Right-wing Mormons
 

I just finished the section about David O. McKay's relationship with Ezra Taft Benson.

And how the legacy of this is that Utah is the most Republican state in the nation.

I think the other thing that has occurred is that it has produced the sort of climate where a sometimes moderate Republican like myself is roundly attacked and made to feel less-than-worthy in venues like cougarboard.

Look at the sneering words of condolence Snipe had to offer when Harry Reid had his stroke. It's sad really.

My personal opinion is that the less the church has to do with politics the better.

The Church of the Republican Party. There are people who simply cannot separate religion from politics. It's to the point that if we criticize our Republican leaders, it's tantamount to speaking ill of the Lord's annointed.

There seems to be only one issue that is important to Mormon voters: abortion. I got into a boardmail argument with a guy last year (I haven't seen him around the board since then - unless he has since re-registered under a different name) where he made the statement to me that because I have, in the past, voted for candidates who held pro-abortion stances, I was either ill-informed or evil. Never mind the fact that these particular candidates would have no influence whatsoever on the legality of abortion. (Scariest thing about this guy is he claimed to be a graduate assistant / professor in political science at Stanford.)

Lost in this sort of analysis is the fitness of the candidate for the position. You can be a complete moron, but if you oppose abortion, you will likely beat out a pro-abortion candidate who is eminently more qualified in every way, in an election in Utah.

Last year, a couple of talk radio hosts in L.A. (John & Ken) held what they called "Political Human Sacrifice." These guys are absolutely Republicans. However, they aren't afraid to criticize Republican leaders when they feel they're not doing their jobs. John & Ken's pet issue these days is illegal immigration. They feel the Republicans are ignoring this issue, to the detriment of California. So, before last year's elections, they selected a Republican state senator (David Dreier) as their Political Human Sacrifice, and they spent the month or so before the election actively campaigning against him on the air. Their goal was for the Republican party to lose a seat to try to wake them up to the illegal immigration issue that they feel is being ignored.

It sort of worked - Dreier still won, but by a significantly lower margin than he ever had before. After the election, they asked listeners who still voted for Dreier to call in and explain themselves. The most common explanation was, "I just couldn't make myself vote for a Democrat." Often on moral grounds. John & Ken (rightfully so, in my opinion) repeatedly called these people idiots and gutless cowards for being so attached to the party line.

It's the easy way out. No thinking required.

Moral Issues
 

Sorry if I misinterpreted the thread but I was just hopping along and saw the comment on moral issues.

I had an interesting conversation with some of my classmates the other day. When asked how I voted (e.g. party lines), I said I usually gave the most importance to "moral issues" and let everything else fall in behind.

Frighteningly, everyone automatically thought I was talking about abortion and gay marriage. While I do feel that those are moral issues, what about feeding the poor? What about healing the sick? Don't we have a "moral" obligation to look after the less fortunate?

I hate how some people (including several mormons) have identified 1 or 2 issues as the moral litmus (sp?) test for politicians. I think abortion is an abomination but how do you overlook one form of immorality and zero in on another?

Amen guys.

Few things bug me more than blind partisanship.

Blind partisanship also bugs me. . .
 

And no one is more guilty of it than those stinking liberals. :lol:

Re: Blind partisanship also bugs me. . .
 

Hmmmmm.... Is that you, ExUte?

These are all great thoughts. The thing that bothers me the most are the quick and angry responses that I get when people find out that I have democrat leanings. Some people cannot understand how any good mormon person could ever side with the democrats. I find it very disturbing how people can not see any other side to their own party's views. I find it very disturbing how people can't see a lot of gray in issues and simply lash out if you don't fall in line.

To UteStar:
 

that is the most assinine thing I have read here so far, I guess I should expect as much from a liberal.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Thoughtless, partisan spew is actually more well-received on Cougarboard than it is here, for the most part.

EDITED: As I think about it, I'm hoping your post was TIC.

I guess my humor is WAY to subtle for some......
 

I debated putting the smiley faces because I thought it would be even MORE subtle without, but then I realized people wouldn't know I was kidding. It was of course, TIC.