Valerie Tarico: Does Mitt Romney Think He Is a Son of Abraham?

While in Jerusalem Mitt Romney made an appearance at the Wailing Wall in a yarmulke. Was he just trying to pay tribute to Orthodox tradition or does he think he's a Jew? Perhaps both. Conservative Christianity teaches "supersessionism" the idea that God's covenant with Christians replaced his covenant with the Jews, and now Christians are the Chosen People, the spiritual heirs of Abraham. Mormonism takes this a step further, teaching that Mormons are not only the spiritual heirs of Abraham, they are his physical descendants as well. Mormonism includes a ritual called the "patriarchal blessing" in which a member in good standing receives a set of pronouncements spoken by an older male who is thought, during the ritual itself, to act as a latter day prophet. Like many of Mormonism's better known distinctive features, such as plural marriage and wearing sacred undergarments, the practice was instituted by Joseph Smith himself. One of the most central functions of the patriarchal blessing is to reveal which great-grandson of Abraham a person can claim as his ancestor. Per Mormon-wiki: "Through these blessings, Latter day Saints are told their lineage from the tribes of Israel. All tribes have been represented, but Latter day Saints descend mostly from the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh." One former Mormon describes the experience: "While reading my patriarchal blessing I took note that says I was born through the loins of Ephraim. I found it fascinating how patriarchs could tell which tribes people were descended from." This peculiar seeming teaching offers a window into one way religious sects compete and seek status. In the Bible story, the Hebrew people are divided into 12 tribes, based on the 12 sons of Jacob, one of whom is Joseph of the "Technicolor Dream-coat."