Child Protective Services & The FLDS

An appeals court here in Texas has ruled that Child Protective Services had no right to seize hundreds of children from the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Details should be breaking soon.

What do you think?

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Islamic Jesus Hits Iranian Movie Screens

I am alway amazed at how Muslims and Mormons think that Christians will be pleased to see the "common ground" between these faiths. They do not seem to understand that the identity of Christ is the most important element in Christian theology and that both Islam and Mormonism attack Christianity at its core by redefining Jesus Christ.

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Romney Believes He Would Have Won Iowa If He Was A Baptist Preacher Instead Of A Mormon Bishop

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Religion And Secularism: The American Experience

The Pew Forum invited Wilfred McClay, a distinguished professor of intellectual history, to speak on the historical relationship between religion and secularism in America. McClay argued for a distinction between two types of secularism.

Political secularism, he says, recognizes the legitimacy and even moral necessity of religious faith, while preventing any one faith from being established. Philosophical secularism, on the other hand, views religion more negatively and attempts to establish a common unbelief as a basis for government. McClay contends that the first understanding of secularism was at the heart of the founders’ vision and has resulted in a unique if imperfect mingling of religion and government in American public life.



For a transcript of Wilfred McClay's presentation CLICK HERE.

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Is Mormonism Christian?

Why Christians Won't Vote for Mit Romney

Contact: Rev. CJ Conner, 651-373-9137

MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Mit Romney has enjoyed somewhat of a surge both in the polls and in popularity after his historic address on his Mormon faith.

Afterwards, Romney operatives were quick to take to the airwaves in a defense of Mormonism. The message driven home by hosts like Sean Hannity and Michael Medved was that Mormons are Christians too.

The only problem is, Mormons have far more in common with Muslims.

Mormons believe that Joseph Smith is the last chief prophet of God in the end times, come to restore the "true faith." Muslims believe that Mohammed is the last prophet.

Mormons believe that when you die, you get your own world, over which you reign as its god. Muslims believe that when you die, particularly in martyrdom, you get 72 virgins.

Mormons believe that Jesus was merely a spirit child, no more a son of God than any other Mormon believer. Likewise, to Muslims, Jesus was merely a prophet, lesser than Mohammed.

Joseph Smith espoused polygamy. Mohammed espoused polygamy.

The Mormon writings of Joseph Smith have been shown to be fraught with misquotes of the Judeo-Christian scriptures and history. The Koran is also full of similar mistakes, sharing with Mormonism an inherent ignorance of the faiths it claims to be built upon.

So why would any of this matter?

There's something altogether too slick about Mit Romney, something about him that is too rehearsed. Some have even called him phony.

Romney says that he has "evolved" politically, in some cases just in time for this presidential election. From gay marriage, to government run healthcare, unfettered access to abortion, and porous borders, Romney has worked hard to convince the nation that his positions today are solidly conservative. He has courted the evangelical vote with the promise that he shares their political priorities. After all, his campaign insists, he's a Christian just like them.

The truth is, he isn't.

You see, conservative Christians have no problem at all voting for a Mormon, but not for a man who would deceive a nation by telling us that Mormons are Christians too.

And if a candidate and his campaign can work so deftly to deceive us on matters as important as faith, in what other ways is he willing to pull the wool over our eyes?

Rev. CJ Conner is author of Jesus and the Culture Wars: Reclaiming the Lord's Prayer.

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Quote Of The Day

"Mitt Romney's problem isn't Mormonism, it is phonyism." Howard Fineman, on Hardball

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Republicans Don't Want A Phony

An excerpt from Daniel Alcott's article "Romney, Get Real About Your Abortion Record":

In a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, only 13 percent of Republican voters felt Romney’s faith made them less likely to vote for him, while 10 percent said it made them more likely to vote for him, and 73 said it made no difference.

Meanwhile, when Republican voters were asked which of the top-tier GOP presidential candidates were the “best at saying what they believe, rather than just saying what they think voters want to hear,” Romney came in dead last, with just 8 percent of the vote.

Click Here to read more...

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Mitt Romney's Abysmal Judicial Nominations

An excerpt from an article by Manuel Miranda:

Mitt Romney's record in Massachusetts on judicial nominations is abysmal. His conduct was either an abdication of duty or a complete disregard of the importance of a governor's role in that state's nominations process. By contrast, Governor Huckabee not only left the Arkansas judiciary better than he found it, but he also vigorously supported the President's Arkansas nominees to the federal bench. Excellent nominees, like Leon Holmes who Democrats obstructed for years. As soon as Holmes was confirmed, colleagues elected him Chief Judge.

You and I know the importance of the judge issue. As Senator Jeff Sessions once told me, "Nobody polls on it, but its what everyone wants to talk about."

We need to make sure that Republican president understands this issue without wavering and without any populist tendencies. Mitt Romney is not that man, I
believe Mike Huckabee is someone who can be trusted on the judicial nominations.

First, Mike Huckabee has been unwavering on his understanding of abortion as the defining public policy issue of our generation. Mitt Romney's record is not similarly comforting. Mr. Romney defends his former pro-abortion choice position (and presumably his wife's donation to Planned Parenthood) by reminding us that President Reagan and George H. W. Bush were also converts to the pro-life cause. I reject the comparison.

Like many Americans between 1973 and 1980, Reagan and Bush came late to understanding what Roe vs..Wade had wrought. Even the Southern Baptist Convention initially supported abortion rights. Not Mike Huckabee.

Unlike Reagan and Bush, it took more than thirty years of public debate throughout his adult life for Mitt Romney to reach the right conclusion about abortion. If even President George W. Bush could falter in understanding his mandate, I cannot trust Mitt Romney's judgment.

Romney reminds me too much of Orrin Hatch but not because the two are Mormons. Hatch was a liberal Democrat when he lived in Pittsburgh, but when he moved to Utah he ran as a conservative. Paul Weyrich has reminded us that just a few days after his election, Hatch was running away from the conservative label, until Reagan made it safely popular to be one.

Second, unlike Mr. Huckabee, Mr. Romney has shown no courage or diligence in judicial nominations. Mr. Huckabee would not need on the job training. He will need no guidance in connecting the dots between the federal judiciary and all of the most defining issues of our public policy discourse since prayer-in-the-schools or even before that Dredd Scott.

Click Here to read more...

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What's Wrong With This Video?

Well, for starters, George Romney never marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. How many lies does Mitt Romney have to get caught in before Republicans wake up and smell the decaffeinated coffee?

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Mitt Romney, Like His Father, Did NOT March With Martin Luther King, Jr.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

Mitt Romney was 31 years old in 1978.

From the Wall Street Journal:

In an "Official Declaration" issued on June 8, 1978, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extended "priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the Church." The church announced that a "revelation had been received" by its then-president Spencer Kimball. Until then, Mormonism was a defiantly apartheid faith that denied blacks full participation based on doctrinal beliefs that whites are "pure" and "delightsome," while black-skinned people are "unrighteous," "despised" and "loathsome" descendants of the biblical Cain, who was cursed for killing Abel.

By 1978, the U.S. was more than a century removed from a civil war over the status of blacks; W.E.B. Du Bois and Henry Moskowitz had co-founded the NAACP; and President Truman had integrated the military three decades before.

By 1978, Plessy v. Ferguson had been overturned by Brown v. Board of Education, and Thurgood Marshall was a Supreme Court justice.

By 1978, Jackie Robinson had not only retired from the Brooklyn Dodgers but was fielding grounders in the hereafter.

By 1978, Martin Luther King Jr. had given his "I Have a Dream" speech, and Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

By 1978, the universities of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama had been integrated.

By 1978, Strom Thurmond, who ran for president in 1948 calling for "segregation of the races," had endorsed integration and hired black staffers. (Read More...)

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Mormonism: No Blacks Allowed

From a Lawrence O'Donnell article:

The pundits had no idea how deliberately misleading Romney's speech was. They loved the bit about Romney's father marching with Martin Luther King. None of them knew that if at the end of the march with George Romney, Martin Luther King was so taken with Mormonism that he wanted to convert and become a Mormon priest, George Romney would have had to tell him that they don't allow black priests. George Romney might also have had to explain to the Reverend King that Mormons believe black people have black skin because they turned away from God.

I give you the words of the holy Book of Mormon:

"And I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark and loathsome and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations."

Brigham Young, the most revered president of the Mormon Church, who marched his people all the way to the Utah territory because he so vehemently hated the laws of the United States, taught that sex with black people would kill white people. Instantly.

Brigham Young:

"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so."

It took the Mormons ten years after Martin Luther King was killed--ten years--to decide to allow black men to be priests. They did so only after the president of the Mormon Church said he had a conversation with God in 1978 in which God finally decided it was time to allow black priests. Mitt Romney was 31 years old when he heard that lie. At 31, was Mitt Romney smart enough to know the Mormon president was lying about having been told by God that it was time to remove one racist tenet of the faith of his fathers? In 1977, at age 30, was Mitt Romney still accepting the racist position of his church? Does Romney really believe that God had to wait until 1978 to change his mind about this? Did Romney know that the Church had to change its racist policy in order to preserve its tax exempt status? We'll never know. No reporter will ever ask those questions because questions about the faith of his fathers are off limits even though, in an attempt to win evangelical Christian votes in Iowa, Romney dragged that faith into the campaign and asked to be admired for strictly adhering to it.

If the Washington Post finds that Romney ever, however briefly belonged to a country club that did not admit blacks or Jews or Muslims, it'll be dogging him with questions about that, but there will never be questions about his faith because as Newsweek's Eleanor Clift said, "Every religion is full of crazy beliefs." (Read more...)

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Why Won't Mormons Tell The Truth?

Mormons: A Plea for Candid Truth Telling
By Bob Burney

What has happened to the simple principle of telling the truth? That question should be posed to the Mormon community. I’m not an expert on anything—but I do know a little bit about Mormonism—or, as they prefer to be called, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). My father was a Mormon for several years and many of his family were Mormons. I have also spent a considerable amount of time reading LDS literature. Again, that doesn’t make me an expert, but at least educated.

I have observed a notable change in the way the LDS Church presents itself to the general public, an effort that began sometime around the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Prior to that, there was not a readily-apparent effort by Mormons to identify themselves as a form of Christianity. Joseph Smith believed that the Angel Moroni appeared to him because all of American Christianity had become apostate. He was the one true prophet and the religion he would establish would be the only true church. That’s boiler plate LDS 101. I remember a time when it was common for Mormons to be offended if you called them Christian. That was then. (Read more...)

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Mike Huckabee on Larry King Live

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Romney And Mormonism's Racist Past

From a National Review article by Byron York:

It seems to me that the race issue is where religion and politics most clearly intersect in Romney's case. Like it or not, if Romney becomes the Republican nominee, Democrats will bring up the "Mormon racism" charge again. You can just bet on it. But more immediately, it will be interesting to see what role, if any, it will play in voters' decisions in the primaries. The fact is, it has become a staple of political campaigns for candidates to be asked about their association with institutions that discriminate. There was a huge uproar in the 2000 campaign, for example, about George W. Bush and Bob Jones University. (Although my favorite, if trivial, example was the time Bill Clinton was asked about playing golf at an all-white country club, and he responded, with a completely straight face, that he had only played nine holes.) In any event, it's common practice to ask about country clubs, social groups, schools, etc.

The issue now is whether that kind of question also applies to Romney's church. And the problem, for Romney, is that, to my knowledge at least, he has not said simply that the LDS church was wrong to exclude blacks from the priesthood and top leadership positions before 1978. Voters don't mind it – they even like it – when a candidate says something in the past was wrong but that now it is right. But today, on "Meet the Press," Romney wouldn't say that.

Click Here to read more...

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Al Mohler: On The Paul Edwards Radio Program

Paul Edwards' radio interview with Al Mohler is absolutely must listening for all voters. Click Here to check it out now. The podcast recording is dated December 12 and is in the right column.

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Republican Political Correctness: Question Mormonism And You're A Bigot

From Paul Edward's article on Townhall.com:

MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O’Donnell was recently cross examined by syndicated radio host and blogger Hugh Hewitt regarding statements O’Donnell made about Mormonism as a panelist on The McLaughlin Group. Here’s part of what O’Donnell said on McLaughlin:

On “Big Love” the HBO series, that has been a real headache for Romney. Here’s the problem. He dare not discuss his religion. And he fools people like Pat Buchanan who should know better. This was the worst speech, the worst political speech of my lifetime, because this man stood there and said to you, “this is the faith of my fathers.” And you, and none of these commentators who liked this speech, realize that the faith of his father is a racist faith. As of 1978, it was an officially racist faith. And for political convenience, in 1978, it switched, and it said okay, black people can be in this Church. He believes, if he believes the faith of his fathers, that black people are black, because in Heaven, they turned away from God in this demented, scientology-like notion of what was going on in Heaven before the Creation of the Earth.

Hugh Hewitt accuses O’Donnell of anti-Mormon bigotry for those words....

[clipped]

...It is now becoming apparent that Governor Romney’s strategy for defending against legitimate questions about his Mormon faith is to cry “bigotry.” Governor Huckabee recently asked a writer for the New York Times magazine if Mormons didn’t believe that Jesus and Satan were brothers (a comment, by the way, that Huckabee has since apologized for). When the Associated Press picked up on the initial story, accusations of bigotry germinated in the blogosphere and spread like a virus through media, both old and new. Hugh Hewitt implied that by asking such a question Governor Huckabee might be a closet anti-Semite or an anti-Catholic bigot. But a simple visit to www.lds.org—an official LDS website—will readily show that the answer implied in Governor Huckabee’s question is the answer given by the LDS church! Is the LDS church bigoted against itself?

Every God-fearing American ought to be familiar with the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A man who holds to those teachings certainly is not disqualified from holding the office of president on that basis alone. But conservative evangelical Christians, who hold to the faith once for all delivered to the saints and who desire to defend that faith, are reasonable to ask themselves what a Mormon in the White House would do to elevate the profile of a false religion that presents itself as a form of Christianity. Dr. Albert Mohler recently wrote:

As an evangelical Christian theologian, I must clarify that Mormonism is in no way consistent with orthodox Christianity. It borrows Christian themes and texts, but its most basic beliefs directly contradict the central teachings of Christianity.

Mormonism holds that God is an exalted man, with a physical body. Christianity teaches that God is Spirit. Mormonism denies the historic Christian understandings of the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, and the doctrine of salvation. Christianity promises salvation through Christ’s atonement and the sinner’s justification by faith. Mormonism promises deification. Christianity calls for personal faith in Jesus Christ. Mormonism calls for obedience to its own teachings as the path to exaltation. Mormonism replaces belief in the sole authority of the Bible with other writings, including the Book of Mormon. This list is only a brief summary of the vast chasm that separates Christianity from Mormonism. Put simply, Mormonism is not just another form of Christianity. It is a rejection of historic Christianity.

I presume that Hugh Hewitt does not believe Albert Mohler is a bigot. The question for Hugh Hewitt and other Romney defenders is whether it’s helpful for the body politic (or for Romney) to be so quick and so absolute in leveling the charge of bigotry at those who feel obligated to at least clarify their religious convictions before stating their convictions as they relate to the presidential politics of 2008.

Click Here to read more...

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Mitt Romney's Mormon Jesus

From an article by Chris Kelly:

Because here's the thing that Mitt Romney can't say: The Mormon Jesus has about as much in common with Jesus of Nazareth as the Los Angeles Kings have with King Tut. They have the same name, kind of, and that's it.

The Gospel Jesus lived in Galilee. The Mormon Jesus lived in Albany. (Where he fought the Indians. Because he wasn't just the Lamb of God, he was also the Last of the Mohicans.) Mormon Jesus? Three wives, a planetful of kids. Gospel Jesus? Living alone and loving it.

It doesn't even have the theological weight to be heresy; it's a simple case of mistaken identity.

Click Here to read more...

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Is The Mormon Church Lying For Mitt Romney?

From the official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints website:

How can Jesus and Lucifer be spirit brothers when their characters and purposes are so utterly opposed?

Jess L. Christensen, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, June 1986, 25–26

Jess L. Christensen, Institute of Religion director at Utah State University, Logan, Utah.

On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers. Jesus Christ was with the Father from the beginning. Lucifer, too, was an angel “who was in authority in the presence of God,” a “son of the morning.” (See Isa. 14:12; D&C 76:25–27.) Both Jesus and Lucifer were strong leaders with great knowledge and influence. But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother. (See Col. 1:15; D&C 93:21.)

How could two such great spirits become so totally opposite? The answer lies in the principle of agency, which has existed from all eternity. (See D&C 93:30–31.) Of Lucifer, the scripture says that because of rebellion “he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies.” (Moses 4:4.) Note that he was not created evil, but became Satan by his own choice.

When our Father in Heaven presented his plan of salvation, Jesus sustained the plan and his part in it, giving the glory to God, to whom it properly belonged. Lucifer, on the other hand, sought power, honor, and glory only for himself. (See Isa. 14:13–14; Moses 4:1–2.) When his modification of the Father’s plan was rejected, he rebelled against God and was subsequently cast out of heaven with those who had sided with him. (See Rev. 12:7–9; D&C 29:36–37.)

That brothers would make dramatically different choices is not unusual. It has happened time and again, as the scriptures attest: Cain chose to serve Satan; Abel chose to serve God. (See Moses 5:16–18.) Esau “despised his birthright”; Jacob wanted to honor it. (Gen. 25:29–34.) Joseph’s brothers sought to kill him; he sought to preserve them. (Gen. 37:12–24; Gen. 45:3–11.)

It is ironic that the agency with which Lucifer rebelled is the very gift he tried to take from man. His proposal was that all be forced back into God’s presence. (See Moses 4:1, 3.) But the principle of agency is fundamental to the existence and progression of intelligent beings: as we make wise choices, we grow in light and truth. On the other hand, wrong choices—such as the one Satan made—stop progress and can even deny us blessings that we already have. (See D&C 93:30–36.)

In order for us to progress, therefore, we must have the opportunity to choose good or evil. Interestingly, Satan and his angels—those who opposed agency—have become that opposition. As the prophet Lehi taught, “Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Ne. 2:27.)

Although the Father has allowed Satan and his angels to tempt mankind, he has given each of us the ability to rise above temptation. (See 1 Cor. 10:13.) He has also given us the great gift of the Atonement.

When the Lord placed enmity between Eve’s children and the devil, Satan was told that he would bruise the heel of Eve’s seed, but her seed would bruise his head. (See Moses 4:21.) President Joseph Fielding Smith explained that “the ‘God of peace,’ who according to the scriptures is to bruise Satan, is Jesus Christ.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957, 1:3.) Satan would bruise the Savior’s heel by leading men to crucify Him. But through his death and resurrection, Christ overcame death for all of us; and through his atonement, he offers each of us a way to escape the eternal ramifications of sin. Thus, Satan’s machinations have been frustrated and eventually he will be judged, bound, and cast into hell forever. (See Rev. 20:1–10; D&C 29:26–29.)

In Hebrew, the word bruise means “to crush or grind.” Therefore, the very heel that was bruised will crush Satan and will help us overcome the world and return to our Father. As we use our agency to choose good over evil, the atonement of Christ prepares the way for us to return to our Father in Heaven.

We can only imagine the sorrow of our Heavenly Father as he watched a loved son incite and lead a rebellion and lose his opportunity for exaltation. But we can also imagine the Father’s love and rejoicing as he welcomed back the beloved son who had valiantly and perfectly fought the battles of life and brought about the great Atonement through his suffering and death.

__________

RELATED

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LDS Teaching On Lucifer

Is Jesus Really The Spirit Brother of Lucifer?

Probe Ministries: Jesus and Lucifer Procreated

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Much Ado About Mitt's Mormonism

From an article by Robert Rob in the Arizona Republic:

Much ado about Mitt's Mormonism
Dec. 9, 2007

After over 200 years, the United States is still bollixed over the role of religion in politics.

In Mitt Romney's speech on the subject, he said: (a) he believed in his Mormon faith; (b) it would "inform" his presidency; but (c) he wouldn't discuss the specifics of his faith; and (d) no one should ask him about it; or (e) base a vote on it.

Now, if a candidate said his presidency would be "informed" by Machiavelli's The Prince or Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, no one would think it untoward to probe what that might mean. But the Book of Mormon is out of bounds?

The secularists have it the most wrong.

According to them, religion should play no role in politics or government whatsoever. Voters shouldn't consider religion in choosing a candidate. Candidates shouldn't discuss their faith in campaigns. And office holders shouldn't bring their faith to decision-making on public policy.

But that's not the way people of faith operate. For believers, religion isn't just something you do on Saturday or Sunday rather than play golf. It animates you and permeates everything you do.

It's also not the way politics work. Affinity voting in the United States is very common. (click HERE to read more)

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Iowa: Mitt Romney's Jesus Speech

From Newsweek:

"...on the day of the former Massachusetts governor's much-heralded speech in College Station, Texas, addressing his religion, though most respondents probably had not heard it. Still, only a small number of the 540 Republican voters surveyed in Iowa (10 percent) said they wanted to hear more from Romney about that issue, and close to half (46 percent) said at least some Iowa Republican voters will not consider supporting Romney because of his Mormon faith. More than a quarter (27 percent) said they don't consider Mormons to be Christians, and one in six (16 percent) said they are less likely to support Romney because he is a Mormon."

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