February 2005 @ 10:10 am

http://gfj-thang.blogspot.com/2005/02/please-pray-for-my-boy.html

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I usually take claims of Utah being a theocracy with a large grain of salt and some annoyance. But I have to concede, that debating the proper terminology for more than one Book of Mormon in the state legislature seems a little embarassing.

I actually remember this to be an issue on the mission as it was made very clear that it indeed was “copies of the Book of Mormon.” Now proceed, Senator.

Thanks, The Baron of Deseret.

http://www.libertypages.com/clark/10403.html

This isn’t really new but the Washington > Supreme Court Memo: New Round of Speculation About Rehnquist’s Farewell” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/politics/22memo.html”>NY Times recycles speculation that is only going to grow as Chief Justice Rehnquist is expected to retire by the end of the Court’s term.

But a slightly newer twist is speculation that 10th Circuit Judge Michael McConnell may be at the top of “the List” for potential nominees should Rehnquist step down. While he is considered a conservative, McConnell is well respected as an academic and judge by his colleagues from all over the political spectrum.

McConnell is still a faculty member at the University of Utah’s law school where I was fortunate to take a class from him on religion and the Constitution. It was my favorite class and I think it would be great that someone who greatly respected religion’s place in the public square were elevated to the bench. He has also been critical of the Court’s convoluted religious jurisprudence of the past thirty years so one can hope he could help resolving that, if given the chance.

However, now that he is being touted as a possible Supreme Court nominee it has been interesting to follow the discussion at the Religionlaw mailing list and read that while he have been good enough for the 10th Circuit, left-leaning academics consider the Supreme Court another matter.

Understandable, I suppose but is it too late for those who supported his 10th Circuit nomination?

http://www.libertypages.com/clark/leaving.html

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http://lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,3881-1-20999,00.html

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href=”http://www.timesandseasons.org/index.php?p=1968
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http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1305854&secid=1

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600111826,00.html

http://probative.blogspot.com/2005/02/flds-building-temple-in-texas.html

http://www.joeyday.org/2005/02/01/ldslinker-10#more-26

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http://lds.org/newsroom/extra/0,15505,3881-1—1-133,00.html

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http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2005/02/dealing_with_an.html

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http://www.mormonbid.com/

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Salt Lake mayor Rocky Anderson has had it with his city council and wants to elect new members. As long as they aren’t LDS.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson wants greater religious diversity on the all-LDS City Council, and with four council members up for re-election this year, the mayor will try to persuade voters to make some changes.

“Next election, I hope we have more diversity in terms of religious affiliation on the City Council,” Anderson said in an interview.

He added that “religious affiliation should not be a criterion in any particular race, but overall we need more diversity in almost every respect.”

I do find it surprising that the city council is all mormon, even if some members are – as the Deseret News puts it – “nominally” LDS. However, with only 45% of an LDS population, the people of Salt Lake have elected those who they want to represent them.

Perhaps, this is Mayor Anderson’s way of implementing his plan to bridge the city’s religious divide. But blaming the Church and its members when he doesn’t get his way does not help.

http://www.jrcls.org/Law_Society/events/Feb11broadcast.pdf

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http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/05_02_06_corner-archive.asp#055644

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http://kmsiever.blogspot.com/2005/02/why-bother.html

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Capping off today’s Romney-fest is an op-ed in the Capitol Hill paper The Hill which looks at Governor Romney’s biggest challenge to becoming a serious contender in 2008: his religion. Despite being vetted as a politician in his unsuccessful 1994 Senate race and his successful 2002 gubernatorial race, Romney will have his faith spotlighted like never before on the national scene.

In 2000, another LDS politician may have underestimated what kind of stumbling block his religion would be.

[Senator] Hatch, of course, ran for president in the 2000 election cycle. When the senator started that race, he was relaxed about his faith and suggested that he looked forward to opportunities to correct misperceptions about the Mormon church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A poll taken at the time suggested that almost 2 in 10 Americans wouldn’t vote for a Mormon. Hatch cheerily responded that he’d campaign for the votes of the 8 in 10 who weren’t so prejudiced.

After he’d experienced the slings and arrows of campaigning in Iowa and other states, he lost some of his graciousness. Implying that prejudice was stronger than he had realized, Hatch popped off, saying, “I am not going to take any crap from anybody about my religion.” The charge that seemed to irritate Hatch the most was that Mormons are not Christians. “I take my Christian faith very seriously,” protested the annoyed candidate.

I guess I shouldn’t be amazed, but as I questioned last week, the public still has great difficulty accepting Mormons (at least in the abstract).

A 2000 national survey by Ellison Research of 518 Protestant ministers found that 63 percent would vote for a Jewish candidate and 64 percent would vote for a Catholic but 76 percent confessed that they would be less inclined to vote for a Mormon candidate.

A Mormon-sponsored 2001 survey of non-Mormon clergy in Utah and California revealed that 78 percent would not classify Mormons as Christians. The survey found that these ministers mostly characterized Mormons as “well-meaning, but misguided.” About 1 in 3 of the pastors described Mormons as “non-Christian cultists.”

Three considerations for Governor Romney:

First, the presidency is an office that inspires the closest scrutiny. Everything gets studied and restudied, especially if it provides an insight into a candidate’s values. Second, several odd policy positions taken by Mormons recently — Hatch’s pro-stem-cell posture and Romney’s moderated views about abortion and civil unions — will cause some conservatives to take a second look at Mormon theology and belief. And third, the Republican primary trail winds through Southern states where people know their comparative religions.

I think Romney has the best shot of the pro-choice GOP potentials. His view on abortion may be necessary in Massachusetts but a liability on the GOP primary circuit. However, that should be tempered by his strong stand against same-sex marriage.

Even more interesting than watching how the Governor does will be to see how the Church fares under such scrutiny.

http://nickciske.com/fun/godpod/

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http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/02/02/romney_vs_kerry_in_2008/

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http://www.timesandseasons.org/index.php?p=1919

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http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2005/02/01/pac_backing_romney_pumps_cash_in_key_states/

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http://www.millennialstar.org/index.php/2005/02/01/p182#more182

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