Earlier today, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman dropped out of the Republican nomination race. I like to think this is a sign from the universe that if there is going to be a Jon-with-no-h president, it should be me. More likely it's because Huntsman had no money, no momentum, and virtually no support. Even Mormons have turned their back on him: They support Romney over Huntsman by something like three to one.
Mormons are an interesting group. They have a a collective, hierarchical leadership reminiscent in some ways to the Roman Catholic Church. At the head is the President of the Church, considered to be a "prophet, seer, and revelator" and the direct successor to Joseph Smith. This office is achieved purely by seniority -- the most senior member of the church's governing body, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, always becomes the next president. Like the Pope, the President of the Church is considered infallible.
So hierarchy is pretty embedded in Mormon society. With that in mind, one begins to understand why so many more Mormons favor Romney. Huntsman was a popular governor, after all, and was far more active in public life in Utah, where most Mormons live. It was simply that Romney is 64, while Huntsman is 51. Romney has seniority.
I recently discovered that there is an entire world of Mormon conspiracy theories out there on the Internet. They all seem to be pushed by evangelical Christian groups. That's not surprising. It is well known that many evangelicals consider Mormonism to be a cult, and decidedly not Christian. Personally, I find it all pretty funny, since from my point of view evangelical Christians are no less a cult than Mormons. It's all superstitious nonsense if you ask me. But something tells me he irony is lost on evangelicals.
This site summarizes a "bestseller" in Mormon Church conspiracy circles, clever entitled The Mormon Church Conspiracy. It's pretty crazy. One of my favorite assertions is that the Mormon Temple in Baltimore has a working replica of the Oval Office to be used to maintain control once they have seized power (why wouldn't just use the real Oval Office?). Crazy. Right?
On the other hand...
Joseph Smith was one crazy sunuvabitch; it would be very in keeping with his known character to want to create a Mormon kingdom. Brigham Young certainly did. Even today, Utah is often described as a de facto theocracy. And then there's the White Horse Prophecy.
The White Horse Prophecy, for those who don't know, is an oral tradition in Mormon culture which describes a time when a teetering United States will be saved by leaders of the Mormon faith. It is attributed to Joseph Smith, although that provenance is questionable, and it appears nowhere in official Mormon scripture. Nevertheless it is universally known and widely believed in the Mormon community. Glenn Beck often alludes to it when he says the Constitution is "hanging by a thread." That language -- "hanging by a thread" -- is important. It refers to the specific text of the prophecy, in which Smith supposedly said "You will see the Constitution of the United States almost destroyed. It will hang like a thread as fine as a silk fiber..." The meaning and significance of the phrase would be unmistakable to Mormons. Orrin Hatch used it too, in radio interview in 1999, when he was considering a run for president.
Now, it's hard to say how many Mormons actually believe the White Horse Prophecy. Most of us have heard "step on a crack, break your mother's back," but that doesn't mean we believe it. On the other hand, we are talking about a group of people who believe in magic underwear, so who knows?
But whether or not they believe it, I bet most Mormons would love to see the White Horse Prophecy come true. They would love to turn the United States into Utah writ large, a Mormon "Kingdom of God," as the conspiracy theorists suggest. (Again, the irony of the fact that they would love to do the very same thing and create the Republic of Gilead, seems to be lost on them.) But as they say, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
Mitt Romney is, by all accounts, a devout Mormon. He takes the LDS Church, its hierarchies and traditions, and his responsibility to them, very seriously. He is also a Church official: From 1986 to 1984 he was the Boston Stake President, the equivalent of a Catholic archbishop. The Pope hasn't ruled Italy for centuries, but I bet if he calls the Italian Prime Minister he usually gets what he wants. How would a President Romney respond to a request from this guy or whoever comes after him?
I am an atheist. More to the the point, I am a militant atheist. I believe that organized religion is a dangerous, destructive force antithetical to the very nature of freedom. All of which probably makes me hypersensitive to the idea of theocracy. I get that the conspiracy theorists are crazy, and I'm not suggesting that Mitt Romney would enact a Mormon Kingdom on Earth. I do have concerns, however, about the ability of a powerful, institutionalized church to influence a president who is an adherent closely entwined with the church's hierarchy. We do not need a door in the wall of separation between Church and State.