Would You Vote For This Guy?
Mitt Romney, he looks like the poster boy for clean living and brylcreem, but is America ready for a Morman President? First of all a cantidates religion is of secondary importance to me, I want to know where he stands on policy, but often times a cantidates views are shaped by their respective religions. I am a Protestant Christian, of the tolerant Presbytrian/ Methodist branch. I don't begrudge a cantidate's faith or their bringing it up in speeches, but I have to admit that the Morman's have always seemed a bit out there to me. Now most of this view of mine is based on the decided right-wing slant, politically, of the Mormans I have known, the other stuff, the Jesus in Utah, the funny drawers, and the poligamy is just fuel for the fire. Now don't get me wrong the Mormans I have known are nice, polite people, I just don't like their politics, the same attitude I have against Southern Babtists and certain other denominations. Does this make me anti-Morman? Probally no more than not voting for Pat Buchanan make me anti-Catholic, but I do feel uneasy about a guy whose great-grandaddy had multiple wives.
posted by Elvez73 at 6:17 PM
3 Comments:
I think it's ridiculous to say you can't discuss a candidate's religion during a campaign. You're right, Mormons are generally nice people but their religious beliefs are out there. And they use their women like breeding stock.
J. is right. They push the patriarchal system to the max.
Most of the Mormons around here (this area is about 15 to 20% Mormon) are very nice, polite and hard-working people. Most seem honest in business dealings. Some are in prominent political positions.
Seeing how the LDS church members tend to view themselves as a chosen people, I can see how they might all glom onto someone like Bush, or how they might be extremely conservative when it comes to social issues and foreign policy.
Utah is like a separate country within the United States. At times when I have visited Utah, I have felt like I was in another land. To consume hard liquor in Utah, a person used to have to buy a permit. I don't know if that still applies... Beer-drinking didn't acquire a permit, but taverns were few and far between. Card-carrying members of the church would get store discounts, while non-members would have to pay higher prices... definitely a kind of discriminatory system against people who aren't Mormons.
"Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer is a fascinating book about the fundamentalist Mormons in an area along the Utah-AZ border. It takes an in-depth look at not only the fundamentalist LDS members, but fundamentalism in general. While not all Mormons believe in polygamy by any stretch of the imagination, it IS in their doctrine. In that regard, I suppose one could say that not all Mormons are "fundamentalists" if that means they aren't accepting 100% of the things in their doctrine, but if most of them accept about 95% of what's in it, I suppose you COULD call them fundamentalists. There are millions of them, they are staunchly conservative, and their numbers are constantly growing (maybe at an alarming rate, depending on how you view them) because that is the mission of their young women: to be fruitful and multiply. That is how they are raised!
I read excerpts of Krakauer's book I think it was in the New Yorker a few years back, I'll have to check it out, the Morman's do seem a bit out there to me. I haven't been to Utah except for a two hour layover in the Salt Lake airport, but is it true that Mormans have a prohibition against caffeine? Thats just wrong!
Post a Comment
<< Home