Politics and Religion

As the presidential field heats up we are more and more hearing about the religious affiliation of the Republican candidates.  We happen to already know it for our current president even though there are some that take it as a grain of salt and believe it to be something else.

Should the religious affiliation of the candidate really matter that much?  Does it matter that the person is a Jew, Mormon, or a Catholic?

The religious background of a person will drive certain areas of a opinion such as abortion, assisted-suicide, death penalty and the like.  But, when one considers the overall responsibilities of a candidate will these play into the day to day things they are responsible for?

Take a President of the United States.  Does he really deal with the issue of abortion on a daily basis.  More likely he's looking at some spending bill, or helping decide whether to draw down troops in a specific region of the world.  So why do we make such a stink about what religion a person affiliates with?


I've got a few ideas in this regard.  There are several major religions or faiths in the world.  Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Muslim etc.   Sadly, within each of these there are various churches.  There is no central head in most cases even though for the Christian we are all following the teaching of Christ.
Thus it is OK to be a christian and hold to the basic teachings - 10 commandments, love thy neighbor etc.  But, when it comes to central church based leadership people spook.   Holds true for the Catholics and the Mormons.  People are afraid that the supreme leader of the church will dictate policy.  Yes, if you hold to the faith properly you believe the Pope or the President of the LDS church is the mouth piece for God.

So are the people afraid that if Mitt Romney were President that he would always be on the phone with prophet Thomas S. Monson before he makes any decisions?  Or that a catholic candidate would be constantly in contact with the Vatican and if the they tell him to do something he would without question?  Maybe.  Some just like the idea you can have a spiritual advisor you contact but, that this person is not the final word, the definitive voice of God.  Maybe they like the ideas that you switch religions/churches like you switch your underwear.  That when one is convenient you go that way and when another is more readily at hand you go that route.  Always looking to one person or location causes a riff especial when we hold so true to the belief in separation of church and state.

Take England for example.  The queen is the head of the church there.  How would that go over here?  We have had ministers run for the presidency before, and likely at all levels of government for various positions.  But, is having a Baptist minister as a mayor of a city any different then having say an Asian?  You could claim favoritism in both cases.  Would the Mayor favor the Baptists more then another religion or the Asian his tribe more then another?  That is were things get to the ridiculous!

But, we also have to watch out for that kind of stuff.  The people in Germany in the 1930's started to let those types of things enter into the political realm.  One tribe favored over another, one element more then another.  And we know that this lead to things like the rise of the Nazi Party, persecution of not just the Jews, but other ethnic groups considered inferior like the Poles, Russians, Slavs, and the list goes on.  They so bent on this "religion" they even began exterminating people. It started slowing with the mentally and physically handicapped, and then progressed to mass deportations to the concentration camps generally ending in a trip to the gas chamber.


So could that be the fear of the people when it comes to religion?  An indirect dictatorship or theocracy?  I hope not.  Since what I want in a presidential candidate is someone that is honest, forthright, and has the capacity to make decisions that will be for the good of the country.  Basically, a morally upright person that will follow their convictions and do the right thing at the right time and not just in the hopes of being reelected.

Buaidh -  NO  - Bas

Youth Protection

As a scout leader one of the many trainings we must complete is Youth Protection.  This training is as much for the protection of the adult as it is for the youth. 

Now you wonder why we even have to bother with such training, right?  Sadly, a few rotten apples make life a mess for all the other adults with good intentions.   And sadly a few of those rotten apples have been from my church.  It's not to say that all the adult volunteers are to be suspected of anything just because they want to help in an organization like the Boys Scouts.


With the recent revelations at Penn State I'll bet a million people will reconsider sending their kid off to some summer or spring break sports camp just because they are afraid something might happen.

Clearly the system failed in the case of Penn State.  Multiple people including a janitor told higher ups of some misdeeds.  However, I'd tell not just the president of the school or the director of athletics if I saw a man doing the inappropriate sexual acts with a boy in the locker room.  That already raises to the level of - TELL the POLICE and TELL them NOW!

I'm not sure things have changed all that much in the last 30 years.  I mean are there more child molesters in the world today then back then?  For that matter are there more today then in the 1800's.  It appears that in 1800's England there was an epidemic of child prostitution.  So is it really worse?  Are we more keenly aware of what is going on around us?

Back in my day we had Den Meeting at the home of one of my best friends.  His mother usually ran the meeting.  There were rarely extra adults present.  Contrast that to our meeting two nights ago.  We had three adults present for 4 boys and at least one parent was within a stones throw distance in the building due to travel issues.

It makes it fairly hard for someone to start accusing misdeeds when you have an adult to youth ratio at that level.    Sadly, things have gotten to that level.  Nary a person dare be alone with a child out of fear of rumors, accusations and the like.  Even some of the leadership in our local units have a second adult outside their office when interviewing people.  Just in case something gets out of hand or it a man interviewing a female.
We have to actively be a part of the life of our youth; of our children.
It appears the guy out of Penn state chose justly the people lacking a full set of parental support as his victims.  He knew that it would be harder to be caught since fewer people were on the look out.
But, one boy's mother was watching, participating and she did not take it sitting down.  Sadly, the system failed her.

How can we live in the world but, not of the world?  How is it that we can really protect our youth from all the issues they face today?
How can we protect them from inappropriate media, friends, activities, drugs and all the other bad influences that exist?

I like what I read in the October 2011 General Conference talk by Elaine S Dalton General Young Women's President of the LDS Church.
"You are your daughter’s guardian in more than the legal sense. Be present in your daughter’s life. Let her know your standards, your expectations, your hopes and dreams for her success and happiness. Interview her, get to know her friends and, when the time comes, her boyfriends. Help her understand the importance of education. Help her understand that the principle of modesty is a protection. Help her choose music and media that invite the Spirit and are consistent with her divine identity. Be an active part of her life. And if in her teenage years she should not come home from a date on time, go get her. She will resist and tell you that you have ruined her social life, but she will inwardly know that you love her and that you care enough to be her guardian."
Read - Elaine S Dalton Oct 2011 Conference Talk

Imagine that - a father actually going down and finding his child that is late from a date and dragging her home.  Most if not many would think you a prude.   But, in reality you are showing the kind of attitude or respect you are expecting from the child and their date.
My wife got a bit of that when we were traveling around in Brazil before we were even engaged.  Most if not all the people she worked with thought it prudish to have a separate hotel room while both of us were in another city visiting.  No one would really have known.
But, it is the principle.  Honest/Integrity - Doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

So we take the training, hold to the standards, not because they are fun, enjoyable or plain neat.  They in reality can be a bit of a pain.  We hold to the standards because we know they the right thing to do and will in the long run protect our youth.

Buaidh - NO - Bas

Worthiness of War

This last Sunday I was visiting my Father's Unit in the north San Diego Area.  The format is the same all over the world for the LDS church.  You always know there will be sacrament meeting where the main part is the distribution of the Sacrament along with some speakers.  Later you have Sunday school and then usually the males divide out for their Priesthood meeting while the women go to their "lady's auxiliary" group know as Relief Society.

We never really know what to expect when we visit since they have some strong members from wide back grounds and service.
This time they decided to have all the youth(12-18) and all the adults stay together for the last hour.  A special guess speaker was going to speak on topic(s) relating to Veterans day.

He was specially qualified as he had served in the army special forces during the Vietnam war and on active duty in the jungles of 'Nam for one year before being hit by a rocket.

What I really wanted to get to was a couple of items he brought up.  First he brought up that there are two types of war: 1)wars of aggression and 2) wars of liberation.

The next thing that struck us was the quote from CS Lewis about saving a drowning person.

Basically it does like this "There are things worth dying for, and there are things not living for."  Basically, saving  a person that is drowning is a worthy cause and one worth dying for in the process. Now on the other side of the coin is the person that crusades day in and day out to make sure every single person is properly trained and can do the lifesaving maneuvers needs to save a person that is drowning.  They have gone to far in their cause and it has thus become something not worth living for.
See the whole text at following link.  It's quoted in other texts as well.
Essential C. S. Lewis By Clive Staples Lewis, Lyle W. Dorsett
The bottom line he brought up is - can we take a good thing and take it to far?
Are we spending our time engaged in worthy, worthwhile activities?

I'll leave you with this statement to get your brain a thinking.
If you were on Trial for Being A Christian, would there be enough Evidence to convict you?

Buaidh - NO - BAS