Think this is part of Hillary’s move to the center? If so, will it work? Lowell: The Clintons never do anything that is not calculated.

Looking at ‘06. Wishful thinking on the MSM’s part?

Mormons wondering about an old kinda ugly video. (HT: TallSkinnyKiwi) Is it ever useful to use words like “strange”? Lowell: This is an excerpt from an anti-Mormon movie made over 20 years ago called “The Godmakers.” It attracted quite a bit of attention at the time and is full of distortions and outright falsehoods. In a word, the movie is infuriating to any fair-minded viewer who knows anything about the LDS Church. I daresay it is downright un-Christian. I am reminded of several rules of thumb for understanding any religion, including Mormonism:

1. Ask me what I believe, don’t tell me.

2. If if you want to know what a particular faith believes, ask that faith’s representatives, not its enemies.

3. If you must criticize what I believe, then criticize my actual beliefs, not some ridiculous caricature of them.

If Romney becomes a serious candidate, there may well be a lot of this sort of falsehood all over the Web. Will it change voters’ minds to any significant degree? That remains to be seen.

Mormon humor from the Master. Lowell: Now, that is funny. And, in the interest of equal time, here’s some Presbyterian humor, from a Presbyterian publication.

At the intersection of faith and politics. Note how little theology matters in the discussion. Which leads me to this post. How much does theology matter in developing “habits of the heart”? Certainly, a significant branch of current Islamic theology builds bad ones, but can we say that about all theologies we call other?

Here’s a Letter to The Editor of the Salt Lake Trib. I leave this to Lowell to respond to - please. Lowell: I would be interested in knowing the letter writer’s current relationship to the LDS Church. He seems angry, the way a disaffected or former member would be. And he’s making statements that someone with his experience in the Church knows are false, like this one: “The fact that Mitt has a temple recommend indicates that he has already given his total obedience to his leaders in all matters.” Well, no, that’s not true at all. It so happens that I give interviews for LDS temple recommends all the time, and “total obedience in all matters” is not a requirement. Again, the letter reads like that of an angry person.

Finally, is it just me, or is this raising the religion issue without really raising it? Either way it sure is a tone unbecoming a major metropolitan newspaper. Lowell: Yes. The term “cheap shot” comes to mind.
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