There is every reason to ask if Mr. Romney holds to the beliefs and belief structure of his professed faith, a faith with a very unusual origin and notions, as briefly outlined by Mr. Hitchens. Mr. Romney is free to follow and advocate the Mormon belief system, no matter how absurd it may be in the year 2007, and Mr. Hitchens points out some of the absurdity. We live in a complex world where reason in leadership must prevail. To believe that "Eden" lies in Missouri is a bit different from the question about Iowa in the film "Field of Dreams" --"is this Heaven." Now both Iowa and Missouri are fine states, but I suspect we understand that Iowa is not Heaven, and Missour is not Eden. We also realize that the nonsense in the Book of Mormon is nonsense. It is a fair question to wonder where Mr. Romney stands with regards to knowledge and belief.

So, by your argument, any person who believes in anything that is not empirically verifiable should not be elected to public office? That would disqualify every past president and all the founding fathers. What an absurd double standard. Who determines what qualifies as nonsense? The arrogance of your position is as small-minded as it is mind-blowing.

I fail to see why my comments are small-minded or worse; Mr. Romney is free to believe anything he cares to believe. However, he should share those beliefs with the electorate. If he is a flat-earther, all the more power to him, or if he were a Tom Cruise Scientology person, marvelous. Mr. Romney claims to be a Mormon and that particular belief structure includes wonderfully ridiculous notions of Jesus visiting North America, Native Americans as among the lost tribes of Israel, Eden in Missouri, and on and on, all premised on the avowed "discoveries" of a shady character and golden tablets from God. Now really, given the power to destroy the world held in the hands of our President, one would like to feel that Mr. Romney would inform us as to whether he believes Eden is in Missouri.

Sir then do you have a view of where Eden would have been? If the world was even as scientist believe one land mass could it be unimagniable that the world be anywhere in the world? Is this truely a far fetched idea? Do you have an idea where Noahs ark might be? You seem to be very knowalgable. Where did the three wise men come from and how long did they travel to find the Christ child? Is all of this fact or is it all a good bed time story? Did Moses really part the red sea? Please sir maybe since you are much more level minded than Mitt Romney maybe I could vote for you. Andcould you please explain to me why Mr Obama claims to be Christian yet Muslims claim him one of theirs. And also why will this man not pay propper tribute to our flag and our National Anthem.

I do know Mitt Romney is a man of faith and a man of country.

Thank you for your comments; they are thoughtful. I would never suggest that Mr. Romney or anyone else be denied the opportunity to believe anything they wish. Mr. Romney may well be a man of "faith" and may believe everything the Mormons believe or that is stated in the book of Mormon. The issue is that the Mormon belief structure is so unusual and bizarre and in many ways can be characterized as a cult, that what may work for a private citizen would not be in the best interest of a candidate for President. In this regard, the same belief questions have been asked of the other candidates with more traditional Christian beliefs, and they have responded. It is appropriate to challenge our candidates before the election rather that complain after the elections.

Romney may believe everything the Mormons believe, and that is his business. The problem I have is that we non-Mormons are not permitted to know what those beliefs are or the nature of the secret promises, oaths and commitments that Mormons make to the Church (not God, but the Church). Mormonism is a secret society, hidden from non-believers.

Will someone please ask Mitt Romney what his secret oath of consecration to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints actually says and ask him to explain what that would mean to his presidency? Will someone please ask Mitt Romney if he has taken the oath of vengiance and ask him to explain what it says and what it that means to a Romney presidency?