Since I cannot paste to this forum, I'll refer to an article by Sheena McFarland in the Salt Lake Tribune about Senator Harry Reid speaking at BYU on a Tuesday 9 Oct, which appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune of 10/10. The Trib article states that "In remarks to the media following his address, Reid said that "In the past years we've had some very prominent members of the church, like Ezra Taft Benson, who are really right-wing people. Members of the church are obedient and followers in the true sense of the work, but these people have taken members of the church down the path that is the wrong path", he said." I had to edit the above paragraph to make it more clear. The Article in the Church News of W/E 20 Oct about Senator Reid's speech highlights all the sweet and nice things Reid said. The S L Trib. article makes it clear that Reid's allegation that Ezra Taft Benson and other "prominent members of the church" misleading members of the church were made to members of the media after his speech. Our branch president, who had discussed the matter with the stake president, told me that the First Presidency is aware of the remarks to the media by Senator Reid. Apparently there were a number of complaints and expressions of concern about Reid's statements sent to Church HQ. I'm old enough to well remember the admonitions by Ezra Taft Benson, as well as David O. McKay, J. Ruben Clark and other prominent members of the church for members to become familiar with (study) the US Constitution, uphold its principles, and seek to seat candidates in political office who will espouse the Constitution. The principles that Senator Reid espouses are in stark contrast to those that were taught by the above mentioned men, often speaking in Conferences and writing for church publications as members of the 12 or the First Presidency. So what I see is a US senator publicly contradicting certain earlier church teachings.
Dingy Harry is an embarrassment to many members of the Church.
Sad but true.
-- Edited by Mahonri at 21:26, 2007-10-24
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no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
I'm not sure what this means as far as making the Church News. We don't subscribe to it, so a little more than what was stated would be useful.
Were they just reporting what had been reported elsewhere, or was there an editorial attached?
Oh wait, my mistake... I misread, it is not about something published in the Church News, just "old" news... I thought we had another thread / discussion about this somewhere a week or so ago...
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Mormon senator says Democrats' stance on social responsibility is a good fit with his faith By Sheena McFarland The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 10/10/2007 09:56:27 AM MDT
"My faith and political beliefs are deeply intertwined. I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it," he told a gathering of more than 4,000 at the Marriott Center. But Nevada's senior senator says he also hopes votes for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are "determined by his political stands, and not his religion." Reid said people often question how he can be a Democrat and a Mormon, but called the social responsibility Democrats espouse a good fit with the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He questioned the guidance of some LDS Church leaders, though.
In remarks to the media following his address, Reid said that, "In the past years we've had some very prominent members of the church, like Ezra Taft Benson, who are really right-wing people. "Members of the church are obedient and followers in the true sense of the word, but these people have taken members of the church down the path that is the wrong path," he said. However, Reid says he doesn't have to answer to those who question his faith in the LDS Church. "I have to go get my [temple] recommend, and they're not present," he quipped.
Reid didn't convert to the LDS Church until he became an adult, after he married his wife, Landra, both of whom were 19 at the time.
Before joining the church, he said the figure he came closest to worshipping was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A pillowcase with the quote "We can, we will, we must" stitched on it hung in his living room growing up in Searchlight, Nev., in a house with no indoor plumbing. "He fought for the workers of America," Reid said. "President Roosevelt is the basis of my political direction."
Reid praised workers' unions, condemned the thought that free enterprise alone can solve global warming and spoke out strongly against the war in Iraq.
"I say the invasion of Iraq was the worst foreign policy blunder in our country's history," he said, to loud applause from many in attendance. "I say our diplomatic army should be larger than our military army."
Reid said afterward that the reaction did not surprise him because many Americans oppose the war, including BYU students.
Although Reid is a Democrat, he says he is adamantly anti-abortion, and instead of voting for abortion bills, he votes for family-planning measures such as federal health insurance programs covering contraceptives, he said.
Katherine Winters, a graduate student in civil engineering, said she was happy to get beyond the typical sound bites and begin to know Reid "as a person."
She said she originally registered as a Republican when she turned 18 because her parents were Republicans. But lately she's been rethinking her political stand.
"Recently there's so much that the Democratic Party has embraced; there is so much good that those social causes have done," she said. "I don't think you can call yourself a true Christian without caring for the poor."
