Mormons saddle up for Bush's second coming but hope for a little humility

[Bozita]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1393627,00.html

Mormons saddle up for Bush's second coming but hope for a little humility

Religious right in Utah rein in their enthusiasm as inauguration nears

Julian Borger in Bountiful
Wednesday January 19, 2005
The Guardian

George Bush never campaigned in Utah. He did not need to. Without showing up, he won 71% of the vote here in November, the biggest majority in any state. This is the land of the faithful in more ways than one. The church of the Latter-day Saints dominates public and private life from its multi-steepled white stone temple in Salt Lake City, and its influence is spreading wider with every passing year.

The Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, believe that America was first peopled by a lost tribe of Israelites and then visited by Jesus. Now they have shrugged off their polygamous past and represent the country's fastest growing religion with more than 4 million members. Their church is bigger than some of the "mainstream" Protestant denominations including the Presbyterians and Episcopalians.

In President Bush's America, the Mormons are the mainstream and nearly 90% of them voted to re-elect him.

When Frank Pignanelli, a Salt Lake City Democrat, wrote a newspaper column before the election endorsing the Massachusetts Democrat senator John Kerry, his email intray filled with fire and brimstone. "You Democrats are the tools of Satan and are corrupting our families and children," he was told in one email.

more...

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[aquart]

2. Real nice.

Most Mormons are amazingly upright people. They have to be because their church keeps them in line. They aren't just in Utah, either.

They are tax-paying American citizens and notorious suckers for fraud.

But they are not "filth."

[MuseRider]

3. I would second that

and thank you. We may disagree but to call an entire group of people filth?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

7. Here's the list of Mormons who are Good, Clean, and Honest....

Americans who care about their country(a.k.a Democrats):

Harry Reid(Democratic Senator from Nevada)
Tom Udall(Democratic Representative from New Mexico)
David Neeleman(Founder and CEO of JetBlue Airlines)
Any Mormon who has joined to support our great causes

[Zenlitened]

12. Seems to me the poster was referring to the...

... "You Democrats are the tools of Satan and are corrupting our families and children" types.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. I'd like to mention that we do have some Mormon DU members

Some are democrats, too.

Filth? That's over the top and uncalled for.

[stanwyck]

5. Jon Krakauer's book on the Mormons

is chilling, I believe it's titled "Under the Banner of Heaven". Scary. This is religious fundamentalism which Islamic fundamentalistss would envy. Underage girls are married off to elderly relatives. If they resist, they're beaten. Polygymous families live off welfare scams. And a young Mormon bride is murdered by her in-laws because she is not deemed to be properly submissive. The law-abiding Mormons publicly distance themselves from the dark side of Mormonism, but, privately, they don't lift a finger to end the abuse, not unlike the royal Saudis and their relationship with terrorists.

[oneold1-4u]

9. It's right on

Mormons don't condone many things, at least in appearances, but they do not condemn many crimes committed, and they often support aid to get mormons and extended families off easy in the courts.

[shugah]

14. i am reading "under the banner of heaven"

and yes, it is scary! the lds distance themselves from the fundamental groups - but based on the "americanism" of the mormon religion - jesus visited america shortly after his resurrection, and the garden of eden was right here in america... well, i can see why mormonism is our most popular homegrown religion - when it started, and even more so now.

i once bought a supermarket tabloid that claimed, all in one issue, that excalibur had been found in the US, that noah's ark had been found in one of the west coast states, that atlantis was just off shore from new jersey, and of course, that batboy was going to make a run for congress.

it boggles the mind!

[Wabbajack]

6. Fasest growing religion?

It is? More Mormons than Presbyterians? That's fucking scary.

[Maple]

10. That's because

they keep baptizing dead people. Kid you not.

Found a branch of my family...staunch Presbyterians who died in the UK in the 1800's..rebaptized Mormon after their deaths.

[whistle]

8. As Bush surrounds himself in the clock of his Christian faith...

...and promoting Christianity as the official state religion, it should be also remembered that Hitler did tha same thing during his rise to power in Nazi Germany:

<snip>

_____________________________Hitler
1. One of the first actions of the Third Reich was to close down possible sources of opposition such as Trade Unions, and the halls of Organised Atheism.
2. Hitler was brought up as a Catholic, trained in a seminary during his youth.
3. An important Nazi slogan was 'Kinder, Kirche, Kueche' ( Children, Church, Kitchen).
4. The fascists promoted the Christian ethos as a promotion of their narrow view of family life - sex being for the procreation of the Aryan race - church going and anti-Semitism encouraged.
5. I quote: "Secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith . . . we need believing people." -
5) Nazis awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.
7) The belt-buckle that German soldiers wore had the words 'Gott mit uns' (God with us).
8) The record of the Catholic church and its attitude to, and action in relation to the Third Reich is murky to say the least! As was the response of Catholics and the Catholic church in other European countries, including France, and may perhaps explain the otherwise inexplicable collaboration by so many of their populations.
9) The following quotation from "Mien Kampf", Vol.1, Chapter 10, echos the rhetoric of the 'cultural warfare' of today's US Religious Right:-
"Parallel to the training of the body a struggle against the poisoning of the soul must begin. Our whole public life today is like a hothouse for sexual ideas and simulations. Just look at the bill of fare served up in our movies, vaudeville and theatres, and you will hardly be able to deny that this is not the right kind of food, particularly for the youth...Theatre, art, literature, cinema, press, posters, and window displays must be cleansed of all manifestations of our rotting world and placed in the service of a moral, political, and cultural idea."

<more> http://www.creationtheory.org/Essays/index.php?page=Hitler

[MADem]

13. Interesting thing about Hitler and religion

He made everyone state their religious preference when seeking employment. This not only gave him an easy list of Jews, it also enabled him to take a mandatory cut of every paycheck to be given directly to the religion in question, and since the churches were "on the take" they were slow to protest the immorality of many of his policies. Talk about getting in bed with the devil!

The number of "no religious preference" selections went up considerably after this policy took effect--not surprising, that.

[Kellanved]

20. well

3,5 and 6 predate the Nazis.

[mitchum]

11. They have always been crazyass motherfuckers swayed by conmen...

and nothing has changed. Maybe they should change it to the "Angel Morani"

[LeftyMom]

15. Fastest growing religion?

Well, I've heard the fastest growing religion in the US is Wicca, but whatever. :shrug: (a link: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm ) Mormons are certainly the fastest breeding religion, but even though I grew up in an area with a ton of Mormons I only met one who wasn't born to a LDS family.

Coincidentally, I think that's part of the motivation to attack birth control and deliberate childlessness by the fundies. They see that breeding like rabbits has made a potent political force out of the Mormons and they want that, as it's much easier than gaining converts and they don't have to temper what they say to avoid scaring people off.

Edit: die typos die!

[Bozita]

18. Hope to hell you're wrong

A breeding race is the last thing we need.

[AntiCoup2K4]

16. So were tools of Satan, big deal....

...after all, in Mormon theology, Jesus and Satan are brothers. So that can't be too bad, right? :evilgrin:

[fortyfeetunder]

17. That freeper got it wrong

"You Democrats are the tools of Satan and are corrupting our families and children," he was told in one email".

We are tools of Santa.

[Sean Reynolds]

19. Frank Pignanelli lost the election to the more liberal Rocky Anderson.

Just to note. Not all Utahns are Mormons, and not all Utahns are conservative. In fact, the city hasn't elected a Republican mayor since the early 1970s.

[hatrack]

21. If they want humility, then their hope is sadly misplaced

May their disappointments be rich and varied for years to come. And with the Simian Dauphin in the White House, they will.