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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Mormons and Gay Marriage During This Election Cycle

05.24.2012 · Posted in Politics

We all remember Proposition 8 in 2008.  The First Presidency of the Church ordered a letter be read to California wards to “do all you can” to ensure the proposition passed.  Arguably, it would not have passed without Mormon involvement.  Lots of members fell away from the Church during and immediately after that period. In ...

Mormons and the Beltway

05.13.2012 · Posted in Politics, Romney

Here’s a long CNN article on the growing Mormon influence in the Beltway. Pretty much an all-purpose article on the intersection of “Mormon” and “politics” from the time of Joseph Smith to now. Here’s a section that seems interesting to discuss: Mormon experts say the church’s support for a relatively strict separation of church and ...

Obama supports Gay Marriage

05.10.2012 · Posted in Politics

While many are wondering whether Obama has given Romney a “gift” by alienating some of the Democratic base (namely, conservative religious people of color), this opinion article at the Huffington Post is pretty convincing to me that the whole thing was a grand chessmaster move by the Obama campaign. They’ve already done the math, figuring ...

BBC’s This World: The Mormon Candidate

Finally, a Mormon documentary for the rest of us. Hailed by the creator of the I am an Ex Mormon video series as “my favorite video about Mormonism I have ever seen.” Part 1: Mitt Romney Part 2: Mormons Part 3: Exmormons Part 4: Prophets Part 5: Park Part 6: Pundits After I get done ...

“Religious Exemption” in Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination Law

01.02.2012 · Posted in BYU, Homosexuality, Law, Politics, Utah

I’ve been thinking about how a couple leaders of the LDS Church have vocalized how they wouldn’t mind the 2009 nondiscrimination laws in Salt Lake City (in housing and employment, on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity) be expanded across the state of Utah.  Specifically, what they’re interested in is duplicating how those ...

Mormons, Cults, and Christians

11.06.2011 · Posted in Evangelicals, Mainstreaming, Mormons, Politics, Romney

Rick Perry’s pastor, Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor at First Baptist Dallas, called Mormonism a “cult” and said Mitt Romney and other Mormons are not Christians.  If you didn’t know that already, well, you’ve been living under a rock for the last month.  My goal with this post is to tease out two issues: (1) ...

Would you vote for a Mormon for president?

10.12.2011 · Posted in anti-Mormon, Politics

An article in Slate argues that anti-Mormonism is part of the next frontier of prejudice in this country.  While the Republican presidential candidates have been quick to condemn anti-black prejudice (such as the word “Niggerhead” painted onto a rock at Perry’s family’s leased hunting camp) — because it’s easy to attack the bigotry of one’s ...

The Church’s “Political Neutrality”

09.21.2011 · Posted in Politics, Proposition 8

As we enter a new election cycle, here’s a link to the Church’s statement about the Church itself being “neutral” to matters of “party politics,” even as it encourages its membership to be responsible civic citizens and voters. The caveats are that the Church does: Request candidates for office — “not to imply that their ...

Memphis station posts four Mormon stories

1) Local Memphis TV news report mocks Mitt Romney’s Mormon beliefs (and ace reporter* Ben Ferguson reminds viewers why some folks prefer to avoid the Bible Belt). The cringe begins at 03:21: 2) Local musical director (and LDS church member) Steve Danielson offers his opinion of the Tony-winning Broadway musical. 3) 89-year old Church of ...