Monthly Archives: December 2011

Romney’s Path to the Mormon Presidency

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Thinking about editor Albert R. Hunt’s silly post-primary prediction where he sees Romney, “becoming president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” I decided to do a little math experiment on the probability that Mitt Romney could someday become the LDS Prophet. He will be 65 in 2012 during the election year. I will be using the most realistic “fast track” path.

He loses the bid for U.S. President, either in the primary or the general. This frees him up for a Church calling/assignment. The LDS Church leadership asks him to become a mission president. That lasts for 3 years. When finished he returns and is called to the First Quorum of the Seventy for another 3 years. He is now officially a General Authority with real “inner circle” leadership status, although limited by whatever duties given. Continue reading →

Betting on Romney

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Seth R and I have a bet now as to who is going to win the nomination. I’m betting on Gingrich (or at least someone other than Romney) and he on Romney. Frankly, all things being equal, the odds are on his side. This article here explains why. In the article, we have a PhD explaining why the predictions market still favors Romney over Gingrich. Essentially, it boils down to what possible scenarios will play out for the first states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida) and how they anticipate the Republican bosses reacting.

One interesting idea in the article is that the anti-Romney crowd, seeing Gingrich can’t win, promotes Jon Huntsman or Ron Paul instead leading to a victory over Gingrich.

So I can see why Seth and others feel like Gingrich is only an outside chance. Continue reading →

If you have the stomach for it….

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…read this disgusting article on Catholic Online titled (and I am not making this up):  “Newt Gingrich to restore faith in presidency with faith in God.”

Yes, the serial adulterer and monomaniacal Gingrich is better than Romney because….

Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and despite that religion’s generally positive public and moral image, some classical, trinitarian Christians have difficulty with the Mormon Church’s claim to being a Christian religion. Perhaps because of that, they are having difficulty reconciling themselves to the notion of a Mormon president.

For orthodox or classical Christians, those who adhere to the ancient Creeds of the Christian Church, it is a matter of religious integrity. They admire the moral integrity of Mormons and stand with them on many “social” issues. However, they wish that the LDS Church would be more honest about their theological beliefs.

Although Mormons publicly proclaim their Christianity (they even refer to their church as The Church of Jesus Christ), they are widely felt to be outside the orthodox view of the Christian faith. While Mormons seek to make this a debatable subject, it’s perception is what matters most, and some within America’s Christian community may not be ready for a Mormon president. For others, it does not matter at all. For example, Catholics and Mormons have worked together on many important social issues, including the defense of marriage and the defense of unborn human life.

 

Meanwhile, Gingrich, the dishonest, insider politician who compares himself to Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt (without irony) is a “breath of fresh air.”  I would not believe this article if I had not read it with my own eyes.  n/t to Mike Parker for linking this article on Facebook.

 

Selling a Life—Missionary Work

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As I explained before, sustaining the law supports agency just as much as sustaining choice. You can’t support one to the detriment of the other without destroying agency in the process. It is a common misunderstanding that laws unrighteously apply force to individuals, so long as they are just and reasonable. They do not force obedience, but they do attach a consequence to behavior that some might perceive as force because they don’t like it.

Participating in a community is an implicit contractual agreement. There are guaranteed to be some laws you don’t like. I have heard this referred to as “tyranny of the majority” which is an empty catch phrase. “Tyranny of the majority,” in any meaningful sense, is ALWAYS present in life. Whoever has the majority of people behind them has the power. That is not the prerogative of democracy, and complaining about it or imagining it away is merely an exercise in fantasy.

The advantage to democracy is that it exposes this underlying reality to the open air and uses it to slow corruption. Note that it won’t stop corruption, only slow it. I believe that we are currently in a situation where corruption is present throughout the system. Theoretically, democracy should be capable of cleaning out the sump unless the majority of the people also succumb to corruption. It remains to be seen whether or not that is the case in the USA.

That being said, there is nothing inherently good about democracy, just as there is nothing inherently good in ANY form of government, even anarchy or decentralized government. The key to a good government is not structure, it is righteousness.

Alma said it much better. The preaching of the word of God has more power than the sword or anything else which had happened to his people. Power to change minds. Power to change hearts.

I believe that if we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stop preaching party politics and begin to preach the word of God in the political arena, we will affect true and righteous change. This doesn’t mean proselytizing, necessarily. This means to preach gospel principles. Frugality, self-reliance, charity, peace, patience, acceptance of others’ weaknesses, hard work, hope, sacrifice, unity.

If any of us truly wish to save the collapse of this country, it will not come by finding the political party which best suits us or trying to convert others to our cause. It will certainly not come by vilifying those who do not agree with us. It will not come by government overhaul. It will come because there are people who eschew politics in favor of peace, power in favor of charity, rightness in favor of righteousness.

Unless that happens, there truly is no hope.