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Well let me help you understand.
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You don't understand my faith like I do, alright, so,
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so give me, for a moment, the benefit of the doubt
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that having been a leader of my church, a bishop and a state president,
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I understand my church better than you do. - Right.
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- Alright, my church has very strong beliefs that Mormons
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should not participate in, encourage, in any way support abortion.
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- You could be excommunicated if you do, it says right there. That's what they say, I don't say it! [laughs]
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- Are you thinking I'm disagreeing with you?
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- No, I don't know but if it's stronger...
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- Are you disagreeing with me?
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Let me once again say, I understand my faith better than you do.
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- Right.
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- You don't believe that do you?
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- I'm not sure, you see, I...
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- Well, then it's hardly worth having a discussion with you.
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- Well no no, I'm...
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- Listen, let me... can I complete the point?
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- Well, the reason I said that, is because you also said in another forum,
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I think it was on Stephanopoulos, about the second coming of Christ. - Right.
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- And you said it's gonna happen in Jerusalem. - And it is.
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- And your church says it's gonna happen in Missouri. - No it doesn't.
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- Oh, is that wrong? - Is what wrong, is what wrong?
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The church says that Christ appears on the Mount of Olives and splits the Mount of Olives
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and appears in Jerusalem. That's what the church says.
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And then over a thousand years, the millennium, that the world is reigned in two places,
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Jerusalem and Missouri. That's what the church says.
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The second coming, the arrival of Jesus Christ, our church says is in Jerusalem. That's the church doctrine.
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- So Stephanopoulos mis-quoted your church, which is not surprising...
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- That's fine, that's fine.
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- ...but I was basing my question on that premise.
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- Cleon Skousen has a book called "A Thousand Years" you can talk about.
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Christ appears, it's throughout the Bible, Christ appears in Jerusalem,
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splits the Mount of Olives to stop the war that's coming in to kill all the Jews,
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it's... our church believes that. That's where the coming and glory of Christ occurs.
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We also believe that over the thousand years that follows, the millennium,
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he will reign from two places, that the law will come forward from one place...
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from Missouri, and the other will be in Jerusalem. Alright, that's... now back to abortion.
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- Before we... I have to get back on... but before we do anything else
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I want you to understand one thing. I take this stuff real seriously.
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- Oh I don't though. For me this is all frivolous. [!]
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- No, I take you... no seriously now...
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- Come on, I'm running for President!
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- Now gimme a second, I'm just... just relax. I take you seriously, and I take what you're saying seriously.
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- But you're not giving me the opportunity to explain to you...
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- We only got eight minutes.
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- ... that my, that my... my faith has very strong beliefs, that if I commit abortion, encourage an abortion...
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I was beaten up in Boston because I pointed out time and again that I encouraged girls
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not to get abortions. That I told her [sic] to have adoptions.
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I have never done anything that in any way violates the principles of my church in that regard.
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I've made other mistakes, but in that regard.
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But the church does not say that a member of our church has to be opposed to allowing choice in society.
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It does not say that. And therefore, there are Mormon Democrats.
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There's a Democratic Party in Utah, filled with Mormons,
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and the church doesn't say "they're wrong, they're being ex-communicated", no, it says,
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"Look, we are vehemently opposed to abortion. Ourselves, and for ourselves."
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"But we allow other people to make their own choice."
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I disagree with that view. Politicially, I looked at it and I said, you know what, that's wrong.
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And it's not a Mormon thing, it's a secular position to say, you know what, I was wrong.
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We should have as a society a prohibition on abortion in the following circumstances.
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But it's not violating my faith, let me assure you.
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- I hope we can do this, and we can spend some quality time on the air,
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rather than the soundbite stuff.
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- No I, I mean, I don't like coming on the air and having you go after my church and me and my...
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- I'm not going after your church, I agree with your church!
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- I know, that's right, but... I'm not running as a Mormon,
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and I get a little tired of coming on a show like yours and having it all about Mormon. [sic]
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- See, I don't mind it being about that...
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- Yeah, I do. I do.
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- I agree with the ethics of your church, for Pete's sake!
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- So do I, so do I.
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- Well, [laughs], so I was trying to...
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- No, you're trying to tell me that I'm not a faithful Mormon, that I'm not faithful to my church.
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- No, I'm trying to get you to reconcile what I think is a disparity between...
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- ...and have a great discussion about Mormonism and the Mormon church
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and reading the doctrines of the church and where my view is, and you know what?
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I'm not running to talk about Mormonism.
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- No, but the point is, you know, people who are likely to vote don't want to elect
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a Ted Kennedy, who runs, comes back, or a Senator Harken,
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who comes here to dalley, and comes here to Iowa and says "I'm pro-life",
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and when he gets to Washington stands up and becomes pro-choice.
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- Here's your opportunity to have that settled in your mind.
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I was Governor for four years. See, that is what I'm talking about.
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I was Governor for four years. I had a number of pieces of legislation that came to my desk
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that dealt with abortion, abstinence education, RU486, and so forth.
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I vetoed any bill that was in favour of choice. I was entirely consistent in favour of life.
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So it's not just my word that have to take, but my record. Alright, thank you.
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- Thank you. Thanks a lot.
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