? Yes, we believe in the justice and mercy of God, everybody ought
:41:51. > :41:55.to have a chance for salvation. But you baptise Holocaust victims? Not
:41:55. > :41:59.any more. For the same conversation, the same reason, would be held with
:41:59. > :42:02.anyone. This is an invitation. But if you
:42:02. > :42:07.were Jewish and your grandfather or grandmother was killed in the
:42:07. > :42:12.Holocaust, because they were Jewish, doesn't it seem some what
:42:12. > :42:16.insensitive to rebaptise them as a Morman? We have been through it and
:42:16. > :42:19.agreed to the insensitivity and stopped doing T it was never meant
:42:19. > :42:25.to be an offence, or anything that would claim them away from their
:42:26. > :42:30.Judaism, in time, and in eternity, the freedom was to choose, if you
:42:30. > :42:33.chose to have the offer, it is the same offer we would make to a
:42:33. > :42:36.Jewish citizen or a Muslim or anybody else today. If you were
:42:36. > :42:40.interested, if you wanted this, you may step forward and claim it.
:42:40. > :42:48.critics say you still are? Not with our blessing, not with our effort
:42:48. > :42:53.we are not. What is strange is that political
:42:53. > :42:59.discussion of these controversial aspects of Mormanism is off limits.
:42:59. > :43:04.Not far from here in Boston, the pilgrim fathers came in the 1600s,
:43:04. > :43:14.fleeing religious Persian cushion in England. It is as if d Persian
:43:14. > :43:16.
:43:16. > :43:20.cushion in England. It is as if there is an extra commandment, thou
:43:20. > :43:28.shalt not criticise your religion. There is an unwritten law with Mitt
:43:28. > :43:33.Romney, don't mention the Mormanism. That means genuine criticisms made
:43:33. > :43:38.by some ex-Mormans, are not getting a hearing. It is not something you
:43:38. > :43:43.are supposed to talk about. Whenever the issue of Romney's
:43:43. > :43:47.Mormanism has come to the surface, there has been lots of condemnation,
:43:47. > :43:52.across the political spectrum, for raising the issue of his religion,
:43:52. > :43:56.I'm not saying it is not relevant, but it is not talked about in the
:43:56. > :44:00.right company. His political opponents can't knock his take on
:44:00. > :44:05.God, but they can knock his money. Nobody knows how much Mitt is worth.
:44:05. > :44:15.When asked if he was a billion air strikes he skept schtum. One guess
:44:15. > :44:15.
:44:15. > :44:24.he has $250 billion, mostly main through a company Bane Capital
:44:24. > :44:28.Romney became the CEO the day the company was fauld. They don't Carey
:44:28. > :44:34.about who I am. Let's look deeper in his life, what did he do when he
:44:34. > :44:38.was the CEO of this holding company. On top of this, Mitt doesn't do
:44:38. > :44:45.himself any raiders. If you don't like what they do, you can fire
:44:45. > :44:51.them. I like being able to fire people who provide deferss to me.
:44:51. > :44:58.-- Services to me. Jeff was with Mitt Romney from the
:44:58. > :45:03.very beginning at Bane Capital, and featured in the photograph that
:45:03. > :45:12.haunts Mitt. His enemies use it to portray him as money-grabbing. The
:45:12. > :45:18.picture, I have a copy with it. I do love it. Here it is, everyone
:45:18. > :45:23.thought this would be funny, let's ham it up and stick some money
:45:23. > :45:28.behind our ears and in our mouths. I find that this is out there being
:45:28. > :45:35.held up as evidence that Mitt is a bad guy, is reel pulsive. Romney
:45:35. > :45:40.came under pressure to reveal his full tax history but refused to do
:45:40. > :45:45.so. Yet again, Mitt has kept his secrets, secret. We are talking
:45:45. > :45:50.about equality, one of the issues of the campaign, you put your
:45:50. > :45:54.documentation out there that shows you have made billions of dollars,
:45:54. > :45:58.that won't put you in with the working-class. Mitt Romney put out
:45:58. > :46:04.his tax returns in the past two years, in that time he had given
:46:04. > :46:10.more than $4 million to the Morman church. It is time for this
:46:10. > :46:13.pessimistic President to step aside, and let American optimisim, build a
:46:13. > :46:18.better future for our children. role of money in this race is
:46:18. > :46:22.unprecedented. Rich donors backing all the runners have funded a new
:46:22. > :46:27.wave of attack ads, some of the money helping Romney comes from
:46:27. > :46:32.Mormans. Individual Morman, like the Mariots, who own the hotel
:46:32. > :46:35.chain, are exploiting a loophole in America election law. They can only
:46:35. > :46:44.give peanuts to Mitt Romney's campaign proper, but they can give
:46:44. > :46:51.as much as they like, to special entities called special packs.
:46:51. > :46:57.was fined $300,000 for allegations. Because superpacks are
:46:57. > :47:02.organisations not connected to the campaigns proper, they can get away
:47:02. > :47:08.with personal attacks. Protest- Romney superpack, has spent $30
:47:08. > :47:14.million attacking his rivals. If Romney does win the nomination,
:47:14. > :47:17.it will, in large part, be down to the superpack, and the big-money
:47:17. > :47:21.donations. We are going to take back America, and we are going to
:47:21. > :47:28.let this guy do it. Mitt Romney's near silence about his faith and
:47:28. > :47:33.how much money he has got, has led to unease. Do the American public
:47:33. > :47:39.truly know who they are supposed to be voting for. Romney is a moderate,
:47:39. > :47:42.that goes down with the Republican base, like cold sick. To win in
:47:42. > :47:47.today's Republican Party, and get the nomination, more purity is
:47:47. > :47:57.required, and he has moved to the right, to get the nomination. That
:47:57. > :47:58.
:47:58. > :48:04.is giving him a reputation for, shall we saying, flexibility.
:48:04. > :48:07.Experts are predicting a tough fight between Romney and his
:48:07. > :48:10.biggest ideolgical opponent, Mitt Romney from four years ago. When he
:48:10. > :48:14.was Governor of Mass chew circumstance he introduced a
:48:14. > :48:18.healthcare bill, which meant everyone could be covered by health
:48:18. > :48:21.insurance. Remember Mitt Romney, he invented Obama Care, before he was
:48:21. > :48:24.against it. That is what we did in
:48:24. > :48:29.Massachusetts, we put together an exchange, and the President's
:48:29. > :48:35.copying that idea, I'm glad to hear that. Obama Care is bad news, if
:48:35. > :48:40.I'm President of the United States, I will repeal it.
:48:40. > :48:43.So Mitt Romney seems to be desperately trying to distance
:48:43. > :48:48.himself from his greatest political achievement. But on the stump, will
:48:48. > :48:58.it be his Mormanism that hurts him the most. He started his campaign
:48:58. > :49:12.
:49:12. > :49:17.for the White House, in Iowa. The Hello, I'm John Sweeney.
:49:18. > :49:22.You can work out the politics of Tim and Laurie, which the name of
:49:22. > :49:28.their pooch, George W. They are evangelical members of the TEA
:49:28. > :49:32.Party, exactly the people Mitt needs to win round. Who do you
:49:32. > :49:37.fancy of all these Republican candidates, Mitt Romney, why not?
:49:37. > :49:43.don't like Mitt. Is it because he's a Morman? That's part of it, to be
:49:43. > :49:45.totally honest. What is wrong with being a Morman? I'm an Evangelical
:49:45. > :49:51.Christian, I don't necessarily believe in the beliefs that the
:49:51. > :49:55.Mormans believe in. So the fact that Mitt Romney has those beliefs
:49:55. > :49:59.makes me question him. I personally can't get over the Mormanism thing.
:49:59. > :50:03.You are the first people I have met who have said openly and honestly,
:50:03. > :50:07.I have a problem with him because he's a Morman, do you think there
:50:07. > :50:12.are many other people, I have spoken to, particularly in public,
:50:12. > :50:17.who have the same problem, but won't say so in public? I think
:50:17. > :50:22.because you have such a strong evangelical base in Iowa, that is a
:50:22. > :50:27.huge problem for him. Do people talk about it openly? No, probably
:50:27. > :50:32.not, but it is there, people know it is there. It is part of who he
:50:32. > :50:39.is. But of your friends, how many people do you know that are saying
:50:39. > :50:42.that Romney is the man? Of our friends? None. I can't vote for him,
:50:42. > :50:51.I can't in good conscience vote for him. I can't do it. If it was
:50:51. > :51:00.between him and Obama, I wouldn't vote.
:51:00. > :51:06.The evangelicals yes or no for anyone but the Morman, renter Rick
:51:06. > :51:10.Santorum, his take on -- enter Rick Santorum, his take on religion goes
:51:10. > :51:15.down well. He opposes abortion in all cases,
:51:15. > :51:20.as a Roman Catholic, even incest rape, and is no fan of gay marriage.
:51:20. > :51:26.What is a napkin, this is a napkin, a napkin is what it is, it is not
:51:26. > :51:30.paper towel, it isn't a car, marriage is what marriage is, it
:51:30. > :51:40.existed before there was the English language or a state. It is
:51:40. > :51:41.
:51:41. > :51:45.something that was given to us from the very beginning of time.
:51:45. > :51:49.Santana recognised early on, that Iowa's evangelicals would be
:51:49. > :51:54.sympathetic to his message, and embarks of a tour of all 99
:51:54. > :51:58.counties. This is the man only a few weeks
:51:58. > :52:08.ago no-one, but no-one, would turn up to cover him, and look at him
:52:08. > :52:18.now. If we go that way, I would be
:52:18. > :52:23.grateful. Your natural principal direction.
:52:23. > :52:29.Romney's opponents don't like raising Mormanism expolice --
:52:29. > :52:33.explicitly, that is not to say it is not an issue. There are plenty
:52:33. > :52:36.of ways people try to raise these issues and his faith, and try to
:52:36. > :52:42.cause alarm among voters over it, it is not something you are allowed
:52:42. > :52:47.to say explicitly, it service the function of reminding voters, who
:52:47. > :52:52.might have some predisposed notion about Mormanism, maybe it is not OK,
:52:52. > :52:56.maybe it is strange, maybe it is weird. Lock, this is something that
:52:56. > :53:00.Mormans have dk look, this is something that Mormans have -- look,
:53:00. > :53:08.this is something Mormans have faced since the founding of their
:53:08. > :53:13.faith in the 19th century. Mitt Romney spends millions more
:53:13. > :53:20.than his opponents in Iowa, but is it enough to win over the
:53:20. > :53:24.evangelicals? Let's get the nomination, let's become the next
:53:24. > :53:29.President of the United States, let's win this thing for the entire
:53:29. > :53:39.nation. The vote turned out to be the closest in history.
:53:39. > :53:44.
:53:44. > :53:49.After weeks of recounts, Santana won Iowa by just 34 votes. Game on!
:53:49. > :53:54.As the campaign moves from state to state, Mitt remains locked in a
:53:54. > :54:03.battle with Rick, one that is still raging today. Tonight we made
:54:03. > :54:07.history. Your votes today were not just heard loud and wide across the
:54:07. > :54:15.state Missouri and Minnesota, but they were heard loud and louder all
:54:15. > :54:19.across this country. Santana's unexpected surge left Mitt's
:54:19. > :54:24.campaign rocking. Mitt's Mormanism is not his only problem, on the
:54:24. > :54:32.campaign trail he can clunk like a robot. But in the religious south
:54:33. > :54:36.and Midwest it turns people away from him.
:54:36. > :54:41.Super Tuesday is the biggest day in the race for the nomination, when
:54:41. > :54:51.the candidates fight it out in ten states across America.
:54:51. > :54:52.
:54:53. > :54:56.I come to Mitt's home town, Boston, to see his rally. He still can't
:54:56. > :55:01.crack Bible Belt America, but otherwise it is a good night for
:55:01. > :55:04.Mitt, he wins six states, leaving him the firm favourite. Let's go
:55:04. > :55:08.forward together, and restore the promise of America, together. Let's
:55:08. > :55:14.fight for the America we love, thank you, and God bless this great
:55:14. > :55:18.land. More likely than nod, this November,
:55:18. > :55:28.the Republican candidate -- not, this November, the Republican
:55:28. > :55:29.
:55:29. > :55:32.candidate will be Morman. The Morman church maintains that it
:55:32. > :55:39.does a great deal of good. They say they have given more than a billion
:55:39. > :55:44.dollars in aid around the world, since 1985. They also produce their
:55:44. > :55:52.own food from the land they own in Utah. It then gets sent around the
:55:52. > :55:58.world. But what about the allegations of
:55:58. > :56:02.another side to Mormanism, the charges of spying and shunning? The
:56:02. > :56:06.Mormans were nothing like as aggressive towards me as the Church
:56:06. > :56:14.of Scientology. But ex-Mormans told me again and again, the Morman
:56:14. > :56:24.church is, at heart, a cult. Mormanism is a cult. The Morman
:56:24. > :56:27.church is cult iark. I absolutely believe the Morman church is a cult.
:56:27. > :56:30.Peggy will never forget Mitt Romney's threat of giving up your
:56:30. > :56:36.child or else. That is where I have a problem with Mitt as a
:56:36. > :56:39.presidential candidate, he follows the doctrine so closely that he
:56:39. > :56:43.can't really wavier from it thatch. We did talk to a number of people
:56:43. > :56:46.who have left the church, more than 30, and there is a massive gap
:56:46. > :56:50.between what they have told me and what you are telling me? When we
:56:50. > :56:54.all get together, that would help. If you give me that list, and if
:56:54. > :56:59.you want to sit with us, let's go get them together and let's talk.
:56:59. > :57:03.They said to me that they believe the Morman church is a cult. They
:57:03. > :57:08.believe it is a cult like the Church of Scientology, but actually
:57:08. > :57:11.it is smarter and more powerful. Well, I guess if that is what they
:57:11. > :57:17.believe, it is probably a good thing they chose to leave it. We
:57:17. > :57:21.are not a cult. I'm not an idiot. I have read a couple of books and I
:57:21. > :57:25.have been to a pretty good school, and I have chosen to be in this
:57:25. > :57:29.church, because of the faith that I feel and the inspiration that comes.
:57:29. > :57:33.I'm not calling you a cult, I'm saying I have met people who used
:57:33. > :57:38.to be in the church? I have met people, if people want to call us a
:57:38. > :57:43.cult, they can call us a cult, and you can call us a cult, but we are
:57:43. > :57:53.14 million and growing, and I would like to think that your respect for
:57:53. > :57:58.
:57:58. > :58:02.me would be enough to know that this man doesn't seem like a dodo.
:58:02. > :58:05.In America the chafrpblgs against the Morman church are not --
:58:05. > :58:09.charges against the Morman church are not openly discussed, that is
:58:09. > :58:13.not to say they don't bite. If Mitt Romney takes on President