A Mormon Primer

for those of you completely freaked out by Mormon magic underwear with visions of cults dancing through your head, here is a healthy helping of truth and reason to chew on:

Mormon garments explained here.

Mormon temples explained here.

Are Mormon's Christians? The simple answer, yes! But for more go here, here, or here.
I especially like this paragraph from the Washington Post article by a non-Mormon writer:

But for Mormons, these belief differences have nothing to do with whether or not they are Christian in the true meaning of the word. Mormons believe in the Jesus of the Bible, the same that was born at Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, preached His gospel in Galilee and Judea, healed the sick, raised the dead, and finally offered Himself as a sinless ransom for the sins of the world. They believe that Jesus Christ was literally resurrected, that He lives today, and that He is the only name under heaven by which mankind can be saved. This is the Jesus whose name is depicted on the front of every Mormon place of worship. This is the Jesus in whose name every Mormon prays and every sermon is preached. This is the Jesus whose body and blood are commemorated in weekly worship services by Latter-day Saints from Nigeria to New Zealand, from Michigan to Mongolia. For Latter-day Saints who try to live their lives as they believe Jesus taught, assertions that they aren’t Christian are as bewildering as they are wounding.

The Book of Mormon explained here , here (obviously this site is a little biased since it is written by a Mormon not officially representing the Church, but everything is cited and referenced), and for some first hand experience go here.

Polygamy explained here and here. 

Our views on the Bible explained here and here.

Mormon tithing here and here.

Organization of the church here.

A general, unbiased overview of the church here.

And for a church sponsored site that will answer your questions go here.

Anywho, I have just been really frustrated with all the false statements flying around out there (thank you (not) Maureen Down). Opinion or not, I question your journalistic integrity simply by the numerous slanted facts in this piece. For instance why would your only source for an article about a Mormon be a non-Mormon who wrote an obviously biased book about Mormons? Why?

Thank you Anderson Cooper! for real!

And please keep in mind the no religious test portion of the Constitution as you consider who you want to vote for. This is not a plug for Mitt Romney so much as a call for some more objectiveness when considering the candidates. Do not base your decision based solely on religion because people, that is not the issue here. There are many more important things facing our country than quibbling over points of religious dogma.

* I have tried to include a variety of sources--with plenty of non-biased sources. I hope this helps address many of the misconceptions around Mormonism. If you still have questions or I forgot to address an important point let me know, and I will add on to this article.

American Politics

I will admit I have never ever thought of myself as a Republican, and I have usually aligned myself with the Democratic party. However, today I have decided to make a declaration that I no longer choose to align myself with a political party. As a matter of fact, isn't it just the most ridiculous thing to expect that every single political idea I believe in can be represented in just one of only two party choices?

I think it is quite ridiculous. There is absolutely no way that one of these two parties is completely wrong and the other is completely right. Unfortunately, this seems to be the opinion of many die hard party loyalists. It's like Sneetches on Beaches in Congress these days. Star bellies are better and all that jazz you know.

And on a similar closely related note--Can people just give Mitt Romney a break already?

Let's stop looking for the "Romney alternative" as people call it. Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and everyone needs to stop being freaked out by that fact. He is clearly the best Republic candidate so nominate him already and stop the division in the Republic party. When the only two bad things you can say about someone is that they flip flop on their views and they strapped a dog carrier with a dog in it to the car .  . . wait for it . . .

30 years ago. 

When you have to look back 30 years and that is the only bad thing you can find I would say that is a better record than almost anyone in politics could hope for (Newt Gingrich).

I love dogs and I agree that what Romney did was wrong, but are people just looking for an excuse not to like him? My guess is yes. People are uncomfortable with the thought of a Mormon in power. My opinion--if that's why you dislike Romney just be honest about it. It's bad enough that people in this country are still ignorant about Mormon beliefs...especially when there are multiple church sponsored resources online. But what is worse is the fact that these people won't admit that is their reason and try to look for some other reason for their dislike of Romney to pass off as a good reason to present publicly (because it would be rude to publicly announce you are anti-Mormon you know).

I still haven't decided who to vote for, but if the Republicans want a chance in the next election they need to present themselves as a united party . . . not a back-biting party a hair away from dividing into factions.

And can I just say Mauren Dowd is an anti-Mormon old bat.

End transmission of frustration.