The Mormon Factor: Should Mitt Romney Address His Faith with Voters?

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- It's not unusual for candidates to speak openly about their religion and how it affects their decisions on key issues. Yet Mitt Romney has been notably reticent on his Mormon faith. This raises a few questions. Should it be anyone's business how Romney chooses to worship his Higher Power? And will his Mormonism impact his policies should he be elected? Regardless of the answers, author Kendal Sheets would like to see Romney speak candidly about a faith that, to many, is shrouded in mystery.

"Interest in Mormonism has certainly grown since Romney became the Republican nominee," says Sheets, coauthor along with Meredith Ray Sheets of "Book of Mormon, Book of Lies" (1811 Press, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-9391790-0-5, $24.95, www.BookofMormonBookofLies.com). "But few interviewers have asked Romney point-blank to explain where he falls on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' more controversial issues and how those beliefs would influence how he would run the nation as president."

In Book of Mormon, Book of Lies, authors Meredith and Kendal Sheets show that The Book of Mormon, written by Joseph Smith and published in 1830, is nothing more than a cleverly disguised plagiarism of The Travels of Marco Polo and other historical works.

Read on for a look at some of the aspects of the Mormon faith that Sheets says may raise concerns about a Romney presidency:

• The Mormon Church suppresses the truth about the religion's origins. "In Book of Lies, we reveal that Joseph Smith plagiarized material from history, geography, and travel books," says Sheets.
• The Mormon Church has a history of racism. Not until 1978 did the Church of Latter-day Saints lift its ban on allowing African-American males to become priests within the Church.
• The Mormon Church does not tolerate dissent. The LDS Church has a history of excommunicating Church members who question the Church publicly.
• The Mormon Church has a history of sexism. Even today, Mormon women cannot join the priesthood. The Church famously opposed the Equal Rights Amendment.
• The Mormon Church has a history of homophobia. According to a September 2012 Huffington Post article, Mormons reportedly donated 50 percent of the money used in the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California (The article also notes that Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC donated $10,000).

"Not asking Mitt Romney about how his Mormon faith would inform his presidency is a mistake," says Sheets. "It's time for Romney to answer to his faith. The American people deserve to know where he stands."

For a review copy of the book or an interview with Kendal Sheets, please contact Dottie DeHart, DeHart & Company Public Relations, at (828) 325-4966 or [email protected]

About the Authors:
Kendal Sheets received his B.S. in engineering from the University of Oklahoma and his law degree from the University of Tulsa. During law school he served an internship at the Department of Justice Environmental Enforcement Division. After receiving his J.D., he passed the Virginia state bar and patent bar exams. He has worked both in a law firm and for a corporation writing patents and litigating intellectual property cases including patent, trademark, and copyright issues. His arguments and writing have been reported by federal courts within the United States.

Meredith Ray Sheets is a retired petrochemical executive with two engineering degrees. He has managed petrochemical refineries and consulted to OPEC governments and oil-producing countries in North and South America and the Middle East. His passion, though, is digging up the history of ancient America. 

Since the 1950s, Mr. Sheets has been involved with anthropological societies and history museums. Book of Lies was inspired by a conversation Mr. Sheets had with Mormon missionaries. Because of his knowledge of ancient America, he knew The Book of Mormon stories they told him about elephants existing along with civilizations in North America were false. These revelations inspired him to dig deeper, and that research helped create Book of Lies.

About the Book:
Book of Mormon, Book of Lies (1811 Press, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-9391790-0-5, $24.95, www.BookofMormonBookofLies.com) is available at Amazon.com.

For a review copy of the book
Contact:
Dottie DeHart
828-325-4966 
[email protected]

SOURCE Meredith and Kendal Sheets