Body Snatchers Have Taken Over The Slc Tribune

[Zakuska]

I'm telling you... the Body Snatchers have taken over the SLC Tribune!

Romney and Smoot

By michael harold paulos

First Published Mar 24 2012 01:01 am • Last Updated Mar 24 2012 01:01 am

As Mitt Romney vies for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, his faith has become a stumbling block for some voters in early primary states.

But this is not the first time a Mormon candidate has been hamstrung by Mormonism. LDS apostle Reed Smoot faced similar challenges between the years 1903 and 1907 after his election to the U.S. Senate.

For years, national polls have shown a bipartisan minority who won’t vote for a Mormon. Furthermore, exit polls from early primaries reveal that ardent Evangelical Christians are voting against Romney in large pluralities, instead voting for two Catholics: Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

Religious leaders in early primary states have demarcated Mormonism from Christianity, stating that Mormons are false Christians and claiming that some Christians would rather vote for an adulterer with multiple past marriages than a Mormon.

Other critics have called attention to some of Mormonism’s more unique practices. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, for example, implored Romney to urge his church to halt temple baptisms on behalf of Holocaust victims.

These examples of Mormonism playing a role in national politics fit into a larger history that dates back to the 1800s when the church was founded.

Starting in 1862 and extending to the 1890s, federal elected officials debated and passed onerous legislation intended to quell the practice of plural marriage, which the church ended in 1890 in exchange for Utah statehood.

Most relevant, however, were Senate hearings, commonly called the Reed Smoot hearings, held in Washington between 1904 and 1906.

Smoot’s election to the Senate in 1903 ignited a political controversy. Smoot, a successful businessman turned politician, was constitutionally qualified to serve, but because of his religion, millions of citizens flooded Washington with petitions demanding his removal.

Outraged women viewed the church’s former association with polygamy as a danger to the "sanctity of the American home" and utilized the petition as a proxy vote against Mormonism. The issue was referred to a Senate subcommittee, which heard lengthy testimony before concluding that Smoot could be expelled, but only by a two-thirds vote.

Religious leaders also used Smoot’s election to deride Mormonism. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Rev. Wishard Lemons inaccurately instructed Methodist ministers: "The greatest source of revenue in the Mormon church is the baptizing of living relatives, who stand sponsor for relatives who have died … . They exact a heavy fee for this service, and it is going steadily on every day at four centers in Utah." Also, an editorial writer for the Christian Observer wrote that "The Mormon Church is one of the bitterest enemies to evangelical religion, and the deadliest foe to Republican institutions in this country."

Despite the uproar, Smoot kept his Senate seat after a 42-28 roll-call vote in his favor. Smoot subsequently served five terms in Congress, gaining fame near the end of his career with passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.

Weeks after Smoot’s vindication, he publicly celebrated: "I pray that this will be the last great battle for the upholding of our Constitution guaranteeing religious liberty to all citizens. I hope it will never occur again in ... the United States, where a man’s religious belief is brought in question ... and I believe it will not."

Smoot’s view that his Washington victory would remove political barriers for future Mormon candidates held firm for more than a century. It appears that Romney in 2012 will have the chance to surmount the same political hurdle of religious bigotry that Smoot encountered.

Michael Harold Paulos lives in San Antonio, Texas. He wrote, "The Mormon Church on Trial: Transcripts of the Reed Smoot Hearings."

http://www.sltrib.co...monism.html.csp

Thats 2 articles in the past 2 days that have been markedly on the positive side as pro-mormon.

[Zakuska]

I have just got to say that the SLC Tribune is really surpising me today...

How Utah’s Capitol marches to a Mormon beat

Politics » LDS influence comes primarily from lawmakers’ own views, not church lobbying.

By Lee davidson

The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Mar 26 2012 06:34 am • Updated 1 hour ago

In Utah, the question isn’t whether the LDS Church wields hefty political clout, but how it does so. And the answer, according to state legislators, may surprise some.

That Mormon influence, lawmakers say, does not generally come from edicts over the pulpit or through lobbying in the halls of the Capitol. Instead, it comes indirectly — mainly through legislators’ own religious views.

...

http://www.sltrib.co...sition.html.csp

So lets see the church doesn't publicly Lobby, or send editcs over the Pulpit, but it brain washes its members who are politicians. Over all its another Positive article. Did the Trib. get a new Editor or something?

[Scott Lloyd]

I have just got to say that the SLC Tribune is really surpising me today...

http://www.sltrib.co...sition.html.csp

So lets see the church doesn't publicly Lobby, or send editcs over the Pulpit, but it brain washes its members who are politicians. Over all its another Positive article. Did the Trib. get a new Editor or something?

After the corporate restructuring and layoffs in 2010, several of the Deseret News journalists ended up on the staff of the Tribune. Lee Davidson was among them.

(Edit for clarification: Lee was not among those who were laid off, but he left about that time for reasons of his own.)

[Zakuska]

After the corporate restructuring and layoffs in 2010, several of the Deseret News journalists ended up on the staff of the Tribune. Lee Davidson was among them.

He better watch out or his editor might ax him soon. I have to say though, the fresh air from these Articles is very refreshing.

[mapman]

There is also a very positive article about the Church welfare system: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53651373-78/storehouse-church-humpherys-lake.html.csp

[thesometimesaint]

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[LeSellers]

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

With the advent of the digital age, this aphorism is no longer true.

A stopped digital clock is never right, much like ... oops, I nearly got political.

Lehi

[Scott Lloyd]

He better watch out or his editor might ax him soon. I have to say though, the fresh air from these Articles is very refreshing.

Not trying to sound cynical here, but the Tribune has customarily put in a few positive pieces toward the Church of Jesus Christ around general conference time to give its Mormon readers the illusion of balance.

If it is indeed adopting a less-adversarial bent toward the Church, however, I will be the first to welcome such a new leaf. Time will tell.

Within the past couple of years, the Deseret News has made a concerted effort to have greater appeal to its core LDS and values-based constituency, not only locally but nationally. Perhaps this is a competitive response on the part of the Tribune. Certainly not a bad thing, if it is.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

True.

[Zakuska]

You know... these two photos would make some pretty good Political Satire.

on second thought... Links removed.