Fryde67: Also, a couple points of clarification. The Mormon Temple oaths no longer contain any "pain of death" type language. It was removed quite some time ago because many members found it offensive. In fact, it was antiquated. The religious equivalent of, "cross my heart and hope to die," commitment language.

And for anyone wondering where an oath of fidelity and secrecy upon pain of death comes from . . . from the Masons. Most early Americans -- including Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism -- were Masons. Run some google searches on blood oaths taken by Masons in the Masonic temples. Almost identical. Joseph Smith found great beauty and comradery in the Masonic brotherhood and incorporated alot of its rituals and ceremonies and oaths into the Mormon temple rituals.

Other United States Presidents were were free masons and took those blood oaths?: George Washington, Harry Truman, William Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, James Polk, James Monroe, William McKinley, Andrew Johnson, Andrew Jackson, Warren Harding, James Garfield, Gerald Ford, and James Buchanan.

The idea that oaths and commitments taken in religious ceremonies disqualifies a person to hold high office or suggests something sinister simply blinks credibility. I don't know Mitt Romney personally and don't even know if I think he is the best Republican candidate (I like Huckabee a lot!) but one thing I am absolute sure of . . . his Mormonism will not detract from his ability to carry out political responsibilities.