CNN) -- This whole push to remove Christ from the Christmas season has gotten so ridiculous that it's pathetic.
Because of all the politically correct idiots, we are being encouraged to stop saying "Merry Christmas" for the more palatable "Happy Holidays." What the heck are "Seasons Greetings"? Can someone tell me what season we are greeting folks about? A Christmas tree? Oh, no! It's now a holiday tree. Any Christmas song that even remotely mentions Christ or has a religious undertone is being axed for being overtly religious. And I'm sorry, forget X-M-A-S. Malcolm X? Yes. X replacing Christ? No.
Don't get me wrong; I'm very respectful of other religions. I don't want anyone to be afraid of discussing the Jewish faith when we address Hanukkah. And we shouldn't dismiss Muslims when the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is held during December. In fact, Americans are so ignorant of other faiths that we can all learn from one another.
But this seeming backlash against Christianity is bordering on the absurd, and we should continue to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.
I know that may sound strident, but it's true. We spend an inordinate amount of time focused on shopping and buying gifts, but really, what does any of this have to do with the birth of Jesus? We have families all over the nation killing themselves to buy a tree they can't afford, running up their credit to buy toys and other gifts, all in an effort to make someone else happy.
What if families decided to forgo gifts, and instead, used their shopping days giving back to those in need? What if more of us went into our closets, grabbed old toys and clothes, repackaged them, and provided them as gifts to those without? Instead of gorging on food, what if we used some of the dough to feed those who are in need? What if we blew off those gift cards to electronic retailers and signed up with Networkforgood.org, and gave someone a gift card to their favorite charity
Sure, I know I sound like a reincarnation of a flower child, but really, do we have to be so crass during the Christmas season?
Its time that we return to traditional values, and end this ridiculous charade. It's important that we take a fuller account of WHY we celebrate Christmas, as opposed to falling for the barrage of ads that tell us what is most important.
Parents, don't be so consumed with the notion that your children will have a terrible Christmas because the tree isn't overflowing with gifts. The true love that you show them is more important than anything else.
America might be the king of capitalism, but secularism must never become so prevalent that our religious traditions are discarded.
(Roland S. Martin is a nationally award-winning journalist and CNN contributor. Martin is studying to receive his master's degree in Christian communications at Louisiana Baptist University, and he is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith." You can read more of his columns at www.rolandsmartin.com.)
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
A Christmas pageant done ... well prefectly
It was the biggest night of the year in a little town called Cornwall. It was the night of the annual Christmas pageant. It's an especially big deal for the children in town -- they get to try out for the roles in the Christmas story. Everybody wants a part Which leads us to the problem of Harold. Harold really wanted to be in the play, too, but he was - well, he was kind of a slow and simple kid.
The directors were ambivalent - I mean, they knew Harold would be crushed if he didn't have a part, but they were afraid he might mess up the town's magic moment. Finally, they decided to cast Harold as the innkeeper - the one who turns Mary and Joseph away the night Jesus is to be born. He had only one line - "I'm sorry, we have no room." Well, no one could imagine what that one line was going to do to everyone's Christmas…The night of the pageant the church was packed, as usual.
The Christmas story unfolded according to plan - angels singing, Joseph's dream, and the trip to Bethlehem. Finally, Joseph and Mary arrived at the door of the Bethlehem inn, looking appropriately tired. Joseph knocked on the inn door, and Harold was there to open the door. Joseph asked his question on cue - "Do you have a room for the night?" Harold froze.
After a long pause, Harold mumbled his line, "I'm sorry - we have no room." And, with a little coaching, he shut the door. The directors heaved a sigh of relief - prematurely.
As Mary and Joseph disappeared into the night, the set suddenly started shaking again - and the door opened. Harold was back! And then, in an unrehearsed moment that folks would not soon forget, Harold went running after the young couple, shouting as loud as he could -- "Wait! Don't go Joseph. Bring Mary back! You can have MY room!"
Merry Christmas!
The directors were ambivalent - I mean, they knew Harold would be crushed if he didn't have a part, but they were afraid he might mess up the town's magic moment. Finally, they decided to cast Harold as the innkeeper - the one who turns Mary and Joseph away the night Jesus is to be born. He had only one line - "I'm sorry, we have no room." Well, no one could imagine what that one line was going to do to everyone's Christmas…The night of the pageant the church was packed, as usual.
The Christmas story unfolded according to plan - angels singing, Joseph's dream, and the trip to Bethlehem. Finally, Joseph and Mary arrived at the door of the Bethlehem inn, looking appropriately tired. Joseph knocked on the inn door, and Harold was there to open the door. Joseph asked his question on cue - "Do you have a room for the night?" Harold froze.
After a long pause, Harold mumbled his line, "I'm sorry - we have no room." And, with a little coaching, he shut the door. The directors heaved a sigh of relief - prematurely.
As Mary and Joseph disappeared into the night, the set suddenly started shaking again - and the door opened. Harold was back! And then, in an unrehearsed moment that folks would not soon forget, Harold went running after the young couple, shouting as loud as he could -- "Wait! Don't go Joseph. Bring Mary back! You can have MY room!"
Merry Christmas!
Friday, June 22, 2007
June 21, 2007 – Miracles Still Happen!!
(Posted with permission from a dear friends Diary)
The past week has literally been miraculous, so I decided to write down the details while I remember them clearly. The background info is that I had my last round of maintenance chemo on Tuesday, May 15th, and PET/CT scans on Wednesday, June 6th, which was supposed to verify that I had no cancer cells and that I was in full remission.
On Thursday, June 14, my husband and I went to my doctor’s office to hear the results of my PET/CT scans. I had wondered why he had us come in instead of telling us the results on the phone. Let me just say that I was surprised and my husband was absolutely stunned when the doctor said the PET scan showed that I had a tennis ball size mass on my left side by my stomach.
My doctor said he was really surprised at the test results because my blood work hadn’t indicated anything unusual and he hadn’t been able to feel anything unusual. He told us that my options and left my husband and me alone for a few minutes and then came back. We told him that I would have surgery but we didn’t know yet when. He had me fill out the paperwork I would need for surgery at that time so that whenever I decided to have the surgery, I wouldn’t have to go back to do paperwork and he gave me the prescriptions I’d need to prepare for the surgery.
Out of curiosity as we were leaving, I asked the nurse if I decided to do the surgery ASAP when my doctor would have time in his surgery schedule. She checked and said that he’d just had a cancellation for the following Monday. That took my breath away. But after going home and talking about it with several people I felt like I should take that appointment so first thing Friday morning I called and the slot was still available so I took it. I was scheduled for exploratory surgery with removal of mass on Monday June 18.
Sunday was Father’s Day. I went to another ward’s sacrament meeting instead of mine because I needed to start the bowel-cleansing procedures at noon. When I arrived I walked in with a sister I knew. She said she had heard I was having surgery and asked if I’d had a blessing. I said not yet and she said her husband would be available later if I needed him to help. I had wanted a blessing but hadn’t gotten around to asking anyone yet. I went into the chapel and sat near the door. A Counselor in our Stake Presidency was visiting and stopped and asked how I was doing. I told him okay but that I was having surgery the next day because my cancer had returned. He asked me if I was going to have a blessing for that particular surgery. I gave him a non-committal answer but knew then that I needed to just ask someone to give me a blessing.
I saw a family from my ward sitting a few rows ahead of me and asked the father he said yes. So afterward, we went into a classroom and he and his son gave me a blessing. I don’t recall all of the words but I know I was blessed that I would live, and that my doctors would have the skills needed to perform the surgery, and that God loves me and knows my circumstances. Also, I was told something to the effect that the things we suffer help us become more like God. Anyway, it was very nice and really I felt very good the entire weekend. I had so many people praying for me that I felt at peace.
Sunday afternoon was spent drinking LOTS of liquids including the yucky pre-op stuff prescribed by the doctor and eating popsicles to get rid of the bad taste; enjoying my family members that live nearby; and running to the bathroom often. I wasn’t supposed to drink anything after midnight. I went to sleep before then but my phone beeped with a wrong number at 11:52 which was great because I woke up, saw the time, drank a pint of water and went back to sleep.
Monday we got up, got ready went to the hospital at 11 a.m. Eventually the anesthesiologists came to talk to me and gave me something to start me off in my IV. I kissed my family and they went to the waiting room and I went to surgery. I was “out” before getting to the surgery room door. I sort of woke up several hours later and felt awful. At about 7:30 p.m., I woke up for real, and my husband told me the good news that I hadn’t had a mass after all and things were good. A little later I felt well enough to eat two little cups of jello.
Wednesday morning my doctor came to see me and he was all smiles. He explained in more detail what had happened with my surgery. When he opened me up and didn’t find the mass where it had showed up on the PET scan and he couldn’t find it anywhere, he left the operating room and talked to the Radiologist. They both looked at the PET and CT scans on the computer trying to figure out what the scans meant. The Radiologist said he stood by his diagnosis that what was on the PET scan was cancer. My doctor told the Radiologist that there wasn’t any visible cancer in my belly. They were baffled. They said maybe the PET scan was a false positive. My doctor said perhaps my stomach, which has an extra curve in it, had folded over on itself to make it look abnormal, but he said that still didn’t account for the fact that on the scan, part of my stomach looked normal and the other part looked cancerous. He’d wondered if the cancer was inside my stomach but he’d flattened it out and there wasn’t anything there. So he scrubbed up and went back into surgery. He completed the exploratory surgery by looking through all my folds of tissue and examining my organs and lower abdomen and taking small biopsies here and there and doing three “washes” which meant he filled my abdomen three times with saline and then drained it off and sent everything to the pathology lab to be checked for cancer cells. I told him then that I had a lot of people praying for me and I felt like THAT is what made the difference and that it was a miracle.
All I know is that the cancer was there when the scan was done, and when my doctor operated on me it was gone. I’ve always believed in miracles and now I’ve experienced one myself.
I wanted to mention that besides the Priesthood blessing, my ward members fasted and prayed for me on Sunday, and many of my friends of other faiths and family members also prayed for me. And my name was placed in several LDS Temples. Plus, today I remembered the promise made by President Ezra Taft Benson that my daughter told me about when she was a missionary at the MTC. He promised if you read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes a day, you would have miracles in your life. I’ve done that regularly since then so with all of that, all of the prayers, the Priesthood blessing and promises in my Patriarchal blessing, I believe the promises have been fulfilled and I experienced a true miracle.
The past week has literally been miraculous, so I decided to write down the details while I remember them clearly. The background info is that I had my last round of maintenance chemo on Tuesday, May 15th, and PET/CT scans on Wednesday, June 6th, which was supposed to verify that I had no cancer cells and that I was in full remission.
On Thursday, June 14, my husband and I went to my doctor’s office to hear the results of my PET/CT scans. I had wondered why he had us come in instead of telling us the results on the phone. Let me just say that I was surprised and my husband was absolutely stunned when the doctor said the PET scan showed that I had a tennis ball size mass on my left side by my stomach.
My doctor said he was really surprised at the test results because my blood work hadn’t indicated anything unusual and he hadn’t been able to feel anything unusual. He told us that my options and left my husband and me alone for a few minutes and then came back. We told him that I would have surgery but we didn’t know yet when. He had me fill out the paperwork I would need for surgery at that time so that whenever I decided to have the surgery, I wouldn’t have to go back to do paperwork and he gave me the prescriptions I’d need to prepare for the surgery.
Out of curiosity as we were leaving, I asked the nurse if I decided to do the surgery ASAP when my doctor would have time in his surgery schedule. She checked and said that he’d just had a cancellation for the following Monday. That took my breath away. But after going home and talking about it with several people I felt like I should take that appointment so first thing Friday morning I called and the slot was still available so I took it. I was scheduled for exploratory surgery with removal of mass on Monday June 18.
Sunday was Father’s Day. I went to another ward’s sacrament meeting instead of mine because I needed to start the bowel-cleansing procedures at noon. When I arrived I walked in with a sister I knew. She said she had heard I was having surgery and asked if I’d had a blessing. I said not yet and she said her husband would be available later if I needed him to help. I had wanted a blessing but hadn’t gotten around to asking anyone yet. I went into the chapel and sat near the door. A Counselor in our Stake Presidency was visiting and stopped and asked how I was doing. I told him okay but that I was having surgery the next day because my cancer had returned. He asked me if I was going to have a blessing for that particular surgery. I gave him a non-committal answer but knew then that I needed to just ask someone to give me a blessing.
I saw a family from my ward sitting a few rows ahead of me and asked the father he said yes. So afterward, we went into a classroom and he and his son gave me a blessing. I don’t recall all of the words but I know I was blessed that I would live, and that my doctors would have the skills needed to perform the surgery, and that God loves me and knows my circumstances. Also, I was told something to the effect that the things we suffer help us become more like God. Anyway, it was very nice and really I felt very good the entire weekend. I had so many people praying for me that I felt at peace.
Sunday afternoon was spent drinking LOTS of liquids including the yucky pre-op stuff prescribed by the doctor and eating popsicles to get rid of the bad taste; enjoying my family members that live nearby; and running to the bathroom often. I wasn’t supposed to drink anything after midnight. I went to sleep before then but my phone beeped with a wrong number at 11:52 which was great because I woke up, saw the time, drank a pint of water and went back to sleep.
Monday we got up, got ready went to the hospital at 11 a.m. Eventually the anesthesiologists came to talk to me and gave me something to start me off in my IV. I kissed my family and they went to the waiting room and I went to surgery. I was “out” before getting to the surgery room door. I sort of woke up several hours later and felt awful. At about 7:30 p.m., I woke up for real, and my husband told me the good news that I hadn’t had a mass after all and things were good. A little later I felt well enough to eat two little cups of jello.
Wednesday morning my doctor came to see me and he was all smiles. He explained in more detail what had happened with my surgery. When he opened me up and didn’t find the mass where it had showed up on the PET scan and he couldn’t find it anywhere, he left the operating room and talked to the Radiologist. They both looked at the PET and CT scans on the computer trying to figure out what the scans meant. The Radiologist said he stood by his diagnosis that what was on the PET scan was cancer. My doctor told the Radiologist that there wasn’t any visible cancer in my belly. They were baffled. They said maybe the PET scan was a false positive. My doctor said perhaps my stomach, which has an extra curve in it, had folded over on itself to make it look abnormal, but he said that still didn’t account for the fact that on the scan, part of my stomach looked normal and the other part looked cancerous. He’d wondered if the cancer was inside my stomach but he’d flattened it out and there wasn’t anything there. So he scrubbed up and went back into surgery. He completed the exploratory surgery by looking through all my folds of tissue and examining my organs and lower abdomen and taking small biopsies here and there and doing three “washes” which meant he filled my abdomen three times with saline and then drained it off and sent everything to the pathology lab to be checked for cancer cells. I told him then that I had a lot of people praying for me and I felt like THAT is what made the difference and that it was a miracle.
All I know is that the cancer was there when the scan was done, and when my doctor operated on me it was gone. I’ve always believed in miracles and now I’ve experienced one myself.
I wanted to mention that besides the Priesthood blessing, my ward members fasted and prayed for me on Sunday, and many of my friends of other faiths and family members also prayed for me. And my name was placed in several LDS Temples. Plus, today I remembered the promise made by President Ezra Taft Benson that my daughter told me about when she was a missionary at the MTC. He promised if you read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes a day, you would have miracles in your life. I’ve done that regularly since then so with all of that, all of the prayers, the Priesthood blessing and promises in my Patriarchal blessing, I believe the promises have been fulfilled and I experienced a true miracle.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
This may be an urban legend, but if so it's a nice one wiht a VERY good point
Will you give this to my Daddy?
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm notalone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.' The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney , bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm notalone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.' The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney , bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
Mormons
oh no not Mormons! .. but maybe they aren't as bad as you've been told?...
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/2514.html?c=4wm I know I'll be watching it.. I hope that all or any of you with the spirit of open-mindedness would too. :D
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/2514.html?c=4wm I know I'll be watching it.. I hope that all or any of you with the spirit of open-mindedness would too. :D
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Civilization Watch
This First appeared in print in The Rhinoceros Times, Greensboro, NCBy Orson Scott Card March 18, 2007
Is Mitt Romney Serious?
When I heard that Mitt Romney was actually running for President, myfirst thought was, "Is he serious?"Doesn't he know that there is zero chance of a Mormon ever being in theWhite House?
Everyone knows that Christian evangelicals hate Mormons so badly thatif they had to choose between a bribe-taking, FBI-file-stealing,relentless-lie-telling, mud-slinging former first lady, and a Mormonex-governor who doesn't lie, who's still married to his first wife, andwho supports the entire Christian evangelical agenda, they'd stillrather die than vote for a Mormon.
Being Mormon just makes Romney too easy a target. And because he'srunning, it gets all the rest of the Mormon Church smeared with thesame mud they're slinging at Mitt.It's started already.
For instance, in the issue of The Week of 17 March 2007, we get a sneer and a hatchet job disguised as journalism.While pretending to give an impartial look at Mormon beliefs and culture, they're really doing a smackdown, trying to kill Mitt Romney's candidacy with ridicule. But, being journalists, they have to pretend they're just reporting the facts. They try to leave the impression that the Mormon Church is racist, wacko, breeding like flies, and obscenely rich.
"This tithing has helped the church amass an estimated $30 billion in wealth," says TheWeek. "Mormon holdings include the biggest beef ranch in the world andthe largest producer of nuts in the U.S."
What they neglect to mention is that we have no paid clergy -- whatever
money the Mormon Church "amasses" is spent on buildings, education, and charity.
Besides, just who made that "estimate" of $30 billion? Basedon what? The value of the real estate under our meetinghouses? As to those nuts and cattle, the profits from those companies are used exclusively to help the poor, both Mormon and non-Mormon. Any mention that whenever disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the Mormon Church is one of the first ones there with food, water, and other assistance? No, I didn't think so.
The mainstream media have taken a look at Mitt Romney and, just like George W. Bush in 2000, he's the nightmare candidate for them -- the one they have to kill. Why? Because he's exactly what they most fear: A conservative who can appeal to moderates. After all, this guy won an election for governorin Massachusetts. As a Republican. He balanced an out-of-control budget -- without raising taxes. His record on civil rights -- including for homosexuals -- is unimpeachable, except for opposing judges who redefine marriage without the slightest attempt at democratic process; and yet his stances on moral issues should make him completely acceptable to the religious right. Unlike any of the leading Democratic candidates, he has actually governed something. He also saved the scandal-ridden, heading-for-bankruptcy Salt Lake Olympics.
If he won, he'd be the richest man ever to win the Presidency -- his wealth is between 500 million and a billion bucks. But he earned it all himself -- by heading a company that assembled risk capital to buy failing companies and turn them around, saving countless jobs and making his investors rich, too.
Plus, he's good-looking, and all of his kids are married, church-going people who aren't likely to cause any scandals. This is the worst nightmare the Left (which includes the mainstreammedia) can conceive of. But ... they were able to demonize George W. Bush, the last moderate Republican they had to destroy, so that by the time he won the Presidency, he had been tarred with so many lies (dumb guy; drunk; drug-taker; National Guard-slacker; hates blacks; hates the poor; wacko religious theocrat) that it's a wonder he could even recognize himself in the mirror. And if they could do that to the son of a former President, just think what they can do to a guy who's a ... a ... Mormon.
So I ask again: Is Mitt Romney serious? Doesn't he understand what the media will do to him? What they're already doing? Then along comes conservative political analyst Hugh Hewitt, writing abook called A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, and he makes it almost seem possible. Hugh Hewitt is not a Mormon. But he believes that in this political season, Mitt Romney may turn out to represent conservatives' best shot at winning the presidency. Hewitt gives us a short but interesting look at Mitt Romney's life and accomplishments. His account of Romney's role as saver of dying companies -- including his belt-tightening rescue of the very company that gave him the method of business that he always used -- makes me wish Romney were running our local government. And our state government. And the federal government. Because if anybody could figure out how to balance the budget, save Social Security, and win a war, all at the same time, he could do it.
He also tells a little bit of Romney's life as the son of former Michigan governor George Romney, who was briefly the front-runner for the Republican nomination back in 1968. What emerges is a far cry from the kind of rich-kid life that the Kennedys and Rockefellers had. George Romney started from zero, and while George had enough money to make sure Mitt got every educational opportunity, Mitt's fortune was his own accomplishment.
Mitt grew up in a real family, and he and his wife have made sure that their kids also grew up in a real family. A Mormon family. Which means that the kids went to church. They didn't smoke or drink. They did things together as a family. Took vacation trips packed into an ordinary station wagon. Each of their five sons served a mission for the Mormon Church -- two years as a volunteer, unpaid minister in a place far from home.
Mitt freely admits that when he was starting out in the consulting business, he traveled a lot, and the burden of child-rearing fell most heavily on his wife. But once he ran his own investment company, he was home a lot more, the way a Mormon father is supposed to be, if he possibly can.
Because, if you want to quote Mormon prophets, here's a quote that most Mormons try to live by: "No other success can compensate for failure inthe home."
We know from the scandal magazines how often rich families create totally messed-up kids. But it certainly seems that MittRomney's family is, by any measure, a success. But then we come to the tough part. How can a Mormon possibly be elected?
There are several basic fears about any Mormon candidate:
1. Will Salt Lake City Tell Him What To Do As President?
As Hewitt points out, that one is a no-brainer. Even if they tried, it wouldn't work, because Presidents aren't kings. They have to get the cooperation of Congress and the whole bureaucracy. If anybody ever came to believe he was a puppet controlled by religious leaders in Utah, his authority would evaporate instantly. Besides, Mitt Romney doesn't need the Mormon Church telling him how to do stuff. (As a Mormon, I kind of wish it would go the other way. I wish they'd turn the Salt Lake bureaucracy over to him for a couple of years to clear out the careerist paper-pushers who make it almost impossible for the Church to get anything done in a rational way.)
Let me go farther than that. I'm a Mormon public figure, of sorts, and I know a few others. And I'm aware of exactly how the Church hierarchy deals with public figures. A writer like me is a constant target of meddling middle-level bureaucrats who seem to think that their job in life is to afflict me for anything I write that wouldn't be appropriate to put in a Sunday school lesson. But in all the years of low-level harassment, the actual Church authorities, in Salt Lake and locally, have always stood by my right to do my job as I see fit. Government figures are more like sports figures in the way they get treated: Mid-level Mormons suck up to them mercilessly. But, once again, the higher-level authorities leave them alone to do their jobs.
Do you want proof? Look at the career of Reed Smoot. He was as reactionary a Republican Senator as you could hope to find back in theearly 1900s -- a tariff-loving protectionist. He was also not just aMormon, but a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-highest governing body in the Church. At the time, the President of the Church, Heber J. Grant, was a Democrat. Other leading Church authorities were Democrats. Nobody told Smoot how to vote in Congress. Or a more recent example: Ezra Taft Benson, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower. Benson was also one of theTwelve, but if anybody thinks he paid the slightest attention to anything the other Church leaders said to him, you don't know anything.
Even today, when the Church seems to have adopted the Republican Party as their favorite stepchild, there have been prominent Mormons who are obviously not being told how to vote or govern. My proof: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a Mormon and a Democrat, and some of the stuff he's done just makes Mormon Republicans insane. Frankly, folks, I'd be a lot more worried about George Soros telling a Democratic President how to govern than the Mormon Church trying to control a Mitt Romney presidency.
But let's suppose that the Mormon Prophet did tell Mitt Romney what to do. What would their instructions be? What do Mormons want the United States to do? Well, the most important political goal of the Mormon Church is for every nation on earth to have freedom of religion, so people can freely learn about, teach, and choose to join or leave any church. And since Mormon missionaries don't go into war zones, the Church would also appreciate it if we could avoid war when ever possible. Beyond that, the Mormon Church would like the tax exemption for religious buildings and enterprises to remain in place.The Mormon Church believes that abortion should be far less available than it is, and that marriage, as recognized by government, should be exclusively between a man and a woman.
Think about that. If Mitt Romney is elected President, and he does what the Mormon Church tells him to do, we'll have peace and freedom around the world, religions will continue to have a tax exemption, marriage will continue to mean what it has always meant unless the people vote otherwise, and the federal government wouldn't be in the business of protecting a woman's right to kill unborn babies right up to the momentof birth.There are millions of people who want that exact list of things! And they didn't even need the Mormon prophet to tell them so.
The Mormon Church doesn't tell its members whom to vote for, and doesn't tell elected officials how to do their jobs. Except that they should be honest. So I guess Bill Clinton would have had a problem. Good thing he wasn't Mormon.
2. Will Mitt Romney As President Make Mormonism Seem More Legitimate?
Well, yeah, probably. Though Mormonism is one of the fastest-growing religious denominations in the United States without Mitt's help.Will that make a difference in the number of converts to Mormonism?
Nowhere near as much difference as Donny Osmond made back in the 1970s, but sure, maybe a few more people will say to the Mormon missionaries,"Come on in, I voted for Mitt, I'll listen to you."
But it comes down to this: Mormon missionaries teach our doctrines. If people come to believe them, and manage to give up tobacco and alcohol and coffee and tea and illegal drugs, and are willing to pay a full tithe and keep all the other commandments, then they join the Mormon Church.
Mitt Romney isn't going to be giving out coupons -- "5% tithing and two smokes a day if you vote for Mitt." Mormonism is a demanding faith.Most people have to change their lives in order to live as Latter-day Saints, and some people make great sacrifices. Whatever difference having a Mormon as President of the United States might make, I can't see anybody actually becoming a Mormon because of it. And what happens when the mainstream media crucify him the way they've crucified President Bush? Won't that also work to hurt the Mormon missionary effort?
"If that clown in the White House is a Mormon, I don't want anything to do with you!" And the door slams in the missionary's face.
Or in foreign countries -- having a Mormon be President of the U.S. might make it harder for Mormon missionaries to find people willing to talk to them.
In the real world, though, it really won't make any difference to Mormon missionary work.What American Mormons want is what every other American wants: The best person available as President of the United States. If that "bestperson" happens to be a Mormon, we'd like him not to be disqualified because of his religion.
3. Mormons Aren't Christians, Are They? Aren't They a Cult?
Let me save everybody a lot of time. If by "Christian" you mean"believes in the version of God and Christ taught in the Nicene Creed,"then absolutely not.
Right from the start, the founding prophet of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, rejected that view of God as a fantasy. Of course, by our definition of "Christian theology," we're the only Christians. That's why we send out missionaries to preach to Baptists and Methodists right along with the heathens.
And let's remember that Catholics have historically had a pretty low opinion of the doctrines of Lutherans and Quakers and Presbyterians --and vice versa.
But in America, we all agree to get along. In fact, it says it right there in Article 6 of the Constitution: "No religious test shall everbe required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
We've had plenty of Presidents who weren't Christians, most prominently Thomas Jefferson. But most of them hadn't served as missionaries fortheir atheistic or deistic beliefs, either. So let's pretend that it matters. Theologically, Mormons are way outside the mainstream of Christianity. But how do Mormons actually live?
Despite the efforts of our opponents to paint us as a "cult," we don't live in communes in Guyana. We hold regular jobs. Most Mormon kids goto regular schools.We wear regular clothes. (OK, maybe a little more modest than most, butthat's a good thing, isn't it?) We don't smoke or drink or do drugs -- but that makes us safer driversand more reliable employees and better company in small closed rooms, doesn't it?
Let's forget about doctrinal religion and look at practical religion. Mormons are people who take their worship of God seriously. We really try to live by the commandments of God, as we understand them -- and they're not a bad list of commandments.
In fact, they sound kind of like what most American Christians would aspire to. Get married, be faithful to your spouse, have babies and raise them right. Don't let your life be taken over by drugs or alcohol. Hold down a job and support a family. Go to Church. Contribute to charity. Help your neighbor when he needs a hand. Be honest in your business dealings.If you think we're not Christians, fine. But we make decent neighbors and co-workers, most of the time. And since we all agree there should be no religious test to be President, then what difference can our doctrines possibly make?
In fact, when you come right down to it, can you think of any significant point on which Mormons would disagree with an ordinary conservative Christian's view of what a President ought to do? We may have different opinions about the nature of God, but we still pray to the God of the New Testament and recognize Jesus Christ as theSavior of the world, and try to obey his commandments, like any other practical Christians.
We Mormons treat President Bush's religious faith with respect and regard him as a Christian even though we think his theology is wrong; I think Methodists and Baptists and Catholics are mature and generous enough to treat a Mormon President the same way.
3a. What About Polygamy? If you're one of the unfortunate people who read Under the Banner of Heaven, you might have the impression that Mormons still practice or condone polygamy.
The opposite is true. The Mormon Church repudiated the practice of polygamy in 1890, and right now the surest, fastest way to get kickedout of the Mormon Church is to advocate polygamy. We are the mostanti-polygamous religion in the world right now.
So yes, it's in our history -- I have a lot of polygamists in myancestry. My grandmother was born into a family that practiced polygamy-- but she was born in the 1880s.
Mitt Romney has exactly one wife and he seems on track to stay married to her for his whole life. Nobody's going to catch him having affairs or flings because he doesn't do that. So, 117 years later, let's give the polygamy thing a rest, OK?
4. Only Dumb and Crazy People Believe Those Doctrines!
Ah. Here's where we come to the ugly part. This is what that article about Mormon beliefs in The Week was really about -- making Mitt Romney seem like an idiot for believing in Mormon doctrine. In his book, Hugh Hewitt recounts some really offensive, outrageous attempts by opponents of Mitt Romney to try to force him, in pressconferences, to answer questions about Mormon belief.
"Do you, personally, really believe in [insert wacko-sounding doctrinehere]?"
Sometimes the people asking that question will be evangelical Christians out to "expose" how false and ridiculous Mormon doctrines are. But when the press picks it up, it'll be anti-religious people using a man's religious faith as a reason to ridicule him so he can't beelected President. Do you think Mormons are the only people who can be treated that way?
If you're a Catholic, would you appreciate some reporter asking a Catholic presidential candidate, "Do you really believe that when you take the communion wafer, it literally turns into human flesh in yourmouth? Isn't that cannibalism?"
If you're a Baptist, would you think it was legitimate for a heckler at a press conference to ask a Baptist presidential candidate, "So you think that when Jesus comes again, you're going to just rise right up into the air, no airplane, no jet pack, you'll just fly? Or aren't youa good enough Baptist to be in the Rapture?"
Everybody's religious beliefs sound crazy when you talk about them scornfully.And that's the thing that religious Americans ought to remember. The secular, mostly atheistic power elite in our country already has control of the universities and the mainstream media. You can't send your kids to a nonreligious college without knowing that some professoris going to treat their faith with scorn and try to convert them to atheism.
Anybody with religious faith is on the same side in that little war. And if they can keep Mitt Romney from being President by making fun of his religious faith, they can keep candidates from your religion from the presidency in exactly the same way. If you let the ridicule of Mormon beliefs be a reason not to vote forMitt Romney, then you're saying that religious people who believe in God as the foundation of their morality are no longer eligible for the Presidency. By the way, it's just as easy to make fun of some of the insane, self-contradictory beliefs of politically correct atheists; but if you tried it, the mainstream media would treat atheists as victims of religious persecution. It's a sword that will only be allowed to cut one way -- once you unsheathe it, all religious people will bleed.
Article 6 is a protection for all religious people, and for non-religious people, too. A person's religious beliefs are not a subject for discussion. Is Mitt Romney the Best Candidate? I have no idea. I don't know enough about the other candidates -- or about Mitt Romney, for that matter.
Just as I hope no one will rejecthim because he's a Mormon, I am not going to support him just becausehe's a Mormon. I'm a Democrat. I would be really grateful if my party would nominate somebody who doesn't make my skin crawl just thinking of them in theWhite House (i.e., someone who isn't Hillary Clinton). I'm still looking long and hard at Barack Obama.
If there were a chance that Joe Lieberman could get the Democratic nomination, he'd be my candidate this year no matter whom the Republicans nominated. On the Republican side, I'm looking long and hard at Giuliani. McCain, on the other hand, is so volatile, so unreliable, so self-serving that despite his noble war record and his iron clad stance on the need to win the War on Terror, I would have a hard time choosing him over anybody but Hillary.
In short, I'm still making up my mind. Hugh Hewitt takes the same position. He remembers too well how candidates can self-destruct, or how strong candidates can come out of nowhere.He also knows how effective the anti-Mormon thing can be. Ted Kennedy ran an anti-Mormon campaign against Mitt Romney when Romney opposed him for the Senate a decade ago. And it worked ... that time. So Hewitt isn't saying Mitt Romney should be the Republican nominee. What he is saying is that Republicans would be six kinds of stupid if they ruled him out solely because of his religious faith.
Let me ask you Republicans who would consider yourselves moral conservatives: Would you really let a person's religious beliefs absolutely disqualify him from the Presidency? And if you're leaning that way, think about this: If it was a choicebetween a moral conservative and decent person like Mitt Romney, who happens to be a Mormon, and Hillary Clinton, would you really sit out the election rather than cast your vote for a Mormon?
Read Hugh Hewitt's book -- he does a great job of treating Mitt Romney's candidacy fairly and objectively. Since he's not a Mormon, he doesn't have any agenda for or against my church. He just wants a good conservative to win the 2008 election, and he thinks Mitt Romney should be given a fair shot to persuade voters that he's the President for ourtime.
And you might also check out a website called "Article VI Blog." Run by two guys, one a Mormon, one an evangelical, the site deals head-on withissues concerning Mitt Romney's candidacy. You can find it at:http://www.article6blog.com/
Meanwhile, I have only one bit of advice for Mitt Romney -- advice I would have given George W. Bush (and any other moral conservative), if he'd only bothered to ask me. Don't go on the Letterman show. It's enemy territory. It just gives Letterman footage to use against you for the rest of your life.
Is Mitt Romney Serious?
When I heard that Mitt Romney was actually running for President, myfirst thought was, "Is he serious?"Doesn't he know that there is zero chance of a Mormon ever being in theWhite House?
Everyone knows that Christian evangelicals hate Mormons so badly thatif they had to choose between a bribe-taking, FBI-file-stealing,relentless-lie-telling, mud-slinging former first lady, and a Mormonex-governor who doesn't lie, who's still married to his first wife, andwho supports the entire Christian evangelical agenda, they'd stillrather die than vote for a Mormon.
Being Mormon just makes Romney too easy a target. And because he'srunning, it gets all the rest of the Mormon Church smeared with thesame mud they're slinging at Mitt.It's started already.
For instance, in the issue of The Week of 17 March 2007, we get a sneer and a hatchet job disguised as journalism.While pretending to give an impartial look at Mormon beliefs and culture, they're really doing a smackdown, trying to kill Mitt Romney's candidacy with ridicule. But, being journalists, they have to pretend they're just reporting the facts. They try to leave the impression that the Mormon Church is racist, wacko, breeding like flies, and obscenely rich.
"This tithing has helped the church amass an estimated $30 billion in wealth," says TheWeek. "Mormon holdings include the biggest beef ranch in the world andthe largest producer of nuts in the U.S."
What they neglect to mention is that we have no paid clergy -- whatever
money the Mormon Church "amasses" is spent on buildings, education, and charity.
Besides, just who made that "estimate" of $30 billion? Basedon what? The value of the real estate under our meetinghouses? As to those nuts and cattle, the profits from those companies are used exclusively to help the poor, both Mormon and non-Mormon. Any mention that whenever disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the Mormon Church is one of the first ones there with food, water, and other assistance? No, I didn't think so.
The mainstream media have taken a look at Mitt Romney and, just like George W. Bush in 2000, he's the nightmare candidate for them -- the one they have to kill. Why? Because he's exactly what they most fear: A conservative who can appeal to moderates. After all, this guy won an election for governorin Massachusetts. As a Republican. He balanced an out-of-control budget -- without raising taxes. His record on civil rights -- including for homosexuals -- is unimpeachable, except for opposing judges who redefine marriage without the slightest attempt at democratic process; and yet his stances on moral issues should make him completely acceptable to the religious right. Unlike any of the leading Democratic candidates, he has actually governed something. He also saved the scandal-ridden, heading-for-bankruptcy Salt Lake Olympics.
If he won, he'd be the richest man ever to win the Presidency -- his wealth is between 500 million and a billion bucks. But he earned it all himself -- by heading a company that assembled risk capital to buy failing companies and turn them around, saving countless jobs and making his investors rich, too.
Plus, he's good-looking, and all of his kids are married, church-going people who aren't likely to cause any scandals. This is the worst nightmare the Left (which includes the mainstreammedia) can conceive of. But ... they were able to demonize George W. Bush, the last moderate Republican they had to destroy, so that by the time he won the Presidency, he had been tarred with so many lies (dumb guy; drunk; drug-taker; National Guard-slacker; hates blacks; hates the poor; wacko religious theocrat) that it's a wonder he could even recognize himself in the mirror. And if they could do that to the son of a former President, just think what they can do to a guy who's a ... a ... Mormon.
So I ask again: Is Mitt Romney serious? Doesn't he understand what the media will do to him? What they're already doing? Then along comes conservative political analyst Hugh Hewitt, writing abook called A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, and he makes it almost seem possible. Hugh Hewitt is not a Mormon. But he believes that in this political season, Mitt Romney may turn out to represent conservatives' best shot at winning the presidency. Hewitt gives us a short but interesting look at Mitt Romney's life and accomplishments. His account of Romney's role as saver of dying companies -- including his belt-tightening rescue of the very company that gave him the method of business that he always used -- makes me wish Romney were running our local government. And our state government. And the federal government. Because if anybody could figure out how to balance the budget, save Social Security, and win a war, all at the same time, he could do it.
He also tells a little bit of Romney's life as the son of former Michigan governor George Romney, who was briefly the front-runner for the Republican nomination back in 1968. What emerges is a far cry from the kind of rich-kid life that the Kennedys and Rockefellers had. George Romney started from zero, and while George had enough money to make sure Mitt got every educational opportunity, Mitt's fortune was his own accomplishment.
Mitt grew up in a real family, and he and his wife have made sure that their kids also grew up in a real family. A Mormon family. Which means that the kids went to church. They didn't smoke or drink. They did things together as a family. Took vacation trips packed into an ordinary station wagon. Each of their five sons served a mission for the Mormon Church -- two years as a volunteer, unpaid minister in a place far from home.
Mitt freely admits that when he was starting out in the consulting business, he traveled a lot, and the burden of child-rearing fell most heavily on his wife. But once he ran his own investment company, he was home a lot more, the way a Mormon father is supposed to be, if he possibly can.
Because, if you want to quote Mormon prophets, here's a quote that most Mormons try to live by: "No other success can compensate for failure inthe home."
We know from the scandal magazines how often rich families create totally messed-up kids. But it certainly seems that MittRomney's family is, by any measure, a success. But then we come to the tough part. How can a Mormon possibly be elected?
There are several basic fears about any Mormon candidate:
1. Will Salt Lake City Tell Him What To Do As President?
As Hewitt points out, that one is a no-brainer. Even if they tried, it wouldn't work, because Presidents aren't kings. They have to get the cooperation of Congress and the whole bureaucracy. If anybody ever came to believe he was a puppet controlled by religious leaders in Utah, his authority would evaporate instantly. Besides, Mitt Romney doesn't need the Mormon Church telling him how to do stuff. (As a Mormon, I kind of wish it would go the other way. I wish they'd turn the Salt Lake bureaucracy over to him for a couple of years to clear out the careerist paper-pushers who make it almost impossible for the Church to get anything done in a rational way.)
Let me go farther than that. I'm a Mormon public figure, of sorts, and I know a few others. And I'm aware of exactly how the Church hierarchy deals with public figures. A writer like me is a constant target of meddling middle-level bureaucrats who seem to think that their job in life is to afflict me for anything I write that wouldn't be appropriate to put in a Sunday school lesson. But in all the years of low-level harassment, the actual Church authorities, in Salt Lake and locally, have always stood by my right to do my job as I see fit. Government figures are more like sports figures in the way they get treated: Mid-level Mormons suck up to them mercilessly. But, once again, the higher-level authorities leave them alone to do their jobs.
Do you want proof? Look at the career of Reed Smoot. He was as reactionary a Republican Senator as you could hope to find back in theearly 1900s -- a tariff-loving protectionist. He was also not just aMormon, but a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-highest governing body in the Church. At the time, the President of the Church, Heber J. Grant, was a Democrat. Other leading Church authorities were Democrats. Nobody told Smoot how to vote in Congress. Or a more recent example: Ezra Taft Benson, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower. Benson was also one of theTwelve, but if anybody thinks he paid the slightest attention to anything the other Church leaders said to him, you don't know anything.
Even today, when the Church seems to have adopted the Republican Party as their favorite stepchild, there have been prominent Mormons who are obviously not being told how to vote or govern. My proof: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a Mormon and a Democrat, and some of the stuff he's done just makes Mormon Republicans insane. Frankly, folks, I'd be a lot more worried about George Soros telling a Democratic President how to govern than the Mormon Church trying to control a Mitt Romney presidency.
But let's suppose that the Mormon Prophet did tell Mitt Romney what to do. What would their instructions be? What do Mormons want the United States to do? Well, the most important political goal of the Mormon Church is for every nation on earth to have freedom of religion, so people can freely learn about, teach, and choose to join or leave any church. And since Mormon missionaries don't go into war zones, the Church would also appreciate it if we could avoid war when ever possible. Beyond that, the Mormon Church would like the tax exemption for religious buildings and enterprises to remain in place.The Mormon Church believes that abortion should be far less available than it is, and that marriage, as recognized by government, should be exclusively between a man and a woman.
Think about that. If Mitt Romney is elected President, and he does what the Mormon Church tells him to do, we'll have peace and freedom around the world, religions will continue to have a tax exemption, marriage will continue to mean what it has always meant unless the people vote otherwise, and the federal government wouldn't be in the business of protecting a woman's right to kill unborn babies right up to the momentof birth.There are millions of people who want that exact list of things! And they didn't even need the Mormon prophet to tell them so.
The Mormon Church doesn't tell its members whom to vote for, and doesn't tell elected officials how to do their jobs. Except that they should be honest. So I guess Bill Clinton would have had a problem. Good thing he wasn't Mormon.
2. Will Mitt Romney As President Make Mormonism Seem More Legitimate?
Well, yeah, probably. Though Mormonism is one of the fastest-growing religious denominations in the United States without Mitt's help.Will that make a difference in the number of converts to Mormonism?
Nowhere near as much difference as Donny Osmond made back in the 1970s, but sure, maybe a few more people will say to the Mormon missionaries,"Come on in, I voted for Mitt, I'll listen to you."
But it comes down to this: Mormon missionaries teach our doctrines. If people come to believe them, and manage to give up tobacco and alcohol and coffee and tea and illegal drugs, and are willing to pay a full tithe and keep all the other commandments, then they join the Mormon Church.
Mitt Romney isn't going to be giving out coupons -- "5% tithing and two smokes a day if you vote for Mitt." Mormonism is a demanding faith.Most people have to change their lives in order to live as Latter-day Saints, and some people make great sacrifices. Whatever difference having a Mormon as President of the United States might make, I can't see anybody actually becoming a Mormon because of it. And what happens when the mainstream media crucify him the way they've crucified President Bush? Won't that also work to hurt the Mormon missionary effort?
"If that clown in the White House is a Mormon, I don't want anything to do with you!" And the door slams in the missionary's face.
Or in foreign countries -- having a Mormon be President of the U.S. might make it harder for Mormon missionaries to find people willing to talk to them.
In the real world, though, it really won't make any difference to Mormon missionary work.What American Mormons want is what every other American wants: The best person available as President of the United States. If that "bestperson" happens to be a Mormon, we'd like him not to be disqualified because of his religion.
3. Mormons Aren't Christians, Are They? Aren't They a Cult?
Let me save everybody a lot of time. If by "Christian" you mean"believes in the version of God and Christ taught in the Nicene Creed,"then absolutely not.
Right from the start, the founding prophet of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, rejected that view of God as a fantasy. Of course, by our definition of "Christian theology," we're the only Christians. That's why we send out missionaries to preach to Baptists and Methodists right along with the heathens.
And let's remember that Catholics have historically had a pretty low opinion of the doctrines of Lutherans and Quakers and Presbyterians --and vice versa.
But in America, we all agree to get along. In fact, it says it right there in Article 6 of the Constitution: "No religious test shall everbe required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
We've had plenty of Presidents who weren't Christians, most prominently Thomas Jefferson. But most of them hadn't served as missionaries fortheir atheistic or deistic beliefs, either. So let's pretend that it matters. Theologically, Mormons are way outside the mainstream of Christianity. But how do Mormons actually live?
Despite the efforts of our opponents to paint us as a "cult," we don't live in communes in Guyana. We hold regular jobs. Most Mormon kids goto regular schools.We wear regular clothes. (OK, maybe a little more modest than most, butthat's a good thing, isn't it?) We don't smoke or drink or do drugs -- but that makes us safer driversand more reliable employees and better company in small closed rooms, doesn't it?
Let's forget about doctrinal religion and look at practical religion. Mormons are people who take their worship of God seriously. We really try to live by the commandments of God, as we understand them -- and they're not a bad list of commandments.
In fact, they sound kind of like what most American Christians would aspire to. Get married, be faithful to your spouse, have babies and raise them right. Don't let your life be taken over by drugs or alcohol. Hold down a job and support a family. Go to Church. Contribute to charity. Help your neighbor when he needs a hand. Be honest in your business dealings.If you think we're not Christians, fine. But we make decent neighbors and co-workers, most of the time. And since we all agree there should be no religious test to be President, then what difference can our doctrines possibly make?
In fact, when you come right down to it, can you think of any significant point on which Mormons would disagree with an ordinary conservative Christian's view of what a President ought to do? We may have different opinions about the nature of God, but we still pray to the God of the New Testament and recognize Jesus Christ as theSavior of the world, and try to obey his commandments, like any other practical Christians.
We Mormons treat President Bush's religious faith with respect and regard him as a Christian even though we think his theology is wrong; I think Methodists and Baptists and Catholics are mature and generous enough to treat a Mormon President the same way.
3a. What About Polygamy? If you're one of the unfortunate people who read Under the Banner of Heaven, you might have the impression that Mormons still practice or condone polygamy.
The opposite is true. The Mormon Church repudiated the practice of polygamy in 1890, and right now the surest, fastest way to get kickedout of the Mormon Church is to advocate polygamy. We are the mostanti-polygamous religion in the world right now.
So yes, it's in our history -- I have a lot of polygamists in myancestry. My grandmother was born into a family that practiced polygamy-- but she was born in the 1880s.
Mitt Romney has exactly one wife and he seems on track to stay married to her for his whole life. Nobody's going to catch him having affairs or flings because he doesn't do that. So, 117 years later, let's give the polygamy thing a rest, OK?
4. Only Dumb and Crazy People Believe Those Doctrines!
Ah. Here's where we come to the ugly part. This is what that article about Mormon beliefs in The Week was really about -- making Mitt Romney seem like an idiot for believing in Mormon doctrine. In his book, Hugh Hewitt recounts some really offensive, outrageous attempts by opponents of Mitt Romney to try to force him, in pressconferences, to answer questions about Mormon belief.
"Do you, personally, really believe in [insert wacko-sounding doctrinehere]?"
Sometimes the people asking that question will be evangelical Christians out to "expose" how false and ridiculous Mormon doctrines are. But when the press picks it up, it'll be anti-religious people using a man's religious faith as a reason to ridicule him so he can't beelected President. Do you think Mormons are the only people who can be treated that way?
If you're a Catholic, would you appreciate some reporter asking a Catholic presidential candidate, "Do you really believe that when you take the communion wafer, it literally turns into human flesh in yourmouth? Isn't that cannibalism?"
If you're a Baptist, would you think it was legitimate for a heckler at a press conference to ask a Baptist presidential candidate, "So you think that when Jesus comes again, you're going to just rise right up into the air, no airplane, no jet pack, you'll just fly? Or aren't youa good enough Baptist to be in the Rapture?"
Everybody's religious beliefs sound crazy when you talk about them scornfully.And that's the thing that religious Americans ought to remember. The secular, mostly atheistic power elite in our country already has control of the universities and the mainstream media. You can't send your kids to a nonreligious college without knowing that some professoris going to treat their faith with scorn and try to convert them to atheism.
Anybody with religious faith is on the same side in that little war. And if they can keep Mitt Romney from being President by making fun of his religious faith, they can keep candidates from your religion from the presidency in exactly the same way. If you let the ridicule of Mormon beliefs be a reason not to vote forMitt Romney, then you're saying that religious people who believe in God as the foundation of their morality are no longer eligible for the Presidency. By the way, it's just as easy to make fun of some of the insane, self-contradictory beliefs of politically correct atheists; but if you tried it, the mainstream media would treat atheists as victims of religious persecution. It's a sword that will only be allowed to cut one way -- once you unsheathe it, all religious people will bleed.
Article 6 is a protection for all religious people, and for non-religious people, too. A person's religious beliefs are not a subject for discussion. Is Mitt Romney the Best Candidate? I have no idea. I don't know enough about the other candidates -- or about Mitt Romney, for that matter.
Just as I hope no one will rejecthim because he's a Mormon, I am not going to support him just becausehe's a Mormon. I'm a Democrat. I would be really grateful if my party would nominate somebody who doesn't make my skin crawl just thinking of them in theWhite House (i.e., someone who isn't Hillary Clinton). I'm still looking long and hard at Barack Obama.
If there were a chance that Joe Lieberman could get the Democratic nomination, he'd be my candidate this year no matter whom the Republicans nominated. On the Republican side, I'm looking long and hard at Giuliani. McCain, on the other hand, is so volatile, so unreliable, so self-serving that despite his noble war record and his iron clad stance on the need to win the War on Terror, I would have a hard time choosing him over anybody but Hillary.
In short, I'm still making up my mind. Hugh Hewitt takes the same position. He remembers too well how candidates can self-destruct, or how strong candidates can come out of nowhere.He also knows how effective the anti-Mormon thing can be. Ted Kennedy ran an anti-Mormon campaign against Mitt Romney when Romney opposed him for the Senate a decade ago. And it worked ... that time. So Hewitt isn't saying Mitt Romney should be the Republican nominee. What he is saying is that Republicans would be six kinds of stupid if they ruled him out solely because of his religious faith.
Let me ask you Republicans who would consider yourselves moral conservatives: Would you really let a person's religious beliefs absolutely disqualify him from the Presidency? And if you're leaning that way, think about this: If it was a choicebetween a moral conservative and decent person like Mitt Romney, who happens to be a Mormon, and Hillary Clinton, would you really sit out the election rather than cast your vote for a Mormon?
Read Hugh Hewitt's book -- he does a great job of treating Mitt Romney's candidacy fairly and objectively. Since he's not a Mormon, he doesn't have any agenda for or against my church. He just wants a good conservative to win the 2008 election, and he thinks Mitt Romney should be given a fair shot to persuade voters that he's the President for ourtime.
And you might also check out a website called "Article VI Blog." Run by two guys, one a Mormon, one an evangelical, the site deals head-on withissues concerning Mitt Romney's candidacy. You can find it at:http://www.article6blog.com/
Meanwhile, I have only one bit of advice for Mitt Romney -- advice I would have given George W. Bush (and any other moral conservative), if he'd only bothered to ask me. Don't go on the Letterman show. It's enemy territory. It just gives Letterman footage to use against you for the rest of your life.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Let go of the rope
I recall a ficticious story of a Climber who in his pride went alone to climb a 'claimed' impassable peak. He did reach the top and rejoiced to himself of his accomplishment, but on the way down the mountain in the fading light he slipped and fell a far way in the dark. The rope caught, stopped his fall, and I would think broke his back in the process. When the Climber came again to his sense he realized that it was freezing and pitch black. All he knew was the rope was still around him, his body was freezing, and he was going to die. In his perdicament he cried out to God saying "How can you do this to me, God, after I accomplished this wonderful personal triumph only to now put me in a situation where I'll not be able to tell anyone about it?!"
All the sudden a voice cried out "I didn't put you in this situation you should have brought with you a partner to climb. None the less I can save you, but you need to cut the rope."
The climber was startled that there was an answer but in thinking over the answer 'cut the rope' he rationalized 'No I'd rather hold onto my rope as I can't see the ground from here in this darkness' and so he held on.
The story ends with some hikers going along the bottom trail of the 'impassible' mountain and finding the frozen corpse of a man hanging from a rope 20 feet above the ground.
cool story huh? ok now for the actual let go of the rope link.... it's a different story and it's actually for people who are addicted to Pornagraphy or someone that knows of someone that is, but in all truth you can put ANY mortal problem in place of the word "pornagraphy" here... IE smoking (yes smoking in truth), over eating, afraid to go on dates because of the way you perceive others think about you, etc... http://byubroadcasting.org/secrets/transcript/moody_transcript_2003.htm
All the sudden a voice cried out "I didn't put you in this situation you should have brought with you a partner to climb. None the less I can save you, but you need to cut the rope."
The climber was startled that there was an answer but in thinking over the answer 'cut the rope' he rationalized 'No I'd rather hold onto my rope as I can't see the ground from here in this darkness' and so he held on.
The story ends with some hikers going along the bottom trail of the 'impassible' mountain and finding the frozen corpse of a man hanging from a rope 20 feet above the ground.
cool story huh? ok now for the actual let go of the rope link.... it's a different story and it's actually for people who are addicted to Pornagraphy or someone that knows of someone that is, but in all truth you can put ANY mortal problem in place of the word "pornagraphy" here... IE smoking (yes smoking in truth), over eating, afraid to go on dates because of the way you perceive others think about you, etc... http://byubroadcasting.org/secrets/transcript/moody_transcript_2003.htm
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Tell me it isn't true!
(This is copywrited so I guess I'll let the owners sue me over it if they want to ... ;)
Anthony Atkins, “Tell Me It Isn’t True,” Ensign, Feb 2007, 9–11
Some life-changing days take you by surprise. April 19, 2003, was one such day for me. I was working as a chaplain for the Church of England in South Yorkshire and was happy in my work. I had been a priest for nearly 14 years and imagined I would remain so until I died.
It was the day before Easter Sunday, and since we did not have special services in the chapel of the hospital where I worked, I went to the local parish church. During the service, two Latter-day Saint missionaries entered the building. It was obvious that they were missionaries because of their haircuts, suits, and badges. I knew no one would speak to them after the service, as many Christians in England view Latter-day Saints with a great deal of suspicion. But I wondered why they had come to the service, and I wanted to let them know what true Christianity was like.
I chatted with them for a while, and they told me a little about their beliefs. As the conversation came to an end, Elder Spencer said they would like to visit with me again and teach me more. I agreed, thinking that an hour spent with me was one less hour they could spend with some unfortunate person who might be taken in by their misguided ideas.
“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them”
The following Thursday, the elders met with me as planned. They taught me about the Savior, and I knew it was the same Jesus I had loved all my life. The phrase “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) went round in my head. I could not find fault with anything they said.
They gave me a Book of Mormon and asked me to pray about Moroni’s promise (see Moroni 10:4). I agreed. To my surprise, I also agreed to a return appointment, even though that was not part of my plan.
From that day forward I began to read the Book of Mormon. I felt guilty doing so. For every page I read, I also read a page from the Bible to offset it. As promised, I did pray about the book, but I asked Heavenly Father to reveal to me that it wasn’t true. I did not receive that answer. I found the Book of Mormon to be a deeply spiritual book that testified of the Savior. Yet I struggled with many of the book’s teachings, as well as the belief that there are prophets today and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
Elder Spencer and Elder Stefan continued to teach me. I asked them many questions, and I felt the Spirit as they taught, although I did not recognize it at the time. I enjoyed their visits but thought it was because they were nice people. It was humbling to be taught eternal truths by two 20-year-olds. They had spent three weeks in the Missionary Training Center, and I had spent three years in theological college. But Heavenly Father had prepared Elder Spencer to love the Bible and to use it, along with the Book of Mormon, to teach me. Still, I was resistant to the message of the restored gospel. If it was true, I would lose my job, my house, and many friends.
What also made it difficult was that the Savior was already part of my life. It is hard to see the light when one is already in the light. I needed to be sure. I had good days, and I had bad days when I wished I had never met the elders. But even though I did not yet have a testimony of the Restoration, I could not stop reading the Book of Mormon.
As I continued to read the Bible, it supported all the elders had taught me. What they taught challenged many of my beliefs but also confirmed many others and clarified some of my beliefs that I had not fully understood.
“The Lord Is on Thy Side”
This was a challenging time for me. Facing such huge changes was not easy, but I knew Heavenly Father had taken care of me before and would continue to do so. The words of the hymn “Be Still, My Soul” became special to me:
Be still, my soul:
The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev’ry change he faithful will remain. …
Be still, my soul:
Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past.1
I had planned to spend some time at a monastery in France, but due to a train strike I was unable to go.
I was disappointed, as I thought that was where I would get the answer to my searching. I decided to have a spiritual day in one of my favorite places in the countryside. After lunch I was driving and listening to a general conference talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley called “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith.” It ends with an invitation to those willing to listen to the message of the Church: “To these we say in a spirit of love, bring with you all that you have of good and truth which you have received from whatever source, and come and let us see if we may add to it.”2 At this point my heart began to pound, and I felt ill.
I parked the car and stood outside till the feelings subsided. I felt impelled to walk down a country lane. There was nowhere to sit other than on a gatepost, but I knew that was where I should stay. I opened my Bible and there saw the account of the Apostasy in Thessalonians (see 2 Thessalonians 2). I tried again and got Peter’s account (see 2 Peter 2). This was not what I wanted, so I read from the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon.
As I read, I noticed a small, algae-covered pond across the road. A cow came and began to drink from it. It seemed as though an inner voice were telling me that the pond was like my present beliefs, which gave me sustenance, but they were not the springs of living water the Savior was now offering me. I looked up and saw hang gliders soaring in the sky above me, and I sensed that the Lord was offering to take me to a higher place.
I began to suspect that the Church was indeed true. Two days after this experience in the country, I attended my first baptism. The Spirit was so strong that it was the greatest spiritual experience I had ever had. My tears flowed. I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to leave, but I had given a ride to the elders, so I had to stay.
Even after all this, the thought of leaving my job and my home was almost too much to contemplate. I visited a ward where I was introduced to a friend who helped me explore possible careers. After much prayer and reflection I eventually settled on seeking training as a social worker, and I obtained a place at a university.
A New Life
Finally I ended my service as a priest and went off into the unknown. I moved into a new flat and started at the university. I entered the waters of baptism and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the greatest day of my life. Words can never describe what an amazing occasion it was.
I have since been ordained to the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and have received my endowment in the temple.
I know the Lord’s Church has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that it has the true priesthood authority. I love the missionaries of the Church for the work they do. I am eternally grateful for all those who taught me and who did not give up on me, knowing what was in my heart even when I did not know myself.
HERE
Anthony Atkins, “Tell Me It Isn’t True,” Ensign, Feb 2007, 9–11
Some life-changing days take you by surprise. April 19, 2003, was one such day for me. I was working as a chaplain for the Church of England in South Yorkshire and was happy in my work. I had been a priest for nearly 14 years and imagined I would remain so until I died.
It was the day before Easter Sunday, and since we did not have special services in the chapel of the hospital where I worked, I went to the local parish church. During the service, two Latter-day Saint missionaries entered the building. It was obvious that they were missionaries because of their haircuts, suits, and badges. I knew no one would speak to them after the service, as many Christians in England view Latter-day Saints with a great deal of suspicion. But I wondered why they had come to the service, and I wanted to let them know what true Christianity was like.
I chatted with them for a while, and they told me a little about their beliefs. As the conversation came to an end, Elder Spencer said they would like to visit with me again and teach me more. I agreed, thinking that an hour spent with me was one less hour they could spend with some unfortunate person who might be taken in by their misguided ideas.
“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them”
The following Thursday, the elders met with me as planned. They taught me about the Savior, and I knew it was the same Jesus I had loved all my life. The phrase “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) went round in my head. I could not find fault with anything they said.
They gave me a Book of Mormon and asked me to pray about Moroni’s promise (see Moroni 10:4). I agreed. To my surprise, I also agreed to a return appointment, even though that was not part of my plan.
From that day forward I began to read the Book of Mormon. I felt guilty doing so. For every page I read, I also read a page from the Bible to offset it. As promised, I did pray about the book, but I asked Heavenly Father to reveal to me that it wasn’t true. I did not receive that answer. I found the Book of Mormon to be a deeply spiritual book that testified of the Savior. Yet I struggled with many of the book’s teachings, as well as the belief that there are prophets today and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
Elder Spencer and Elder Stefan continued to teach me. I asked them many questions, and I felt the Spirit as they taught, although I did not recognize it at the time. I enjoyed their visits but thought it was because they were nice people. It was humbling to be taught eternal truths by two 20-year-olds. They had spent three weeks in the Missionary Training Center, and I had spent three years in theological college. But Heavenly Father had prepared Elder Spencer to love the Bible and to use it, along with the Book of Mormon, to teach me. Still, I was resistant to the message of the restored gospel. If it was true, I would lose my job, my house, and many friends.
What also made it difficult was that the Savior was already part of my life. It is hard to see the light when one is already in the light. I needed to be sure. I had good days, and I had bad days when I wished I had never met the elders. But even though I did not yet have a testimony of the Restoration, I could not stop reading the Book of Mormon.
As I continued to read the Bible, it supported all the elders had taught me. What they taught challenged many of my beliefs but also confirmed many others and clarified some of my beliefs that I had not fully understood.
“The Lord Is on Thy Side”
This was a challenging time for me. Facing such huge changes was not easy, but I knew Heavenly Father had taken care of me before and would continue to do so. The words of the hymn “Be Still, My Soul” became special to me:
Be still, my soul:
The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev’ry change he faithful will remain. …
Be still, my soul:
Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past.1
I had planned to spend some time at a monastery in France, but due to a train strike I was unable to go.
I was disappointed, as I thought that was where I would get the answer to my searching. I decided to have a spiritual day in one of my favorite places in the countryside. After lunch I was driving and listening to a general conference talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley called “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith.” It ends with an invitation to those willing to listen to the message of the Church: “To these we say in a spirit of love, bring with you all that you have of good and truth which you have received from whatever source, and come and let us see if we may add to it.”2 At this point my heart began to pound, and I felt ill.
I parked the car and stood outside till the feelings subsided. I felt impelled to walk down a country lane. There was nowhere to sit other than on a gatepost, but I knew that was where I should stay. I opened my Bible and there saw the account of the Apostasy in Thessalonians (see 2 Thessalonians 2). I tried again and got Peter’s account (see 2 Peter 2). This was not what I wanted, so I read from the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon.
As I read, I noticed a small, algae-covered pond across the road. A cow came and began to drink from it. It seemed as though an inner voice were telling me that the pond was like my present beliefs, which gave me sustenance, but they were not the springs of living water the Savior was now offering me. I looked up and saw hang gliders soaring in the sky above me, and I sensed that the Lord was offering to take me to a higher place.
I began to suspect that the Church was indeed true. Two days after this experience in the country, I attended my first baptism. The Spirit was so strong that it was the greatest spiritual experience I had ever had. My tears flowed. I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to leave, but I had given a ride to the elders, so I had to stay.
Even after all this, the thought of leaving my job and my home was almost too much to contemplate. I visited a ward where I was introduced to a friend who helped me explore possible careers. After much prayer and reflection I eventually settled on seeking training as a social worker, and I obtained a place at a university.
A New Life
Finally I ended my service as a priest and went off into the unknown. I moved into a new flat and started at the university. I entered the waters of baptism and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the greatest day of my life. Words can never describe what an amazing occasion it was.
I have since been ordained to the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods and have received my endowment in the temple.
I know the Lord’s Church has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that it has the true priesthood authority. I love the missionaries of the Church for the work they do. I am eternally grateful for all those who taught me and who did not give up on me, knowing what was in my heart even when I did not know myself.
HERE
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