Poodles Place

I recently read one of VJack’s posts over at Atheist Revolution about atheist bloggers who give up and quit. Maintaining a blog is a bitch. I did this one for years, then life got in the way. I took care of my grandfather while he was dying. Then I just never got back.

There are definitely days I wish I had stayed active. I have things I’d love to say about the religious world around me. I’ve taken to mostly venting on my Facebook page ( you’re still welcome to hit me up for a friend request, just send me an email).

I’ve loved seeing the growing progression of vocal atheists on the Internet and in podcasts since I started my blog back with Atheist rants.

Lately, I’ve thought about getting back into it to keep my mind off the problems I’ve been having in my marriage. Something to keep me busy and diverted. But, I do know it won’t help solve anything. Perhaps though, I will drop in once in a while.

I originally posted this before the 2008 elections.  Mitt Romney was running for the republican nomination.  I feel it bears repeating since he is running again.  All religious extremists are dangerous to our country.  Mormons are no exception:

I am pretty sure Mitt Romney doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning the republican nomination. At least I hope I am right about that. For any of my readers who have lived or live in Utah you probably know why, no matter who is elected, if a mormon is ever elected president of the US we will be in serious trouble. If they are a lay or excommunicated mormon fine, but if they are a member in good standing with a current temple recommend then their loyalties lie with their church and their god, not with the good of the people. I know this doesn’t seem to make them different from the current fundamental freaks, but if you know and understand the LDS temple endowment ceremony it IS different.

In the LDS endowment ceremony the faithful take several oaths. Among them is the “law of consecration”. The Law of Consecration requires “that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.” (Source Mormon Temples and Temple Rituals by Richard Packham).

Members will try to convince you that the law of consecration only applies to monetary belongings and is only talking about tithing and community service to “the church” (such as missions). However, when looked at closely it also states that EVERYTHING that god gives to the member (including political power) must be used to help build up “the church” and help establish Zion. Non members in Utah who have never researched “the church” will have a tendency to bitch about the fact that we live in a lds theocracy here without fully knowing that our local politicians are only living by an oath they swear in a secret, creepy, religious ceremony. They are only being good sheeple.

Now, imagine a president of the US who takes this church oath. Imagine them working for the establishment of Zion on a national level instead of just the local level they do here. Scary huh?

If he gets the nomination, I will post this again, maybe even once a week until the election.

*I will add this aside, I actually like Jon Huntsman, another running Mormon.  He was the best democratic governor we have had in Utah in a long time.  And despite the fact that he is turning more right, I have read that he doesn’t necessarily always go to his church.  He has studied other religions, and from what I saw while he was governor in Utah, he doesn’t always follow lock step with the republican party (except maybe before the election).