Why I don't belong to the Democratic Party

My sister posted on Facebook, "No jokes aside, I've had several people ask me how I could consider myself a good Mormon and be a democrat. Many many people." She is LDS and belongs to the Democratic Party and that puts her in the minority among Mormons. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a long tradition of political neutrality. Early in its history most LDS Church members leaned towards the People's Party, a branch of the Democratic Party. As the likelihood of becoming a state became more serious, the Republican Party began courting Utah and its LDS population. In order to give the appearance of non-partisanship to the Federal government, many LDS wards were divided equally among both political parties by LDS Church leaders. Source

  It was in the late 1890's that some modern political issues began making their appearance in Utah (LDS) politics. The first of these was the right-to-work laws. From the very onset the LDS Church took the position of support for right-to-work laws. Unions were referred to as, "Satan's club and therefore destructive of human rights". Church leaders spoke up on this issue, "David O. McKay and his counselors issued a letter to the twelve Mormon congressmen from various western states, urging them to vote in favor of retaining the existing legislation, thereby protecting the state right-to-work laws, averring that doing so would maintain the essential 'free agency' principle." When the Democratic Party espoused this cause it alienated LDS members who wanted to support the position of their leader. Source

When Civil Rights became the battle cry in the 1960's, the Democratic Party was the "Johnny-come-late" to the table. The Republican Party was the party that had espoused the freedom of slaves and equality for black Americans. Until then the Democratic party had been the party that had defended the Klu Klux Klan in the South and had supported racists laws. The LDS Church had always taught that all men were children of God and should be treated as such. The stance of the Democratic Party until the 1960's on civil rights stood in direct opposition to the teachings of LDS prophets. Source It was at this time that Ezra Taft Benson made his famous statement that you cannot be a member of the Democratic Party and a good Mormon at the same time.

In 1972 another line was drawn in the sand: The Equal Rights Amendment campaign was in full force. The seemingly-benign amendment to the US Constitution had some elements included in it that could jeopardize the traditional family and it's values. The ERA fight continued until 1982 when it was finally defeated. The LDS Church opposed this amendment and asked its members to oppose it also. The LDS Church website explains the LDS position. The Democratic Party vehemently defended the ERA and thus further alienated LDS members who wanted to support their leaders. This re-ignited the idea that you cannot be a member of the Democratic Party and be a good Mormon.

In 1973 Roe v. Wade became the hottest topic in the land. The Democratic Party celebrated this Supreme Court decision as a step in the right direction for women everywhere. The LDS Church immediately condemned the practice of abortion and continues to this day preaching against members participating in any way in this practice Source. Once again, the Democratic Party forced LDS members to choose between them and their leaders.

In the 1980's there was a surge of states turning to state lotteries in order to increase their intake of funds. Once again, the LDS Church took a strong stance against state lotteries and asked its members to do the same Source. The Democratic Party once again stood at odds with the LDS Church.

The Democratic Party since then has espoused other issues that have caused LDS leaders to take a stance against them. The latest fight was over gay marriage. The LDS Church took a clear stance of opposing gay marriage and asked its members to do what they could to also support the traditional family. The Democratic Party has taken the stance of supporting gay marriage. Once again, LDS members who are Democrat must decided between supporting their party or their Prophet. Democratic leaders have also supported the film industry in their push to have the freedom to produce pornographic films, they also oppose the filtering of internet pornography and any other restriction on their ability to produce pornography.

Right-to-work, civil rights, ERA, abortion, gambling, gay marriage, pornography are some of the major moral issues the Church has taken a political stance. In every single one of them the Democratic Party stood against them. Is it any wonder that most LDS members belong to the Republican Party? And what issues has the Republican Party espoused that has caused the LDS Church to take a stance against it? I can't think of any issue in the last 100 years that the GOP has defended that the LDS Church has gone against.

Can you be a good Mormon and be a member of the Democratic Party? The answer is "Absolutely YES!" I believe my sister and her family fit that category. But in doing so you will have to go against the stance of your party when it comes to moral issues if you want to follow the advice of the LDS Prophets.

I am a registered Republican, I am moderate on fiscal issues but conservative in moral issues. I don't always agree with the Republican way of doing things but morally, we stand on the same page. The other issues are secondary in my mind. How much is spent on the military vs education is important but not as important as the moral issues. It's not like Republicans oppose spending any money on education or the Democrats on military, just not as much as the other party would like them to. It is the moral fiber of the nation that holds us together, when that fiber is weakened or torn then our nation begins to tear apart. I believe we are seeing that right now.

Modern-day prophets have sounded the trumpet: "...we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets." Mormons must stand up and defend the family and anything that will cause it to tear apart, regardless of political party affiliation.

The Political Hunger Games

Let the games begin! With Mitt Romney all but locking up the GOP nomination the general election for President of the United States has started. Two candidates who have been chosen from their political parties will battle it out to the "political" death. The winner will enjoy a life of respect, reputation, power, and luxury; the loser will become a public speaker who will do occasional appearances in talk shows and provide political commentary. These candidates will spare no expense in their quest to become or retain the most important political office in the world. They will use every weapon available to them and spare no lives. Meanwhile the masses will follow this carnage on their televisions back home and enjoy every bit of it. This will not be a pretty election. I have been a political junkie most of my life. I began by volunteering, as a teenager, to work for Steve Symms in his bid to upset Frank Church for one of Idaho's senate seat. I proudly wore my "Steve Symms Apple Corps" shirt as I passed out flyers at parades and did whatever I was asked. I loved the excitement and electricity of the campaign. But things were different in the 1980's, or at least I remember them to be a little different. I don't recall the massive amount of information that is available for each candidate. I barely even knew anything about Frank Church (except that he wanted to turn Idaho into a big environmental reserve). There weren't televised debates or hardly even any ads. If you wanted to know about a candidate you went to their rallies or listened to somebody you trusted who went to it. Today with the availability of computers and the internet you can not only find out a candidate's platform but you can also check on everything he/she has said in his career. You can find out so much more about a candidate today and that gives the opposition more ammunition. Any word or phrase that was mis-spoken will come out, any statement made to appease the current political climate will come out, any meeting with a questionable character will come out. Every bit of this information can and will be used against both candidates. How will the American voters react? Will they cheer wildly as in the Hunger Games? Or will they be disgusted at what has become of politics? I think we will see a little of each thus further polarizing our already fragmented society.

Burning

As the anniversary of attack on the Twin Towers approaches I am forced to pay attention to events this time by the over-hyped story on the burning of the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, by Reverend (and I use the term loosely) Terry Jones. Despite pleadings by U.S. authorities, the Florida preacher asserted his decision to go ahead with the burning of the book.

One part of me can understand the anger at the events that took place in New York nine years ago. It was a slap to our face to have a group of extremists create a terror wave that is still present to this day. Our lives have been forever changed (I was going to say "inconvenienced" but decided to be kinder) by that attack.

But this burning of the book is not about the attack on America, it is about demonstrating hate towards a religion. Ironically it is hateful demonstration by a religious extremist against a hateful act carried out by religious extremists. It is akin to the NAACP decrying racism while at the same time putting down the white man. There seems to be some kind of lack of logic at these extremes.

And then to add to the irony of all of this, the AP reports,
"In Pakistan, about 200 lawyers and civil society members marched and burned a U.S. flag in the central Pakistani city of Multan, demanding that Washington halt the burning of the Muslim holy book."
Really? You protest the future burning of a holy book by burning a sacred symbol of a nation? The irony is so thick I may not need to eat salad for a month.

So I suggest the following, don't give press time to crazy extremists. If the US press hadn't made such a big deal of Terry Jones and ignored his crazy rants then the international press would've followed suit. The same goes for Al Qaeda's rants, don't publish them nor report them on the press. Just ignore them and let the military worry about them. If we do this then the world will seem a little more normal.

There are 6.7 billion people on this earth and we are allowing the actions of a couple thousands to control our lives. Let's make a change and not give extremists free press. Imagine no Rush Limbaugh, Rachel Maddow, Glenn Beck, Keith Olberman, etc... Ah, what a wonderful world...!

Summer Summary

Well, here I am in August and I just realized that I have not blogged all summer long. Maybe because it was a very strange summer and I have not felt normal most of it.

It started off with the Packard Family Reunion in Eastern Utah. It took place right at the height of allergy season AND the World Cup. Both of those are good reasons for me to stay indoors, but being the faithful and supporting husband I went to the reunion (toting a laptop to watch my WC games). I knew that it would spell trouble for my health but I tried it anyway. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, set up the tents, and enjoyed the family get-together. By that evening I was feeling the effects of the pollen. I began to wheeze. I loaded up on all of my medicine and hit the sack. By morning my wheezing got worse and I was struggling to catch a breath. Sara was miserable with her itchy eyes too. So we decided to head home and try to recoup. I returned to camp on Wednesday to pick up Jen and the kids. My wheezing never fully went away until three weeks later. At that point I should've figured my body was pretty beat up and needed rest.

Sara struggled, like most teens, deciding where to attend college. Her visions kept diminishing as her awards got smaller. Eventually she chose Southern Utah University. I reminded her of her responsibility to pay for her own tuition. She assured me that she had things under control. I am a veteran now of "things under control" after having gone through it with Allen. So as the days progressed I kept asking her where she was going to get the money without a job. She assured me that she would find a job, after her tonsillectomy. Well, it took her two weeks to recover from her operation and by then things looked grim for SUU. I told her that her best bet was to move to Cedar City and find a job there. So we began that quest. After a week of fruitless searching I told her that she had to face the reality of not going to SUU but staying home and going to SLCC. So now it became a struggle to get her a job in Murray. She finally found a very part-time job at the end of July and is now working.

These things, in addition to my regular stresses of being a husband and a dad, did me in. By the first week in August I was feeling run down. And on August 9th I asked Jen to take me to the ER to get my heart checked. They ran all kinds of tests and showed some plaque build up but mostly what they found was a spasm in the arteries around the heart. The cardiologist believes that it's stressed caused. So now I need to calm down and relax. My pain is still there.

So is this what heartache is? I guess stress in the family can cause this. But it only happens when you love somebody. So I must really love my family. Maybe I should love them less so it wouldn't hurt this much...

Funny Food

Sometimes you just have to take a moment and enjoy life for what it is. Nothing fancy, nothing planned, just what is. Last week was a difficult week at work because of all the projects that I have going on at once. I just couldn't seem to keep them straight. As soon as I had one problem solved another problem would pop up elsewhere. So when Friday came around I was more than ready for the week to be done. I needed to get out of the office and just relax and do absolutely nothing. But the clock was playing evil tricks with me and it decided to slow down. Around lunch time I was just about ready to go crazy when one of my co-workers, Kali, came into my office with a box. She said that she was out with some of the other girls from the office and saw something that would put a smile on my face. I tried to smile but it was fake, I was too tired. She encouraged me to open the box and I could tell from her excitement that it was something she thought I would really enjoy. I began to wonder what would lift me up when I was in such a grumpy mood.

I opened the box and there it was, staring at me, as if it didn't care that I was having a hard day at work. There it sat, in all its glory, a butt-shaped sweet roll. I was taken back so I looked up and Kali was smiling from ear to ear, I asked, "Is this what I think it is?" She just smiled and at that point I not only smiled but broke out in a good belly laugh. That's just what the doctor ordered. After we laughed for a while she showed me that it was actually a peach-shaped pastry but she also saw what I saw and thought it would boost my mood. She was right.

So, if you're having a tough Monday, just take a second and study these pictures. They're sure to put a smile on your face:

Max Hall and Arizona Hate Me

It's not news that Max Hall hates everything about the University of Utah including their fans. I'm okay with that. I don't know Max and will probably never run into him so it doesn't really affect my life at all. I can just shrug it off and move on.

But another issue that came to light last week does affect me. Arizona legislators, frustrated over years of inaction by the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, have taken the law into their hands and have made it illegal to be illegal. The law requires police to check the immigration status of anyone if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are immigrants. Reasonable suspicion? The media asked governor Brewer the same question and her answer was, "I don't know what reasonable suspicion means, it may mean different things to different people." Really? You thought long and hard to come up with that answer governor, didn't you?

Supporters of this law tend to be the white, Anglo-Saxon, crowd. To them they are the people that "belong" in America. Everyone else is an immigrant. After all, isn't this country over 75% white? Well, mister Anglo-Saxon, you are also an immigrant to this country. Just because your race came here 400 years ago doesn't give you the right to consider yourself more American than me who arrived 33 years ago. My brown skin and my accent are outward reminders that I am an outsider to the majority race.

Arizona now wants to use my skin tone and accent as a tool for identifying illegal aliens. My wife will never be asked to prove her citizenship if she's stopped by the police. Her fair skin and blond hair will keep her safe from harassment. But I will now have to begin carrying documents to prove that I am an American when I visit Arizona. Why? Because if I don't have these documents I am subject to a fine and jail time.

Somehow this seems okay with most Americans. Some have told me that it's the price you pay in today's society. Just like Muslims are under scrutiny whether or not they are terrorists now Hispanics are under scrutiny whether or not they are Americans. So where does this slippery slope end? I'm sure it won't end with Muslims and Hispanics. Which group is the next target of our society? Mormons? Blacks? Lesbians? I don't know but I'm not liking it.

I can live with Max Hall and his hatred towards me, it's relatively harmless. But the hatred being stirred up by Arizona's immigration law is downright dangerous. Before you join the kool-aid-drinking masses with your American flags asking our state to pass a similar law think about it a bit, what if it meant that you would have to be persecuted in order to function every day in society? Would you still support it?

When any American loses some degree of liberty, we all lose.

RSLFM

For the last few weeks I have been living with a bit of sad news that I was hoping was not true. But this morning I awoke to the harsh reality that Gabriela Da Silva aka RSLFM is dead.

For those of you who did not know her I will not try to explain who she was because words would not do her justice. But if one word could be used to explain her it would have to be ARTIST.

Her postings on rslfm.com and bigsoccer.com were legendary. She had a keen eye for seeing things as they really are and putting it out there for all of us to read. Privately, she was a soft-spoken friend who had very deep feelings and a very soft heart.

I will miss you Gabby...