I Dare

13 June 2012 | Grig (aka TheCrewsayder)

[Grig]

This may be the post that gets me zotted, and if so, so be it, but it would be a nice sign of respect for free speech, and just plain old maturity if that doesn’t happen. I won’t lose sleep either way though.

All through the Clinton years FR played a key role in helping me really come to appreciate the wisdom of the founding fathers as Clinton violated their principles in so many ways. I found here a large community of wise, informed posters from a diverse background that added depth and clarity to the news of the day. It was here on FR that I found out about the WTC attack. Being Canadian, the second amendment always seemed kind of silly to me, but through FR I learned how wrong that view was and now wish my country had such a right for it’s citizens.

That was then, now more and more it has felt like FR has dwindled into an insular, nearly feral, group of political and religious thought police whose mission is to ferret out anybody who doesn’t fit their orthodoxy and get rid of them, while propagandizing against anything the disagree with. At times it feels more energy is spent attacking those who should be seen as allies rather than the true enemies. I used to spend a fair bit of time here each day, now perhaps a quick look once every few weeks because of this change in climate. I know many have left because of it, many have already posted their concerns about it, and their wise observations and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.

I do feel I have a small measure of responsibility for the change (but no guilt). When FR started to fail to live up to it’s own rules about not bashing religions (when it came to my religion) we Mormon posters decided that instead of being party to the creation of long threads filled with contention that made it hard for the moderators see the difference in our behavior and theirs, we decided instead to simply post articles putting forward our position and leave the critics to show their true colors. (see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2013341/posts). Not only did the anti-Mormon posters oblige us and demonstrate the level of hate and bigotry in their hearts, but so did the anti-Momons within the leadership of FR. And thus began the decent of FR from a vibrant ad-hoc conservative think tank into an echo chamber of yes men with a loud group of religious bigots leading the way. It is sad to see it come to this, and I hope that the day comes when sanity returns. Something that needs to happen for that day to come is for the majority of people around here to face this reality: If you are not supporting Mitt Romney, you are playing into Obama’s hands. Any hopes of a brokered convention or third party conservative super-candidate are nothing but delusions fueled by a denial of reality. It comes down to either Mitt or Obama, and if you are not supporting Mitt you are helping Obama. Deal with it.

And don’t try to hide behind the idea that Mitt losing will be good in the long term for conservatism. That is putting your partisanship above your patriotism. Obama has done massive damage to the USA, and if you give him another 4 years you may not have a USA left at the end of his term. What good will this theoretical transformation of the GOP then? Truth is that if Mitt loses, no matter how conservative or liberal his campaign and policies are, the media will blame it on him being too right-wing and drive the GOP to the left as much as they can. Also, the good of the country should come first if you want to call yourself a patriot, and having Mitt in the White House will be much better for the USA than having Obama there.

While Mitt is not perfect (nobody is) I find many of the attacks on him so over the top, so full of exaggeration and fear mongering that ignores contrary evidence or any sense of proportion that I can’t help but suspect they hyperbole is just a mask for darker motives. The fact that in many cases these attacks come from those who also display great hostility towards Mormonism says it all. Deny it all you want, it is easy to see. For a satirical look at it, check this video I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG68yz-mMgE

I am going to make some predictions I would like to make, and I hope this thread stays around so that in years to come you can all look back and see how it turned out:

- every conservative you respect will vote for Mitt, all of them (perhaps a couple excepts, but not many) will even endorse him and perhaps campaign with him

- Mitt will become the next POTUS in a landslide victory,

- President Romney will do very well on the economy and on foreign affairs/national security

- President Romney will conduct himself with honor and integrity both in office and in his personal life

- He will be a better president than either Bush was

- You will hear conservative pundits call him this generation’s Ronald Reagan, or Ronald Reagan’s 3rd term or something along those lines

- President Romney will be re-elected in another big victory

- His Vice President will become POTUS after his second term

- If there is an assassination attempt on him, it will either be by the Chineese, or by some religiously motivated nutjob (Islamic or Evangelical)

And for those of you anti-Mormons out there, I have some prediction for you too. And these apply even if Romney is not elected as POTUS:

- Your grandchildren will call Mormons Christians, and look at Mormonism as the third branch of Christianity alongside Catholicism and Protestantism

- All the attacks against Romney that stem from the anti-Mormon garbage you have bought into will result in the attacker either apologizing, or in their loss of credibility. The more anti-Mormon attacks are made in the mainstream media, the worse the attackers will look.

- Your grandchildren will likewise look at such attacks as being as bigoted and wrong, even when they come from you.

- Some of your grandchildren or great-grandchildren will become Mormons, and after you are dead they will have temple ordinances performed for you, and you will be glad at the time that they do.

I dare you to post your own predictions of what a Romney presidency will result in.

I dare FR to leave this thread open and available for comments and to not delete a single comment from it.

I dare FR to start respecting freedom of religion by not playing favorites towards one religious group as is currently done by disallowing Mormon caucus threads, and if that is too big a challenge for you, the do away with the Religion Forum altogether.

I dare you all to give Mormons and Mormonism the respect it deserves to have as the 4th largest denomination in the USA, stalwart defender of traditional values, glowing example of Christian charity at home and around the world, the most conservative people of all religious groups, and staunch defenders of the principles of the constitution and values that built the country. No matter how much you disagree with us on religious matters, we are and should be treated as valuable conservative allies. Until FR does that, all they do is shoot themselves in the foot.

[Osage Orange]

Based on what he SAYS he will do; or based on what he HAS done?

Here's what I wrote: "THAT all said....in this case, Romney is a better choice than Obama....How MUCH better is to be determined."

Frankly....I don't trust either one, very much. It's a crap shoot dude...They both suck. It's coming down to who would suck less.

Geesh, I hate this @#%#$!!

[Osage Orange]

I know that dude.........

And it sucks!

[Elsie]

Why wouldn’t I just stay were I was?

You have no choice.

But MORMONism 'teachs' Free Will!

[Osage Orange]

Has OO been in MHG’s Koolaide?

You will have to point out to me...what you mean by this post.

[Elsie]

Do you really want to portray yourself as this dogmatic?

Oh come on!

You and OO weren't maligned (too much).

You guys have proven your Conservative bona fides 99.9% of the time.

We ain't gonna toss you to the wolves just yet.

(Obligitory smiley emoticon = ;^)

[Elsie]

Geesh, I hate this @#%#$!!

We ALL do!

---

If MY people...

[MHGinTN]

If you get an honest answer, please ping me to it so I can be gobsmacked.

[BlueMoose]

z

[MHGinTN]

Indeed! It’s about that time of day for a siesta. I just finished my tuna steaks and now I’m heading for the Hershey’s Drops, then off to the nap quarters.

[SVTCobra03]

http://www.raptureready.com/soap/worline4.html

[BlueMoose]

But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

[BlueMoose]

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

[Elsie]

Zeemzum

[BlueMoose]

Z

[BlueMoose]

Psalms

[Elsie]

Z

• Zarahemla, descendant of Mulek, leader of Mulek's colony
• Zedekiah², one of twelve Nephite disciples (ca AD 34)
• Zeezrom, Nephite lawyer, Converted by Alma² and Amulek, later Nephite missionary (ca 82 BC)
• Zelph, a Lamanite soldier at the Battle of Cumorah
• Zemnarihah, ( /zɛm.nə.ˈraɪ.hɑː/^[70]) leader of Gadianton band (ca AD 21)
• Zenephi, ( /ˈziːn.ə.faɪ/^[71]) Nephite commander (ca AD 375)^[4]
• Zeniff, Nephite king (ca 200 BC)
• Zenock, prophet of Israel
• Zenos, prophet of Israel
• Zerahemnah, ( /zɛr.ə.ˈhɛm.nɑː/^[72]) Lamanite commander at Sidon battle (ca 74 BC)
• Zeram, ( /ˈziː.rʌm/^[73]) Nephite military officer (ca 87 BC)
• Zoram¹, servant of Laban (ca 600 BC)
• Zoram², Nephite chief captain (ca 81 BC)
• Zoram³, Nephite apostate (ca 74 BC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Book_of_Mormon_people

 

 

 

 

• City of Zarahemla, Major capital of Nephites from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 200
• Land of Zarahemla, A general reference to the area near the city of Zarahemla
• Land of Zebulun, Israelite Territory
• City of Zeezrom, Nephite city on southwest frontier
• Mount Zerin, ( /ˈziː.rɪn/^[44]) Mountain, Presumably in Mesopotamia
• Zion, City of God

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Book_of_Mormon_places

[Elsie]

 The LDS Church has no official position on the matter^[11] and these hypotheses are not held by some leaders and members of the LDS Church^[12] but firmly espoused by others.^[13]

---

Where can we find an 'OFFICIAL MORMON' teaching website??

Official sites are sites supported by LDS officials unless said official sites are considered unofficial by said officials.

 

At that point such sites are unofficial unless officially referenced for official purposes by officials who can do so officially.

 

This should not be misconstrued as an indication that official sites can be unofficially recognized as official nor should it be implied that unofficial sites cannot contain official information, but are not officially allowed to be offical despite their official contents due the their unofficialness.

 

Official sites will be official and recognized as official by officials of the LDS unless there is an official reason to mark them as unofficial either temporally or permanently, which would make the official content officially unofficial.

 

This is also not to imply that recognized sites, often used on FR by haters and bigots cannot contain official information, it just means that content, despite its official status, is no longer official and should be consider unofficial despite the same information being official on an official site elsewhere.

 

Even then the officialness my be amended due to the use of the unofficial information which may determine the officialness of anything be it official or unofficial depending on how and where it is used officially or unofficially.

I hope this clear things up for the lurkers out there.

The haters tend to make things complicated and confusing when it is all really quite crystal clear.

--Ejonesie22

[Capt. Canuck]

Post 477 (dragonblustar)
Good Bye Grig, you son of satan. Float off to the netherworld with your celestial BS and framed pictures of Romney.

Post 478 (reaganaut)
You keep making accusations of ‘hate’ yet have ever posted an example as proof.

[reaganaut]

That isn’t hate, it is accurate and Jesus called the pharisees (Mormons are modern day pharisees) something similar.

[Mozilla]

“I like Palin and Romney, not sure that she would be the best choice for a running mate, and she seems cool to the idea herself, but I don’t have anything against her.”

Well a lot fo people are against Palin who support Romney. All those mad at her want Romney. Plain has a thorn on the side of Romney.