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I thought Utah Democrats didn’t like the exploitation of the Mormon Church for politics.
The Utah Democratic Party charged this week that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a “devout member of an anti-Mormon denomination” and questioned whether LDS faithful should vote for her.
But Palin is not a member of the church the Democrats are referencing, that church denies it is anti-Mormon and there’s no evidence of any anti-Mormon rhetoric from its pulpit.
Now, Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland is backing off the statement.
“We do not plan on making her religion an issue,” Holland said Wednesday afternoon, adding he had not seen the news release, which includes a quote by him along with several questions.
The pertinent one: “Will Republicans of the LDS faith vote for Sarah Palin, a devout member of an anti-Mormon denomination?”
(Possibly) Related posts:
Tags: anti-mormons, Democrats, Sarah Palin, utah
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This is only because all true liberals are anti-Mormons
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That is why as a good Mormon, I have decided to be a leftist socialist. After all NOYDMB said that true liberals are anti-Mormon. Since I thought that I was a Mormon and a true liberal, this cannot work.
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I will vote for Sarah Palin, no matter what her religion is.
She has a “Heart of Service”.
And that is exactly what Washington needs!
And that is exactly what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught his disciples.
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Bethie,
How do you define “Heart of Service”? How does this apply solely to Palin.
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“Heart of Service” is truly today’s leading candidate for the “least informative term to describe a politician” award.
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I met a lot of AoG members on my mission in the midwest. Beliefs among individuals might vary, and I hate to paint people with a broad brush, but the AoG churches in Oklahoma have “Mormon Nights” as often as everyone else. I’m sure there are a lot of really nice AoG members, like there are in all religions, but standing on their doorsteps as a representative of the LDS church, my companion and I were branded as cultists and we never taught a single discussion to any of them.
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One of the most missionary-oriented members of my ward was a devout AoG member before he joined the Mormon church.
It simply doesn’t work to generalize about people based on the religion they have chosen to be a part of. Well, except for Mormons. Everybody knows that Mormons are all Utah survivalist wacko Republicans with lots of wives.
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Chris H.– just militant enough to be interesting.
NOYDMB– just militant enough to be annoying.
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Thanks TrevorM (I think).
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I can’t imagine how anyone with a heart of service could so overtly mock community organizing.
I don’t pretend to know what constitutes “family values” among Mormons, but a non church going adulterer and a person who has clearly put her career before the needs of her children are hardly paragons of the values I learned at church.
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Jed,
Funny how these things play out in politics. Don’t you know: The best way we can serve our community is to make lot of money. The community organizing is one of the things that made me like Obama in mid-2007.
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Okay, I’m afraid all of you have to go back to commenters school. You have all completely ignored the subject of this post! I’m very disappointed in all of you. That’s what I get for abandoning the blog for a few days.
You should all be dwelling on the hypocrisy of the Utah state Democratic party. But seriously, I always hear them whine how Republicans are always exploiting the church membership to manipulate their unthinking support to the GOP. Usually, since it’s so vocally discouraged by the Church, it’s done with a wink or a nod. I have not seen this but I’m sure it’s happened, and Utah Democrats love to complain about it constantly as if it happens on a regular basis.
However, this was not a wink or a nod but a press release coming from the state party. They jumped on some lies (among the many that have spread in just a week’s attention on Gov Palin) and they ran with it.
Regardless of the truth of her religion (although the Utah Dems had her church wrong, it teachings, and ignored its denials) the party had no qualms trying to scare Mormons into voting for Obama because the GOP VP nom supposedly had ties to some anti-mormon church. Not that she had exhibited any of that herself. They thought they could make her into another Huckabee, but they were wrong.
Pathetic and hypocritical politics. Remember that the next time they complain about Republicans trying to exploit the Mormon vote.
I am troubled about her campaigning on a national ticket with a four-month old baby but we can talk about that later as well as the supposed virtues of a “community organizer” and what a meaningless label that is.
Stick to the subject people!
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Actually David… we are sticking to the subject. Here’s the deal… Your premise that the Democratic party of Utah is guilty of hypocrisy is based on the assumption that Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland’s original comment is incorrect.
As stated by others earlier, I would not lump all AoG members in one basket. That being said, I recommend you go to the source (e.g. wasillaag.org, Palin’s own statements, etc.).
After doing just a little research it was easy for me to substantiate Holland’s original claim. Take a look at this link from AG.org… that I found linked from Palins congregation’s site wasillaag.org:
http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/199901/114_mormonism.cfm
This is from their enrichmentjournal.ag.org (like our LDS Ensign for AoG)
Read some exerts for this and half a dozen other anti-Mormon and rethink your unfounded critique. One exerpt from this article, “By claiming to possess the Aaronic priesthood, this sinister cult rejects the “once for all” atoning death of Jesus Christ.” Come on! “Sinister” I find this language offensive!
BTW… My aunt is AoG and her congregation discusses the “Mormon issue” regularly. I’m shocked at how much time the international AoG organization spends trying to attack another faith.
Holland said, “Will Republicans of the LDS faith vote for Sarah Palin, a devout member of an anti-Mormon denomination?” He didn’t claim that she was anti Mormon, but it’s obvious that AoG teaches many anti-Momon sermons. As such, I find his comments well founded. As an independent this gives me yet another reason to consider Obama as a likely alternative to voting for the flip-flopping-maverick McCain ;0) Thank you David. I think you finally helped tip the scale for me.
Despite the truth about our Presidential choices being plain and easy to comprehend, I don’t think you have much to worry about. It’s been my experience that most members of the LDS faith will just watch the RNC speeches over and over again believing every word.
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Quick Follow-up… I also noted this quote in the related SLTrib article, “Dean Jackson, pastor of the Rock Canyon Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Provo, says there are different branches of his faith that are on the left and right on the political spectrum but that there is no anti-Mormon belief.” I wonder how Pastor Jackson would explain all of the anti-Mormon rhetoric on ag.org…
Can anyone substantiate sltrib Thomas Burr’s claim “But Palin is not a member of the church the Democrats are referencing, that church denies it is anti-Mormon and there’s no evidence of any anti-Mormon rhetoric from its pulpit.”?
All I can find is evidence to the contrary… I’m interested in credible sources and not the everyday political spin.
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Erie,
Let me get this straight: are you ready to condemn Plain as an anti-Mormon because her branch’s website links to another website which features an article critical of the Church? Despite the fact that the church denies it, the SL Trib cannot find anyone to support the claims, and the Utah Dems themselves are backing off? That’s some thin ice you’re skating on.
The attempts by the Dems to link Palin to anti-Mormonism are as ridiculous a smear as those trying to condemn the worst of Mormonism (real and imagined) on Romney during his campaign. Demanding Palin to prove a negative, that she’s not anti-Mormon, or insisting that she has to explain that website you link to seems to be the same tactics used by anti-Mormons who demanded that Romney defend every rumor and allegation against his own church.
I suggest that you take your issue with the Utah Dems if you still insist they are wrong for backing off their claims. I think they’re smart to do so as fast as possible, but that’s just me.
The broader issue remains is that their knee-jerk response to smear Palin for the Utah/Mormon angle is disgusting. Going to the source as you suggest shows NO evidence of anti-mormonism (searching the site for mormon or other variants shows nothing). Do you have any evidence that Gov. Palin has said anything against Mormons? Neither do I.
I hate to break it to you but most churches don’t have favorable opinions of the Mormon Church and say so openly. As you suggest it’s not fair to say all AoG’s are the same and you have nothing to claim that Palin or her particular church are that way.
You claim you want credible sources but you appear to be satisfied with some pretty flimsy allegations and yet demand that a negative be proven.
The Utah Dems clearly saw this as an opportunity to pile on the Palin story last week. They don’t care about the Mormon Church or keeping it out of the fray if they can score some cheap political points.
To me it doesn’t seem to cross the high level of “credible sources” you claim to be interested in.
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EVEN IF PALIN IS A MEMBER OF A FAITH THAT WORKS AGAINST THE CHURCH, SOMEHOW I THINK SHE HAS MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO. I AM AN ACTIVE LDS AND I COULD CARE LESS WHAT SHE THINKS ABOUT MY FAITH. I AM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO IS CONSERVATIVE, HONEST AND FORTHRIGHT AND STANDS UP AND WORKS FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE. I AM IMPRESSED BY HER SO FAR. IF YOU WANT TO FEEL THREATENED, SAVE IT FOR SENATOR REID, NOW THAT IS SCARRY.
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See, exactly like Julia, I’m looking for someone who’s liberal/progressive, honest, and forthright and stands up and works for what they believe.
Okay, so maybe not *exactly* like Julia. But the core is the same–what do i care whether someone’s Mormon, Jewish, Catholic, Assembly of God, Baptist, Muslim, atheist, Taoist, or whatever–Pres/VP is a policy job, not a best friend forever.
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Julia,
Does the same apply to Obama and his church?
Thanks for the reminder. I almost forgot to hate Senator Reid today. What kind of Christian am I.
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Hey David Sundwall,
The article is about them backing off that claim or attack. Come on, give the most pathetic state party in the country a break. Even the one Democrat who wins in the state keeps his distance (though Holland is a Matheson-guy).
This seems inconsistent with much of what you had to say about Huckabee.
Sorry for getting off track.
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I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints my entire life. I grew up in Minnesota, and I was the only member in my highschool aside from my siblings. There are good people in the church and outside the church. In the hardest times of my life my LDS friends have been there for me along with my non LDS friends.
My dad was excited about Sara Palin, because she is doing things for the right reason. I have listened to her speeches, and I agree with him. She’s trying to do what’s right and put God on her side. The church doesn’t get involved in politics anyways. All members can make their own decisions regarding who they want to vote for. I’m just glad to have someone to vote for who wants to turn things around and be ethical. -
Lets not get too hung up on our candidates belonging to anti-mormon churches. I have lived all over the country and have interacted with people from a plethora of denominations—they all have some good people in their congregations and they all have a thread of anti-mormonism. But lets face it the nicest thing any non-member will say about us is “They are good people, have good family values but they are crazy for believing in prophets and revelation”. Obama, Palin, McCain & Biden at their nicest will agree with that statement. Believing in Prophets and revelation that testify of our Savior are at the core of who I am and who I believe we are as a people. NONE OF OUR CURRENT CANDIDATES WILL STAND UP FOR US. We need to be carefull that we are LDS first and Conservative / Liberal, Republican / Democrat later—much later.
It is up to us as members to search out candidates who we feel will lead our country in the right direction. We shouldn’t fight amongst ourselves over which one of these clowns best represents the church — because none of them do. There is an element to all of them that is contrary to the teachings of the church.
I have yet to live in Utah, but it is unsettling for me that any politician (Republican or Democrat) would use the “They don’t like Mormons” tactic to try to elicit votes. I know with the high population of members in Utah it must be difficult to separate church and state, but that separation gives us the freedom to be who we are and not have our religion dictated to us by our government. If there are politicians using a strategy aimed at pooling members together in a voting block please don’t vote for them. If they are LDS-politicians then their integrity must be called into question because they are using their association with the church for political power and we have been asked not to do that. Republican or Democrat don’t vote for these people that use the church to try to gain power.
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