Satan and Jesus Christ are ‘bros’ when Romney ran for president

 

(I wrote this piece more than 11 years ago. I like it, so I rescued it from Wayback purgatory. The photo above is of Romney in 2012 after he defeated Newt Gingrich in the Florida Republican presidential primary.)

I love this lead from an Idaho newspaper (Rexburg Standard Journal) covering an LDS fireside: “A top LDS religious leader gave a rare unscripted fireside to Brigham Young University-Idaho students Saturday.”

“Unscripted fireside?” With apologies to Orwell, that’s a delightful phrase. Why was it unscripted?

According to the article, it’s because M. Russell Ballard, a member of the church’s 12 Apostles, admitted that the LDS Church believes that Jesus Christ and Satan, Old Scratch himself, were brothers.

The following is from reporter Nate Sunderland’s article: “You remember Mr. (Mike) Huckabee (who was also vying to be the Republican candidate for president), who among other things said that Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil were brothers?” Ballard asked students. “Remember that? It went all over the media. “Well they are!” Ballard exclaimed to a laughing student body. “But they (the media and nonmembers) don’t understand that, because they don’t have the (LDS gospel) restoration. They don’t understand the spiritual relationship that … we are all sons and daughters of God, and that Lucifer was one of those and (that) he chose to use his agency in an unrighteous way.”

Back to this column: One of the ironies about being a Mormon is that a religion that is so progressive, eccentric and so different — and more interesting — than conventional, mainstream Christian religions is staffed by a conservative, button-down public relations-conscious, every-word-approved bureaucracy.

I concede that may be a smart move to manage a church of more than 10 million — discipline does have its advantages — but isn’t it interesting that the deepest journeys into LDS church doctrine are found in high priest group meetings, and not the semiannual general conferences? Trust me, we talk a lot about Christ and Satan being highly favored sons of Heavenly Father in the preexistence. But just so it’s clear, we think Old Scratch has fallen out of favor!

During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was easy to know when candidate Mitt Romney was being asked a question about LDS doctrine, such as where the Garden of Eden was. He had that deer in the headlights look, paired with a nervous, dismissive comment such as, “who told you we believe that!?” Of course Romney was partially derailed by the GOP’s own semi-fundamentalist pharisee, Mike Huckabee, blabbing that Mitt thinks Christ and Satan were brothers.

Since Mitt’s probably going to run again, maybe Elder Ballard is trying to pave the way for a smoother theological trail through Bible Belt Iowa. Are we far off from a brand new media campaign pitching Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, and Satan, the Son of the Morning Star, as onetime comrades in arms who went their separate ways?

Naah, not going to happen. But it’d make a heck of a movie.

-- Doug Gibson