Simple Utah Mormon Politics

Have you ever been afraid that your child would choose something that you didn't want them to, and so you have withheld facts from them? I think that they should be armed with the facts, even if by so having the facts they choose that something I wish they wouldn't. For 24 years now, females have been able to make a poignant choice without all the facts. In the age of technology, the ability for them to make a fully informed choice is becoming nearer to the reality. Because of the technology some of them are making a different choice than they otherwise might have. Crisis pregnancy centers encourage them to look at the alternatives before making the choice. "They connected," nurse Joyce Wilson says, recalling the reaction of the women who saw the filmy image of their fetus onscreen. "They bonded. You could just see it. One girl got off the table and said, 'That's my baby.'" Despite whether we are pro-choice or pro-life ( I prefer to call mys...

Last Sunday, as we got home from church, we noticed a plastic bag hanging on the front door knob. Inside was a very attractive DVD. Based on the title of the DVD, as well as the paucity of any other information on the cover, I guessed that it was an attack on Mormonism. I was right. The first 15 minutes of the video were actually pretty good. It seemed to me a very fair comparison of what (I think) traditional Christianity believes versus what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe. They got the Mormon part right, anyway. It is actually something I wouldn't have minded showing my children--except for what followed. Flowing music and beautifully professional cinematography couldn't cover up the scurrility that made up most of the rest of the video. A Deseret News article this morning quoted the producer of the video as saying that he produced the video out of love for the Mormons. Pshaw!!! When it comes to showing love for a group of people, in this case...

Why is it so difficult for us to tell both sides of the story? Because it's more entertaining in the long run when we have to spend countless hours ferreting out sometimes meaningless truths? Because congress and the White House are trying to steal the top spot in the ratings from CSI Tijauana, Lost, Deal or No Deal, and Survivor Las Vegas? It has been a pain in the butt for me to find any facts surrounding the firing of 8 United States attorneys by the Bush Administration, but let me break down what either side seems not willing to admit. What the Republicans Don't Want You to Know Everyone admits that Bill Clinton fired all 93 US attorneys upon taking office. George Bush came nowhere near firing that many, right? Well, technically speaking, yes. If this link is not a phishing site created by CBS News , then we can rest assured that, "continuing the practice of new administrations", Bush only fired 91 of the attorneys when he arrived at the White House. What th...

It is becoming increasingly common to claim that morality is not important. What is worse, some claim that religion is not important to the maintenance of morality. This view is at best a risky proposition, and at worst a recipe for disaster. Amorality is taunting our society more and more as time goes by. Yesterday my son called his mother and said he was feeling sick and needed to come home from school early. It turns out that a classmate had been hitting him in the stomach. I told my wife, "I'm glad that our son is a good kid and didn't strike back. But find out who his father is, and I will visit with his father, and tell him 'if it happens again, I'm coming after you!' My wife said, no one knows who the father is. The school child is a former drug baby, who is being raised by his grandparents. That makes 6 sets of grandparents that I know that either are or have recently been raising their grandchildren. This is why morality is critical. Because o...

If your presidential candidate did very well in the last election despite losing, wouldn't you want him to run again? Not if he was simply a not much more palatable alternative to the other guy. Despite the fact that I think a lot of the things the Swift Boat veterans said about John Kerry are exaggerated or false, I still don't think he would have made a very good president. (Truth be known, I didn't vote for George Bush either--for the same reason.) Some people I know said that Kerry would have been a much better president than George W. Bush. Well, now's his chance--but he's not taking it. John Kerry did very well in the 2004 presidential election. He came pretty close to winning. He should be this round's front runner, shouldn't he? Why then is he not even running again? If he had to run against George Bush, I might be able to understand why he wouldn't want to try it again. But George Bush can't even run this time. Kerry could run agains...

So far, I am way behind in the office polls for March Madness. But my prospects are good. I think I can make up some significant ground in the next week or so. How about you? Did your office have a poll on the NCAA men's and or women's basketball tournaments? Always go with your first impression--that's what they always say, right? My first impressions were not real good a couple of days ago when I entered the men's office poll (I entered the women's one as well). After day 1 of the men's tourney, I am in 25th place out of 27 people. What went wrong? Well... Duke has been playing poorly as of late, but they always make a good showing in March. Think again, Staheli! George Washington did well last year, so they have the knack of winning come tourney time. Choke! These turned out to be my worst two picks, because I had these two teams winning three games! Things are looking up for me, though. Some of my poll opponents, being true blue BYU cougar fans at...

Some members of the LDS church are lining up behind Mitt Romney and are glad that he's running for President of the United States. Others are saying, 'Run away! It's a Mormon running for president!' Should Mr. Romney's religion matter? Not really. What really matters is if he would make a good president. I'm not sure... For those of you who hadn't already heard it, I thought I'd pass this one on : "There's no doubt history is in the making with the 2008 presidential race. We may have either the first Black president, the first Woman president, or the first Mormon president. Why not kill three birds with one stone - elect Gladys Knight president and call it a day." --Lloyd Benson & Kyle Stephens I heard rumors that a recent Gallup poll stated that two-thirds of Americans would not vote for a Mormon for president. What I found is that (at least most recently) 72% would . But that's still 3 out of 10 who wouldn't vote for...