Free Republic

Let’s face it—on nearly every important issue, from gun control to immigration to gay marriage, red states are holding America back. Lee Siegel on why the South should get the hell out of the union. Let’s not be fooled by all the bipartisan rhetoric that has been streaming out of the GOP since Romney’s self-destruction. Hundreds of thousands of petitioners in a handful of red states still want to secede? Well, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. A solid block of Southern states continues to refuse to expand Medicaid, thus squashing one of the linchpins of...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the nation's largest sponsor of the Boy Scouts of America, is being criticized for endorsing a BSA proposal that would allow gay youths to join local troops while continuing to exclude gay leaders. "While the church has not launched any campaign either to effect (sic) or prevent a policy change, we have followed the discussion and are satisfied that BSA has made a thoughtful, good-faith effort to address issues that, as they have said, remain 'among the most complex and challenging issues facing the BSA and society today,'" said a...

Via NRO, Rob Portman was criticized by gay-marriage supporters for reconsidering his stance on SSM only after it affected him personally. This guy, naturally, will be criticized harshly for not reconsidering his stance after it affected him personally. His choice of words is interesting, though. Not only does he not think that his son chose to be gay, he uses a term more often heard from gay-rights supporters when he says he hasn’t “evolved” to the point of supporting SSM. More backstory via WaPo: Salmon voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and for a ban on gay adoptions in...

Hundreds of students of all ages — including at least one LDS apostle — gathered at locations in Provo and Salt Lake City Thursday and Friday to listen and take notes as 26 scholars examined the extent to which LDS Church founder Joseph Smith was familiar with ancient writings, scriptural or otherwise. “Approaching Antiquity: Joseph Smith’s Study of the Ancient World,” a two-day BYU Church History Symposium, drew capacity audiences to the BYU campus and the LDS Church Conference Center Little Theater. SNIP Another highly attended session on the first day of the symposium featured Dr. David F. Holland, associate...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A Mormon church leader says the faith is largely in line with President Barack Obama on what needs to be included in a comprehensive immigration bill. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' governing First Presidency, joined 13 other faith leaders at a private meeting on the issue with Obama on Friday. Uchtdorf said Obama urged the church leaders to stand together and ensure the U.S. remains a place where immigrants can come in a lawful way and not live in fear. The president expressed support for a...

SALT LAKE CITY — Joe Darger and his wife, Vicki, walked through the Capitol shaking hands with lawmakers like any other citizen lobbyist. What exactly they’re asking their lawmakers to do is a little more unique: decriminalize polygamy. “The way we are persecuting a particular religious group of people is wrong,” Joe Darger said. “It’s morally wrong, it’s ethically wrong, and we need to look at it. It hasn’t worked for 150 years and we need to change it.” Darger, a polygamist with three wives, Vicki, Valerie and Alina, is hoping to get lawmakers to start considering the idea of...

In 1517, Martin Luther posted a list of 95 Theses on his church's doors. His actions exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church and started what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. Between the hours of 9 PM Saturday, February 16 and 9 AM Sunday, February 17, 2013, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others will post this list of 95 LDS Theses onto the doors of LDS churches around the world. Join the event here - If you don't use Facebook, you can still participate! The purpose of this event is two-fold:...

<p>A writer for DC Comics‘ Superman series has come under attack by homosexual rights activists, who view his work as anti-gay and want him fired.</p> <p>Orson Scott Card is one of a team of writers and artists to create the new digital DC Comics product, “Adventures of Superman,” according to a report from Fox News. Mr. Card is a Mormon and vocal opponent of gay marriage. Fox News reported he once referred to same-sex marriage as the end of democracy in American and suggested “the left is at war with the family.”</p>

American Fork, UT (PRWEB) February 12, 2013 A group of over 260 active and disaffected Mormons will be posting a copy of 95 LDS Theses onto the doors of their local churches around the world between the hours of 9:00 p.m. Saturday, February 16th, and 9:00 a.m. Sunday, February 17, 2013. The project is organized by Mormon Reformation, a protest movement which aims to follow protestant reformer Martin Luther, who in 1517 posted a list of grievances on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg. Within two weeks, it was distributed by the press throughout Germany, exposed the corruption...

In light of the skyrocketing popularity of Mormonism in the United States helped along by the Broadway Musical, "The Book of Mormon", Mitt Romney and your nice Mormon neighbors I thought it would be good to recycle this five year old article I wrote. The thesis? Mormons do better youth ministry than the average Protestant church! Read on and see if you agree with me… "Let's face it. Most of us look at the clean cut Mormon missionaries that peddle the streets of our city and knock on the doors of our houses as somewhat out of date. Although they...

FULL TITLE: Revealed: Harrowing ordeal of child bride forced to marry her stepbrother who escaped Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect with her six young children Ruby Jessop was just 14-years-old when she was deemed 'sexually mature' by polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs and forced to marry her second cousin and step-brother and have sex with different men. She was held against her will at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the next 12 years, in which time she bore six children and lived under the iron fist of the pervert leader. Ruby Jessop, now 26, managed...

Embattled St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson says new Utah Attorney General John Swallow helped broker a deal in 2010 in which Johnson believed he was to pay Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid $600,000 to make a federal investigation into Johnson’s company go away. But when the federal government filed a lawsuit Johnson thought he had paid to quash, he demanded Swallow return some of the $250,000 initial payment. Then, just days before the Nov. 6 election, Johnson engaged in a frenetic but unsuccessful effort to get Swallow to drop out of the race, saying information about what Johnson called a...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyQr-U_bJE&list=UUM6L02IavEXd8IxrZF75dMw&index=3

In the scramble to make the GOP more diverse, a lot of people are looking at Asian Americans, whom many believe are a natural constituency for the party. I would love it if Asian Americans converted en masse to the Republican Party, but the challenge for Republicans is harder than many appreciate. President Obama did spectacularly well with Asian Americans, garnering nearly three-quarters of their vote. This runs counter to a lot of conventional wisdom on both the left and the right. On average, Asian American family income is higher and poverty is lower than it is for non-Latino whites....

I just realized that Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year, so December 23 is on a Sunday. This of course provides a great opportunity for the LDS church to prove its Christian roots by using that day to talk about Joseph Smith, it is his birthday after all. So, will the average LDS ward celebrate Smithmas or Christmas on December 23 this year? I'm guessing my wife's ward will split the difference and dedicate part to Joseph Smith and part to Jesus. I may even have to show up and pay attention to see what happens, it could be...

To summarize the chart below briefly: It provides greater detail in documentation than what was elaborated in Part III. The traditional Christ within Christianity is... ...uniquely THE ONLY begotten Son from eternity past, not one of millions of God's pre-existent "sons"; He is uniquely Savior, not one of millions of saviors per Mormondom; He is uniquely Creator and divine and self-existent from eternity past, not one of MILLIONS of men who are somehow likewise "self-existent" from eternity past; His blood is uniquely powerful beyond men's commandment-keeping -- lest the promise Jesus made to the thief on the cross become a...

I recall reading an author who made the case that if we view God in some off-kilter ways, we'll respond to Him in off-kilter ways. How we view God tends to set the tone for how we respond to Him; and Jesus said as much in one of His parables about investing talents. In that parable, the one Jesus described as a "wicked and lazy servant" (Matthew 25:26) was the one who had the "wrong" worldview of His Master -- as a "hard man" (Matthew 25:24)...In other words, the servant's view of his master was that of a taskmaster...versus one...

Sometimes, cult members -- like Mormons -- can describe a pretty "orthodox" sounding Jesus Christ. There's some things we actually -- really -- agree with Lds leaders in their general premises. Oh sure, Mormonism has indeed distorted the one True Jesus and twisted Him into an entirely different Being! (And just like a Nazi twisted "cross" is no cross at all, a twisted "Jesus" is no genuine Jesus at all!) But that still doesn't take away from statements where we can find agreement -- like when Mormon leaders readily concede that they worship, speak about, believe and acknowledge an entirely...

Introductory Chart The 'Mormon' Jesus vs. the Jesus of the Bible: From Eternity Past to Present Question at hand: If a 'counterfeit' person was using your name online -- and has some attributes similar to you -- does it make it 'you' if it's 'close enough?' Mormon Leader General Premises about 'Jesus' we actually agree with! Summary or Scriptural Summary LDS "apostle" Bruce R. McConkie essentially answered the question before the development of the Internet world: "A false Christ is NOT a person. It is a false system of worship, a false church, a false cult that says, 'Lo, here...

MessageToEagle.com - Normally, as a matter of personal preference I don’t get into politics, but when we have a presidential campaign that begins to cross over into the strange twilight zone of religious weirdness that centers on the one person who’s going to control the most powerful government and army on the face of the earth, well, it brings up some unusual scenarios to wonder about. It is being reported in the media today that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney only wrote a victory speech for Election Day; presumably a harried, last minute scramble to revise his speech was being...

Romney may underperform (or barely match) in turnout the listless McCain in 2008. According to exit polls Romney won white evangelicals by a four-to-one margin—as high or higher than George W. Bush in 2004. Could it have been that many evangelicals couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a Mormon, and simply stayed home?

Many of us could not imagine that Romney could lose this election, especially after four years of Obama’s radical Marxism and its social and fiscal consequences that America will NEVER recover from. All the hype and all the Romney rallies; it indeed looked like a sure victory for Romney except for one equation, the Evangelical vote. We here at the IFB have talked back and forth among ourselves since the RNC convention and with others also in the know; that if the Evangelical vote did not show up on Nov. 6th the jig would be up and Romney would lose...

Remember the good ol' days when folks in the media were fond of telling us that conservative evangelical Christians would exhibit anti-Mormon bigotry and fail to vote for Mitt Romney simply because of his religion? Well now that conservative evangelical Christians seem by-and-large on board with the Romney/Ryan ticket liberal CNN Belief Blog contributor Stephen Prothero has turned the tables and criticized conservative evangelical leaders with, essentially, denying their faith by being pro-Romney. From his November 1 post, "My Take: Billy Graham and Ralph Reed are putting politics before God" (emphases mine): Why are evangelicals like Billy Graham and Ralph...

President Obama still receives 50% of the vote in Nevada’s tight presidential race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Nevada voters, taken the night after the final presidential debate, shows Obama with 50% support to Mitt Romney’s 48%. One percent (1%) prefers some other candidate, and one percent (1%) is undecided. ... Among voters in Nevada not affiliated with either major political party, Romney leads Obama 59% to 37%.

I was on a conference call yesterday regarding intelligence gathered from a highly placed source that liberal Obama surrogates are planning to target Evangelical mega-church parking lots with bigoted anti-Mormon flyers the final weekend before the election in key battleground states like Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Mega-church pastors are being notified to have parking lot attendants be on the lookout for such a lit drop. But please forward this post to all pastors of both Protestant and Catholic churches, particularly in battleground states. It may surprise you to learn that most of anti-Mormonism is on the LEFT, not the Right....

The most famous and revered pastor in America, Billy Graham, is calling on voters to cast a ballot for their faith in full-page ads in the Wall_Street_Journal, USA_Today and other newspapers. Graham's picture appears prominently in the ads, next to copy that reads, "As I approach my 94th birthday, I realize this election could be my last." It continues, "I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel. I urge you to vote for those who protect the sanctity of life and support...

CEDAR HILLS, Utah — In this hilltop suburb of Salt Lake City, where a vista of white spires signals a concentration of Mormons and their churches, it is a given that every boy will become a Cub Scout at 8 and then a Boy Scout at 11. With mutual exaltation of God and country and a shared aim of nurturing “morally straight” men with leadership skills and a service ethic, the Mormons and the Boy Scouts seem made for each other, as entwined as a square knot. And in an unusual partnership dating to 1913, the Mormon Church has embraced...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 15, 2012)--A poll of 1,000 Protestant pastors fond that the pastors favor Republican candidate Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama by a more than 3-1 margin, even though Romney is a Mormon and Mr. Obama has attended Protestant churches. The Southern Baptist Convention's Lifeway Research found that 57 percent of the Protestant pastors surveyed said they'll vote for Romney compared to only 17 percent who plan to vote for Mr. Obama and 22 percent who were undecided. Among those who don't support Romney, 82 percent said their decision was not because of his Mormon faith. Lifeway Research...

A popular Christian blogger says he's voting for Mitt Romney and is challenging notions that Christians should sit out this year's election or that they shouldn't vote for the GOP presidential candidate because he's a Mormon. In a series of blog posts, Frank Turk listed several reasons on Pyromaniacs why he's voting for and endorsing a "Mormon son of a Mormon who was not very conservative in Massachusetts and has not demonstrated very safely-right ideology in governing in the past." One of those reasons is abortion. Turk recognized that there are some Christians who will either try to vote for...

Bishop Robert Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ in Chevy Chase, MD, isn’t exactly sure how to handle the casserole question. You see, the Mormon church is run by volunteers, and every member has a job: teaching Sunday school, managing church finances, organizing community food drives, or serving in the tutoring program. So when I asked Bishop Nelson who in his congregation would bring a casserole to Ann Romney if she were to get the flu while her husband was President of the United States, he paused and chuckled. “I can imagine wanting to bring the...

So what else is there to say about Mitt Romney's tax returns? I would suggest that we could learn at least two things from them. First, on a personal level, it seems that Mitt and Ann Romney are very generous people. They donated $4.02 million in charity in 2011 (out of $13.7 million of income) and $3 million in 2010 (out of $21.7 million in income). If these figures are accurate (and there is no reason to doubt them) the Romneys donated almost 30 percent of their 2011 income to charity, and 14 percent of their income in 2010. That...

Harry Reid is a Mormon, and he wants you to know that Mitt Romney is not the poster boy for his religion, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Speaking on a conference call Friday about Romney's upcoming visit to Nevada, where many Mormons live, Reid said that he agrees with fellow Mormon Gregory A. Prince—who blogged last week that Romney has "sullied" their shared religion, according to Politico. Members of the LDS church "understand that [Romney] is not the face of Mormonism," Reid added. The GOP pounced on Reid's comments, with Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz saying, “Harry Reid seems to be...

Stormye Weather@Nuclear_Wynter I wonder how much of Mitt Romney 's charity was to LDS? 21 Sep 12 Reply Retweet Favorite Why would she wonder that, one might ask? Well, you see, lefties are evidently completely out of their minds. As Twitchy reported, the first bout of liberal outrage after RomneyÂ’s tax information was released was that he paid too much in taxes. No, really. Now, they must be humiliated by his incredibly generous charitable contributions. You see, Romney leads by example. This does not suit. Plus, as we know, it is the Left that is full of anti-Mormon bigotry. So,...

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said Wednesday (Sept. 12) that conservative Christians are growing more enthusiastic about GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and predicted they would show up at the polls in record numbers in November. “When it comes to the values of family, values of faith, values of freedom, Mitt Romney is a clear choice, I think, for value voters across this country,” Perkins said at a National Press Club luncheon two days before his organization kicks off its annual Values Voter Summit in Washington. Perkins, a Southern Baptist, said evangelical Christians have “significant theological differences” with Romney,...

On Thursday night, Glenn Beck tackled an issue that has come up frequently throughout the 2012 presidential campaign — Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith. Prior to the show, the radio and television host invited TheBlaze readers and viewers to submit their questions, as he sought to address the myths that often surround The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Beck, who is also a Mormon, told viewers that his faith is inherent in all that he does. In fact, it is his personal relationship with God that guides his actions and sustains him. “I do what I do,...

Mormon Democrats gather for first-ever national meeting in Charlotte during DNC Above, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who belongs to the LDS Church, speaks to the first national meeting of LDS Democrats on Tuesday in Charlotte. Reid mentioned that several presidential candidates in the United States have been Mormons, starting with Joseph Smith, the founder and first president of the LDS Church, who ran in 1844 with "a very progressive" platform.

Samuel Cook, III is a Coordinator for the New Orleans Chapter of 'Obama for America' (OFA), he is also a religious bigot. Like so many of the 'tolerant' left, Cook sees no problem in mocking and lying about Mitt Romney's Mormonism. The only difference? Cook, who is a black man, claims he is a Republican. He certainly is...as of six days ago. How can a black man, who has likely been a victim of racism simply by living in America, be so intolerant of someone else? Cook isn't the only member of the tolerant left to mock Romney's religion lately....

NBC’s Utah affiliate KSL-TV strikes again. The station, which is owned by the Mormon church, announced today that it won’t air the network’s new comedy series New Normal. Co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler, The New Normal stars Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha as gay partners who are having a baby through a surrogate. “For our brand, this program simply feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time,” Jeff Simpson, CEO of KSL’s parent company, Bonneville International, told local papers, including KSL sibling Deseret News. The New Normal is scheduled to air Tuesdays at 8:30 PM. Simpson...

When the Obama campaign released its much-anticipated Dashboard platform last May, it was touted as a potentially revolutionary organizing tool that would connect supporters, and merge online activism with real-life grassroots campaigning. It can also be used as a platform to launch whispering campaigns, as one user proved this week. On Monday, a "team member" named Laurence De Palma, who lists his location as East Nashville, presented volunteers with some talking points to convince Southern Christian voters they shouldn't vote for a Mormon. The message was available under "Resources" and tagged "persuasion." "I'm thinking that even though we don't LIKE...

With the choice of devout Catholic Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney, a Mormon, has arguably crafted the most religiously unique ticket in presidential history. Both religions have interesting precedent in presidential politics, however, with varying degrees of success. John F. Kennedy was famously the first and only Catholic to be elected president. Less than two months before the 1960 election, JFK addressed the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in a hope to allay fears that the pope would use him as a conduit into American politics. Mitt Romney's father, George, also a Mormon, was a serious Republican candidate...

We are wrapping up our second and final week in Provo. Close to 50 people joined us as we went door to door testifying to our perfection in Christ. We reached thousands of homes and had hundreds of good conversations. Dozens of people expressed interest in our message and thanked us (sometimes with tears) for telling them that Jesus had done everything for them to be worthy and acceptable to God. A surprising number of people gave us their contact information so that we can continue the conversation in the weeks and months ahead. We found it interesting how varied...

A Mormon church leader in Utah allegedly bit a 20-year-old man's penis so badly it required surgery when the man tried to stop him from attacking his little sister and his mother. Efrey Antonio Guzman, 46, is accused of using his status as a family friend to stalk a 13-year-old girl in a Salt Lake City suburb. In May he allegedly went to the girl's home and grabbed her tightly, kissed her and fondled her buttocks, police say. He left when the girl's older brother walked into the room. Guzman leads a Spanish-speaking ward of the Mormon church in...

Cher is refusing to back down from a Twitter comment she posted on Friday that is considered a slur against members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The pop singer and passionate Democrat sent out the tweet urging President Barack Obama and his aides to get organized or risk losing November's election to Republican Romney, who is a Mormon. Cher's tweet said: "I Feel if he (Obama) doesn't get all his DUCKS IN A ROW we'll b forced 2 listen 2Uncaring Richy Rich! The whitest man in MAGIC UNDERWEAR in the WH (White House)." Some news agencies...

Like a lot of liberals, I’m skeptical of the idea that successful businessmen are likely to become successful presidents by virtue of their business experience alone. But there is one way in which business success seems very likely to benefit a future president: fundraising. It’s not just that the businessman knows a lot of affluent people whom he can tap for money, though that helps. And it’s not just that the former businessman is steeped in the social mores of businesspeople, making him deft at rubbing elbows with those he doesn’t know. It’s that he’s likely to be very skilled...

Commentators on both the right and left and both secular and religious note with disdain that Mormons (Latter Day Saints, as Mormons refer to themselves) have irrational practices and beliefs. The former, we are told, includes the wearing of sacred undergarments and the latter includes posthumous baptisms and the claims by the prophet of Mormonism to have found and deciphered engraved golden plates in New York State. I read and hear these dismissals of Mormonism with some amusement — because everyone who makes these charges holds beliefs and/or practices that outsiders consider just as irrational.

Can Any of These House Underdogs Survive? Stuart Rothenberg June 8, 2012 · 1:48 PM EDT Remember their names: Reps. Charles Bass (R-N.H.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.), Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and Robert Dold (R-Ill.). If any of these five House incumbents survive, it will surprise most dispassionate observers (including some in their own parties). But upsets happen, and each of these candidates has a scenario for victory. Moments after Bass was declared the winner in November 2010, most political insiders figured he would be doomed in 2012. But considering his past electoral success, reports of his political demise...

Practicing Mormons march during a gay pride parade in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 3, 2012. Over 300 active Mormons and more than 5,000 members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community with their supporters marched in the parade as part of the Utah Pride Festival.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Devout Latter-day Saints are dressing up in their Sunday best clothing to march in a gay pride parade this Sunday. The Latter-day Saints will carry their scriptures and hold up quotes from church leaders about messages of love and acceptance. . . She says gay pride festival organizers welcomed her with open arms when she request to march. She expects about 100 people to march in her group. "What we're trying to do is say we welcome you. We want you to be part of our congregation. We want you to feel safe...

There is an article on Bloomberg site about how Romney is an instrument of the LDSers to make Mormons "normal" Christians. I apologize if I am violating policy about posting information about a Bloomberg article.

As anyone who has worked on a presidential campaign knows, there is always an undercurrent of trepidation that the candidate or a trusted advisor will say or do something that connects in a very negative way with the vast majority of voters. As we witnessed, Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, recently created one of those self-inflicted and lasting wounds when she said on CNN that Ann Romney had "actually never worked a day in her life."Whoops. The Obama White House and campaign came down on Rosen's head like a ton of bricks. From President Obama to his top advisors, all...