Let me be more direct then. This whole election looks like a loaded question of the following form: What flavor would you like for your cyanide-laced Kool-Aid? Flavor A, or Flavor B?
Imagine for a moment being a Jim Jones disciple on the dreadful day of death, and you are being told, this is what you must drink, because this is all we've got to offer. Are you really going to settle for that?
The point I was trying to make before was that these "flying imams" against Mormonism are real people, and it is their faith in the God of Israel that motivates them to do these things you don't like and resent. And believe me, we do understand why you might feel that way. You want the best for your country, and you see this anti-Mormonism subplot as potentially leading to bad political consequences. We get that.
But from there you jump to accusing them, without actual evidence of the kind that could be used in court, of being political operatives sent here as infiltrators for the other side, when the reality is, this is what they really believe. It's what I really believe. Mormonism is so bad, so profoundly anti-Christian, that I could not vote for any Mormon under any circumstances, even if I were under a direct threat of some sort of lethal force. By God's grace, I would hope to stand firm against any such politician, even if he were Caesar, and the consequence for noncompliance was becoming lion food.
I know, I know, big talk, but I would hope I could be as brave as those who have gone before me in standing for their faith, no matter what. At least that is the intent of my heart. But only God could give me strength to go through that. The kind of hatred and vilification we experience here on FR for our position is no trouble at all, compared to what has happened to those who have pioneered the path of faith before us. I can put up with it.
So, to the extent my questions failed to encourage you to see this from our side, I am sorry. I was not trying to bait you. I was hoping that you might, with your centuries-long cultural heritage of being misrepresented by your enemies, have an epiphany about how this is something that really transcends politics, and reaches the most important questions of the human soul, things like what it means to be really free to live what you believe, what it means to follow Christ wherever he leads, even when it is exceedingly unpopular.
As to the puzzle you presented, a conservative Mormon versus a liberal Jew, it would lock up my circuits completely. I can't vote for a Mormon without being in direct disobedience to Christ. And if the liberal Jew was askew on any of the hot-button moral issues, like abortion or the normalization of sexual perversion, I couldn't vote for him/her either. I'd just vote for conservatives down-ticket (those that wouldn't jeopardize my relationship with God), and keep trusting God and working for real choices to emerge later, hopefully within my lifetime.
I am reasonably certain you do not like that answer, but if you wish to truly understand it, you must also answer what I think is the most disturbing question ever asked by Jesus, What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
That's where we're coming from. What else can we do?
Peace,
SR