Re: Your Post #49: Did you forget the sarcasm tag?
Sorry for the double post. I’ve only had two cups of coffee so far this morning.
Not at all, Harry Reid is an exceptionally devout and true Mormon and will become a God himself after he dies, and the religion examines him and even issues him special ID and privileges both now and in the afterlife, after examining his devotion intimately every 2 years through interviews with church leadership.
I understand your confusion because you are not a Mormon, but remember that he is a member of a religious cult that does not share your religious beliefs and in fact mocks it, after you die they will baptize you into their religion and Harry Reid may be the one doing it.
According to Harry Reid and Mitt Romney, Pope John II is now a Mormon and so will Billy Graham become so at some point.
(And your post #40): I always thought Mormons were strong in their faith. Guess not. What a shame!!
Ansel12 responded to you Din Maker in post #49 "they are. See post #29"
(All: That's why Din Maker asked Ansel if he had forgotten the sarcasm tag)
Allow me, Din Maker, as a descendant of both faithful and unfaithful Mormons, to 'xplain what Ansel12 is getting at.
I've numerous FR threads where FREEPERs assumed that Harry Reid was/is either...
(a) a jack mormon (an inactive Mormon)...[Btw, he's not]
(b) or some maverick Mormon well off the Mormon reservation [No, here's a man even invited to speak to the entire BYU campus in 2007]
(c) Or some faithless marginal Mormon who the Mormon church eschews and keeps at arms-length [not only can Ansel12 and I BOTH point to the 2007 BYU speech, but we can also point out how the Mormon church officially sanctions Harry Reid as an official "home teacher" in the D.C. area].
For (b) & (c) if you don't want to take either myself -- or Ansel12 at our word -- see the links below yourself. ********************************************************
So here's what I've said before in previous threads of years back...just slightly edited:
(1) Does BYU usually invite faithless or “jack Mormons” to speak at all-student body, all-faculty rallies? (‘Cause guess what? That’s exactly what BYU did in October 2007 – ensuring Reid spoke to over 4,000 on campus. Here’s the FReeper story on that Reid gets warm reception at BYU
From the above linked article, written by the Lds church owned Deseret News: At the end of his speech, Reid earned a standing ovation from a small percentage of the crowd and applause from the rest.
Plus, do BYU students & faculty usually applaud ALL faithless or “jack Mormons” like they did @ that BYU speech in Fall 2007?
(2) The Salt Lake Tribune ran an October 2009 article – here. Harry Reid: A Mormon in the Middle
Here were two “interesting” comments by fellow Mormons about Reid, including one from Sen. Orrin Hatch: …Orrin Hatch, says it's not fair for fellow Mormons to disparage Reid as anything but a devout Mormon..."I can personally tell you that Harry is a good member of the LDS faith and he was expressing a personal opinion that his side feels very deeply about," Hatch says
Well, there ya go. You wouldn't want to be "contentious" against the likes of faith Mormons like Sen. Hatch by calling him a liar – or mistaken – re: his eval of Reid, would you?
(3) Btw, that same Salt Lake Trib article also mentioned how ”Today, Reid, with his security escort in tow, likely will be making his home teaching rounds after his ward's three-hour service. Anyone who questions his Mormon credentials should see that, says Jim Vlock, his home-teaching companion
There ya go, yet another Mormon “testimonial” about Reid that claims he is a bonifide Mormon. (Of course, we all know how mistaken those Mormon testimonials are all the time about another Mormon leader – a Mr. Joseph Smith – so I guess Mr. Vlock can be wrong just like all the other Mormon testimonials, eh?)
Oh, and one more Mormon testimonial about Reid: LDS blog names Harry Reid as Mormon of the Year
So, given these testimonials by Harry Reid's security detail...Sen. Hatch...BYU’s speaker invite committee...The Local Lds leaders who authorize Reid to officially represent the church as a home-teacher...The Lds bloggers who named Reid as “Mormon of the Year.” Not sure you're in ANY position to challenge them OR Ansel12.
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That's just not the case.
In the 1850s, when Utah was still a territory, the fledgling Republican party said it would take on the "twin relics of barbarism" -- slavery and polygamy. And it did in the latter part of the 19th century...which, didn't make the Republicans popular among polygamist Utah.
So...when we look at the actual first Utah post-statehood election in 1896, what do we find?
In the first presidential contest held after achieving statehood in 1896, however, Utah Democrats did well, drawing more than eighty percent of the presidential vote for William Jennings Bryan and electing a variety of Democrats to state and local office as well. That same year, William H. King was elected to Congress and the Democratic legislature selected Joseph L. Rawlins to serve as U. S. Senator. Two years later, the Democrats elected B. H. Roberts to Congress although he was denied his seat because of his practice of plural marriage. Roberts was eventually replaced by William H. King in a special election held in April 1900.
Source: http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/d/DEMOCRATIC.html [Note: This link is now dead, so that's why I don't make it a live link anymore; but this was info at one time obtained from this source]
We know that in the Utah state Legislature assuming office that 39 in the Utah House of Reps in 1897 were Democrats, only 3 were Republicans & 3 were Populists. In the state Senate, it was a 17-0 shutout for the Democrats (plus one populist).
By 1900, the parties became balanced, and then the Democrats dropped off for a while in Utah as Republican’s Teddy Roosevelt’s ways carried the national day:
Utah Democrats were far less successful after 1900 -- But the Democrats rebounded with the help of the Progressive Party in 1914:
Per http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/d/DEMOCRATIC.html (now defunct):
In 1914, Utah Democrats allied with the Progressive party to take control of both houses of the Utah legislature as well as many county offices. Two years later, the Democrats scored a major victory garnering the state's electoral votes for Wilson, and electing Simon Bamberger as Governor, William H. King to the U.S. Senate and both representatives in Congress. The state legislature was overwhelmingly Democratic as well.
So I’d say my statement Do you realize that most Lds political leaders from the 19th century into the early 20th century were Democrats? was accurate, wouldn’t you MM – especially also considering that Democrats dominated in Utah throughout the 1930s?
Same source:
In the early 1930s, Utah Democrats, like their counterparts across the nation, emerged greatly strengthened by the candidacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Utah Governor Dern was selected by FDR to serve as Secretary of War in the first Roosevelt cabinet. In 1932, Elbert D. Thomas, a professor at the University of Utah, defeated Reed Smoot in a bitter contest and served in the Senate until he was defeated in a similarly bitter race in 1950. Moreover, a resurgent Democratic party paved the way for the emergence of the leading Utah Democrat of his generation -- Herbert B. Maw. Elected first to the state senate in 1928, Maw, an attorney and University of Utah professor, became the leader of the liberal, pro-FDR, wing of the party. In 1937, he was President of the Utah State Senate during one of the most liberal sessions in its history. This legislature passed bills dealing with relief and assistance and unemployment and enacted an open primary law that would strongly affect Democratic candidates. For the next decade, liberal forces dominated Utah's Democratic party, most notable Senator King, continued to hold office. In 1940, Maw was elected governor and was reelected four years later. In 1948, he ran for an unprecedented third term. As the result of scandals within his administration, and a weakened campaign organization, Maw was defeated by Utah political maverick J. Bracken Lee.
Even in the 1920s, Utah had a three-term Democratic senator (mentioned above) – Sen. King – who was re-elected in 1922 & 1928 due to internal divisions within the Utah GOP.