The Mormon Mourning
I'll be honest, I have been completely shocked this past week to hear the reactions from the outcome of the presidential election. A large number of my Facebook friends are of the Mormon faith, and they seem to be in mourning. These same people, who a day earlier were singing the praises of a free land where every voice is heard, and every vote counts, now curse the fraudulent nature of the voting system that has apparently been manipulate by men with dirty hands.
Here are some things to consider before you lose all hope in the future of our country:
1. I don't believe Mitt Romney was God's choice. I have no doubt he is a wonderful caring man, so I'm going to chalk up his political platform to ignorance. I have a hard time understanding how someone who supports the Patriot Act, the Federal Reserve, detaining US citizens indefinitely without a trial, and an aggressive, military minded foreign policy - I have a hard time understanding how he was the hope of a people who follow the Prince of Peace.
2. Mitt Romney was not going to save the Constitution. Ron Paul was. Mitt even acknowledged (see here) that Paul was the expert on the matter. One one occasion, Romney was asked if it was constitutional to declare war without a declaration of war, Romney said "I'd have to consult my attorneys".
3. I have not lost faith in my religion. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is still true. To clarify again for those not familiar with the Mormon Church, here is our church's statement on political neutrality. Our church as a whole was not backing Romney. I don't consider this a defeat for Mormonism. I wonder how many Mormons would have voted for Romney if he wasn't Mormon, and actually understood his policies on war, the federal reserve, civil liberties, etc. I also wonder who they would have voted for if Obama was the Mormon. I understand that many did know his policies and still supported him, but I also know of many who didn't listen to one debate, have no idea what he stood for, and voted heavily based on his religious persuasion.
4. I didn't vote for Romney, and not all Mormons did. I've always said, "The only thing more disturbing than not voting for someone because of their religion, is voting FOR someone BECAUSE of their religion." Again, this is not to say that all who voted for him did so based on religion, but it's just to reinforce that I don't understand how so many people can be SO devastated that he lost, when his record in Massachusetts and his platform is so disturbing.
I've played this over in my mind countless times. My wife has even asked me if I think I'm clouded. I've thought that many times through this whole election process. I keep having this one thought come into my mind: It's the actions that count. It's not what a man says in politics, but it's how he votes and it's the policies that he puts in place that is the measure of who he is.
Thus concludes my one and only Election 2012 post. Good night all.
Labels: election, mormon, mormons, Obama, presidential, Romney
posted by Ben Arkell @ 9:44 PM
10 Comments:
I will say you are clouded if you think Mitt and Barack are the same. That is a very sad statement.
You call it a Mormon Mourning because you know a lot of Mormons. This is not just a Mormon mourning; it's a mourning from anyone who thinks integrity still has a place in politics. It crosses religious lines.
And Ron Paul was going to save the Constitution. Really? Clouded yet again.
No one man is going to save the Constitution. The people will. But having a man of integrity in office would help me sleep better at night.
Hope we can still be friends.
Wow, at least now I know you read my blog. (or did)
I love the thought of a man of integrity, but I believe the policies that a man supports and upholds have as much to say about his integrity as does the way in which he treats his neighbor/who he prays to. Also, I highly doubt non-Mormons are mourning at the loss of Romney's integrity.
And yes, Ron Paul taught a generation that the Constitution matters. A people who believe in a man who doesn't fully understand or follow the Constitution, will never save the Constitution.
But Mitt Romney is no symbol of integrity. If anything, he's a perfect sign of how we Mormons compartmentalize the business practices of its spiritual and administrative leaders.
I don't know that I believe too much that Mormons support Mormons. If Harry Reid were running for governor of Utah, he'd draw about 25%.
It would be an interesting election if that were to happen. He'd definitely do poorly now, especially after bashing Romney. Thanks for the comment.
I hate to break this to you Ben, but Ron Paul would not have saved the Constitution. Especially with the congress that was just elected or re-elected. He may want to save the Constitution, but he couldn't convince enough people that he could. What we should be mourning is not that Ron Paul lost or Mitt Romney lost, is that with the exception of North Carolina, every state voted the same as it did in 2008, which leads one to believe that the majority of voters in this country just check their party box on their ballot and walk away.
As I said in one of the comments above, he was prepping a generation of people who would and could save it. Romney could not do that. Let's discuss the real issue though, when are we ever going to play Madden again?
It is interesting to me that you know or think you know so much about politics and how everything should work. When are you going to run for office?
I'm glad it's interesting to you that I know or think I know so much.
I think saying that people simply check the "party box" is a little oversimplified, especially a few weeks after the election. A lot of senate seats that changed hands to Democrats (or stayed Democratic when if the Republican candidate had simple been breathing and kept his foot out of his mouth it should have switched to Republican) were states that were on the Romney EC tally.
I kinda wish Ron Paul had a way to run, outside of a party system election, because I think that he has both the integrity and vision to make drastic changes in the country. I think a lot of independent, or slightly liberal voters could live with the things they would give up, if they were sure that conservatives would also give up the wars, tax favors to business and the wealthy. What Ron Paul has, that Mitt Romney never had, is the respect from all sides of the political spectrum for his integrity and consistently speaking truth to power, on both sides of the aisle.
I am glad that the time of mourning seems to be winding down some. I can only hope that in the next month we avoid the fiscal cliff. I think Obama is going to need Ron Paul to help figure out what the best and least damaging way to move forward is. Ron Paul won't endorse it if he doesn't see it as the best option, but I think he may be one of the few people who can drown out Grover Norquist. I hope.
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