After he had a chance to mull it over a bit, Mitt Romney returned to the topic of religion (after saying this was a no-go zone). Just etch-a-sketch that.

He attempted to distinguish between the "practices" of his faith and the "doctrines." This is an interesting political foil, but I don't think when we consider this in the context of Mormonism it really passes the thinking test.

(1) Let's start with the question that the young man was trying to ask about race. The doctrine, as taught in the Book of Moses and by Brigham Young, is that whites should not mate with blacks. Ok. How does the LDS Church expect this to play out in practice?

This doctrine leads to a practice being encouraged (although it isn't "death on the spot" anymore). The Aaronic Priesthood manual for young men still contains a quote from Spencer Kimball that suggests people should seek marriage partners that are of the same racial, and socioeconomic background. My Mission President gave this Kimball talk to us to consider as we returned home to meet our eternal companions.

(2) Another practice, Mr. Romney mentioned was his counseling of people as a "pastor" for his "congregation." The New York Times profile of this experience in his life indicates that much of this counseling was done with the doctrines and principles taught in the Mormon Church in mind. Including, telling a recently divorced middle-aged woman that she shouldn't have sex until re-marrying.

(3) Like other young Mormons, Mitt Romney and I were full time missionaries. What was the purpose of this "practice" of Mormonism. It was to teach the doctrine. It was to teach that Joseph Smith restored the true church to the earth, and that he brought forward new scriptures that more truly reflected the message God had for us. Never mind that those scriptures are not what we claimed them to be. The Book of Mormon is not a true historical record of the Native Americans, and the Book of Abraham is not a translation of those papyrus records.

I'm sure there are other examples, but the practice and doctrine of Mormonism are inextricably linked. There's no way around it.