Cory Booker -- Friendly to Mormons

Every day, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), best known for being a real life superhero as Mayor of Newark, posts an inspirational quote of some sort on his wall.  Monday's post was as follows:

Post by Cory Booker.

A friend of mine sent me the link and asked if it was Thomas S Monson, and asked if Senator Booker is Mormon

Turns out, this was a quote from Mormon Church President Thomas S Monson, from the June 2010 edition of the Ensign magazine.  However, quoting a Mormon President does not mean that you are Mormon any more than my quoting the Pope makes me Catholic.  However, I did find that Senator Booker has more of a connection to Mormonism than I expected -- one of his good friends from Oxford is the Grandson of former church President Ezra Taft Benson.  Senator Booker and Michael Benson were teammates on the Oxford Basketball team, and have remained close. In a CNN article from 2012 about their friendship with a rabbi, there is this fun bit:

The rabbi and Mormon say the mayor's humanity and heart inspire them. Booker says these two faithful men taught him to love and respect different religions, while helping him deepen his own beliefs and sense of awe. Likewise, both the mayor and Boteach say Benson changed how they and hundreds of others view Mormons.

Booker has been known to have his driver pull over when he spots young Mormon missionaries walking in pairs. He understands they’re often financially strapped, so he gives them some money for food and thanks them for being in his city.

“That’s something I never would have done if I hadn’t met Mike,” the mayor says.

 So, is Cory Booker a Mormon?  No.  But his coolness extends to Mormons, too.

Mitt Romney's Religion flip-flop

One of they key tenets of the LDS Church is that in 1820, God appeared to Joseph Smith.  In fact, what differentiates Mormonism form other religions is the fact that we believe that God has spoken to, and through prophets from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young to Gordon B Hinckley and Thomas S Monson.

In fact, we also believe that there are other General Authorities that speak with God.  We also believe in personal revelation -- the concept that God can speak to us to guide us in our lives.

So why, in 2007, did Mitt Romney tell a Boston TV station in 2007 that he didn't think God had spoken to anyone since Moses?



Surely Missionary Mitt taught the first vision to people in France.  He probably even taught them about living prophets on the earth today speaking with God.

So, does Mitt Romney really believe that God hasn't spoken to anyone since Moses?

Or is he willing to lie about ANYTHING to become President, even his religion?

I think the answer is clear.

Senator Valentine needs a Zion Curtain for his mouth

So, it turns out that the "Zion Curtain" not only restricts your from seeing a mixed drink prepared, but it will protect your kids from seeing someone pouring a beer.

Because, really, we all know that every kid who drinks does it because he saw a drink being prepared at Applebees.

Now, what's interesting is to see the arguments the Legislature is spitting out on this one.

First, from the Tribune:

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, who supported backrooms to hide bartenders at restaurants serving wine and mixed drinks, said he did not push for partitions at beer-only restaurants — and he doesn’t know who did.

Waddoups suggested that Mothers Against Drunk Driving might have wanted the partitions, but MADD Utah chapter President Art Brown said he is unfamiliar with the requirement.

Does Waddoups think we're stupid? The provision got put in because someone wrote it in there. And last time I checked, Art Brown is not a member of the Legislature or a part of the Legislature's legal teams.

From the same article:

Despite the confusion over who spearheaded the change, Zion curtains are harming business, said Eric Slaymaker, president and founder of Wingers, which has 23 locations in Utah and 14 restaurants in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Nevada and Tennessee.

“The Legislature says it is business-friendly, but I have a hard time believing that,” he said. “Utah had made some great strides in becoming part of the real world, but now we’re making strides to let the world know they aren’t welcome here again.”

Really,if you don't want your kids to see liquor being poured, DON'T GO TO APPLEBEES! I thought that's what the Free Market was all about.

Then this morning, X96's Radio From Hell interviewed Sen John Valentine, who sponsored the bills. You can listen to the interview here. The part about the Zion Curtain starts about 4:30 in.

In the interview, Sen Valentine said that if you didn't hide the alcohol, then you'd have to ID everyone who comes into the restaurant. Which is stupid. You didn't have to before this law. But wait -- it gets better!

When asked about why the law was necessary, Valentine said it was to draw "a bright line between a restaurant and a bar."

I'm not a drinker, but I can tell when I'm in a restaurant and when I'm in a bar. Restaurants usually have better lighting for one. Bars often have someone at the door checking ID's. Kids are absent in bars. You have to order food in a restaurant, but you don't have to order either in a bar if you don't want to.

When asked about the anti-business image it shows to people outside of Utah, Valentine said ""If you want a true dry area, go to one of the places in the South."

When Valentine said that Utah's Liquor laws work (which makes me wonder why we need this change) because Utah has the lowest DUI rate, the hosts asked him if that wasn't because of the high number of religious non-drinkers here. The reply?

"If religious people are in the majority, shouldn't you reflect that religious value?"

Um, no. If people are really opposed to businesses preparing alcohol in front of their children, they should not take their children to businesses that prepare alcohol in front of children. Let the free market decide.

Besides, Mormon scripture is opposed to Valentine's reasoning:

"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied." (Doctrine & Covenants 134:9)

Laws like this make Utah and Mormons look bad.

Science & Mormons, Jon Huntsman & Mitt Romney

“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

That tweet from former Utah Governor and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman sure lit a firestorm of controversy.

After, all you can't be a Republican and believe in science, right?

Apparently. After all, as The Daily Beast points out, the only other Republican candidate to accept climate change and evolution is former Governor Mitt Romney.

Yep, the two Mormons in the race are the two science believers.

Well, until Mitt flip flops on this issue, but for the time being, he believes!

The Daily Beast points out that a 2008 Pew poll found that only 22 percent of Mormons believed in Evolution. I'm sure the percentage of Utah Mormon politicians that believe in Evolution is about the same, but those 22% are Democrats.

Similarly, the Utah Legislature doesn't believe in Climate Change. They even passed a resolution saying so. And several science professors from that liberal school in Provo called BYU sent them a letter of disapproval.

My favorite quote from the article:

In general, says John Bell, a professor of physiology and developmental biology at BYU, he and his colleagues teach students that evolution is not a take-it-or-leave-it theory, but rather a fact that can fit comfortably into an orthodox Mormon world view.

Bell puts it this way: “Religion doesn’t make an attempt to explain the mechanisms of how the world works; it tries to give meaning to it. Whereas, with science it’s the opposite; we’re trying to figure out how the world works. You don’t’ have to feel insecure about your faith just because you’re trying to engage in good science.”

Jon Huntsman, and Defining My Own Mormonsism

Much has been made about Jon Huntsman's statement in a Time Magazine article about his relationship to the LDS Church. Namely, his statement that his membership in the Church is "tough to define."

Now, the simple answer is that Mormonism is harder to define than other religions. You can be a "Christian" without having a home church (George W Bush). I have a friend who self-identifies as Baptist despite the fact that he's a Presbyterian Youth Minister. There's a running joke that you are a good Catholic is you attend Mass on Christmas and Easter.

However, in Mormonism, you either are or you aren't in the minds of most Mormons. In fact, there is a growing trend to try to break Mormons into one of two categories. Columnist Robert Kirby tried years ago to break us into 5 kinds of Mormons. However, the reality is, there are varying degrees of Mormonism.

I created several Mormon "character", and then asked 7 friends of various backgrounds to try to define that character's Mormonism. I based each "character" on a real person. For each friend, I got 7 different answers.

Well, except for the one I based on Mitt Romney: the person who is well-known as a Mormon but has said publicly that "I don't know that he has spoken to anyone since Moses and the bush or perhaps some others." That one was pretty universal.

However, it was shocking how different the answers were. I think I might widen the survey a little more and put the questionaire out there for everyone to take, getting a broader range of answers.

My favorite was the definitions of the following character "32 single male, raised in the Church. Comes from two-parent family where Mom was the primary breadwinner. Democrat who votes for Republicans sometimes. Believes Government should not be defining marriage. Attends Temple once every 3 weeks, attends church weekly, but sometimes skips Sunday School."

That one was me. I got 9 definitions from those 7 people.

I don't know what type of Mormon Jon Huntsman is, nor do I really care. All I care is that he's a good person.

Because, after all, that's all that really matters.

Election News: Jack Morman Wins!

No, I didn't misspell that. Check it out, from The Pasadena (TX) Citizen:

Jack Morman did what few have tried and those who did failed: unseat Sylvia Garcia.

Morman, a Republican who calls Deer Park home, defeated the two-time Harris County Precinct 2 commissioner in a battle where nearly every vote counted.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Morman had 66,057 votes (50.89 percent) to Garcia’s 63,747 (49.11 percent). Where Morman won was in early and absentee voting, where he got 40,095 of 72,611 ballots cast, more than 55.2 percent.

On his Facebook page, Morman said, “I'd like to thank everybody for all their hard work and support over the past year. Tonight is a credit to all of my family, friends and supporters who made this possible. Now it is time to get to work for the people of Precinct 2!”

Meanwhile, Garcia conceded victory to Morman.

He's got to be the winner of the best name ever. I'm thinking that we need to have a candidate legally change their name to Ingrid M. Mormon and be listed on the ballot simply as I. M. Mormon. We'll win for sure.

-Bob

Islamic Community Center and Harry Reid's Mormonism

So, I found it interesting that Harry Reid came out against the Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan.

Not surprising that he bowed down to his Republican challenger. He seems to run whenever an elephant says boo, but that's a different story, for a different time.

What's at issue here is the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." I love how we let politicians say "I respect the constitution, except when I disagree with letting others have the same rights as I do."

The Mormon Church (which our membership in is about the only thing it seems Sen Reid and I have in common) has had trouble for years building temples. Sometimes it's simply over things like building height. However, many times it's because people don't want The Mormons to be building a Temple there.

In 1842, Joseph Smith Jr, founder of the Church, wrote a letter to John Wentworth,which contained 13 fundamental doctrines of Mormonism. These were later cannonized as the "Articles of Faith." The 11th one reads (emphasis mine):

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

So, as an American who loves the Constitution and as a Mormon, I believe that the Islamic Community Center should be allowedto be built, evenif it is two blocks away from Ground Zero.

Utah's Unique Immigration problem

Glen Warchol points out the elephant in the room that will make things interesting when Utah tries to pass Arizona's immigration law here:

Of course, Utah's unique cultural-political mashup could make passing similar laws (Listen up, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem) problematic. The LDS Church, which is flourishing among Latin American immigrants, could see its members, leaders and, even worse, its blessed missionaries, required to carry proof of citizenship. The church already has been embarrassed by incidents of "undocumented" missionaries being detained.

Only In Utah (County).....

Saturday was a tough, beat, down, drag out kind of day for me. Between the convention and a rough night at work right afterwards (I freakin Hate the Lakers) , I'm spent. I'll post more about the convention later, but I just wanted to share this "Only in Utah" moment from Friday with you:

Glenn Beck: "Utah has played a really nasty role in the history of our country"

(h/t: Out of Context)

Glenn Beck was interviewing US Senate Candidate Mike Lee earlier this week. Beck said that "Utah has played a really nasty role in the history of our country...." The goes on to site the Smoot-Hawley Act, saying "SmootHawley" was from Utah. Then he says Utah is to blame for Harry Reid. When Mike Lee corrected him that it was Nevada that elected Harry Reid, Glenn says "but Harry Reid...."

The fun starts about 1:20 into this, if you want to minimze the amount you have to listen to the Hatemonger in Cheif:



Why, Glenn? Is it because Harry Reid is Mormon?

I guess Glenn Beck is Utah's fault, too.

Crazy Mormon Hippies.....

Deseret News:

As the sun crept up and over the Wasatch Front early Tuesday morning, its rays not only fell on a new LDS Church meetinghouse in Farmington but also powered it.

Featuring 158 panels mounted over about a third of the area of the soon-to-be-opened stake center's south roof, the solar power system is one of several innovative uses of energy-efficient technology in its construction processes and utility operations being tested by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Helping to unveil the first-ever solar powered LDS meetinghouse in North America to the media were two members of the church's Presiding Bishopric — Presiding Bishop H. David Burton and Bishop Richard C. Edgley, first counselor.

Solar power was installed in 2007 at a new meetinghouse in Tamotu, Tahiti.

Estimates suggest the solar panel systems should generate enough electricity to power the structure, resulting in a projected annual energy savings of $6,000.

"Today, the solar panels are the story, aren't they?" said Bishop Burton, listing the environmentally friendly contributions of other building elements, ranging from high-efficiency heating and cooling systems to landscaping designs and building layout.

Four other buildings following the prototype design are being constructed, including a second Utah meetinghouse in Eagle Mountain. The others are located in the Southwest — in Apache Junction, Ariz.; Logandale, Nev.; and Pahrump, Nev.

Crazy Liberal Hippies!

-Bob

LDS Church Encourages Caucus Attendance March 23

Church Newsroom:

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a letter early in March to be read in all Utah congregations, which encouraged Latter-day Saints to attend their local precinct caucus meetings:

On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, political parties in Utah will hold precinct caucus meetings. Precinct caucuses are the most fundamental grassroots level of political involvement. They are best served by a broad representation of Utah citizens. Those who attend play a critical role in selecting candidates.
We ask that local leaders not schedule meetings on that Tuesday evening so that members may attend a caucus meeting. The location of these meetings can be found on the Web sites of the respective political parties.
Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in the platforms of various political parties. We encourage members to attend their precinct caucus meetings.
The First Presidency has given this same admonition in the past and encouraged members of the Church to participate, with other good citizens, in the political process as part of their individual civic duty, while the Church itself remains politically neutral.

The Church's political neutrality statement (found here on Newsroom.lds.org) explains the principles the Church follows with regard to the political process:

The Church does not:

Endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.

Allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes.

Attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to. This policy applies whether or not a candidate for office is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader.

The Church does:

Encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.

Expect its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.

Request candidates for office not to imply that their candidacy or platforms are endorsed by the Church.

Reserve the right as an institution to address, in a nonpartisan way, issues that it believes have significant community or moral consequences or that directly affect the interests of the Church.

Church Statement on White Horse Prophesy

In the LDS Church, there are several cases where the members tell stories that are what I like to call "extra doctrinal" because they have been passed down from person to person and are either not true, or the "accepted" truth is far from reality.

One of these is that Joseph Smith (or Brigham Young or Bruce R McConkie) said that if a man has been home from his mission a year (or turns 25 or turns 27) he is a menace to society.

Another is that Joseph Smith said that the constitution would one day hang by a thread, and that someone from Zion would ride in on a White Horse and save it.

This "White Horse Prophesy" has been getting some media attention lately, especially from Idaho, because a candidate for Governor there has been hosting meetings where he only wants LDS Priesthood holders attending so he can discuss this prophecy. Well, that has led the church to issue the following statement:

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is politically neutral and does not endorse or promote any candidate, party or platform. Accordingly, we hope that the campaign practices of political candidates would not suggest that their candidacy is supported by or connected to the church.

"The so-called 'White Horse Prophecy' is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research and is not embraced as Church doctrine."

On, my LDS mission, I was mistaken for INS (now ICE)

So, this story about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents allegedly posing as Mormon missionaries reminded me of when I was accused of being an INS (what ICE was back then) agent.

From January through April of 1999, I was a Mormon Missionary assigned to the town of Faribault, Minnesota. My companion was from Mexico, and were were doing most of our work with the Latino community in town. Keep in mind that I didn't speak much Spanish, so it became the "Elder Guitierrez and the big, silent American" show. However, we were the top-teaching companionship in the entire mission for several weeks.

Then, suddenly, the work dropped off. And I don't mean just a little bit. It died completely. People weren't home when we came for our appointment and people weren't answering their doors for us.

After a few days of this, I noticed that when we'd pull into the trailer parks, there would be lots of people out and about, but they'd disappear by the time we got our stuff out of the car. Nobody milling about, nobody home. Just disappeared.

We had a non-practicing member of the Church who was friendly to us that agreed to ask around and see why everyone was hiding from us. Turns out that the only other minister in town that offered services in Spanish (We translated our meetings) told his churchgoers that there was no such things as the LDS Church, that it was all a front for the government, and we were spies set on deporting them.

I'm surprised that it's taken ICE this long to figure out this tactic. However, it's a horrible practice on so many fronts.

Max Hall is why I Hate Mormons

I don't hate all Mormons. Just some of them. Heck, I'm LDS.

I used to call the Utah Mormons. However, I have started to realize that the more correct term is BYU Mormon.

Don't get me wrong, there are some good people in Provo. There are also plenty of BYU Mormons attending the U. There are also plenty of BYU Mormons in other parts of the country. Many come from California.

So, just what is a BYU Mormon? Well, City Weekly's John Saltas hit the nail on the head in his column this week:

Max Hall is a “righteous, holier-than-thou BYU jerk,” according to a good LDS friend with whom I spoke this morning. “They just don’t get it,” he said. “They make us all look stupid.”

Who are “they?” They’re all those people like Max Hall who put an ugly face on the religion and institution they claim to love and represent. He’s the football-playing missionary who BYU’s preachy coach Bronco Mendenhall bargained for—delivering acidic fighting words one minute and hollow solemnities the next. Until he wises up, his original words define him.

Athletes from most schools represent their school. However, Athletes from BYU represent more. They represent the Church. Their Current Coach, Bronco Mendenhall, has made that clear.

Watch this video and see if it doesn't rile you up just a little.



If God really cared that much about Football, BYU would win every game, every year.

And, the other thing that got to me about Max's comments was when he said that Utah didn't deserve to win. Yet, it was a tie game after regulation, and Max only competed 37% of his passes.

And, classless people weren't only wearing red that day:



Stax classy, Max!

LDS Marketing FAIL

Hey, Max Hall! Your football career may be coming to an end, but looks like there may be an opening in Church Advertising for ya!

You see, the LDS Church buys a lot of advertising space, and has been increasing the amount of it they buy on the internet.

I'm sure that someone in the department that oversees web advertising spends a lot of time looking for web sites that mention the church frequently. After all, readers of those sites would surely have an interest in learning more, right?

Well, probably not always.

Like, say, a website called Queerty, which says they are "free from an agenda, except they gay one."

Oops.

-Bob

LDS Church to Issue Comment on Non-Discrimination

And, from the sounds of it, Paul Mero and company aren't gonna like it....

from KTVX:

Numerous sources are now telling ABC 4 that the LDS Church is poised to extend an olive branch of sorts to the gay community.

These sources say the Church is expected to - both through spoken and written statements - to offer its support for proposed Salt Lake City ordinances extending protection to gays in the areas of employment and housing.

Reportedly, the Church has been in quiet discussion with members of Utah's gay community.

This announcement from the Church is expected sooner rather then later.

Right-Wing Hate Speech and 3 Nephi 11

"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. " Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11:29

Glenn Beck = Mormon = Socialist

Last week, Glenn Beck ranted about "Socialist" artwork at Rockefeller Center. So, naturally, I took him to task for it. Using his same logic, I called the religion he and I share Socialist and Paganist.

The Daily Utah Progressive goes a step further, pointing out that when Glenn Beck disses Socialists, he disses his own people:

Yes, Glenn Beck is an LDS convert. But I don’t really want to focus on that. After all, that would be like tearing down half my family. I want to focus on some good things about the Mormon culture, that as a convert, are now apart of Glenn Beck’s supposed religious ideals. If he converted for the right reasons in the first place. Mr. Beck, how well do you know your LDS history? I don’t believe you know anything about them. Did you know that Deseret was a state of clustered socialist communities that worked and lived for their church. They, to this day support all of their kind who are in dire need. The LDS church has a fine history of charity and well fare system. They worked to support ALL of their members. That is by definition, Socialist; working for the good of the WHOLE. ZCMI, a famous department store in SLC for a long, long time. Until a couple years back it was sold two times and is now called macy’s. ZCMI stands for Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution. It was Americas 1st department store. Its true, look it up, ZCMI used to be known as “the people’s store”. Im not going to give you all a history lesson you can look it up here : Utah History Encyclopedia

Mr. Beck, I suggest you take it easy on the “socialist” rhetoric. Little did you know, you were actually tearing you’re own people down. You see, if you really are LDS, then you have “socialist” blood. Take time to look at your people’s history sir

Glenn Beck's Crazy Artwork Conspiracy Proves Mormonism is Comunist Paganism

(Note: I do not believe Mormonism is Communist nor Paganist. However, Glenn Beck (a fellow Mormon) does give us a pretty good argument)

In the following video clip (from Huffington Post) Glenn Beck takes a look at some artwork around Rockefeller Cneter.



In the first piece of artwork, there is art of a hammer and sickle and some wheat.

DXang those communist farmers.

But wait, there's an LDS scripture that comes to mind:

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.
2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.
3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;
4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

And an even better one, from the Book of Mormon:

Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

Dang Communists!

Oh, and then the second piece of artwork Brother Beck looks at has a strong leader leading Industry (in the form of a horse) to a bright future for the youth.

In Mormonism, we had a strong leader (Brigham Young) who lead an industrious people to a bright future where they focused on their youth.

The third piece of art proves that beating your swords into plowshares as stated in Isaiah (and second Nephi) is Communist also.

But where are the people beating their swords into plowshares? Why in XZion, established in the tops of the mountains......

But in the 4th piece of art, we learn that police beating people and armies wearing gas masks are communist also. JM Bell will be glad to know who got him in Denver last year.

And, well, if we are going to look at symbolic artwork converting the thousands that walk by it every day, let's look at all the people converted to paganism walking past that Salt Lake Temple, shall we?

-Bob

P.S. and don't get me started on the Law of Consecration....