Politically Incorrect Answers to Mormon Questions

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Why aren’t women allowed to hold the priesthood?

Short answer: We don’t need it, men do.

Longer answer: Women already run the church as it is. We are in charge of the primary, Young Women‘s and Relief Society. We do visiting teaching. We make sure those families in need are taken care of. We also have our own families. Of course, many women work outside the home today as well. Therefore, you want women, to work their full time job, go home and take care of their family, do their Visiting Teaching and whatever other calling they may have, then on top of that  you want the women do all the missionary work, the baptisms, confirm people with the Holy Ghost, be the Bishop, the ward clerks, run the Elder Quorums, the Stake Presidencies and ever other male assigned function in the Church. When exactly would we breathe? Are you crazy? What are the men doing, while we are doing everything inside the home and church? Drinking Sprite and watching BYU football? I don’t think so! The men need to do their fair share as well. In our Church, the roles are assigned to all members, and each member has their own duties to perform. To dump more duties on women and less duties on men would be cruel. The women are an integral part of the Church and they have a significant say in the how things are done in the church. We don’t need the priesthood to get things done.

Secondly, women are already in tune with the Spirit alot more than

men. We see this in the Book of Mormon when the Stripling warriors defend their families. In Alma 56:47-48 we read: Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the ^aliberty of their ^bfathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their ^cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.  48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their ^amothers, saying: We ^bdo not doubt our mothers knew it. It is not that the fathers are unimportant or are not spiritual, but mothers have historically been the spiritual teachers in the family.

I think we have a stronger connection to Heavenly Father because just as he is the Giver of Life, so are we. We understand Him on such a fundamentally different level than men. Men with the priesthood and who exercise it righteously are given a wider understanding of that connection to Heavenly Father, one that we have almost intrinsically. The priesthood is given to men because of the “errand of angels is given to women.” [Sisters in Zion]

 How come anyone cannot attend the temple?

Short answer: Anyone can attend the temple. All you need is a temple recommend.

Longer answer:  The temple is God’s house. Do you just allow anyone to come into your house? No, you only allow those you know to enter. God is no different, he only allows those he knows to enter. In this case, knows is in reference to, those he recognizes as being obedient to His word and the commandments He has set forth. He doesn’t wish to keep everyone out, but just wants them properly prepared before they enter.

What if we met and you wanted to come over to my house and I told you I live at 314? Well 314 what? I didn’t give you a street name, a city, nothing…just 314. Do you think you are going to make it to my house? Of course not, you don’t have enough information to go on.  Well, God has given us all the information we need to enter his house, all we need to do is follow those directions. What if I gave you my address and all the information you needed and told you to turn left on Alexandria, but you decided you knew better than me and turned right on Alexandria. Well you have no cause to get angry with me, I told you left. We often do things our own way and when it doesn’t turn out we blame God, but He made his directions explicitly clear and we decided to ignore them. Anybody can get to the temple. No one is barred from entering as long you have done the things needed to enter the temple. The temple is not meant to keep you from God but to help you get closer to God and all it takes are the right directions.

 How can you guys put yourself on the same level as Jesus Christ?

Short answer: We don’t, the Bible does. See Romans 8:16-17

Longer answer:  Here is the actual verse from the Bible: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

That being said, we also recognize that Christ is the only perfect one of us to ever live. It is our intention to be more like Christ and emulate his ways in all we say and do. We often fall short and thankfully, our perfect brother, paid the price for all his imperfect brothers and sisters. His Atonement makes it possible for us to return home to Heavenly Father. We only see ourselves as equal in terms of us being Heavenly Father’s children as well, beyond that we know Christ is the only way we will have salvation and that His grace is sufficient for all of us.

‘Related articles

• 2012 Book of Mormon Sunday School/Relief Society/Priesthood Lesson Schedule Bookmarks (bethanyjensen.com)
• Emboldening Women (Through Identity): an interview with Neylan McBaine, founder of the Mormon Women Project (motleyvision.org)
• Christianity vs. Mormonism: Jesus Christ (anotherchristianblog.org)
• Will America Get Its First Mormon President? Five Facts About Mormons (thegreatone22.wordpress.com)
• Latter-day Saints launch “I’m a Mormon” ad campaign (losangeles.ibtimes.com)
• Review: Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume One, 1775 – 1820 (bycommonconsent.com)

 

A Mormon Presidency

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Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Harry Reid-what do these men have in common, they are all Mormons. However, in my opinion, they do not represent Mormons nor the American people very well, (with the exception of John Huntsman just because I don’t know his views very well) instead they seem more concerned with appeasing the Left instead of doing what is Right. To be fair, people have a right to know how one’s religion will impact the decisions a politician makes. I know I would not go out endorsing a candidate who professed to be a Satanist because those beliefs are incompatible with my notions of liberty and responsibility. [Satanists focus solely on  “freedom” and have little use for responsibility or helping those in need.] So what would a Mormon presidency (by a real Mormon and not one who sets aside their beliefs when convenient.) look like?

1. We are all about “restoring” things. We also have a profound respect for the Constitution of the United States and so would work on restoring the Constitutional republic of this land. Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve, in February of 1992 wrote about the
“Divinely Inspired Constitution.”

The success of the [Constitutional] convention was attributable in large part to the remarkable intelligence, wisdom, and unselfishness of the delegates. As James Madison wrote in the preface to his notes on the Constitutional Convention:

“There never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or more exclusively or anxiously devoted to the object committed to them.”⁴ Truly, the U.S. Constitution was established “by the hands of wise men whom [the Lord] raised up unto this very purpose.” (D&C 101:80.).

By the same token, we are not blinded by such devotion that we see the Constitution as a perfect document in need of no change whatsoever as illustrated by this quote by Reuben J. Clark, “who referred to the Constitution as “part of my religion,”⁶ also said that it was not part of his belief or the doctrine of the Church that the Constitution was a “fully grown document.” “On the contrary,” he said, “We believe it must grow and develop to meet the changing needs of an advancing world.”^7.  Even when changes are clearly needed as they were in the days of slavery and Jim Crow laws one does not need to change the totality of the document or the central message of the Constitution to do so. These things can remain affixed and should be considered the starting point of which to derive more just laws.
By having a Mormon in the White House, you would have someone with a great love for the U.S. Constitution and would not seek out to destroy it. People’s liberties would be far more protected with a Mormon in the office than they have been with our current Muslim president. There would be no stomping over the rights of the people by executive order with a Mormon in office.

 2. Families would be made a priority. An important part of the Plan of Salvation involves the creation and the maintaining of families, laws that hinder that would not be allowed to stand. As we have seen through Proposition 8, Mormons are willing to stand up for traditional marriage publicly as well as privately. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” by Gordon B. Hinckley had this to say about the importance of family, especially both mothers and fathers:

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

It is because families are eternal that we value them above all else except God. We spend our time in temples connecting family members one to another. We seek out the past with full knowledge that our salvation is very much dependent on the salvation of our ancestors. Like the Marines, we leave no man behind. With a Mormon in the office of the President, you would see the uplifting of families not the tearing down.

3. Charity. While most people associate charity with the giving of money to the poor and/or needy, ask any Mormon and they will tell you that true charity is the pure love of Christ. We believe we are to be charitable to others in order to exemplify that pure love of Christ that was freely given to all when he was on Earth. As a member of the church, we are called to be charitable and we give not only to the Church’s humanitarian aid but to other charities as well. However, anyone can give money. What is more important is giving time. If you were in the hospital and someone sent you some money while you were in there-would that do you any good? Probably not, you are confined to a hospital bed what are you going to do with money? However, if someone came in to visit you, talked to you, helped you eat if you were unable to do it yourself, wouldn’t that be far more charitable? When you left the hospital what would you remember the money you received or the visit? When people equate charity with money it totally undermines and undervalues the true meaning of charity. With a Mormon in the presidency there would be more of a focus on charity, helping those in need in order so they can become self-reliant. The Economist wrote an article dealing the LDS Welfare system, here is the link for the article, http://www.economist.com/node/988818

It concludes by saying: The Mormon welfare system shows how comprehensive church-run social services can be. Unfortunately, it does not support Mr Bush’s belief that federal tax breaks will unleash a wave of such projects. When the president announced his programme, the church authorities were polite, wished him well—and said they wanted nothing to do with it. The system runs because Mormons give up time and money. Tax breaks will make no difference to that—but they may, the church fears, enmesh the welfare system in a tangle of government restrictions.

A Mormon president would revamp the welfare system in this country and would help people become more self-reliant. A Mormon president would understand it would take more than money to solve problems  especially when it comes to those who find themselves in some serious dire straits. The mission of the LDS church is four-fold

1) Perfect the Saints 2) Redeem the Dead 3) Proclaim the Gospel and 4) Help the poor and needy. Because this is seen as our mission, a Mormon president would not shirk from it and would help devise a welfare plan in such a way that it would actually benefit those who needed it and not continue to enable their dependency.

These are just a few of the things that would take place in a Mormon presidency and from what I can see this country would be better off under a Mormon president than it has been under any other for a long while now. The only “Mormon Question” I see is, “Why wouldn’t you have a Mormon president?” And while I truly do wish to have a Mormon president, I do not believe Mitt Romney is that candidate. Personally, I think Dena Leichnitz would be a much better pick. LOL

Related articles

• The Mormon Thing (papundits.wordpress.com)
• Mitt Romney and the “Mormon Question” (themoderatevoice.com)
• Despite Divide, Evangelicals Could Support A Mormon (npr.org)

Marvin Perkins to Speak in Long Beach

If  you go to my entry entitled “A Black Mormon and Proposition 8you will meet Marvin Perkins.  He is an author, who co-wrote a book called, “Blacks in the Scriptures.” Which you can also get on DVD.   He will be speaking in Long Beach, California next Sunday at 6:30pm. I will be trying to attend the fireside (a fireside is basically church at night, for those you not in the know.) since I am very much interested in hearing what he has to say. Especially since being a Black Mormon seems to be an oxymoron for most people.

I know people ask me how can I be a part of a church that has had such a racist past associated with it.  My new answer is going to be, “Darling I was a Democrat for most of my life and we all know you don’t get more racist than that!” Heck, if I only went to places that I was sure were  100% non-racist I would never leave my house!  And considering I was being bussed in 1978 to a predominantly white school, that tells me the church was no more far behind on the times than the rest of the nation!

Anyway, I am getting off the subject. Back to Marvin Perkins, when I first saw the video about him speaking in defense of Proposition 8, I knew this was a courageous man.  A man who put God before his own comfort and own priorities.  And while we have taken the majority of heat for the passage of Proposition 8, my church and its members have acted nobly and without retaliation! And since he and my friend Marjorie Christopherson were the two most visible faces of Proposition 8, I would like an opportunity to thank him for standing up for what is right, like I was able to do with Marjorie.

May God continue to bless this man, as he continues to bring the restored Gospel to our people, so they too can be integral in building the new Zion.

Fireside Information:

When: February 22, 2009

Time: 6:30pm

Where: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

3701  Elm Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90807

For more contact information contact President Thompson at: dr.viti@verizon.net

A Mormon Mom Looks at Jesus vs. Santa

Jesus v. Santa

If you go to my Tech Inventions and Websites page you will see a website I have discovered and really enjoy. It is called Life As Me. The article is written by that author and it does an excellent job at explaining how one can be Mormon (or any Christian for that matter) and still tell her child about Santa.  I guess it is the belief that Santa is for the secular kids and Jesus is for the Christians and the two shall never meet.

However, Santa Claus is based on a Catholic Bishop, St. Nicholas.  He was born in the third century and eventually became the Bishop of Myra. If you want to learn more about the real Saint Nicholas go here:

St. Nicholas Center

So because the real St. Nicholas was a follower of Christ, you can join the two together and help build the faith of your child. However, you can allow them to have the mythical Santa Claus as well. A little imagination never hurt anyone.  In fact, Jesus is the one who gave us the wondrous gift of imagination, he gave us the land of dreams. He wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t something he thought was important and necessary.  Therefore to take away a child’s ability to marvel is downright cruel and inhumane!

I can prattle on forever but she makes a much better case than I. So go…..you’re still here? Go read her article already. LOL

More Pro-Life Sites Every Conservative Should Know About

Feminists for Life-their main focus is that of college age women. Mainly because those are the main women who are having the abortions. There are virtually no pro-life resources on most college campuses and the girls are often told they have to abort if they want to continue their education. So much for “freely choosing” huh? In fact, most abortions, up to 64% are either coerced or forced in some way. Up to 80% of those who abort say they would’ve carried to term if they would’ve been given any alternatives. Feminists for Life has continued to combat these frightening statistics.

Feminists for Life

2) Susan B. Anthony List-Susan B. Anthony List is the pro-life answer to Emily’s List-a pro-abortion site. Susan B. Anthony was extremely anti-abortion and thought women were degraded by abortion. Susan B. Anthony List picks up where their mentor left off, fighting the good fight against abortion and for the rights of women and children. In the beginning feminism always included the clause “and children.” Women and children were seen as a package deal. It wasn’t until Betty Friedan and her ilk came along that women and children were pitted against each other and weren’t seen as a desirable part of being a woman.

Susan B. Anthony List

3) Concerned Women for America-CWA has more members than NOW! (But no one has more members than the Relief Society branch of the Mormon church. It was the first and still the best! Love you RS sisters!) Concerned Women for America is a Christian organization but one need not be Christian to join. Concerned Women for America were the first to bring the Dafur situation and the sex slave trade to light. Phyllis Schafly who was prominent during the late sixties and early seventies during the whole “Flower Power” movement still contributes to Concerned Women for America. Wendy Wright is the president.

Concerned Women For America

4) Heritage House 76-This is a pro-life site that has various pro-life gear and literature for you to purchase when you are talking to large groups or holding demonstrations. Silent No More sells their literature, buttons and other merchandise including signs on this site. This is more of a clearinghouse for all your pro-life needs. Brandon Monahan runs this site and gave my first job writing pro-life articles for the now defunct Defending Truth website.

Heritage House 76

5) 40 Days for Life-40 days for Life is a national campaign that includes fasting and praying for the end of abortion. They hold silent vigils outside of abortion clinics. This is done twice a year-in January to coincide with the Roe v. Wade decision and in October. In pro-life circles October is sort of unofficially the Right to Life month. A lot of activities take place during those two months.

http://www.40daysforlife.com

6) STOPP International- The double “P” in this name is for Planned Parenthood. So it means Stop Planned Parenthood. They are part of the American Life League. The man who started this site actually shut down a Planned Parenthood in his town, he teaches others how to do the same. We are going to win through this war through access. Shut off access and you can have all the laws you want there won’t be abortion clinics to supply the demand. Despite what pro-choicers tell you women will not crawl over broken glass to have an abortion. In fact, there is not ONE SINGLE abortion clinic in South Dakota. The last one shut down this year! South Dakota is also the only state with an abortion ban already to take effect once Roe v. Wade is overturned. If South Dakota can do it, so can the rest of us.

STOPP International

7) The National Right to Life-I am kind of hesitant to mention this organization because they haven’t always been a friend to the pro-lifer. So take what they say with a grain of salt. However, they are the oldest and most well known of the pro-life organizations and they can supply certain useful information. They will at least know what legislation is before the Houses and you can probably use them to gather statistics. I wouldn’t count on them for support though.

The National Right to Life

8) The Pro-Life Action League (PLAL) -Bookmark this site. They have testimonies of former abortionists who give the low down on what goes on inside abortion clinics. They have stuff aimed for the youth and list of other pro-life organizations. Commit the testimonies of the abortionists to memory, they are going to be your best defense against the pro-aborts.

Pro Life Action League

AbortionViolence.com- They have statistics for every pro-choice crime committed against a pro-lifer, so when pro-choicers say that we are always bombing clinics you can come back with how many of their own clinics pro-choicers have bombed in order to collect the insurance and put the blame on pro-lifers. They also compare our movement with the violence done by other movements (gay rights, civil rights, apartheid, etc.). They have a wealth of information. It even goes state by state. So you can look your own state or any other state of your choice.

Abortion Violence

Okay I am about to blow you away with this one, but here it goes:

Pro Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL) -That’s right Dena the homophobe and queer hater extraordinaire is actually giving the gays and lesbians their due in this case. We can fight about gay marriage some other time but when it comes to saving the lives of unborn children, I can care less about your orientation as long you are willing to defend the lives of all children. PLAGAL is not welcome in the gay community because most gays and lesbians are pro-choice. (After all, most of them will never have to make the choice so it is easy for them to be nonchalant about parenthood.) So if gays are already outcasts (which I don’t think they are) then PLAGAL are outcasts among outcasts. Such conviction should be admired and so I gladly welcome them among all other pro-lifers who are out there trying to save the lives of babies.

Pro Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL)

Okay that is it for now. But with all the organizations that keep popping in my head as I compile this list, you might want to be on the lookout for list number three.

Americans Held Hostage in Mumbai

I want to start this by saying my prayers are going out for all those involved in this hostage crisis situation. So far between 100-125 people are dead. Who was targeted for these fanatical Islamofascists? Westerners. One report has no American casualties but another has two Americans missing. So it seems ol’ Joe was right, it was just his timing that was off. It wasn’t six months into the Obama presidency but 22 days. But I thought the world was going to see America as some kind of benevolent, enlightened nation for electing a radical Muslim (oops I mean “Christian.” Yeah right and I am a rocket scientist) to the office of President.

Why do we continue to iisten to these whackjob liberals? They never get anything right. There is a reason we are the Right and they’re not! Believe it or not, I am not blaming Obama for this-I had already wrote in my essay, “The Honeymoon is Over” that jihadists were not friends of Obama and celebrating his victory. But I am blaming liberals, because though this happened in India and not in the United States the liberal media tried to paint a picture of the world rejoicing at Obama’s election. Kenya declared a national holiday or so the rumor went. Still don’t know if that was true or not. But now, all the world would now be at peace because we elected the new Messiah. Of course, people with half a brain like me and the rest of Middle America knew that was utter hogwash.

So now another 125 people are dead because the liberals don’t want to hurt the feelings of these insane fanatics. How many people have to die before they start taking this Islam threat seriously? I don’t care how intolerant this sounds-people are continuously being slaughtered and liberals can care less. We need to deal with these people and not by sitting down and having tea with them and having a nice chat. And don’t sit there and tell me that I am a minority religion so I should have more tolerance for them 1) There are over 13 million people who are Mormon worldwide that is hardly a minority religion. We are the fastest growing religion on the planet! 2) There are still far more than 13 million Muslims worldwide so they are hardly a minority either 3) When Mormons start beheading people on the internet and crashing planes into buildings, then you can compare my religion with theirs! Until don’t begin to insult my religion by comparing mine to these murderers!

I hope Obama now realizes that peaceful dialogue is not an option with people like these and no matter what we do in America, we are always going to be targets. That these are not a freedom loving people and we need to stop treating them like they are. It is time to take the blinders off because if we don’t it will literally be the death of us. Not that the liberals would mind, but of course, the cowardice of the liberal ideology means they would be the first ones dead anyway. For all those suffering now, you are in my prayers. May God be with you in this time of need.

Why I Love Being Mormon!

1) Have you ever seen an anorexic Mormon? No, it just does not happen. We eat at every possible opportunity. We eat at baptisms, firesides and the 101 activities we simply devise just so we can chow down together. Though we love all food, we really love casserole and jello. In fact, the bishopric is immediately notified should there not be casserole and jello on hand at any church sponsored event, He then gets on the phone to Utah, talks to the Prophet, its a whole thing. People get ex-communicated. Rule number one of being a Mormon-thou must always serve casserole and jello at all functions. [P.S. Last night the singles sponsored a karoake/movie night do you know what people complained about? Not enough food? Do you know what we forgot to bring-casserole and jello! Mostly because we thought the other people would. Oh yeah, was not a pretty sight]

2) It is a lay church. Which means my tithing money is not going to buy a Benz for the pastor of my church. No one gets paid and everyone helps out. Because no money changes hands it makes everyone’s service that much more valuable. Because you know people are doing it because they want to and not because they are being paid.

Got to love those tithers!

3) We’re the original feminist. Joseph organized Relief Society with his wife Emma Smith as its first President back in 1842 on March 17th. Since then we have become not only the largest women’s organization in the world but the oldest. Before there was NOW (or as I like to call them the Nearly Obsolete Women or Naturally Obnoxious Women) there was Relief Society. As part of the fastest growing church, we are part of the fastest growing women’s organization.

Emma Smith

4) They don’t convert dumb people. If you look at our church, especially in my ward, the men are mostly lawyers, the women mostly teachers. Education is highly valued in the church, for both men and women. We don’t see education as something someone should do to make a buck but to enrich their lives and further their knowledge. The church expects both men and women to read the scriptures, learn the Gospel and the history of the church. They expect you to teach classes, give talks, things you can’t do if you a moron.

5) Because I don’t have to explain why I don’t drink anymore. Even before the church, I didn’t drink due to my epilepsy. You would be surprised how many people have not heard of epilepsy. So then there was a ten minute discussion about the finer point of seizures. Now, I simply say because I’m Mormon and end of discussion. They may not what epilepsy is but they know what a Mormon is.

6) Because with all the hatred towards Mormons today, it makes it real easy to know who my friends are. It also makes it easier to identify the clearly certifiably insane people as well. All I have to say is three little words, “I’m a Mormon” and watch the insanity fly! It is also kind of fun to watch other Christians get worked up because I don’t think God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are all meshed together as one. Hello, I thought we were talking about deities here, not thousand island dressing!

7) Lastly, I love being Mormon because they are some of the best people I have ever met in my life. They are loyal, generous, loving, supportive, courageous, and generally good-hearted people. I consider myself lucky that I can count myself among these valiant servants. They are a true representation of the love of Christ. But mostly it is that casserole and jello thing.

A Modern Day Mormon Heroine

I was going to write about the persecution of my friend, Marjorie  (Margie) Christofferson, who has been targeted by the gay community for giving 100 bucks to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign.  But instead of talking about their hatred which we have seen displayed so clearly I want to talk about Margie.

Margie is a wonderful, beautiful older woman in my ward. She owns El Coyote Mexican restaurant,  a big gay hang out in Los Angeles.  Even though she doesn’t agree with their lifestyle she has never discriminated against any of them.  And I know through my church relationship with her she has been nothing but kind, thoughtful and always willing to lend a helping hand.  She is the first one to pitch in whenever we have an event.  She was even willing to lend her house for a Relief Society party that because of circumstances beyond anyone’s control had to be canceled. She participates in the Relief Society discussion always giving a fresh perspective on the Gospel.

Margie is tall and sleek.  She has a most regal air about her.  She has a smile that lights up a room.  She is the epitome of grace and intelligence.  Until this recent event I didn’t even know she owned El Coyote-that is because she doesn’t feel the need to brag or boast about her own accomplishments. She is humble and without an ounce of pretentiousness about her.  I always liked and admired her, but these recent events have deepened that.  Every time I see her, I smile, give her a hug, maybe a chat for awhile.  But I had no idea of the true character of this remarkable woman until the other day.

At the press conference she gave, the gay community were trying to force her to give money to the NO on Prop 8 campaign (Hello! It is over, what good would it do now? As long as we are going to give money to obsolete causes, why not pony up some cash for the Build the Titanic fund as well?  After all, that ended up sinking too!) yet she said she would not.  She would not apologize for standing by her beliefs and as upset as she was, she still stayed true to the Gospel.  So the boycott was on.  If she wasn’t going to apologize, if she wasn’t going to give money to their cause, if she was going to stand up to their bullying, well she was going to have to pay.  It would’ve been easy just to give into what they wanted and not sacrifice her livelihood.  Yet she was willing to do just that to follow her faith.

A friend of mine told me today that he heard someone say, “Today we are all Mormons.”  That touched me, but not as much as Margie’s courage and strength in the face of personal adversity.  To know such a woman is truly an honor.  You don’t meet many great people in your life, they are a rarity.  I have pledged to do whatever I can to help her get through this. If Margie is willing to sacrifice so much for what she believes, the least I can do is support her and stand by her.  The people who are vilifying her don’t even begin to know what kind of wonderful person they are hurting.  They will never have the moral fortitude to looks such heated opposition in the eye and not blink.  They will never be as good, forgiving or loving as my good friend Margie Christofferson. May God watch over her now.  May all those who supported Prop. 8 support her now.  She given so much for us, it is time to pay her back.

Mormon Persecution

The Mormons have been targeted for persecution by the NO on 8 campaign.  Since losing the battle, they have taken to the streets and have been leveling attacks at the Mormon church.  While their message focuses on hate by Mormons, they don’t see their own hateful behavior.

Who hates who?

The pro-life movement has lost three times to enact parental consent in California, though I think this time we have gotten closer than in the last two elections. Yet not during one of those times did we take to the streets and challenge the proposition.  We didn’t like the voter results-we still don’t-but instead of calling names and intimidating those we disagree with, we recoup, we lick our wounds and we try again.  In fact there is a whole lot more riding on Proposition 4 then there is for Proposition 8.  At least in my book.  The unborn child lost their right to life….again!  What did the gays lose? Nothing.  Since under the domestic partnership law any two people can register and receive the same rights as those of a married couple. Their rights are still intact, the unborn child’s right to live is still up for grabs.

The Mormon Church is an easy scapegoat for the losers in this campaign.  Because we take our civic duty seriously and that angers them.  According to Yahoo News! “In Salt Lake City, a crowd of about 2,000 chanted “Separate church and state” and waved rainbow flags outside the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which encouraged its members to work to pass the amendment by volunteering their time and money for the campaign. Some protesters held signs with messages like, “Mormons: Once persecuted, now persecutors.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage_marches

So let’s look at the truth instead of the vicious lies of the Left:

1) The separation of church and state is NOT in the Constitution.  The Constitution forbids the state from establishing a national religion, it says nothing about individuals in a church voting their collective conscience! A church is free to express their beliefs within the public arena.  There was nothing remotely illegal about the church’s participation in the Proposition 8 campaign.  There were also marriage amendments in Florida and Arizona that also passed but you don’t see the people in those states resorting to such blatant bigotry.  There are Mormons in Florida and Arizona and I am sure they worked to pass those gay marriage bans as well.  The Mormons are not the only people who voted in California for traditional marriage.  A lot of other faiths did as well as well as those with no faith.  The gay community is saying we are taking away their right but there is no right to marry in the Constitution. There is a right to freedom of speech, which they are trying to take away by saying we shouldn’t as citizens been involved in the Prop. 8 campaign. Though they are entirely within their rights to vote no on it, we are not allowed to offer differing views.  There is a right to freedom of religion (And guess what you don’t need to look far to find those rights, they are the FIRST AMENDMENT!!!) and as such we are free to exercise those religious values wherever we see fit. Even in the voting booth.

2)  It is ironic that they don’t want the state involved in religious matters since they seem to want the state involved in everything else.  They want to state to “affirm their love.” They want the state to mandate teaching of homosexuality from K-12.  They want the state to grant them benefits as they would a married couple. But all of a sudden it is separation of state and church.  That being said, though the church backed Proposition 8, it never once forced anyone to work on the campaign or give money to it. All of that was done of the members own free will. Some members were even against Prop 8.  I knew of one personally.  Though even my most liberal ward members were backing the proposition.  So each member was able to make up their own mind.  They weren’t penalized if they didn’t participate. They weren’t denied temple recommends or have any of their callings stripped from them. It was a strictly voluntary and if the Mormon church  raised the most money for Yes on 8, it is only because we believed in it so.  When it comes down to it, they would deny us the right to believe what we want. As you can see, their answer is not to earn new rights but to strip the rights of Mormons away.  Along with the right of the 52% of Californians who voted for the Constitutional amendment.

3) Then there is that sign that says: Mormons: Once persecuted, now persecutors.” Hmmm, if that is the case why aren’t Mormons going to your places of worship and harassing you?  So why aren’t we calling for a boycott of West Hollywood, San Francisco and other predominantly gay areas like you are doing with Los Angeles and Utah? If we are persecuting you, why are we not calling for any pro-gay church that contributed to No on 8 campaign to have their tax exempt status pulled, like you are doing with the church? It is not the Mormon Church that are doing the persecuting.  However, I have no fear of the boycott in regards to the Church.  So to the 52% who supported the amendment-let’s do a buycott!  Whether you are Mormon or not, spend some time in beautiful Utah if you can.  Go skiing, do some hiking, have some fun.  Even if you are not a member, drop the church a line and let them know you appreciate everything they did to help pass Proposition 8.  If we do that, their boycott won’t even register as a blip the Church’s radar. We are the fastest growing church in the world and there has to be a reason.  And I can tell you why, liberalism has failed and people want the truth and that is found in our church.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  May those who are persecuting the church now come to see the errors of their way and accept the Lord, Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Only then will they know true and everlasting happiness. Something homosexuality can never supply.

As I close this article, I do so with a heavy heart but also with untold joy.  It is disheartening to see such vile hatred targeted at the Mormon Church. This church has done more for me than I could ever repay. They have given me purpose, respect, honor and love.  I have been accepted without conditions, I have comforted when I needed comfort.  I have been treated like a daughter of God and their beloved sister, so it is with great sadness that I must witness such obvious evil displayed for my church, my brethren, my sisters. However, there is also joy, for I have seen God work and he has brought to pass his eternal Plan of Salvation even in the midst of Babylon. Even with Satan’s army ready to take down God’s children, we passed Prop. 8-for that I have joy. I also know at the end of this trial, I shall be stronger.  I shall be able to withstand anything and stand for God. I will be blessed and I know more people will learn about the Church and join.  What Satan tried to use to destroy, God will use to restore! It won’t be the church that falls but those who seek to destroy Christ’s covenant people. We shall grow exponentially because of this, so thank you for bringing more to Christ. We couldn’t have done it without you.

A Black Mormon & Proposition 8

Marvin Perkins, a Black Mormon, speaks out on Propositon 8. He was interviewed for CNN but CNN cut out a lot of his talk. This is what they left out. With marriage in turmoil, it is time we stood up for traditional marriage, which has always been the cornerstone of society. We have seen what becomes of a society that devalues this institution.

My favorite part of this video is when the interviewer asks him about the interracial ban and Marvin tells them that Blacks were forbidden to marry whites, but they weren’t given domestic partnerships like gays are. There was nothing for Blacks, that is a tremendous difference. Watch this video, ponder what Proposition 8 really means and then go out and vote Yes on Prop 8 on November 4th.