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4 — Good News, etc. — February 2012 nc/sd opinion


“A wise man will hear and increase in learning. And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” – Proverbs 1:5 (NAS)


Should Christians be supporting a Mormon running for president?


By BILL McKEEVER The fact that two members


of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormon) have aspired to become president of the United States has caused many to wonder whether or not a Christian should support such a person for the highest office in our land. If voting for a Mormon is always wrong, Christians where I come from would never vote at all since the majority of candidates running for public office in Utah are Latter-day Saints.


GUEST COMMENTARY ET – We’re still waiting for call! I


n his book, Lost in the Cosmos, Walker Percy asked, “Why is Carl Sagan so lonely?” Percy’s question was


prompted by the popular scientist Carl Sagan’s insistence that ET must be out there somewhere, despite the lack of any evidence to back it up. Percy believed that this insistence said more about Sagan and people like him, than it did about the pos- sibility of extra-terrestrial life. According to Percy, Sagan and oth-


ers who reduced everything, including man, to soulless atoms, were desperate for something to transcend this purely- material existence. Not believing in God, they hoped a phone call from ET would do the trick. Unfortunately for the scientists, 30 years


after the publication of Percy’s book, we still haven’t heard from ET. And it’s not for lack of looking: Scarcely a week goes by when we don’t read or hear about yet another “earth-like” planet being discov- ered by astronomers. Yet, ET remains silent. With each passing year, more and more scientists suspect that Enrico Fermi may have been right when he asked, “Where is everybody?” If the likelihood of extra- terrestrial intelligent life were as high as people say it is, why haven’t we heard from them? Considering all that had to go “just


right” to make complex life on Earth pos- sible, a reasonable inference is that Sagan’s confidence was unwarranted. If there is intelligent complex life beyond Earth, it’s


BREAK POINT


CHARLES COLSON


so rare and so far away that we will never know for sure. Which prompts the question: “What


then?” As Percy observed, Western man may have rejected the traditional sources of meaning and purpose, but he hasn’t “outgrown” his need for meaning and purpose. Believing that you are nothing more than a collection of soulless atoms is still unbearable. Columnist Charles Krauthammer, who suspects that Fermi was right, suggested re- cently that a possible source of meaning and purpose might be found in politics. While some people might scoff at the suggestion, he is onto something—if by “politics” he means the consideration of how we order our common life together. After all, ancient Greece’s and Republi-


can Rome’s reflections on the subject did inspire the Founding Fathers. Yet, as the Founders themselves acknowledged, that alone wasn’t enough. The kind of virtue needed to make self-government possible didn’t and couldn’t come from politics. Its source lay elsewhere: in religion, and specifically, Christianity. It was Christianity Please turn to next page


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As of this writing, there are still several candidates in the running for the Republi- can nomination. However, when the dust settles, we may have, for the first time in American history, a member of the LDS Church who could quite possibly be our commander-in-chief. The scenario has caused many a great amount of conster- nation. Some concerns are realistic while others are not. Since Mormons enjoy the same religious


freedom as other Americans, I don’t think that a Mormon president will attempt to restrict religious expression; my concerns lie more in the area of free speech when it comes to critical analysis of Mormonism. Mormons do not take criticism of their faith lightly; sadly, many have followed the path of our culture in assuming that disagreement is akin to bigotry. A Mor- mon president could help correct such a


mistaken assumption, or he could exacerbate it. One of the concerns I hear


Gov. Mitt Romney


most often is that a Mormon president will be inclined to take orders from the “prophet, seer and revelator” of the Mormon Church. Despite assurances to the contrary, I do find it curious that it was just in October 2010 when


two Mormon leaders felt it was necessary to expound on an old sermon, point by point, by Mormonism’s 13th President Ezra Taft Benson called “The Fourteen Fundamen- tals in Following the Prophet.” In this message, Benson reminded his audience that the Mormon prophet “is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything,” including “civic matters.” Benson insisted that “those who would remove prophets from politics would take God out of government.” This sermon closed with a stern warning: “The prophet and the presidency — the living prophet and the First Presidency — follow them and be blessed; reject them and suffer.” Wanting to know how a Mormon candi- date interprets such comments should not be considered unreasonable. Would a Mormon in the White House


give some legitimacy to Mormonism? Perhaps to a certain extent, though I am not aware of anyone who has changed their views on Mormonism merely because Mitt Romney became governor of Massa- chusetts or because Harry Reid became a senator in Nevada. Their ability to achieve Please turn to page 15


A way to beat Obama Congratulations to Newt Gingrich, not


Letters to the editor


only on winning in South Carolina, but also for gaining an amazing amount of respect across the nation in the past few debates. I watched with much pride on the eve-


ning of Jan. 21 as he chose to compliment each Republican “foe” and express ap- preciation for each one’s gifts and positive points. That showed a lot of character and integrity in his heart and in our party. Along with countless other Americans, I


am heartbroken over the downward spiral of nearly everything in the U.S. The list is too long and way too taxing for me to start. What Gingrich said is so true. This is the most important election of our lives, and we know that it is high time for there to be a miracle in our land. Gingrich made some statements about


how we need to shut the mouths of radical elites who utter disdain and unscrupulous bigotry to Americans of faith. I have visions of the passage in the Old Testament where Elijah was challenged by the 450 prophets of Baal. Do you remember that story? It was time either to put up or shut up. The challenge was to call on their gods to see who truly had power. The 450 called on their gods to show themselves and were embarrassed by the deafening silence. When Elijah called on our Lord God Jehovah, a great consuming fire came and torched the water-soaked


altar and the animal sacrifice, and Elijah’s men chased those so-called prophets down the mountain and slew each one of them. Gingrich, it is time for a miracle. I be-


lieve it can and will happen, if we can join our gifts, our hearts and our callings together. I would like to suggest that the four


remaining candidates form a pact with each other, which I believe would deal a death blow to the socialism that threatens our freedom, our financial future, and the very country that we all love. We all know it is imperative for Obama to be defeated, and I believe we can do it as a team. Bottom line: all four commit to make


this plan happen, together, all for one and one for all. Whoever wins the primary runs as president. One of you runs as vice president. One takes the secretary of state. The other holds another key position i.e. America’s top economic advisor. What a miracle for America that would


be! Could you all make that sacrifice for your country? Could you all dedicate yourselves, your livelihoods and your next four years for a complete turnaround? The whole country thinks that you guys would go your separate ways and that one of you would face Obama in the general election. Can you see how powerful it would be if all four of you came together as a team, not to be divided? Wow! C.J. Orndorff III Via Internet


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