Do you know what it means to give everything you've got?

Mormon Doctrine Explained

Cartoon banned by the Mormon church



I wanted to be fair, so I include below another version of the same cartoon, but this time actual Mormon doctrine is cited and quoted by a Mormon whose aim is to defend Mormon doctrine and who is critical of the cartoon. Texts citing Mormon doctrines are presented during the video in an effort to clearly demonstrate what Mormons believe. The text quibbles over some minor details, but for the most part, it confirms most of the things described in the video. H/T to RCB



A listener responds...

Pat,

I listened to the cartoon as I was pulling into work and sat in the car for the whole piece. I didn't have the time to hold on the phone to voice my comments.

I am LDS, born into an LDS household and am 47 years old. I served a mission in France in 1979-1981.

The cartoon is a clever twist of Mormon beliefs. Like most churches, Mormons teach their doctrines in Sunday School, from the pulpit, and through church sponsored publications. No where in any lesson manual used by the church will you find any doctrine on what was covered in the cartoon, ie, God and plural wives, sex between God and his plural wives, God having been born to other mortals in another glaxay, blacks being neutral in the war in heaven, God having sex with Mary to make Jesus, Jesus having three wives. I can't remember any of the other alligations.

How can these concepts be called doctrines if the LDS church doesn't even teach them? As with any religion, people have speculated about a myriad of topics. Speculating does not make doctrine for the church. Quoting Parley P. Pratt from 1850s is not a doctrine of the church. All inacurracies can be traced to someone, twisting or citing the words or writings of people speculating about things that have not been revealed through the scriptures. Have you ever speculated about where God came from? If you wrote such a thing down would that be binding on your faith's official doctirne?

We teach what we believe every Sunday, we have a tremendous library of beliefs that are available to the public.


Thomas L.

Hillary needs your help picking a campaign song

Hillary Clinton is giving supporters the chance to choose an anthem to soundtrack her 2008 presidential campaign. You can cast your vote here.

The shortlist is:

U2 - City Of Blinding Lights
U2 - 'Beautiful Day
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
Smash Mouth - I'm A Believer
The Temptations - Get Ready
Dixie Chicks - Ready To Run
Shania Twain - Rock This Country!
Jesus Jones - 'Right Here, Right Now
The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There

H/T The Q Daily

Here's my pick Elton John - The Bitch Is Back

Hitch vs. Hannity on Falwell

Read Hitchens hate filled screed in Slate.

Faith-Based Fraud
Jerry Falwell's foul rantings prove you can get away with anything if you have "Reverend" in front of your name.
By Christopher Hitchens

The discovery of the carcass of Jerry Falwell on the floor of an obscure office in Virginia has almost zero significance, except perhaps for two categories of the species labeled "credulous idiot." The first such category consists of those who expected Falwell (and themselves) to be bodily raptured out of the biosphere and assumed into the heavens, leaving pilotless planes and driverless trucks and taxis to crash with their innocent victims as collateral damage. This group is so stupid and uncultured that it may perhaps be forgiven. It is so far "left behind" that almost its only pleasure is to gloat at the idea of others being abandoned in the same condition.

Proof that Charlie Gibson is an ASS

Charles Gibson: Falwell Didn't Deserve Top Story Honors

Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz interviewed America's top anchorman for Thursday's paper, and the anchor of ABC's World News was determined: "Charlie Gibson was determined not to lead his newscast with the preacher's death." He explained:

"It lends importance to a figure whose legacy contained a lot of positives and a lot of negatives," says the ABC anchor, who was once a reporter in Falwell's home base of Lynchburg, Va. "It venerates the subject to an extent that I didn't think belonged there. He was a controversial figure."

Here's the Ad I told you about Wednesday

This is the Ad Larry Flynt the publisher of Hustler Magazine ran about Jerry Falwell:

Text of the ad

Falwell: My first time was in an outhouse outside Lynchburg, Virginia.

Interviewer: Wasn’t it a little cramped?

Falwell: Not after I kicked the goat out.

Interviewer: I see. You must tell me all about it.

Falwell: I never really expected to make it with Mom, but then after she showed all the other guys in town such a good time, I figured, "What the hell!"

Interviewer: But your Mom? Isn’t that a little odd?

Falwell: I don’t think so. Looks don’t mean that much to me in a woman.

Interviewer: Go on.

Falwell: Well, we were drunk off our God-fearing asses on Campari, ginger ale and soda—that’s called a Fire and Brimstone—at the time. And Mom looked better than a Baptist whore with a $100 donation.

Interviewer: Campari in the crapper with Mom. How interesting. Well, how was it?

Falwell: The Campari was great but Mom passed out before I could come.

Interviewer: Did you ever try it again?

Falwell: Sure. Lots of times. But not in the outhouse. Between Mom and the shit, the flies were too much to bear.

Interviewer: We meant the Campari.

Falwell: Oh, yeah, I always get sloshed before I go to the pulpit. You don’t think I could lay down all that bullshit sober do you?

Campari, like all liquor, was made to mix you up. It's a light, 48-proof, refreshing spirit, just mild enough to make you drink too much before you know you're schnockered. For your first time, mix it with orange juice. Or maybe some white wine. Then you won't remember anything the next morning. Campari. The mixable that smarts.

RUDY IN RAGE AT 9/11 DISS

BIG CHEERS AS HE RIPS 'BLAME AMERICA' REP

The NY Post is reporting...
May 16, 2007 -- COLUMBIA, S.C. - An irate Rudy Giuliani blasted a fellow Republican candidate at last night's GOP debate for trying to blame the United States for 9/11.
Giuliani unloaded both barrels at Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a fringe Republican White House hopeful with little support, who said, "Have you ever read about the reason they attacked us? They attacked us because we've been over there."

"We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years," Paul went on. "I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us."

Giuliani suddenly turned the polite debate on its head when he jumped out of turn to respond to Paul's shocking comments.

The former mayor tore into him for blaming Americans for 9/11.

"That was an extraordinary statement, as someone who has lived through the attacks of Sept. 11th, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq," an indignant Giuliani responded.

"I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11th.

"I'd ask the congressman to withdraw the statement and say he wasn't serious," Giuliani added to rousing applause - the loudest of the night - at the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party.

When Paul didn't back down from saying that American meddling around the world triggered the attacks, an exasperated Giuliani said, "Can I have 30 seconds, please!"

Moderator Brit Hume then cut off further discussion on the topic.

The exchange was the highlight of the 90-minute face-off among 10 GOP hopefuls.

Falwell Derided Over Teletubbies

On ABC's World News, which unlike CBS and NBC did not lead with Falwell's death, Dan Harris asserted: "In the final years of his life Falwell alienated some in his own movement with a series of controversial statements. For example, he said the children's TV character 'Tinky Winky' was a gay role model." CBS's Richard Schlesinger recalled that in later years "Falwell started making embarrassing missteps, denouncing a popular cartoon character as a gay role model." Over on the NBC Nightly News, Bob Faw, who concluded his piece by asserting that "the Reverend Jerry Falwell -- crusader and polarizer -- was 73," raised the PBS show: "In 1999, Falwell was ridiculed when he complained one of the PBS Teletubbies was gay."

But a 1999 Cox News story archived on a gay news Web site, began: "In the flap over whether Tinky Winky the Teletubby is gay, the real news is that the Rev. Jerry Falwell is late to the party." Phil Kloer pointed out that in 1998, the year before Falwell spoke out, "the gay magazine The Advocate presciently wrote that 'PBS is clearly terrified that the same fundamentalists who boycott Disney are going to flip once they get wind of the latest lavender love puppet.'" For gfn.com story: cobrand.gfn.com

Let the record show Falwell didn't make this up he simply parroted what the homosexuals had said in one of their own rags a year earlier. They hated him in life, they hate him in death. They resent the fact that he organized the Religious Right and made them a force to be reckoned with at the voting both. They are the true voices of intolerance!

Brian Williams Declares 'Most Believe a Woman Has a Right to an Abortion'

Since when?

Television anchors must compress complicated subjects into simple sentences, but on Friday night NBC's Brian Williams delivered too simple of a presumption when he set up a story, on Rudy Giuliani's latest attempt to explain his abortion position, by trying to paint Republicans as out of the mainstream as he asserted that “most Americans believe a woman has a right to an abortion. Most Republicans do not.” While it's true that most don't want abortion completely banned under all circumstances, the majority favor restrictions on such a “right” and only 16 percent, according to a February Washington Post poll, want it “legal in all cases.” And interestingly, the latest abortion poll on the PollingReport.com's abortion page, a May 4-6 survey by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, discovered that 50 percent identified themselves as “pro-life” compared to a minority of 45 percent who called themselves “pro-choice.” NBC's own late April poll found that, by a fairly solid 53 to 34 percent, most agreed with the Supreme Court's decision upholding the federal law banning “partial-birth” abortions.

H/T Newsbusters

Conservatives for Hillary?

Here's the Bruce Bartlett column that created quite a stir on my show this morning.

As each day passes, it becomes increasingly clear that the Democrats will win the White House next year. It's not quite 1932, but it's getting close to a sure thing. All the energy is on their side, they are raising more money from more contributors, and there is little if any enthusiasm for the Republican candidates -- even among Republicans.

If I am right, conservatives are going to have to make an important decision at some point. Do they go down with the sinking Republican ship, or do they try to have some meaningful influence on the next president by becoming involved in the Democratic race?

Here's why. Although all the Democratic candidates are more liberal than all of the Republicans, they are not all equally liberal. Among the Democrats, some are more to the right and others more to the left. It is a grave mistake to assume, as most conservatives do, that they are all equally bad and that it makes no difference whatsoever which one is elected.

To right-wingers willing to look beneath what probably sounds to them like the same identical views of the Democratic candidates, it is pretty clear that Hillary Clinton is the most conservative. John Edwards is the most liberal, and Barack Obama is somewhere in between.

The hard-core right-wingers who kept reading past the point I told them to stop probably think I've lost my mind by now. But remember, I am talking about the politics within the Democratic Party, not the nation as a whole. Moreover, at this stage of the nominating process, all of the candidates in both parties are appealing mainly to their bases. These are well to the left of the country among Democrats and well to the right among Republicans.

It is in this context that one must evaluate Sen. Clinton's position. Given the views of the Democratic base and the enormous unpopularity of the Iraq War, it is a real act of courage for her to steadfastly refuse to say her vote for the war was wrong. Of course, like all Democrats and most Americans, she opposes the war today and favors a rapid pullout.

That is why the easy thing for Sen. Clinton to do would be to just thrown in the towel, admit her vote was wrong and move on. And that's why it is an act of courage for her to refuse to do so. If conservatives weren't so blinded by their hatred for her, this would be obvious.

On economics, it is reasonable to assume that Sen. Clinton's policies would not be altogether different from Bill Clinton's. This is not a bad thing. On trade, his record was outstanding, and on the budget was far better than George W. Bush's. While Clinton raised taxes in 1993, it should be remembered that he cut them in 1997, including a cut in the capital gains tax. On regulatory policy, Clinton was no worse than the current administration and probably better on net.

Democrats know all this, which is why our most liberal pundits, like Bob Kuttner, are attacking Sen. Clinton for being a clone of her husband on economics and criticizing her support for "Rubinomics," named after former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin. Its essential elements are a commitment to deficit reduction and globalization -- which are both anathema to the Democratic Party's liberal base. It wants a hard line against imports to save jobs and an expansive fiscal policy to pay for a wide range of new social programs.

At some point, politically sophisticated conservatives will have to recognize that no Republican can win in 2008 and that their only choice is to support the most conservative Democrat for the nomination. Call me crazy, but I think that person is Hillary Clinton.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, a national holiday in Mexico, celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained men of the French Army. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican Army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Along with Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16, Cinco de Mayo has become a time to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture.

Just imagine if we celebrated every French Military loss, we'd be drunk year round!

Mexico Loses More Population to U.S. Migration Than to Death
Mexico has lost more people to migration to the United States than death since 2000, according to a Mexican government report out Thursday (May 3rd). The report found that an average of 577,000 people migrated to the U.S. each year between 2000-2005, compared to 495,000 deaths a year in the same period. Mexico had 104.9 million residents as of last year. Immigration across the border has increased drastically since 1970, when 800,000 Mexicans lived in the U.S., to now, when there are about 11 million Mexicans living here, both legally and illegally. The study also showed more Mexicans traveling illegally to the U.S. In 1993-1997, 48 percent of Mexicans entered the country illegally. That increased to 68 percent between 1998-2001, and to 78 percent from 2001-2005, mostly because of stricter security measures related to the 9/11 attacks.

Signs spark biblical debate about homosexuality

Jose Miranda and his band of followers aren't the only ones that can twist scripture. The homosexual community is doing a fine job of perverting it as well. Read about it HERE. Anyone with a thimble full of Biblical history knows that Christianity has taught and continues to teach that any sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is sinful. These two stories are a prime example of why you have to have a teaching authority. These perverted views show the perils of personal interpretation.

More on José Luis de Jesús Miranda

Miranda's messenger Axel Poessy joined me this morning to explain some of his beliefs including there is no such thing as sin, the Devil is a Hollywood fabrication, prayer is a waste of time. Oddly enough there is one Biblical principle he holds on to, tithing! Go figure? It's all about a positive cash flow. I foolishly asked for Biblical support for these concepts only to hear one of the most convoluted interpretations of Hebrews ever given. Miranda claims to be both Christ and Anti-Christ, I think they call that multitasking. He reminds me of Jim Jones. Pass the koolaid, please! You can hear the interview on our podcast page HERE.