Will Mitt Romney be his own man if elected, or would he be controlled by Religious Leaders?

I hope it is not the case, but if my story is any indication, religious leaders will take Mitt Romney aside as needed and help him remember just where his ultimate loyalties lie. I, as well as Mitt Romney, have made sacred agreements to support the interests of Gods future kingdom, as we see it. But are individual religious interests and National interest necessarily the same? In the case of a President Mitt Romney, is what is good for the Mormon people, equally good for all the citizens of the USA?

The possibility was bore out in 2003, while serving my second term as Mayor/CEO of the City of Chillicothe, Missouri. On February 9, I was taken into church offices and verbally threatened, by President and Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley via Stake President, and attorney, Detlif Lehnardt in a private meeting, with excommunication if I did not write every Missouri State Legislator and rescind my recently proposed Legislation to the Missouri House of Representatives. I believe Federal Law (Tax Code Title 26 section 501) states that a Church cannot engage in such activity. Whether or not President Hinckley actually said this is in question, however, President Lehnardt had no problem invoking his name as the originator and force behind it. Needless to say, I disobeyed, because in good conscience, I did not believe I could legally be denied due process.

Bubs Hohulin, current Missouri State Representative, and at that time, email assistant for Senator Carl M. Vogel of the Missouri Senate told me that I should listen to Gordon B. Hinckley. The fact that the law had been broken didn’t matter. Where in our loyalties does the rule of law rank? Is it possible to serve both our religious institutions and political institutions honorably and simultaneously without compromise, or does one always take precedent over the other? Let’s hope Mitt Romney is his own man, and whether he is elected or not, I hope for the good of the country, that religious leaders with agendas will stop trying to control our political process behind the schemes or from the pulpits.

Jeffery Curtis Foli
Former Mayor
City of Chillicothe, Missouri
1999-2003

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