I was raised by a very devout Mormon family. I remember my father using this phrase many times. Naturally being a kid, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention.
So today I was browsing, and you know how one thing leads you to another, and another. Before I knew it I was reading the White Horse Prophecy . There it was! The phrase I had heard my father speak so many times. My interest (which had been quickly waning) picked up.
Officially, in Mormonland, this is not church doctrine. Yet, several church leaders have referenced it. The last time I could find in Wikipedia was 1928, so it seems that the early church members took it very seriously.
Why would this silly stuff be relevant? Well it gives insight into the way Mormons think. Their beliefs are somewhat outside the mainstream, very few other religions claim to have a living breathing prophet on earth all the time.
It has become common in the last 20 years or so for Mormons to deny most of the things they used to believe. They are no longer politically expedient, and mostly so strange that they don't want to have to explain them, mostly because they can't. So I take the church's denial with a grain of salt. I know my father and uncles believed this prophecy for sure.
I went looking in MormonWiki for it, and guess what? The page had been taken down on march 5. Curious... however, there is a google snapshot of it here
The actual prophecy wasn't on it, just some quotes from Mormon Elders, proving that in fact they believed it to be prophecy.
Now, these are the commandments of God, the principles contained in these commandments of the great Eternal are the principles that underly the Constitution of our country, and all just laws. Joseph Smith, the prophet, was inspired to affirm and ratify this truth, and he further predicted that the time would come, when the Constitution of our country would hang as it were by a thread, and that the Latter-day Saints, above all other people in the world, would come to the rescue of that great and glorious palladium of our liberty(Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 403 & Conference Report, October 1912, p. 11)
Joseph F Smith was a prophet... gods spokesman on earth. Mormons constantly try to weasel out of this stuff but either a prophet is a prophet or not. If they are a prophet they can't be wrong about prophecy. (Seems obvious but just try to convince one of them).
Now on to current events. From Wikipedia:
In 1967, US presidential candidate George W. Romney said the following regarding the White Horse Prophecy: "I have always felt that they meant that sometime the question of whether we are going to proceed on the basis of the Constitution would arise and at this point government leaders who were Mormons would be involved in answering that question."[5]
hey, Mittens and I have something in common. Both our fathers took this very seriously. Of course my father was a dyed in the wool democrat, but let's not split hairs.
I don't think it's much of a stretch, given my extensive experience with Mormons, to have a strong suspicion that Mitt wants to be this "Elder" who saves the constitution and the U.S.
Anyone who has some latent racism, believes Mormon prophecy and is familiar with this particular one (as he obviously is) would think that the time had come. e.g.
The time will come when the banks in every nation will fail and only two places will be safe where people can deposit their gold and treasures. These places will be the White Horse and England's vaults."
This bunch of hooey goes on to speak of a white horse, a black horse (coupled with the term slavery) and a red horse. The people of the Americas are the pale horse, no clarification if it is the same as the white horse.
The red horse is probably Native Americans, Mormons regard them as the lost tribes of Israel.
Loose AZrefugee translation, we have an African American president (Black horse) so the time a church elder to ride in on his (white horse) and save the day is at hand.
Of course there are numerous things in the prophecy that make no sense whatsoever, but it is rendered in apocalyptic terms and making sense has never been a Mormon priority.
Now I'm not saying that Mr. Romney believes this, I'm saying that the possibility that he does exists, and certainly, many, many Mormons do.
I don't particularly care about Mr. Romney's religion, as I think they are all hooey. I just found this slightly interesting and amusing. Do with it what you will.