Mormon Bloggers

There are quite a few Republicans running in the 2012 race now, and I’ve heard rumors of Sarah Palin throwing her hat in as well.  However, as of this week (8-25) I think the major three candidates are: Romney, Perry, and Bachman.  Therefore, I’ll include the charitable donations of each of these candidates, all of whom claim to be Christians. Rick Perry This article describes Rick Perry as being big on talking about Christian principles, including giving, but not putting his money where his mouth is.  According to the article, he only gives 3-4% to Charity.  Also, mentioned in this article is Newt Gingrich, whose only donations are to a Christian organization that funds his campaign.  Michelle Bachman Bachman’s an interesting candidate because she doesn’t share what she has given publicly and refuses to comment on interviews.  Her net worth is up to around $2 million, and there is only one documented instance of her giving to charity.  Although she does’t... Read the rest of this entry »

On June 2nd, 2011, I discussed a Pew Research Center survey of 1,509 adults 18 years of age or older living in the continental United States taken from May 25-30, 2011, which not only showed that one out of four respondents would still be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if he or she was Mormon, but also showed that 34 percent of white Evangelicals would be less likely to vote for a Mormon presidential candidate. However, it appears that Evangelical opposition to Romney’s religion continues to soften as more Evangelicals decide that Romney’s conservatism may supersede his Mormonism. On August 23rd, 2011, Tony Perkins of the highly-influential Family Research Council appeared on Fox Business and discussed the current field of Republicans running for president in 2012. Perkins suggested that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum could all... Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of the Boston Globe As someone who grew up in the greater Los Angeles area during the 1990’s, the current rioting in London seems strangely familiar.  Police brutality against an ethnic minority provides the spark which touches off longstanding social grievances between the haves and have-nots, and the situation promptly explodes into a series of riots for which the police response is either insufficient, or ineffective.  But, much like the L.A. riots, once the looting and burning starts, the whole mess goes off script. Have a look at these images of the rioters.  Sure, a lot of them are masked, but even then, it’s clear that there are a surprising number of white people participating in a riot that was at least initially sparked out of outrage for a racial injustice.  While the optimist in me would love to declare that this is clear evidence of a blossoming (at last!) of a post-racial society where all races, creeds and colors stand together to oppose tyranny,... Read the rest of this entry »

Jason Workman, an LDS man from southern Utah, was one of the Navy SEALS downed in Afghanistan. The full report is found at this website. God bless his family as well as everyone else who has lost their life in this war.  Read More →

A recent article titled “Pawlenty video aimed at Mormon faith of Romney and Huntsman” caught my eye a couple weeks ago.  The article made it sound like Pawlenty is slamming Romney and Huntsman because of their Mormon beliefs.  When I watched the video, it didn’t seem like Pawlenty was doing anything other than describe his Christian faith.  I was actually surprised by how straight forward and honest he sounded, something that quite frankly, I’ve yet to see with Romney on certain issues and definitely with Huntsman. I do not feel that this ad was in any way trying to target the LDS church or other political candidates.  Rather, it was showing his faith and trying to appeal to those who share the same faith and doing so in a straightforward manner.  In fact, I feel that his comments on family and beliefs in God should be appealing to LDS members, but I doubt many Mormons would vote for him. I believe that Mormons are very hesitant and skeptical about the intentions... Read the rest of this entry »

As sarcasm rarely translates well on the Internet I feel obliged to post this warning:  THE FOLLOWING POST IS INTENDED AS A WORK OF SATIRE.  Neither the author, nor the Editorial Board of The Loadstone Rock endorse the tenets of Social Darwinism, much less the extreme version of those tenets expressed here.  If you are easily offended, or do not enjoy satire or sarcasm, please do not read this post.  You have been warned. I’m done.  No literally I give up.  After years of resisting, arguing and attempting to advocate for a seemingly better way, I’m surrendering to the cold, unyielding grasp of reality.  That’s right, I’m converting to Social Darwinism.  As a gesture of good faith to my fellow brothers in the creed of “I deserve more because I’m better than you” I would like to offer the following “modest proposal” for the future of our nation.  It is my considered opinion that should the following recommendations be followed to the letter, life will be a lot simpler... Read the rest of this entry »

A leading conservative pundit in Anchorage, Alaska is the latest to join the chorus of opinion-molders calling for people not to judge Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney simply because he’s a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Paul Jenkins, who also edits the Anchorage Daily Planet (temporarily offline), published his appeal in an Anchorage Daily News column entitled “Rate Romney for business acumen, not his religion”. Jenkins notes that similar anti-Catholic bigotry was directed against John F. Kennedy when he ran for president in 1961, yet enough people were willing to set it aside to elect him President of the United States. Jenkins reminds us that despite Romney’s previous flip-flopping, as governor of Massachusetts, he eliminated the state’s budget deficit by cutting spending, hiking fees and closing corporate tax loopholes. In three years, he transformed a projected $3 billion deficit into a $600 milliion surplus. All... Read the rest of this entry »

Not a big fan of political ads but I actually like this one:  Read More →

Someone please tell me how it came to this:  We are currently less than two weeks away from a national default on our debts.  How exactly is this possible?  How is it that the nation with the world’s single largest economy is about to default on its debts? On second thought, don’t bother answering me; I’m tired of the same old talking points.  You know the ones: The President’s spending is out of control! He’s presided over the largest deficits in American history! We have the highest corporate tax rate on earth! The President won’t agree to a deficit reduction plan that involves cutting spending, he’s determined to soak the rich, who are the only people who can create the jobs to pull us out of the recession! Do I really need to go on?  Or is this as tiresome to everyone else as it is to me?  First off, the deficits in the Obama Administration have been record-setting, I will gladly admit to that, but why? Come on folks, Unemployment benefits aren’t... Read the rest of this entry »

You don’t know me, but you think you do.  I am a public employee and frankly, I’m a little tired of the stereotype of me that is broadcast daily over the internet, cable news and talk radio.  Believe it or not my days are not filled with over paid gold-bricking while kicking back in my easy chair polishing off a frosty mug of your children’s future.  My work, such as it is, is often monotonous, but absolutely crucial for the education of said children. I am a Library Assistant in the Technical Services department in one of the Libraries of the University of California.  I realize that my job description doesn’t exactly ring a bell for you, so allow me to explain:  When your college-age son, or daughter needs, or will need, to do a research paper, write a report, or prepare themselves for a test, they tend to make use of the campus library, to get the books, electronic books, or other resources they need for their studies.  Those items need to be ordered, and... Read the rest of this entry »

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has updated their statement on political neutrality to include directions to their top full-time leaders that they and their spouses should not participate in political campaigns, including making donations or endorsing candidates. This would also preclude them running for office, as former U.S. Senator Reed Smoot did back from 1903-33. This applies to full-time General Authorities, general auxiliary leaders, mission presidents and temple presidents. It does not apply to full-time Church employees, and also does not apply to Area Seventies, stake presidents and bishops, who may contribute, serve on campaign committees and otherwise support candidates of their choice with some restrictions. The Salt Lake Tribune revealed that these instructions were issued on June 16th, 2011 in the form of a letter from the First Presidency to all Church leaders. That letter has been formally incorporated into the Church’s statement on political neutrality: “General... Read the rest of this entry »

No sooner did former one-and-a-half term Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. announce his formal entrance into the Republican presidential race than a host of mainstream media outlets began dissecting his religion and its possible effects upon the 2012 campaign. None of the analysis appears to be abusive or derogatory. You can read the transcript of Huntsman’s announcement HERE. AP story embedded below: Prompting the continuing media interest in the Mormonism of Huntsman and Mitt Romney is a report on a survey released on June 2nd by the Pew Research Center, which revealed that a quarter of American adults still admit to being less likely to vote for a Mormon candidate for president. This was followed up by the report of a Gallup poll released on June 20th, which also showed that 22 percent would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate. Interestingly enough, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), himself a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, blames... Read the rest of this entry »