INVITATION TO ALL MORMONS TO VOTE THEIR CONSCIENCE
LDS Church encourages member involvement in political process
By Carrie A. MooreDeseret News
Published: Monday, Sept. 22, 2008 12:28 a.m. MDT
While the LDS Church has long affirmed its political neutrality regarding political parties, platforms and candidates, it is reminding its members of their duty to vote and of the church's right to speak out on political and social issues.
In a letter sent to priesthood leaders dated Sept. 11 to be read from the pulpit in LDS congregations nationwide on Sunday, the church's First Presidency titled its message "Political participation, voting and the political neutrality of the Church."
Church leaders each year read a statement of political neutrality from the pulpit and encourage members to get involved in the political process, but this year's letter differed from previous years in the urgency with which it encourages individual political participation.
"As citizens, we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future," the letter reads.
"Latter-day Saints as citizens are to seek out and then uphold leaders who will act with integrity and are wise, good, and honest. Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties."
"Therefore, in this election year, we urge you to register to vote, to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully, and then to vote for and actively support those you believe will most nearly carry out your ideas of good government," the letter said.
As in the past, the letter affirms the church's "neutrality regarding political parties, platforms, and candidates. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues."
In June, the First Presidency sent a letter to church leaders in California — also to be read from the pulpit — asking church members to "do all you can" to uphold traditional marriage. The move came following a ruling earlier this year by the California Supreme Court that overturned a previous referendum outlawing gay marriage.
Voters there will decide in November whether to approve the proposed amendment, and opponents have grown increasingly vocal in their criticism of the church's stance and the political involvement of its members.
E-mail: carrie@desnews.com
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First Presidency Issues Letter on Political Participation
SALT LAKE CITY | 22 September 2008 | The following letter was issued by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on September 11, 2008, to be read to Church congregations throughout the United States: Political Participation, Voting, and the Political Neutrality of the Church As citizens we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future. Latter-day Saints as citizens are to seek out and then uphold leaders who will act with integrity and are wise, good, and honest. Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties. Therefore, in this election year, we urge you to register to vote, to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully, and then to vote for and actively support those you believe will most nearly carry out your ideas of good government.The Church affirms its neutrality regarding political parties, platforms, and candidates. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues. Sincerely yours,
Thomas S. Monson Henry B. Eyring Dieter F. Uchtdorf The First Presidency
Greetings!LDS Members are invited to join Mormons for Obama!This is a group dedicated to bringing together members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormon) who support Barack Obama.We encourage all people to participate with their local Obama groups (i.e. Utah for Obama).Please read Obama's speech on faith.Also, please use the blog feature for discussions, and make announcements over the listserv. The listserv is now moderated.The Mormons for Obama email discussion group can be found here.Visit the Mormons for Obama Store!Some other Mormon groups for Obama:Oregon Mormons for Obama 08AZ Mormons for ObamaLatter Day Saints (Mormons) for ObamaDFW Mormons for Obama
Greetings!
LDS Members are invited to join Mormons for Obama!
This is a group dedicated to bringing together members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormon) who support Barack Obama.
We encourage all people to participate with their local Obama groups (i.e. Utah for Obama).
Please read Obama's speech on faith.
Also, please use the blog feature for discussions, and make announcements over the listserv. The listserv is now moderated.
The Mormons for Obama email discussion group can be found here.
Visit the Mormons for Obama Store!
Some other Mormon groups for Obama:
Oregon Mormons for Obama 08
AZ Mormons for Obama
Latter Day Saints (Mormons) for Obama
DFW Mormons for Obama
I guess to add to the theme of my last couple posts there is a recent article titled Numbers Racket in May's Harper's about the nature of economic numbers manipulation during the last 40 years.
To quote the author:
Despite the present Bush Administration's overall penchant for manipulating data (e.g., Iraq, climate change), it has yet to match its predecessor in economic revisions. In 2002, the administration did, however, for two months fail to publish the Mass Layoff Statistics report, because of its embarrassing nature after the 2001 recession had supposedly ended; it introduced, that same year, an "experimental" new CPI calculation (the C-CPI-U), which shaved another 0.3 percent off the official CPI; and since 2006 it has stopped publishing the M-3 money supply numbers, which captured rising inflationary impetus from bank credit activity. In 2005, Bush proposed, but Congress shunned, a new, narrower historical wage basis for calculating future retiree Social Security benefits.By late last year, the Gallup Poll reported that public faith in the federal government had sunk below even post-Watergate levels. Whether statistical deceit played any direct role is unclear, but it does seem that citizens have got the right general idea. After forty years of manipulation, more than a few measurements of the U.S. economy have been distorted beyond recognition.
Despite the present Bush Administration's overall penchant for manipulating data (e.g., Iraq, climate change), it has yet to match its predecessor in economic revisions. In 2002, the administration did, however, for two months fail to publish the Mass Layoff Statistics report, because of its embarrassing nature after the 2001 recession had supposedly ended; it introduced, that same year, an "experimental" new CPI calculation (the C-CPI-U), which shaved another 0.3 percent off the official CPI; and since 2006 it has stopped publishing the M-3 money supply numbers, which captured rising inflationary impetus from bank credit activity. In 2005, Bush proposed, but Congress shunned, a new, narrower historical wage basis for calculating future retiree Social Security benefits.
By late last year, the Gallup Poll reported that public faith in the federal government had sunk below even post-Watergate levels. Whether statistical deceit played any direct role is unclear, but it does seem that citizens have got the right general idea. After forty years of manipulation, more than a few measurements of the U.S. economy have been distorted beyond recognition.
Here again is why I'm supporting Obama.
We as a nation (and I'm YES generalizing here) have become adolescent in our expectations of our leaders. We want them to lie to us during the primaries and elections. We would rather hear pleasantries that are NOT true than realities that require us to CHANGE, adapt, and work.
Although we know it isn't possible, we want to believe that we can cut taxes AND increase government spending. We want to believe that every choice we make is right, regardless of the evidence. We want to believe that magically all the money we borrow will never have to be repaid. We aren't dumb, we are simply adolescent. We want freedom, but not responsibility. We want pandering, platitudes, and soundbites NOT leadership, expectations, and rationality.
Until we are willing to support a candidate (like OBAMA) that is willing to tell us something we don't want to hear, we will be stuck on that boat of self-delusion until it eventually SINKS.
The Union of Concerned Scientists just released a report titled Interference at the EPA. So, I guess this extends the theme of my earlier posts.
Bush's administration interfered with the MILITARY, drives experts out and puts our country at risk. His adminsistration interfered with SCIENCE, drives experts out and puts our country at risk. We know from the IRAQ war his administration interfered with INTELLIGENCE, drives the experts ourt and puts our country at risk.
Right now, many of the problems of the economy can be traced to this same impulse.
This is why we need to take ACTION now, work for CHANGE now.
- Rob
This article (Gates Celebrates DissentThe generals quash it) in Slate by Fred Kaplan is just the tip of the berg on what the current administration has fostered in the US Military and why the best and the brightest (NAGL, etc) are leaving.
I originally posted this as a response to a friend's post, but figured I wanted it to have a little more light, so I'm posting it on its own:
I think sometimes in the ether of the Internet we forget the fundamentals of elections. Blogs are nice, friends are great, but races are -- at the end of the day -- won by a couple of things:1. Getting people to care, register, and vote.2. Money.3. Recognized Inevitability.4. Organization.5. Not giving up or screwing up.5. Removing any of the above five from the opponents' bucket.We can be excited all we want, but we need to take that excitement from the Internet, and call 25 people, find 2 or 3 converts, or give the campaign some money.To paraphrase John Boyd, a famous air force tactician, "In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision: to be or to do." For the kinds of challenges America faces and will face, we as Obama supporters need to become principled, creative, reform-minded leaders, men and women who, again to paraphrase Boyd, "want to do something, not be somebody."Let's go out and DO SOMETHING!!!!
Here is Mitchell's contact page:
http://mitchell.house.gov/contact/
When writing Congressman Mitchell, here are some important points to bring up:
1. Obama won his district.
2. Obama is ahead in the popular vote nationally.
3. Obama is ahead in delegates nationally.
4. It is time for our representatives to STAND and BE COUNTED. It is doing our candidates (Clinton and Obama) no good for the superdelegates to sit on the sideline. It is doing our party no good. IT is doing Congressman Mitchell NO GOOD, either.
Thanks,
Rob
It is time that we as Arizona voters start to put some pressure on our state's super-delegates. Here are the current list of Arizona SuperDelegates:
DNC Members
U.S. House of Representatives
Governor Janet Napolitano (Obama)
Terry Goddard (Potential)
My recommendation would be to write a letter to Harry Mitchell. Obama won his District. He has been quoted as saying "I hope we don't get to a point where the superdelegates are deciding the election." _ Rep. Harry Mitchell of Arizona.
It is pretty obvious that in a post-Pennsylvania primary the voters have decided (Obama has a significant lead in both popular vote nationally and delegate lead nationally, but many superdelegates are hedging their bets until it's safe to vote. I didn't elect my democratic representatives to stand and be counted when it is safe and comfortable. Sometimes, their job requires leadership, risk, and wisdom.
A while back a member of my ward emailed me a picture of Obama. Everyone knows the one I'm talking about. It was a shallow, but well coordinated attack on Barack Obama's patriotism because of a perceived lack of respect for the American flag.
Here was my response:
Let me be simple and to the point.I've got two brothers currently serving in the US Army. My older brother is a black hawk pilot who has been in COMBAT (2 tours in IRAQ and 2 tours in Afghanistan) almost 4 of the last 6 years now. He's got a wife and 3 children.I've also got a little brother (my father just pinned on his Sergeant pin today), who left his Echols scholarship at UVa to enlist in the Army. He just returned from 10th MTN Division's 16 month COMBAT tour to Afghanistan.I am a little proud of them, they are my only two brothers.I am, however, a little embarrassed of all of you. Frankly, I don't give a rats tail who you vote for in the next election. I just find it funny that a couple of successful folks over at a couple exclusive investment firms can forward emails that have no real actual meaning to either my brothers or my family, and then pat themselves on their backs for their collective enthusiastic patriotism.If you are so concerned about patriotism gentlemen, enlist. I mean it. Drop everything, grow a pair and enlist. Both the Army and Marines need thousands of honest, hardworking, healthy men right now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Suck it up, men you're patriots right?Perhaps, if we had less people bitching from their leather chairs, while emailing their friends and family about "hands on hearts" while straightening their flag lapel pins, before they close the sale; and more people with the resolve to actually sacrifice everything and go put "hands on guns," we could win the war.Perhaps, if we weren't so fixated on empty vestiges of patriotism (like the effort it takes you to forward an email pic) and instead focused on real sacrifice, whether it is made by Republicans or Democrats we could win the war.I'm not holding my breath, gentlemen. Maybe Mark 7:6 deserves a second read.
http://jenirob.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-letter-to-those-that-forwarded.html
The point of this group, from my perspective, is to give the LDS community in Arizona a place to gather, share information, and find ways to influence friends and family to support and eventually vote for Barack Obama.
After the Pennsylvania primary, I felt I could do 3 or 4 things to help Obama:
1. Give financially to help Obama's campaign. I felt it was critical not just because I had contributed financially, but by adding my name to the over 1.4 million contributors I was sending a strong signal to the unpledged superdeligates of Obama's grass-roots support.
2. Write Arizona's superdeligates and encourage them to a) pledge their support for a candidate now, and to b) pledge their support for Barack Obama, specifically.
3. Phone key states (Indiana, etc) to encourage others to vote for Obama.
