Archive for Monday, June 18, 2007
Brownback aide rebuked for anti-Mormon e-mail
June 18, 2007
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Washington — An aide to GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback has been reprimanded for sending e-mail to Iowa Republican leaders in an apparent attempt to draw unfavorable scrutiny to rival Mitt Romney’s Mormonism.
Republican presidential hopefuls Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., left, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney take part in a political debate in Manchester, N.H., in this June 5 file photo. A campaign aide for Brownback has been reprimanded for sending derogatory e-mails concerning Romney’s Mormon faith.
Emma Nemecek, the southeastern Iowa field director for Brownback’s presidential campaign and a former state representative candidate, violated campaign policy when she forwarded the June 6 e-mail from an interest group raising the questions, the Brownback campaign said Sunday.
The e-mail requested help in fact-checking a series of statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Among the statements: “Theologically, the only thing Christianity and the LDS church has in common is the name of Jesus Christ, and the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith” and “The LDS church has never been accepted by the Christian Council of Churches.”
“Senator Brownback completely disavows himself of this and any personal attacks on religion,” said Brian Hart, a spokesman for the Kansas senator. Hart said the campaign apologized to Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, once they learned of the e-mail.
“It was not originated by Ms. Nemecek and the purpose was to fact-check. But it was in violation of campaign policy and it won’t happen again,” he said.
The controversy comes as Brownback and Romney are scrambling to attract socially conservative voters in advance of Iowa’s Jan. 14, 2008, caucuses.
Both candidates say they are ardently anti-abortion, although Brownback — a former Methodist who has become an evangelical Roman Catholic — has criticized Romney for supporting abortion rights as recently as two and a half years ago.
A spokesman for Romney’s Iowa campaign, Tim Albrecht, said the campaign accepted Brownback’s apology but called the incident “unfortunate.”
“It’s unfortunate that these attacks of religious bigotry were taking place,” Albrecht said. “Sen. Brownback has apologized and we are glad he has worked to minimize these repugnant attacks in his campaign. There is just no place for these types of attacks in America today.”
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18 June 2007 at 6:29 a.m.
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speedykitty (Anonymous) says…
Nixon a Mormon? Come on, check your facts.
Nixon was a Quaker; nominal, perhaps, but still a Quaker.
18 June 2007 at 7:05 a.m.
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max1 (Anonymous) says…
Seems perfectly believable to me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Plat… … The golden plates … were a set of engraved metallic plates … the source of the Book of Mormon … Smith, the founder of that movement, said he obtained the plates on September 22, 1827 on Cumorah hill in Manchester, New York … he returned the plates to the angel in 1829… As Smith finished the translation of the plates, he revealed that witnesses would be asked to testify to their existence. In June 1829 … the Three Witnesses and a separate group of Eight Witnesses signed joint statements, written by Smith, which were subsequently published with the text of the Book of Mormon.The Three Witnesses — Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris — affirmed that an angel had descended from heaven and presented the plates … The Eight Witnesses were members of the Joseph Smith and David Whitmer families… In March 1838, disillusioned church members said that Martin Harris, who had given many specific descriptions of the plates, had now publicly denied having seen them at all. Near the end of his long life, Harris also said that he had seen the plates only in “a state of entrancement.” . . Joseph's brother William Smith, who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be “a mixture of gold and copper…much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood.” . . Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about sixty pounds.
18 June 2007 at 8:08 a.m.
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aquakej (Anonymous) says…
Nixon wasn't a Mormon. And um….the Jesus of the Mormon faith is pretty much the same Jesus as the other “Christian” faiths. Sometimes it seems like they put Joseph Smith above Jesus, though they will try to reassure you they don't. And yes, if you were watching The Daily Show last week, Mormons DO wear sacred underwear!
18 June 2007 at 8:15 a.m.
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Reality_Check (Anonymous) says…
Nixon a Mormon? You're clearly hitting the bong a little early today, spywell.
The first question is, will the Religious Right, which runs the GOP, support someone who is a Mormon? I mean, the RR has called Mormonism a “cult” many times.
I look forward to his being nominated: I can see some excellent Swift Boat style ads regarding magic underwear, golden plates, and the Angel Maroni. “Is America ready for a president who wears Magic Underwear?” I look forward to contributing to such a campaign.
Of course, should Gulianni win, I can see all kinds of opportunities to attack his dressing as a woman repeatedly. “Is America ready for a Cross Dresser in the White House???”
18 June 2007 at 9:01 a.m.
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ladysilk (Anonymous) says…
Looks like several people here have some homework to do…
Maroni? Try Moroni
Magic Underwear? Try garments
The Mormon faith is a way of life and not just a religion. This faith is going to seep into everything this man does because that is the way of the church.
The church is one of the largest corporations in the US if you take time to look at all of their holdings. I want to see how heavy they are backing Romney with church funds disguised as private funds from church members and corporations.
18 June 2007 at 9:06 a.m.
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Godot (Anonymous) says…
“an interest group”????? What is the name of the group?
18 June 2007 at 9:27 a.m.
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acg (Anonymous) says…
Wikipedia can't be cited as a legitimate source. Any online site that can be edited at will can't be cited as a legitimate source. It's just wrong!
18 June 2007 at 10:02 a.m.
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yourworstnightmare (Anonymous) says…
Sunni mormons versus catholic shiites.
Conflict is in the nature of religious thought.
Idiots all.
18 June 2007 at 11:10 a.m.
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yourworstnightmare (Anonymous) says…
“Nixon, was a good president.”
Indeed. Nixon completed the Great Society programs initiated under Kennedy and Johnson (civil rights, americans with disabilities, etc.). He also signed legislation that formed the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Too bad he was also a paranoid authoritarian nutcase.
18 June 2007 at 11:11 a.m.
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Wilbur_Nether (Anonymous) says…
spywell wrote “Quaker , morman [six], hutterrights [sic], there [sic] all the same to me….”
Uh, wow. That statements reveals a fairly shocking lack of understanding of even very basic theologic principles.
18 June 2007 at 11:55 a.m.
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max1 (Anonymous) says…
“Wikipedia can't be cited as a legitimate source.” -acg
So, how much did the golden plates really weigh?
18 June 2007 at 2:29 p.m.
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Confrontation (Anonymous) says…
The Mormon “stories” are just as reliable as the Christian “stories” are just as reliable as the Muslim “stories” are just as reliable as the Jewish “stories,” etc., etc., etc.
18 June 2007 at 5:41 p.m.
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blackwalnut (Anonymous) says…
Nixon was a crook, however he did some good with China and he was a competent saint compared to the crooks in the White House now.
18 June 2007 at 5:43 p.m.
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yourworstnightmare (Anonymous) says…
Paraphrasing Christopher Hitchens, mormonism gives us a glimpse of the corrupt and bankrupt origins of religion. The mists of time have clouded the origins of judaism, xtianity, and islam, but the idiocy underlying mormonism happened but 150 years ago and is plain for all to see.
What difference is there between a burning bush and golden plates? Between christ rising from the dead and coming to the new world? Between all manner of behavioral edicts and bigamy? The former were reported 2000+ years ago and the latter but 150.
Seems that every time Joseph Smith wanted to sleep with a new young woman, he miraculaously had another revelation from god telling him to do just that.
18 June 2007 at 5:44 p.m.
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blackwalnut (Anonymous) says…
Mormons believe one cannot reach the higher level of the Celestial Kingdom without being baptised in the Mormon Church and following Joseph Smith's teachings. It is not enough to accept Jesus Christ as one's savior. Those who accepted Jesus but are not baptised Mormons get to be servants to the Mormons in the Celestial Kingdom. There are many kingdoms, because any good Mormon can become a god and, along with his goddess, take over and populate their own planet. This is LDS church doctrine. (I couldn't make this stuff up.)
18 June 2007 at 6:46 p.m.
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blackwalnut (Anonymous) says…
Everything in the wikipedia in max1's post above is on the LDS church website here:
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/contents
19 June 2007 at 12:27 a.m.
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max1 (Anonymous) says…
“Nixon was a Quaker; nominal perhaps, but still a Quaker.” — speedykitty
Yes, and you know all about those Quakers don't you — they're a suspected terrorist organization.
1967
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/…
The year 1967 saw an enormous build-up of the United States military presence in Vietnam, and an even more enormous build-up of protest against that military presence.
The CIA started 'Operation Chaos' in 1967. This operation, which exceeded the CIA's statutory authority, was initiated in response to a request from President Johnson that the agency uncover any connection between anti-war groups and foreign interests.
Before it was discontinued in 1973, the operation had indexed 300,000 names, kept 13,000 subject files and intercepted large numbers of letters and cables, compiling massive amounts of information on the domestic activities of US citizens.
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/10/…
A peaceful anti-war protest conducted April 30, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was incorrectly listed in a Defense Department intelligence database as a potential terrorist threat.
Dec 19, 2005
http://www.afsc.org/news/2005/government…
quaker organization calls for end to government spying
philadelphia - December 19 - An organization at the forefront of combating illegal FBI surveillance tactics in the seventies now urges Congress to undertake a complete and thorough review of reports that the Pentagon is spying on “peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups.”
Calling it a “new McCarthyism,” the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) also likened the troublesome revelation to the notorious cointelpro, an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program - the covert FBI project aimed at undercutting Vietnam anti-war organizing and the civil rights movement. cointelpro was publicly unmasked through congressional hearings in 1975, leading to stronger congressional oversight of federal law enforcement.
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/m…
Mary Dyer of Rhode Island : the Quaker martyr that was hanged on Boston Common, June 1, 1660