Pasts cross for Udall, Mitt

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 26, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.
Updated December 26, 2007 at 10:47 a.m.

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David K. Udall was pardoned after being imprisoned on a perjury conviction.

John D. Lee was blamed for an 1857 wagon-train massacre in Utah.

Former presidential candidate Mo Udall disagreed with some church tenets

Mark Udall, U.S. Senate candidate, was raised Presbyterian, not Mormon.

George Romney, Mitt Romney's father, ran for president in 1968.

United States Senate candidate Mark Udall and presidential contender Mitt Romney's Mormon great- grandfathers crossed paths in Arizona in the 19th century.

It was an era of bitter distrust between Mormons and other white settlers.

David K. Udall briefly served time in prison for a perjury conviction in a dubious land-fraud case involving Miles P. Romney, who fled to Mexico to establish a safe haven for other polygamists.

Decades later, the grandsons of these Mormon pioneers would run for president without their religion being an issue. But in 2007, with another Mormon on the presidential campaign trail, controversy over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has boiled up again.

An Associated Press poll conducted last month found that half of voters are uncomfortable about the prospect of voting for a Mormon presidential candidate.

And one of Romney's GOP rivals, Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and an ordained Southern Baptist minister, apologized after wondering aloud whether "Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers."

As for Mark Udall, he was raised Presbyterian, not Mormon.

And these days, the Boulder County Democrat and 2nd District congressman is as likely to find God while climbing a mountain as sitting in a pew.

Udall doesn't expect religion to become an issue in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Bob Schaffer, who's Catholic. But then again, he didn't expect Romney, a Republican and former Massachusetts governor, to have to make a political speech defending his religion.

Romney's campaign felt compelled to quell the concerns of evangelical Christians, an important part of the GOP base.

"I don't believe it will be an issue," Udall said in a recent interview. "But I certainly am prepared to talk about my religious point of view and a call for tolerance and acceptance and an adherence to the Rocky Mountain West sensibility to live and let live when it comes to worship."

Udall said it has crossed his mind that some independent attack group might use his religious background and beliefs for a negative ad. He can't imagine what his opponents might find issue with but noted, "Nothing is off limits these days."

For the time being, Udall has adopted a favorite Bible verse, Romans 12:14: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."

"I'm going to keep that close," he said with a laugh.

Schaffer declined to comment, adding that he had no idea what Udall's religious background is.

Udall's religion is listed as "Not affiliated" in various online biographies. He frequently gets asked about that.

"My answer is, I'm not affiliated with any particular church, but I believe you can find spiritual strength in many ways," he said. "Those of us who live in Colorado can find God in a lot of places, particularly the mountains."

Udall's wife, Maggie Fox, was raised Catholic in Baptist country in North Carolina. Udall said he, his wife and their two children attend Catholic services on Christmas and Easter but visit different churches other times during the year.

"I think my family is typical of a lot of American families," Udall said. "We are a combination of a number of great religions with no affiliation to any one in particular."

Mormons threatened

Udall hails from a legendary Mormon family.

His grandmother, Louise Lee Udall, is the granddaughter of John D. Lee, blamed for the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which occurred in Utah in 1857. A wagon train of about 120 people believed to be unfriendly to Mormons was wiped out in an attack. Lee was executed 20 years later, but questions still linger about whether he was acting on orders from Mormon leader Brigham Young.

Udall, who named his son Jedediah Lee, said the event happened so long ago that he views it from a "historical and not personal" vantage point.

Udall's great-grandfather, David King Udall, became a key leader in the church's expansion plans for the West and moved to Arizona in 1880, according to Utah State University archives.

Tensions escalated between Mormons and non-Mormons, as evidenced by an 1884 editorial in the Apache Chief in St. John's, Ariz.

"The Mormon disease is a desperate one and the rope and the shotgun are the only cure," the newspaper wrote. "Hang a few of their polygamist leaders such as . . . Udall, Romney . . . and others of their nature and a stop will be put to it."

Authorities tried to charge David Udall and Miles Romney with polygamy, but they sent their so-called "plural" wives away. Officials then indicted David Udall, Miles Romney and another man on perjury charges, saying they'd lied about whether Miles Romney had spent as much time on his homestead as was required by law.

Miles Romney fled to Utah, where he was ordered to go to Mexico and start a colony where polygamists would be safe, The Boston Globe reported. After a Mexican revolution in 1912, the Romney family feared for its safety and returned to the United States.

Earlier presidential bids

Mitt Romney's father, George, was 5 at the time. George W. Romney would go on to become governor of Michigan and a Republican presidential candidate in 1968.

David Udall maintained his innocence at his trial in 1885.

"Oh God deliver me from Hell and give me liberty," the church bishop wrote in his prison diary. "If I am to suffer imprisonment, let it be for my religion and not the heinous crime I am charged with."

David Udall received three years in the Detroit House of Correction and began his sentence Sept. 2, 1885. But he spent only a few months in prison, because his attorneys wrote President Grover Cleveland a detailed letter outlining the facts of the case and maintaining that their client hadn't committed perjury.

David Udall was released that December with a full presidential pardon.

David Udall and his first wife, Eliza, had five children. The youngest was Levi Stuart Udall, Mark Udall's grandfather.

Mark Udall's father, the late Morris King Udall, a former congressman from Arizona and a 1976 Democratic presidential candidate, was raised a Mormon but didn't practice the faith once he reached adulthood.

"On occasion, he had an alcoholic drink," his son recalled with a laugh.

Mo Udall came to Colorado in the late 1940s to play basketball for the Denver Nuggets, which were then part of the American Basketball League.

He met Patricia Emery, whose father, Roe Emery, was a well-known rancher and businessman who operated a company that offered services to Rocky Mountain National Park visitors. They married and moved to Arizona. Mark Udall was born in 1950 in Tucson.

"I knew lots of Romneys growing up," he said.

Mark Udall's mother had been raised a Presbyterian, and her children would be raised in that faith, too. But Udall and his five siblings grew up hearing about their Mormon heritage from various family members.

Mo Udall disagreed with the church on the treatment of blacks and women, Mark Udall said. It wasn't until 1978 that blacks were allowed in the priesthood. Mitt Romney recently said he "literally wept" when he heard about the decision.

But Mo Udall gave credit to the Mormon church for his dedication to public service and his focus on the community, saying those are key elements of the LDS faith, his son said.

"I remember them talking about this fierce commitment to religious freedom, and the stories of the Mormons being persecuted as they moved across the country," Mark Udall said. "It's ironic, considering the current debate about Mormonism."

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327

The Mormon faith

Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in the 19th century in upstate New York as a restoration of what he considered to be the true Christian church.

Smith said an angel revealed to him the location of a set of golden tablets containing scriptures that he then translated into the Book of Mormon. The scriptures he translated book described how a group of Jews came to the Americas. After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, Mormons believe, he came to preach to the group. They also believe Christ established a church, but it fell into apostasy until Smith restored it.

Among the major differences with traditional Christianity, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is officially called, do not believe in the concept of the unified Trinity; the Book of Mormon is considered sacred text, alongside the Bible and two other texts; and Mormons believe that God has a physical body and that human beings can eventually become like God.

SOURCE: The New York Times

• December 26, 2007

  5:45 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Bot writes:

  The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion. This article http://mormonsarechristian.blogspot.com/ helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity's comprehension of baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

  The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) adheres more closely to First Century Christianity and the New Testament than any other denomination. For example, Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.”

  One Baptist blogger stated “99 percent of the members of his Baptist church believe in the Mormon (and Early Christian) view of the Trinity. It is the preachers who insist on the Nicene Creed definition.” It seems to me the reason the pastors denigrate the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is to protect their flock (and their livelihood).

• December 26, 2007

  6:16 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  malis writes:

  Mormonism in a political candidate means nothing. The particular flavor of invisible-friend-with-superpowers doesn't matter... every candidate understands he or she must profess some supernatural belief as a prerequisite for running for office. I'm fairly certain many political officeholders do not actually hold the religious beliefs they profess, but understand that's the price of being in the arena.

  From a personal point of view (and I understand it's a minority point of view), only if they've convinced me they really do believe--and would make governing decisions based on that belief (i.e., Huckabee)--are they unqualified to hold office.

• December 26, 2007

  7:28 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  ColoNative writes:

  BOT: Your assessment of church history is incongruent with the truth. You make several assertions which are totally invalid. Before you continue with mis-information, please research your mormon roots. It is totllay absurd to claim that mormonism is reflective of the early church. Mormonism's eschatological goal is to become deified and then become gods over your own planets. Asserting that belief on the early church is, without a doubt, unfounded. Saying that the motivation for the propogation of evangelicalism is based on monetary interests is excessively bold considering that mormonism is one of the wealthiest of the protestant descendants. Your theological underpinnings have more in common with Islam than Orthodox Christianity.

• December 26, 2007

  7:40 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  malis writes:

  wow ColoNative...looks like somebody got a thesaurus for Christmas!

• December 26, 2007

  8:10 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  malis writes:

  icdrjjxant, I honor your service and I'm sorry for your pain. I know from personal experience that VA support is pretty uneven, but they do have some very good services you might want to check out.

  You might want to avoid the scapegoating and stereotyping-- Mormons, like African-Americans, actually serve in the military at substantially higher rates than the general population. As you also mention, it's the over-privileged (and you missed Cheney), not the religious, that tend to avoid service. It's fair to ask Mark Udall why he didn't serve but it's not because of the LDS church (if you read the article a little more carefully, you'll notice he isn't Mormon).

  If you don't want to go to the VA, they are several other organizations that provide support and counseling. Post again if you're interested and I'll send some references (although they tend to be from the peace crowd and can be antagonistic to the military establishment, they're very good to military individuals)

• December 26, 2007

  8:28 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  denverinfidel writes:

  The LDS Church is not something that is palatable to the vast majority of citizens (although it is regularly trashed by evangelicals in this country, who are of course hippocrites). I have known several Mormons over the years, and they are some of the nicest and most decent people around. But the glaring problem is the secrecy of the church doctrine, and the fact that the book of mormon is so crazy its almost laughable. So are parts of the bible, but mormon scriptures really defy belief. There is just no basis from an anthropological/archealogical point of view. Joseph Smith was a huckster, crook and even worse a filthy pedophile (marrying/raping little girls, as god instructed, of course).
  
  The church has an amazing system of dispersing information to the gentiles. The average voter will be very insulted when the answer to every question regarding your church is "go take lessons with some 19 yr old missionaries." Other churches don't have this problem because their theology isn't a secret. When someone asks Mitt about blacks and the church, what can he say, "ooops, god was wrong but he finally sorted it out in 1978"? This is the problem with all "revealed" religions, they make god look really stupid from time to time. Mormonism is no different. I am a republican and I am terrified Mitt will get the nod. If so, he will get beaten like a rented mule on this issue alone.

• December 26, 2007

  10:56 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Pauline writes:

  Perhaps like the Brits in politics, American politicians might try saying “We don’t do God.”

  In Britain, the public perception holds that anyone who talks about his/her faith is far too woo woo to be trusted with anything breakable.

  Meanwhile, despite America’s constitutional separation of church and state, we have every presidential hopeful, of both parties, stepping up to give the mandatory “faith” speeches.

  Ironically, in Britain, no one would dream of wishing anyone “Happy Holiday”. In wicked old Europe, no one has a problem with using the ‘C’ word.

• December 26, 2007

  11:11 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  rg writes:

  Robert Lee attacked the wagon train pursuant to orders from his dad, Brigham Young with 52 wives. The attack was mostly for the wealth which was enormous. Brigham stirred the hatred by claiming someone in the wagon train had killed one of its Elders. Google Mountain Meadows Massacre. Whereas, Huck claims Mitt believes Jesus and Satan are brothers: If Huck believes in the Bible, 66 books stapled together, he has to believe as Mitt believes according to Job 1:6 ~~~ And all of God's sons, never daughters, were assembled including Satan. ~~~ For a chief celibate like the pope, he sure has a lot of sons.

• December 26, 2007

  4:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  rg writes:

  Thank god no-one caught my goof: It is John Lee not Robert: Gives me a chance to do my deicide:Richard Grimes http://www.geocities/r22037/think.html

  Deicide Corner: “It was only when I finally undertook to read the Bible through from beginning to end that I perceived that its depiction of the Lord God--whom I had always viewed as the very embodiment of perfection--was actually that of a monstrous, vengeful tyrant, far exceeding in bloodthirstiness and insane savagery the depredations of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Attila the Hun, or any other mass murderer of ancient or modern history.”
  -- Steve Allen

• December 26, 2007

  4:26 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  rg writes:

  Sorry about the triple posting; but, (subject/verb implied)Mormons, et al continually say Moroni was/is an angel; however, his creator, Joseph Smith called him a "glorified resurrected being" on the first page of his introduction in the Book of Mormon which I studied because my daughter was captured into this cult.

  Moroni was the dead son of the warrior Mormon brought to life like the Frankenstein Monster to deliver page after page printed on gold plates in Egyptian hyergliphics and while told not to join any church he joined the Methodist church and was kicked out as he was kicked out of New York, Missouri, and Illinois in a permanent way, his body riddled with bullets, a well-deserved punishment for his murderous way in which henchmen like Rockwell confessed to killing over a hundred men for him: See Ignorant Missionary, my free-read book. Joe was fond of castrating gentiles and apostates. Moroni was/is a fictitious zombie.

• December 26, 2007

  6:53 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  lambo writes:

  I strongly disagree with several of the assertions of denverinfidel. Firstly, that Joseph Smith was a pedophile. The diagnostic definition of a pedophile is: one who has a sexual preference for pre-pubescent children. There is no evidence that Joseph Smith was such a person. Secondly, that The Book of Mormon is 'crazy'. There are thousands upon thousands of well educated and professionally trained men and women, including psychiatrists, logicians, philosophers,scientists,historians and civic leaders, to name a few, who have found The Book of Mormon to be a coherent, spiritually validated work that is not without empirical support. I am one of these. I have been a student of Mormon history for over 40 years and a state and federal peosecutor by profession. I know something of which I speak.

• December 27, 2007

  10:28 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  rg writes:

  The deicide corner quotes others and with rare exception such as right now, mine and Marlene*. Ignorant Missionary is one of my hybrid/vanity/plagiaristic books: i.e. I have hi-jacked from others just as Joseph Smith and Mohammad (his fan club) hi-jacked the bible and the bible is nothing more than the bias and prejudice of unknown writers like L. Ron Hubbard, with vivid imagination. Richard Grimes, deicide and intelligent enough to be an atheist but lack the courage since I'm not ready to die at the hands of J.C.'s fanclub in Luke 19:27. As a member of the sword of time, deicide, I'm a god-killer with 9 miliion notches on my sword. I'm anxious to kill Allah, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, fictional gods, et al, e.g. Mormon's Kolob god, et al. http://www.geocities/r22037/html

  Deicide Corner: *Those damn ancients stole all my original material. “I lost my faith during the war and can't believe they are all up there, flying around or sitting at tables, all those I've lost.” -- Marlene Dietrich *Again: All those who believe otherwise as Marlene believes suffer from a virulent virus called god which exists only in the human brain.

• December 27, 2007

  2:30 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  jvb writes:

  GWM has my sympathy. The first mistake in his life is evidenced here. I will mourn this Gay White Male (GWM) for his wasted time.

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