Is free speech just for the rich?

Last Saturday, MRM associate Randy Sweet and I decided to head to Provo—home of the LDS Church-owned BYU Cougar football team—to hand out our Brigham Young million dollar bill tracts before the game on Saturday, October 23. Wouldn’t you know it! For two of the three hours that we handed out the tracts, it poured cats and dogs! Randy and I decided to tough it out anyway and had the ability to distribute hundreds of tracts to many of the 50,000+ spectators.

A security guard forced us to move from the public sidewalk we were standing on near a main gate, saying that while it was a public sidewalk, the church had a permit to control the street and sidewalk on Cougar game days. Thus, we went down the street to a corner to hand out our tracts. Across the street was a Republican “Mike Lee for U.S. Senate” campaign bus along with about fifty hearty supporters, all of them waving signs and generating honks from the passing cars. Several ladies holding campaign signs were standing at corner, so we ended up getting into a quick conversation. Telling one lady with a stroller that I was new to the state and didn’t know very much about Utah politics, I could see her wheels spinning as she obviously viewed me as a potential voter, just ripe for the picking.

“Would you like to go over there and meet Mr. Lee?” she asked after I asked several questions about the future senator’s positions on the issues. I agreed, and so in a rain that became steadier, she introduced me to the 39-year-old lawyer—a man once serving as a clerk for Supreme Justice Samuel Alito—who owned a double digit lead heading into the Nov. 2 election. I ended up having an uninterrupted fifteen minutes with this very faithful Mormon and the son of former BYU president Rex Lee. Why, I even shook the hand of one of his beautiful daughters!

The candidate was very cordial and appeared happy to talk—anything to break the monotony of waving at passing cars, I’m sure. I began by asking him about abortion (he’s Pro-Life except in cases of rape/incest, life of mother, and detrimental health of the infant).  We dialogued on that topic for a few minutes before I asked him the question I really wanted answered: “Do you believe in free speech?”

It seems like such an easy one. It was a softball, placed gently on a tee for him to hit out of the ballpark. After all, show me a politician who would answer “no” and I’ll show you a loser in the next election! As expected, he replied, “Absolutely, I’m a constitutional lawyer, and I will fight for this right to the very end.” I brought up the recent debacle involving liberal political commentator Juan Williams and how he had publicly said some things on the air about Muslims that the NPR leadership didn’t like, resulting in his firing. (Interesting, FOX News hired him immediately after this, giving him a $2 million contract!) Mr. Lee had not been following the news (“I’ve been busy getting ready for the election,” he said), so I spent several minutes providing him details.  

“Yes, they (NPR) shouldn’t have fired him,” he concluded. With this, I proceeded to explain the situation that is currently taking place in Manti, Utah.  To catch everyone up, the Mormon Church is attempting to purchase a public street that runs in front of the temple by offering the city approximately $110,000. The church has not shown any real dire need to own this street, though everyone knows that such a purchase will result in having anyone who disagrees with the church banned from the street. For two weeks in June every year, hundreds of Christians come to Manti to share their faith with the tens of thousands of pageant-goers at the Mormon Miracle Pageant. Most of the dialogues take place on this very street. Once the church gets the title deed, they can tell anyone—protestors, Christians, communists, Utah Ute fans—to “please remove yourself from our street.”

At first, Mr. Lee made it sound like he really didn’t know or even understand the situation. Then, after I explained some more, he became very hard-nosed. “As long as it’s done legally, anybody should be allowed to purchase anything he wants,” he explained. My response:  “But if quenching free speech is the main reason an organization wants to purchase a public street, would you still be in favor?” “Absolutely,” he responded.

If Christians wanted a political ally in this fight, Mr. Lee is not the man. Immediately I thought of the next question. “What would you say if the LDS Church decided to buy the four blocks immediately around its Salt Lake City temple and the conference center, with the main purpose to disallow free speech, especially during the two general conferences that take place each year?” After all, since many who are in opposition to Mormonism use these public sidewalks, perhaps a strategy would be to buy the streets and sidewalks (just as the church purchased an adjacent street in 2000 to create Main Street Plaza) in order to move the “protestors” and other undesirables away from the LDS buildings. His answer was predictable: “As long as it was legally done, I see no problem with that.”

I do, Mr. Lee. Free speech is not just for those who have lots of disposable assets and can purchase public streets in order to stifle opposing viewpoints.  If the LDS Church cannot show a real need to purchase a public street, allowing such a purchase is morally and ethically wrong. Putting a clamp on free speech by using such a maneuver is something that I might expect to happen in a Communist country, not America. Legality is not the issue.

Mr. Lee, with a double-digit lead according to the polls, you will win. As a freshman senator, I pray you will remember that you have been elected to serve the people of Utah as our representative to uphold the Constitution, including the First Amendment. Don’t allow your LDS rose-colored glasses to taint your decisions.

As we parted ways on Saturday, you promised that you would allow me to communicate with you through email and you would respond. You repeated my full name and said you wouldn’t forget our conversation. Please know that I will hold you to your promise.  

Christian church doesn’t allow LDS parents to become Cub Scout leaders

A big hubbub has been made this week because a Mormon couple was not allowed to become Cub Scout leaders at a pack sponsored by a North Carolina Presbyterian church. Christ Covenant Church, which is about 10 miles from Charlotte, said the couple’s two boys (ages 6 and 8) could continue attending but the parents would not be able to become leaders.

“I can’t believe they had the audacity to say, ‘You can’t be leaders, but we want your boys,” the mother told an Associated Press journalist. “Are you kidding me? Do you really think I’d let my boys go there now?”

Hmmm. I’m sure this wasn’t the only question raised by this very passionate mother, so let me predict a few more she might raise and provide answers that make rational sense:

Question:  Aren’t Mormons Christian?

Let’s let several Mormons answer this question:

William O. Nelson, director of the LDS Church’s Melchizedek’s Priesthood Department: “Some who write anti-Mormon pamphlets insist that the Latter-day Saint concept of Deity is contrary to what is recognized as traditional Christian doctrine. In this way they are quite correct.”

BYU professor Robert Millett: “If an acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity makes one a Christian, then of course Latter-day Saints are not Christians, for they believe the doctrine of the Trinity as expressed in modern Protestant and Catholic theology is the product of the reconciliation of Christian theology with Greek philosophy.”

15^th church president Gordon Hinckley: “As a church we have critics, many of them. They say we do not believe in the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they say.”

So, in essence, Mormons want to be called Christian while denying the very essence of what defines Christianity, i.e. the doctrine of the nature of God (Trinity) and Jesus.

Question: Isn’t denying this family the right to become leaders illegal?

The Cub Scout pack is run by the church, and thus it should be allowed to make an important decision such as this. As the Associated Press article points out, the church “is within its rights to deny the (family) leadership positions.”

Question: Isn’t this decision immoral?

The boys were allowed to stay in the pack, as they should have been. However, the parents desired a position that would have involved authority over these children, many of whom were certainly children of the church’s members. In response, the parents made the decision to withdraw their children, even though the kids apparently enjoyed the activities. Is it just me, or does pulling them out because the parents didn’t get their way sound just a bit selfish?

There is an option. If this couple is so intent on being leaders with the Scouts, by all means they ought to have their local ward or stake center host a pack next year. Then this Mormon couple could fulfill their dream. But to demand that a local church cave in to their demands (after the many resources this church no doubt invested into the program) and then become angry about the situation is silly.

A final point with an illustration. Being new to our Utah neighborhood, our youngest daughter was recently invited by some nice LDS neighbors to a weekly craft group that takes place at a near-by house. We were specifically told that the group is not affiliated with the LDS Church, and while the leader is true-blue Mormon, no overt theology (i.e. Mormon doctrine) would be taught during the projects. It was all about being creative and having fun with other neighborhood kids.

Imagine my surprise when my daughter came home last week and explained how the leader was teaching the craft lesson from the LDS Standard Works. At one point, the leader exclaimed, “Isn’t it wonderful how someday all of us will be gods? You all believe that, don’t you, children?” My daughter was the only one not raising her hand.

I have a choice. I can allow my child to continue attending, perhaps after talking to the leader and voicing my concerns.  Or I could decide not to allow her to attend, maybe even trying to start my own group. But for me to demand that I ought to be allowed to lead the group is not even an option. If it is, then maybe I ought to see if the local LDS seminary (a one-hour daily church school for high school students) could use some volunteer help. After all, I have 17 years of Bible teaching experience aimed at that very age group and even own a teaching credential. I wonder how my offer would be received.

Packer's speech causes uproar in Utah

Recently Mormon senior LDS Apostle Boyd Packer gave a speech from his chair at the October General Conference that explained the church’s stance on homosexuality. Inferring that homosexuals can decide to be celibate and not fulfill their fleshly desires, he said, “There is also an age-old excuse: ‘The devil made me do it.’ Not so! He can deceive you and mislead you, but he does not have the power to force you or anyone else to transgress or to keep you in transgression.”


He added, “It is to be shared only and solely between man and woman, husband and wife, with that one who is our companion forever. On this the gospel is very plain. We are free to ignore the commandments, but when the revelations speak in such blunt terms, such as ‘thou shalt not,’ we had better pay attention.”

Packer also talked about pornography, but it was his words on homosexuality that threw many from Utah into a tither. Yes, there are thousands of homosexuals living in this state, more than many people would imagine, and they’re still miffed about the church’s involvement in California’s Proposition 8 that was defeated last year, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the LDS Church.

Many of these folks ringed downtown’s Temple Square during the following week, claiming that Packer’s words were delivered at a time when several teens from around the country who had been wrestling with their sexuality recently committed suicide. They were angry, saying Packer’s insensitive words were delivered at a delicate time. A petition with more than 100,000 signatures was even delivered to church offices—like, that’s going to change the LDS leaders’ minds!—to ask for an apology. Almost every day, the event somehow continues to make the front page of the newspaper I read, the Salt Lake Tribune, while letters from angry readers about this issue appear regularly in the editorial pages.

The church has pretty much said since its inception that homosexuality is a sin. Critics could certainly point to the time when the church once advocated polygamy—the leaders even practiced it until1904, even though the prophet said not to do it anymore after 1890. Yes, the church has not always taught the “plain” gospel that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But I can’t recall a time when this church ever promoted homosexuality.

Thus, I’m not sure why the activists got all frothy and offended while condemning everyone who disagrees with their position. Perhaps it’s a desperate attempt to change the church’s stance. Or maybe they just love blood in the water and a contrived feeding frenzy to attack a church that’s in its political way.

Here’s the point. Packer certainly wasn’t trying to stop anyone outside the church from practicing their homosexuality. He was saying that a person who wants to be a Mormon and remain in good standing just can’t do this.  Isn’t the church allowed to state the rules for its own members? The common argument I’m hearing during these past few weeks is that homosexuality is an inborn character trait, so those Latter-day Saints shouldn’t have to fight against their tendencies. But this is a weak argument. In fact, everyone is born with tendencies to do the wrong things because we’re sinners (Rom 3:23). Calling himself a “wretched man,” Paul wrestled with his sinful nature and concluded at the end of Romans 7, “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

I like to use the example of pedophilia to make this point. Suppose I agree with NAMBLA and felt I was born as a pedophile, believing my practice of sex with young boys to be moral as long as it took place between two loving people and nobody was hurt. I argue thusly: “If I’m born with this tendency, I should be able to practice it. Who are you to judge me or what an appropriate age is to have sex!” Imagine criminals using a similar defense in the court of law—“Judge, I can’t help my stealing, it’s just part of who I am, so I’m obviously innocent of the charges.” Can you see the problem?

And just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I hate you (i.e. “homophobia”). After all, Packer didn’t say he hates homosexuals. He never attacked any person. Rather, he said the behavior was wrong.

Ladies and gentlemen, we can’t be so thin-skinned and agitated when people disagree with our ideology. Defend your position without getting personalities involved. It makes for a much better debate.  

Knowing More About the Bible

A recent religious literacy poll done by the Pew research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that Mormon know more about the Bible and religion than Catholics, Jews, and Protestant Christians. (See The Salt Lake Tribune, Sept. 29, 2010, p. A4.)

The finding surprised many who would have thought that “White Evangelical,” “White Mainline,” and “Black Protestant” Christians would have scored better than the Mormons. “We don’t study the Bible as much as evangelical Protestants,” Jim Faulkner, the Richard L. Evans chairman of religious understanding at BYU, told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter. “I would have guessed that evangelicals would do better. They have a lot of Bible study classes, some weekly.”

Let’s be honest, folks, these questions should not have mystified those calling themselves Christian.  How could more than half of the Protestants did not know who Martin Luther (that’s Martin Luther, not Martin Luther, Jr.) was? As my daughter likes to say, “Really?” Other questions that stumped those polled: Where was Jesus born? Who led the Exodus out of Egypt? What religion was Mother Theresa? What day does the Jewish Sabbath begin? (OK, this one is tricky. Answer: Friday evening at sundown—we’ll give a bonus point for that one.)

Out of the 27 questions, Christians averaged 13 correct. If I remember correctly, less than 50% on the test is an F, every time! Atheists averaged thirty percent better with 17 correct questions, for Pete’s sake! And Mormons—most of whom attend one-hour seminary classes every morning for four years of their high school careers—were just a little below that, at 16 correct.

So how can we process this? For one, shame on the Christian churches for not teaching our people better about the Bible and other religions. Instead of our youth groups heading to Disneyland or ski retreats every third weekend, perhaps we ought to be really doing what the BYU professor assumes we’re doing, having “a lot of Bible study classes.”

I don’t believe we do our congregants much of a favor by putting the Bible verses on the PowerPoint screen during sermon time, discouraging them from bringing their Bibles to church. Having moved to Utah recently, we’ve been church shopping, and of the dozen churches we’ve attended, only two or three are places where we saw any Bibles in peoples’ hands. Coffee cups, yes, even in the sanctuary, but Bibles, no. It just amazes me.

We can also know that just having a large knowledge of the Bible is, by itself, not very meaningful. After all, while Mormons averaged 7.9 correct out of the 12 Bible questions, atheists and agnostics were not far behind at 6.7. White Evangelical Protestants averaged 7.3, which is very close to the Mormon total. Catholic (5.4) and White Mainline (5.8) believers were left totally in the dust.

Yet if a Mormon brags that he knows his Bible better than Protestants—honestly, I had one do to me this week—we must gently remind them that those who don’t believe in God did better overall on this test than the Mormons. Does this mean that atheists have more truth than Mormons and Christians? While someone may know how to correctly answer Jeopardy-trivia-like questions, it’s putting the Bible into practice that matters.  Like, believing in one true God, believing that Jesus is God in the flesh, believing that grace, not our works, puts us into a relationship with God, and practicing loving our neighbor as ourselves.

It’s make-up test time. Now let’s get those pencils sharpened and start studying, Christian!