Prayer in the White House?? Never!

New York Time's correspondent Jody Kantor, appeared on MSNBC to discuss Mitt Romney's religious faith and its effect upon him and his possible presidency.


"'What we were really looking at is the biographical influence of faith on Mitt Romney's life,"  Kantor explained.
"We're talking about much more subtle matters of world view, of morality, of values,"  Kantor told MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts.  "And so some of the things that we see he learned from the church is a real emphasis on persistence and resilience, a real emphasis on rules and another interesting thing I learned is that prayer plays a huge role in the way he sort of approaches the world and makes decisions.  He prays quite a lot, quite seriously and he has prayed on both political and business decisions.'" 




No!!  Not that!!!  The man ..... PRAYS???


But then .... so did this man.

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go."  Abraham Lincoln

And this man.

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."  George Washington

Kantor continues.


"'One of the most interesting things is the belief in American exceptionalism.  Every political candidate goes out on the trail and unfurls his or her patriotism, right?  But Mitt Romney's is a little bit different because Mormons actually believe that God had a plan for the United States.  That the country is sort of divinely inspired, that the Consititution is divinely inspired, that our country is marked by God to play a unique role in history,' a surprised-sounding Kantor shared."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/21/nyt_reporter_goes_to_romneys_church_seeks_dirt_from_worshipers.html


Heaven forbid we have a president who believes in the divine origin and destiny of this great country, and that he implores God often, for guidance and wisdom .......

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson kneeling to pray over the Declaration of Independence. 

........  Heaven help us, if we don't.

Sobriety AKA Freedom

I have had very little, if any, exposure to drunkenness.  In fact, I can't really remember any at all.  Oh I'm sure I've seen tipsy-ness, but from my naive viewpoint, I typically just interpret it as uninhibited-ness and someone usually lets me in on the fact later that yes, that person was drunk.

"He was? ...... Ohhhhh."

I don't even know if I or any of my family, might be genetically predisposed to alcoholism and the inevitable grief involved.  I will never know whether or not I am one who can "hold their liquor".  Nor do I care.  I DO know that I will never be guilty of harming anyone by drunken driving.  I WISH I could be as confident of never being a victim of someone else's DUI.

This protected booze-free bubble in which I have happily resided as long as I can remember, is compliments of my religion.  To which I say Thank You.

Thank you Dear Religion, and thank you to He Who Authored It.  Thank you for keeping that potentially destructive, addictive liquid out of my little world.  Thank you for all the drunk-free parties, holidays, and wedding receptions.  Thank you for teaching me how to have fun, as well as how to deal with life's problems, while sober.  Thank you for all the money saved by not buying it.  Thank you for the protection as well as the wise choices afforded by an alert, rational-thinking brain.  Thank you that I will never be a burden upon my society, because of the slavery of substance addiction.

And thank you for teaching me that my mind, as a part of my body, is a gift from God.  A gift that is to be used as He intended it to be used.

Am I free to drink?  Yes.  I am free to make my own choices.  But with each poor choice, a bit of that freedom is lost ...  little by little ... until it's gone.  So because of the constraints that APPEAR to be part of my religion, I and millions like me, have been kept free.

Free to be sober.  Free to be happy.

Ministry of Venom

I do apologetics.  This involves reasoned arguments/debates to justify something, usually and in my case ... religion.  It's done in online forums.  I have been in forums hosted and/or dominated by LDS, atheists, and Christians.  I do this partially because I am a "Mother Bear" when it comes to my beloved church, and I try my best to correct the c--p.  Also I do it because I learn so much about other religions, including how they think.  I hope some of this increased understanding has gone both ways.  My personal rule is to be respectful of others at all times.

Those of you who know me, know that I am not the confrontational and argumentative type .... at least I don't think I am and no one has ever said otherwise ....  I've always gotten along with just about everyone I've known.

But online there is a large spectrum of attitudes ranging from kindness to nastiness.  And in all honesty, the worst have been some Evangelical Christians.  One of their major apologetic forums has a section for cults, and it is there one must go to discuss "Mormonism".   Now I know that there are wonderful Christians and for them, I am grateful.  I applaud the morality and good that they bring to our society.  But there is a certain group who hang out in the Mormonism section of this forum, and not one of them has an ounce of heart.  Not a one.  The mob mentality is alive and well online.

I have appealed to them time and time again.  I have tried to show them that we are not what they've been told we are.  I have borne my testimony of Jesus Christ repeatedly.  But the bigotry is staggering.  Having been in LDS circles forever, I've only known kindness and compassion.  That is my world.  I've only seen respect for other religions and continuous counsel from our church leaders to reach out and be kind to others.  So the difference in spirit as one walks into this forum is like being slammed with a load of bricks.

I have been accused of lying, evasion, manipulation, and whining countless times.  I have seen good people degraded and vilified.  If they are clearly shown by logic and facts that they are wrong, then they disappear from the conversation.  If I express kindness, they fall silent, or accuse me of entrapment.  Everything I say there is taken in a cynical light and the worst is ALWAYS assumed.  If one LDS acts out of line, it is paraded across the board.  If the Church does anything good, there is nothing -- absolutely zero acknowledgement.  Or else it is twisted to look evil.

Why do I go there?  Hope springs eternal, I guess.  I keep thinking I can change one mind.  Plus, as I said, I have learned a lot.  But some of what I have learned, scares me.

At best, hopefully, this is a small group of crazy zealots and does not represent the bulk of good Evangelicals.  But I'm afraid their feeling towards us spills out into a larger portion of the Bible Belt.  And I'm afraid this misguided zealousness will affect the presidential election.  I truly feel that many of these people will NOT vote for a Mormon no matter what.  It would not matter if Abraham Lincoln resurrected as a Mormon and ran for president.  Not even then, would a Latter-day Saint get their vote.  On the other hand, I have voted for many non-LDS Christians ..... in fact just about everyone I have EVER voted for was such.  And I will continue to do so.  I look for common values, not common titles.

I naively held the logical hope that with the historic election of our first Black president, the false perception that America is racist would crumble.  Now I fear that the election of a Mormon could very possibly stir up even more divisiveness in the hearts of they who cling to the c--p.

So if Romney does win the election, not only would the liberal Left be critical of his every breath, but these bigoted zealots of whom I speak, would join the leftist ranks with the catcalls.  Every possible outcome of this election is exhausting to even think about.  We are damned if we lose, and we are damned if we win.

Let's hope I am wrong.