Vast Write Wing - October 2011

[lwoolley]

Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council
Subject: Is Mormonism a Cult? – Comments about the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D. C., Oct. 7 – 9, 2011
Date of Newsletter: Oct. 10, 2011

Excerpts from Tony Perkins:

Since the firestorm erupted on Friday, I've been on most of the news networks responding to the questions of the press. This is what I've said:

America is a country where religious freedom is constitutionally protected and where we respect the right for people to practice their faith publicly and peacefully in a free nation.

President George Washington replied to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island: "[H]appily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."

We clearly recognize the fact that Mormon theology includes doctrines that are distinct from Evangelical theology and Catholic theology.

At the same time, the goal of the values voter movement is not to build a " National Church.” Our goal is to build a national coalition based on the shared values of respecting human life, strengthening natural marriage, defending religious liberty, promoting personal and fiscal responsibility, and maintaining our national security.

When we successfully work together with those who share our values, we are preserving and strengthening our religious liberty, so that we can freely share the truth of the gospel with everyone.

[lwoolley]

Just get the Jews and Christians out, they'll break into smaller and smaller sects of Islam, declare jihad on ea...dang it you beat me to it.

Larissa

[lwoolley]

Lynn - If you would like to see a detail and list of Obama's Czars, go to
Judicial Watch for News...Oct 10th. A 42 page report...interesting.

Regards
Duane
Temple, TX

[lwoolley]

Is the church of Mormon's a cult ?

I've never given Mormons much thought,never having coming into contact with that many. I've never had evil thoughts about them. However, when you do start researching the LSD system, you can come up with some things I was never taught, by any preacher whose church I've attended.

I don't think Romney would use his church teachings to cause any harm toward the country if elected. Kennedy's being Catholic cause any harm to the people of the country.
Romney's grandfather taking his wives and running away to Mexico,I think Romney's dad ,George, was one of the kids taken with the grandfather, hasn't caused Romney to turn into a weirdo.

I don't believe the Joseph Smith of the LDS was what he stated and others have insisted he was,some kind of sainte.His history on Wikipedia has shown he lived an unusual life. His painting on the Wikipedia site has him looking like a 'dude'.
A little too modern for me to think of as a true religious guy.

I will still support Perry through out the procedure of running toward the presidency. But if Romney is all I am left with to vote for,I would have to vote for him,even under protest.

Elizabeth / Killeen

The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States. He was killed while jailed in Carthage, Illinois on charges relating to his ordering the destruction of facilities producing the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper whose first and only edition claimed Smith was practicing polygamy and that he intended to set himself up as a theocratic king. Smith had voluntarily surrendered to the authorities at the county seat at Carthage to face the charges that he was accused of. While he was in jail awaiting trial an armed mob of men with painted faces stormed the jail and shot him and his brother Hyrum to death. The Latter Day Saints view Joseph and Hyrum as martyrs.



Controversy and criticism
See also: Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The church has been subject to criticism and sometimes discrimination since its early years in New York and Pennsylvania. In the late 1820s, criticism centered around the claim by Joseph Smith, Jr. to have been led to a set of golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was reputedly translated.
In the 1830s, the greatest criticism was for Smith's handling of a banking failure in Kirtland, Ohio, and the LDS Church's political and military power in Missouri, culminating in the 1838 Mormon War. In the 1840s, criticism of the church centered on the church's theocratic aspirations in Nauvoo, Illinois. Criticism of the practice of plural marriage and other doctrines taught by Smith appeared in the Nauvoo Expositor, which led to a series of events culminating in Smith's murder in 1844.

As the church began openly practicing plural marriage under Brigham Young during the second half of the 19th century, the church became the target of nation-wide criticism for that practice (which was banned by the church in 1890), as well as for the church's theocratic aspirations in the Utah Territory. Beginning in 1857, the church also came under significant media criticism after the Mountain Meadows massacre in southern Utah.
Academic critics have questioned the legitimacy of Smith as a prophet as well as the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham. Criticism has expanded to include claims of historical revisionism, homophobia, racism, and sexist policies. Notable 20th-century critics include Jerald and Sandra Tanner and Fawn Brodie. Evangelical Christians continue to argue that Smith was either fraudulent or delusional. Mormon apologetics organizations, such as the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), have been founded to counter these criticisms. Most of the apologetic work focuses on providing and discussing evidence supporting the claims of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and much of it features criticism of the perceived lack of honesty when it comes to the scholarship of non-Mormon critics. Scholars and authors such as Hugh Nibley, Daniel C. Peterson, Jeff Lindsay, Orson Scott Card, and James E. Talmage are well-known apologists both within and without the church.
In recent years, the Internet has provided a new forum for proponents and critics of Mormonism.[130] The church's support in 2008 of California's Proposition 8 sparked heated debate and protest by gay-rights organizations and others.[131][132][133] While the church remains opposed to same-sex marriage, it has come out in support of certain protections for members of the LGBT community in Salt Lake City, Utah.[134]
Due to differences in doctrines, the LDS Church is generally considered to be distinct from historical Christianity by Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches, which express differences from one another as well.[135][136] Many have accused the LDS Church of not being a Christian church at all as a result of disagreements with Apostolic succession and the "Great Apostasy," the Nicene Creed and more so, Mormon cosmology and its plan of salvation including the doctrines of pre-mortal life, baptism for the dead, three degrees of heaven, and exaltation, the last of which allows for the belief that humans may become gods and goddesses achieving the same status that Jesus achieved, which is also referred to as becoming a "joint-heir with Christ."[137]

[lwoolley]

First, let me say that I am a life-long Republican; and I do not believe in establishing a third party. My goal is to help the Republican Party to come back to its conservative roots. It is out of that concern that I speak.

Well-meaning Texas conservatives have done their due diligence and have written to the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) members as per my article entitled “Texas Republicans at a Crossroads” – 10.6.11: http://libertylinked.com/posts/8551/tex ... /View.aspx

Among other points, these conservatives have objected to the fact that only 14 out of 46 Legislative Priorities that were tied to the 2010 Republican Platform were ever brought to the House and Senate floors for a vote during the 82nd Legislative Session! This means that only a very small number of conservative bills even made it out of committee. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus should be held accountable for this because they were the ones who appointed the committee chairs and members.

[To read more about these committee chairs and members, please go to the article that I wrote on 8.8.11 and republished on 10.11.11 entitled “Dilemma for Texas Voters” at: http://libertylinked.com/posts/8609/dil ... /View.aspx ]

As a response to the concerns that have been sent to the SREC members by well-meaning conservatives, the SREC in turn has sent back a standard reply that sounds to me as if it has been taken from a scripted “talking points” memo.

Therefore, I need to clarify some points, many of which are based upon the public record and upon my own observations and commentary.

Steve Munisteri was elected as the State Chair of the Republican Party of Texas at the 2010 Republican Convention. According to Wikipedia, Munisteri has a very colorful background (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Munisteri ). He came from a well-to-do Houston family, is a lawyer, and had his own law practice for 27 years in Houston. He is divorced, has no children, and has made much of his fortune by being a boxing promoter. He also served as the first state chair for Young Conservatives of Texas when it was founded in 1980.

Since then, Munisteri seems to have changed; and I now question Munisteri’s conservatism particularly because of his relationship with left-leaning House Speaker Joe Straus. After Munisteri gained the chairmanship of RPT at the 2010 Republican Convention, he appointed the former RPT Executive Director Eric Opiela as the assistant legal counsel for RPT.

Eric Opiela works for Joe Straus. No one seems to know exactly where Opiela is working for Straus, but it may be at the Johnson Law Firm which is the #1 gambling lobby in Texas. Please remember that Joe Straus and his family have made a living off the gambling industry.

When Munisteri was elected to the RPT chair, he found binding rental contracts that had been negotiated before Cathie Adams (the previous RPT Chair) was elected in 2009. These rental contracts for RPT office space cost almost $20,000 per month or close to $250,000 annually. Ironically enough, it seems to have been Eric Opiela who negotiated those binding rental contracts.

To pay for these expensive-yet-binding contracts, Munisteri sought the help of the "debt busters" who are Joe Straus' lieutenants. Most of the money coming into the RPT is now coming from moderate Republicans who supported Kay Bailey Hutchison for Governor; Munisteri also was a Hutchison supporter.

[Could Munisteri’s stonewalling of the legislative voting report be an attempt by him to protect the left-leaning voting records of Straus’ lieutenants who so badly want to be re-elected in 2012?]

It is my opinion that the RPT and SREC are looking for excuses not to send out the already-prepared legislative voting report presented to them by Rep. Wayne Christian (the chair of the Platform Committee). This report was prepared free-of-charge by a third-party who is experienced at producing such reports in a factual and non-biased way.

Munisteri, however, is pushing the SREC to ask another group to prepare a legislative voting report; but this time he wants ALL legislative votes to be published rather than only those that relate to the RPT Platform.

If this second report were to be published, the votes that distinguish the legislators who adhered to our Platform and those who did not would be lost in the mass of votes. This was NOT the intent of the grassroots who voted to inform voters of how their elected officials voted on issues related to our Platform.

Munisteri has even gone so far as to offer to pay $10,000 for this second report himself; but based upon his past history and liaisons, I for one cannot trust him. How do we know that Joe Straus is not sticking $10,000 in one of Munisteri's pockets while Munisteri is writing out the check with his other hand? Besides, if Munisteri "pays" for the report, then he will be able to control the content of the report. What good will it do for voters to have a massaged legislative voting report to take with them to the polls?

Bottomline: The 6,000 delegates spoke with one voice at the 2010 Republican Convention; the RPT and SREC need to act upon that vote. The parliamentarian and legal counsel at the convention said the proposal was valid and did not go against the bylaws and rules. Wayne Christian was the duly elected Chair of the Platform Committee, and he did what he was instructed by the delegates to do.

Now Munisteri’s chosen legal counsel is objecting to the plank passed at the Convention. This person is saying it does not align with Article IX, Section 3 of the SREC Bylaws:

SREC Bylaws, Article IX, Section 3 (http://www.senatedistrict10.com/Resolut ... Bylaws.pdf)

Funds shall be allocated for rental space and for personnel, as budgeted by the SREC. No party fund or resources shall be used, either directly or indirectly, to influence intraparty contests. [“Intraparty” means within the Republican Party.]

Why does sharing the voting record of legislators amount to influencing contests within the Republican Party? Obviously, it would not since the legislative voting report is non-partisan and contains no percentages or scores. This is a bogus argument being promoted by Munisteri to the SREC.

If Munisteri’s legal counsel insists that the plank as passed at the 2010 Republican Convention was not valid, then the SREC needs to change its Bylaws to fit the plank passed by the 6,000 delegates at the Convention. The SREC Bylaws should be in place to serve the people and not vice versa.

I believe “Munisteri's $10,000 idea” is meant to delay the legislative voting report from being published. If the SREC does not meet until Dec. 4, 2011 and should decide to reject Rep. Christian’s report and produce yet another report, I doubt that this second report would be available in time to help the voters when they start early voting on February 21, 2012.

We voters need the legislative voting report (approved by the large number of Republican Convention delegates) when we go to the polls in the 2012 primaries so that we can best choose those Texas Legislators who will vote for the bills tied to the 46 Legislative Priorities in the Party Platform.

Those 6,000 delegates to the 2010 Republican Convention should not be satisfied until the plank that they duly passed is implemented correctly and the legislative voting report already presented to Munisteri and the SREC is sent out to the RPT voter base.

The legislative voting report cost nothing to prepare because it was done by volunteers, and it will cost nothing to transmit by e-mail to the RPT voter base. RPT frequently sends out e-mails to its voter base; the legislative voting report needs to be transmitted in the very same way.

My message to Steve Munisteri and SREC: “Please quit obfuscating and do what the 6,000 delegates to the 2010 Republican Convention instructed you to do.”

Donna Garner
Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

[lwoolley]

Excerpt from this article – “Alice Moore opened parents’ eyes to liberal indoctrination in textbooks” by Robert Knight – The Washington Times – 10.11.11
In Texas, the state textbook committee in 2010 angered liberals by rejecting a review panel’s recommendations to kick out Christmas and Independence Day and ignore such famous Americans as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Neil Armstrong. Texas, the largest purchaser of textbooks after California, has been a thorn in liberals’ sides since 1961, when the late Mel and Norma Gabler began exposing errors and bias. Famous example: One history book had six pages on Marilyn Monroe and only a brief mention of George Washington. The Gablers helped pave the way for the West Virginia revolt in 1974, and they spoke there during the protests.

[Actually, Texas is the biggest purchaser of textbooks now because California has such a financial crisis that they are not going to adopt any new textbooks until 2016. The liberals, knowing the importance of the textbook-adoption process in Texas, have flooded our state with terrible press and hysterical misinformation about our elected Texas State Board of Education conservatives. Yet it is they who have stood strong and adopted the most fact-based and rigorous curriculum standards in the entire United States. Texas textbooks are built upon the new curriculum standards (English, Science, Social Studies with Math in the pipeline).

The organization that the Mel Gablers founded is still very much alive and well in Texas; and it is this organization – Educational Research Analysts -- that has worked tirelessly to uncover factual errors in our textbooks, document them in the public hearings, and force publishers to remove the errors in lieu of heavy fines by the state of Texas. Many states deliberately set their textbook adoptions the year after Texas does because they know Texas will catch the factual errors and get them pulled from the textbooks. – Donna Garner]


To read the full article, please go to:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... #pagebreak

Donna Garner
Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

[lwoolley]

Wrong, Financial Farce Fellow!

The Wall Street protesters are against the big bonuses and low tax rates the people ON Wall Street got after their butts were bailed out.

401k's were wiped out by the fake numbers and investing by these Wall Street thieves.

Of course, your financial expertise stops at the cash register when you buy a Happy Meal.

As I have said before, you fell for the BS rhetoric that the Reeps spoon feed you -- convincing you to vote for them because they are looking out for you. Unless you are in the top 1 percent, "they ain't looking out for you" but you fall for their "Woolley over your eyes" slight of hand tricks.

Geeeez and cheezeeeeeeeeeee ... Just how dumb are you? I bet that even Ben 'Hakim' Barrack does math better than you do.
LS

[lwoolley]

Mr. Wooley
I'm listening to your radio show, that, by the way, it is wonderful..
I've got this email this morning, and it's just what you were talking this morning ..
Hope you see the link ... I'm sending it,.. it is an eye opening, it is really happening here now!
Thanks and keep up the good job for the
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
http://www.therightscoop.com/open-threa ... erica-down

[lwoolley]

Lynn:

I would be very interested in how you know that Roger Ailes has given the order for Fox to be more liberal and not so conservative. When you look at Shep Smith, Juan Williams, Giraldo Riviera, plus I am not sure about Bill Hemmer or for that matter I am not really sure about Bill O'Reilly and certainly a couple of the ladies that come on are forever sticking up for Obama, plus we like Greta, but not sure about her, so I think they have enough liberals on the show to make it fair and balanced. And to watch MSNBC would make me lose my dinner with all their liberal, progressive garbage and I don't watch Morning Joe anymore, because looks like they have corrupted him and he was known as a very conservative congressman when he was in office. For that matter I am not even sure about Dana Perino that worked for George W. Bush and now on The Five. Anyway we will still continue to watch Fox until something better comes along.

Have a good one.

Lonnie Phillips
Salado, Texas

[lwoolley]

Lynn, because I am out and about and cannot listen to talk radio a couple of days during the week, I have to download podcasts to my computer and then download from my computer to a portable device so I can listen to missed talk showswhile I do other things. I use www.dar.fm to download to my computer but KTEM is not listed on that website so I have to use another radio station as the source. Is there some way that KTEM could be listed on this website so those of us who do occasionally download podcasts, could stay "local"?

Thanks,
Jim
Temple

[lwoolley]

Lynn,

ATF Program "Fast and Furious" was more like "Slow and Stupid"
140 High Powered Assalt weapons(Machine-guns) are now in the hands of King drug Criminal in Juarez.

ATF was the same group that made raid on Branch Dividians in Waco with an army of agents in a trailer covered with a tarp.
How did that work out?
I guess they thought Dividians were going to invade Downtown Waco.
I can't remember, but they may have had legal possesion of those rifles.

Everytime I turn around there is some Slow and Stupid Federal agency wasting money and making really bad decisions.
NY Times and Washington Post are wondering why the Tea Party Started?

You have the audience.

Bill

[lwoolley]

Mr. Woolley,

Great show. Like always. I didn't watch the debate cuz I don't like none of the candidates really. And it don't matter. We don't have a choose here.

As for mergers. I don't hear you complain about only having basically 1 choice of stores from Lampassas to Temple. The big W. 6 of them.

And I still say all gun laws violate our. Constitutional rights. Your pet peeve is cell phone company's. Mines the government violating my rights. It's Keep & Bear arms sir. Heck I don't believe seat belt laws ( for Adults) are constitutional. Just another reason for government to nanny us & police too pull us over & collect revenue.

Good day sir,
Ken

[lwoolley]

I would like to hear a Mormon address the scripture, Galations 1:8, where Paul tells them: Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

CT

[lwoolley]

Mr. Woolley

I can't believe anybody is worried about Romney's religion. He's not much different on policy than Obama. & 2 what about Obama's religion. I don't believe Writes church is Christian & he was raised Muslim. He acts more like a Muslim. If it acts like a Duck? Long as their not Muslim or Atheist who cares.

Ken

[lwoolley]

David Carter <dcarter@datarecall.net>

The fellow who called from Midland about 10:35 was either pulling your leg or very susceptible to accepting bogus info. There is nothing in the beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about women wearing burlap sack garments or clothing (he seemed to indicate it was some kind of ritual?) nor did my 5 of 7 kids who attended BYU get free tuition at BYU. I joined the church in 1958 at age 18 and have been an active member ever since - I've heard a lot of "anti-Mormon" stuff but this was the silliest I've ever heard.
. . . I tried calling the number for you show in my cell phone (Verizon) - it is same as listed on the web page - also tried calling on Skype and received identical messages, "Your call cannot be completed as dialed - dial 1 or zero and then the area code and number". So, using e-mail.