Posted on 03/03/2008 11:08:00 AM PST by greyfoxx39
Religious and cultural traditions collide in odd ways.
• Is it right to tell election poll workers, assigned to Mormon church meeting houses, to not bring coffee, sodas or anything else caffeinated to refresh themselves during their long day tending to voters?
-SNIP-
First, let’s look at the polling place duties and sipping Maxwell House in the meeting house.
Longtime Tempe poll worker Mary Ann Hemmingson has signed up to work the polls for the March 11 election. She’ll spend her 14- or 15-hour day in a church, but no longer one that belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I never sign up to work at a Mormon church because the board workers there are not allowed to have any caffeine on the premises,” she said. “That means no coffee in the morning and no Diet Coke in the afternoon. ... You don’t want to see what I look like without my daily dose of caffeine. It’s not a pretty picture.”
“The Word of Wisdom” portion of the Doctrine and Covenants, put forth in 1833 by church founder and prophet Joseph Smith, says that “hot drinks are not for the body or belly.” Add to that what H. Burke Peterson, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said in 1975: “We know that cola drinks contain the drug caffeine. We know caffeine is not wholesome nor prudent for the use of our bodies. It is only sound judgment to conclude that cola drinks and any others that contain caffeine or other harmful ingredients should not be used.”
Advising followers to restrict what they take into their bodies is one thing, but applying that mandate to those people who perform a public job inside their buildings in a one-day stint seems to be taking things too Far.
(Excerpt) Read more at eastvalleytribune.com ...
Have you voted in a Mosque?
And would you have a problem if you had to take off your shoes, cover your head (if you are a man) or cover your face (if you are a woman) and break for prayer 5 times during the election day?
For all the reasons I gave. I would trust that this is not going to be some silly “well you supported evil back here” sort of stuff. That has really gotten old, you know?
Then you would support the Muslims requiring that all women precinct workers in their Mosques to cover their faces and break for prayer 5 times a day?
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Really ???????????????
Wouldnt that make the votes insecure...if left alone ???
Good point. Don’t use a mosque for a polling place.
That is my point. It seems the rule enforcement might just be a tad bit sanctimonious to me.
I would not think that any sane "Christian" woman would enter into an LDS Church and "submit" to their prohibition on coffee or Pepsi.
I have no idea what you are talking about.
Dear CC, perhaps you should rein in your apparent anger and avoid name calling here. You know how many of us resent our Church being assaulted for no good reason.
Today, and today only, I am not going to go to war with you about anything. No matter how nasty you get so go ahead and take your best shots.
Today, and today only, I am not going to go to war with you about anything. No matter how nasty you get so go ahead and take your best shots.
If you are going to allow Churches to act as polling places and to dictate dress codes and dietary codes to the precinct workers, then you are going to have to allow Mosques to do the same. And if Mormons can prohibit caffeinated drinks, then Muslims can require women to cover their faces.
I think the three of us know exactly WHY the Mormon Church is placing this restriction.
How about tatoos. Mormonism prohibits tatoos. Should we extend the prohibition against tatoos, or multiple piercings?
It isn’t like coffee, tea or cola are abhorrent substances that would actually defile the BUILDING in any way. Mormons allow food and drink into the building during many social functions. The only time of defilement is to Mormons who partake of the substances. The substances themselves are not “evil.” This is nothing like a ham sandwich.
Where have I ever been "nasty" to you?
would you have a problem if you had to take off your shoes,
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To visit the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem 20 years ago, we had to take our shoes off...
Waaaaaaay outside several yards away from the building...
That was the only restriction though...
We got to keep our Bibles...
now no Bibles are allowed...
I dont know if women can go in or go in uncovered as the moslems own the property now..
The mosques in the US have strict rules..Sharia Law stuff...
So I doubt they would be accepable as polling places...
Of course the ACLU would not care...
The churches here have rules on clothing but they arent pushed on polling days...
Name-calling?? Link please.
IMHO, voting is different from working the polls. However I would have a problem with this as it forces me to adopt their requirements before I could VOTE, and my constitutional right overrides the religious codes that would seek to force me to recognize islam against my personal beliefs. If a facility is open to the public for this secular/governmental function, it must with hold its requirements or host it in a part of the facility that these requirements are not necessary.
This would go double for non-islamic women who would seek to do their civic duty as poll workers. This example, perhaps makes the rub against no coffee, etc for poll workers in a mormon facility so irritating for many here. Beverage prohibitions in the facility to protect carpets, etc are reasonable - it affects all equally. But a religious restriction simply due to the presence of caffeine and its use by non-members really starts stretching that limit IMHO.
Don’t use a mosque for a polling place.
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Watch it OMM...
We agree on something
:)
You should run for office and then get a law enacted requiring that no Churches whatsoever be used as polling places.
Very valid point, waiver one rule yet stick to another.
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You seem to have missed the woman’s volleyball and basketball games if you have never seen the Sisters in shorts in the ward house.
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