Nobody gets anointed on their privates (not even if you wanted it). Not every temple has a baptismal font on the backs of 12 oxen. But baptism is also done in most of the church buildings and anyone is welcome to watch. Nothing secret about baptism.

My best friend in elementary school was Mormon. I lived in St. George, Utah and Park City, Utah in the early '80s. At the time, both towns were 99.9% LDS. It is just not true that all beliefs of the Mormon Church are readily available to non-Mormons.

It's the lack of transparency that concerns people and causes "lies, misinformation, and half-truths" and cult suspicions to pop up. The Mormon Church is certainly within its rights to withhold information from non-Members. The Mormon Church needs to own its lack of transparency and accept the speculation, rumor, and misinformation that results.

Feel free to be specific. Since I'm not coming up with which beliefs you're talking about you'll need to let me know.

I remember a Mormon friend telling me about the possibility of having his own planet after death. This was many years ago that he told me so I wanted to make sure I was remembering correctly. An internet search produced this article. Does it accurately describe some of the beliefs of the Mormon Church?

Other than my snarky comment earlier, religion plays almost no part in my vote. I really do not have an interest in that as I do not feel embracing or not embracing a faith has anything to do with the job that is president. Unfortunately, it does seem to be a huge factor to many, just not so much to me. I'd much rather cast my vote based on someone who has views on issues similar to mine and has much more intelligence than me to do the job and is crazy enough to want to do it.

So the general consensus seems to be that organized religions all have their skeletons in the closet. Some more than others.

Would you support an atheist for President of the United States?

Helen, I'd be interested in your answer to the first question you asked (if you gave it and I missed it, I apologize).

If secrecy in religion in an issue for anybody here, then is membership in other secret societies (such as the many masonic or masonic inspired organizations) a significant issue?

Like iSm, I have a laundry list of qualities that I look for in a candidate, and their religious beliefs are waaay down on that list. Having said that, a candidate who chooses to incorporate his or her beliefs into the way they run the government as opposed to informing the way they think (splitting hairs, I know, but still... ), frightens me. Since an atheist wouldn't be saddled with any tricky religious dogma, it's just one less thing to worry about. It wouldn't be a deciding factor, but it certainly would enhance the candidate rather than detract from him or her.

I'm trying to read through that whole thing but I'm running short on time. But what I have read so far (about half), is exactly what I was talking about earlier... the half-truths and misinformation provided by anti-Mormon propaganda. The whole "follow a few simple rules and get your own planet" thing is a twisted misconception of the belief that God is our Father and wants us to become like Him. That means we (by "we" I mean all mankind) have the potential to be gods ourself. Notice the small "g" and not a big "G." That's to say that we become like Him, not replace Him or even equal to. Just receive all that He has. Which is also taught in the Bible. Does that mean you "get your own planet"? I suppose it's possible, and why not? But it's also no guarantee. It's also not as simple as following a few simple rules. Nor does it imply that the rest of humanity will go to hell.

The problem with this doctrine is not that it's secretive or that you have to "pay to play." This is one of the fundamental doctrines and it's one of the first things taught to non-members who are interested in learning more. But it's also one of the deepest and can be the hardest to comprehend. (And in my rush I'm probably making things worse.) I mean in someways it's very simple but in others we're dealing with a finite mortal mind trying to grasp the concepts of eternity and immortality.

The author also twisted what the role of the priesthood is and how it relates to women. This is probably because of the perception and role of the priesthood in other churches as having authority to advise or instruct. The author implies that a prepubescent boy can rule over his mother, but that just isn't the case and it's not how the priesthood works in the Mormon church. It's a role of service. If said prepubescent boy is not obedient to and honor his mother then he's not honoring his priesthood. The claim that Mormon women are oppressed would be laughable if it weren't so sad.

I would not vote for Romney based on his anti-gay record as Massachusetts' Governor. He was against same-sex marriage, fine whatever. But to be also against civil unions is baffling. Oh well.

I also believe in the separation of church and state and if I am convinced that a candidate would not mix the two, I would vote for them (and if I was in agreement with their takes on other issues as well).

But there is no way I would vote for a Republican presidential candidate in 2008.

Romney being a Latter-day Saint doesn't bother me. But the anti-gay stance his church has does bug me. But the anti-gayness of Bush Jr, Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan etc ticked me off too...