Sharron Angle's Mormon Ally: Harry Reid "Trampled" on the LDS Church
Posted inside all the phonebank cubbies at Sharron Angle's Las Vegas headquarters, there’s a sheet that instructs her volunteers how to deal with anyone who has questions regarding Sharron Angle's relationship to the Mormon Church. This is because Angle's pastor has denounced the LDS Church—of which her opponent, Harry Reid, is a member—as a "cult." So concerned people are to be given the number of a "well known leader" and "Friend." I called to speak with this former bishop of the LDS church.
The Former Bishop is congenial and eager to chat about the race. It’s as though I dropped in during a professor’s office hours, wanting discuss a recently published academic article.
“I tell people to remove the person from the equation,” the Bishop said. “Think about how they will vote on the Senate floor. We all think Harry is a good guy, but how is he going to vote on legislation? How is Sharon going to vote?”
According to The Former Bishop, Reid has proven that he may pray like a Mormon but he does not vote like one. The first major fissure between Reid and the church, according to The Former Bishop, came in 2004, when Reid, then Senate Minority Leader, voted against having a debate on a same sex marriage ban. Two years later, when Republicans resurfaced the resolution during the summer before mid-term elections, Reid condemned their efforts. This cuts right to The Former Bishop’s primary grievance with Reid.
“His vote on the gay marriage bill sent a clear message: he does not believe, as we do, that the Constitution is a divine document.” The Former Bishop explained that “marriage is a holy institution and it says clearly in the Bible that it’s between a man and a woman. The government should never have the right to change that.”
So the Former Bishop felt that it was Reid’s opposition to a federal same-sex marriage bill that ignited the Mormon church of Nevada to champion California’s Proposition 8, the amendment to that state’s constitution to ban gay-marriage. The passage of Prop 8. proved that the Mormon church of Nevada was more than willing to jump the border when it came to gay marriage, with or without a federal representative. The Bishop and his religious cohort contend that Reid openly "trampled on church leadership" and worse: he publicly stated that the millions of dollars from Nevada residents "could have been better spent."
The relationship between the Mormon Church and Senator Reid has "diminished," because Reid has repeatedly, according to The Former Bishop, failed to serve as a Mormon "watchdog" over Democratic policy-making: “Why should we put someone in office who doesn’t actually represent our views?"
Reid’s confirmation vote for Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court were further proof of Reid’s divergent agenda. “They are lovely women,” the Former Bishop said, “but they don’t believe in the things we believe.”
The final insult was Reid’s position on “Obamacare.”
“Mr. Obama is out there acting like a czar, encroaching on the Constitution, telling people how to spend their money on medicine and what does Harry Reid say? That he wished Mr. Obama was more 'confrontational,'" he said. That was the moment that the Former Bishop believes that Harry Reid officially “abdicated his role as a watchdog.”
In the Nevada race, the most important issues for the LDS Church, as the Bishop sees it, are “the protection of the Constitution and of the courts,” meaning a recognition that law comes “from God, not from government,” and also keeping "illegals" out of the state, as well as “personalizing” Social Security "by letting seniors have private accounts.”
When asked how he feels about the positions Sharron Angle has taken on these issues, the Former Bishop asked: “Is Sharron Angle an extremist? Yes, I think she’s been extreme."
"In your heart of hearts, who do you think is going to deliver for us?" he asked. "The answer is not Harry Reid.”
Natasha Vargas-Cooper is in Nevada through the election—you can reach her via Twitter.
I thought Reid lost them when he became the basis of Dick Smothers' character in 'Casino'.
YEEESSS!!!
I am absolutely loving this series.
It's "heart of heart," Mr. Former Bishop. Jesus.
…he does not believe, as we do, that the Constitution is a divine document.
That\'s, uh, troubling? Yes, let\'s go with troubling. How does the Former Bishop feel about the various amendments? Wait, isn\'t he mad because Reid was against amending the divine document?
That having been said, I more or less agree with his expressed tactical position. I\'ve never understood people who vote for a candidate because they like him/her, or because he/she better projects \"honesty\" or \"integrity\" or whatever, or because they share an ethnic or religious background. Most politicians are quite frankly not very fun or cool or even nice. Often a \"senator\" or \"representative\" is quite honestly a front person for a staff of people who emerge from the party apparatus and who determine how the votes go. In the end, you should be voting for the person most likely to forward your political beliefs, not the one who goes to the church you go to.
Oh look, editing casuses chaos with quote marks, isn't that nice!
Each senator is like a miniature monarch. You're really voting for their staff and for their ability to bluster at other senators/monarchs.
Man. Everybody's nuts.
The Eighteenth Amendment was pretty unholy.
for the record, a "former bishop" is about as unofficial a Mormon voice can get.
I've heard that since the days when the administrators at BYU were inspired to cancel Harry Reid's speaking engagement, but to keep by-then-second-term war criminal Dick Cheney's, the church bureaucracy has put out the word that Reid's alright. If that hasn't decreased the extraordinarily un-Christian comments about him on deseretnews.com, the net effect in Nevada, at least, is apparently an increase in fireside invites from stakes around the state [1]
Which means the race will show whether the Mormon bloc will hold, and whether it's controlled by Glenn Beck or Harry Reid.
[1] Fireside: an informal evening speech held by a prominent leader or personality in an LDS chapel, which, with increasing irony, may derive its name from FDR's fireside chats. Stakes are like diocese, wards, led by bishops, are like parishes.
Now, let's be fair: "former priest" is worse.
I happen to be a Mormon living in Reno, NV–and I already voted for Reid.
It's true a "Former Bishop" doesn't mean much. They're not at all as big (or over as many people) as in the Catholic Church. Like say 400 people, and they may only serve for 3 years.
I feel a little bad and lazy…I was going to go picket Sharron Angle's pastor and Sonrise Church. That was pretty much slander or libel–or just stupid. (Like we have hit squads and executions.)
The whole thing is sad: that most Mormons, being Republicans, will vote for Harry Reid (b/c of social issues like Abortion). But not everybody. There is some hegemony in the Mormon Church, thank God.
I started a Facebook page "Sharron Angle's a Wacko."
I agree with Joe, this \"former bishop\" has about as much to do with officially representing the church\'s position as the usher at your Lutheran local church represents all Lutherans. My dad\'s a former bishop; he likes Harry Reid and thinks Sharron Angle\\\'s a wacko.
I\'m not surprised that Angle\'s denomination thinks Mormons are a cult (we are!) I am continually surprised that Mormons continue to throw in politically with evangelical christians who hate us. (Guys, they HATE US. They are not our friends! Stop trying to suck up!)
I like Reid more than Angle (because I have not been lobotomized) although I was pissed as Hell with his position on the \"ground-zero\" mosque. Seriously, Harry, did you learn nothing from the Boston temple?
This "Former Bishop" must be a "former" bishop for a reason. He should have learned that it's not his place to speak on matters of politics for the church. I'll accept that this person doesn't believe that HIS beliefs don't mesh with Mr Reid's or that of his party or family or neighborhood or state, but he has no right to speak for his church.
Mixing politics in the LDS church is allowed only when the prophet/president of the church himself indicates (not a "former bishop"). The only two instances in which this has been done since WWII are the ERA and Proposition 8. That's it. All that other mumbo-jumbo about Harry Reid not understanding Mormons is flat out wrong.
Mormons are allowed to have all the political opinions they want and Harry Reid is the prime example of this. What a shame it would be if he here to lose his seat because members of his own church don't understand the religious freedom their own church gives them.
Yeah, it can't be said enough that "FORMER BISHOP" DOES NOT IN ANY WAY SPEAK FOR NV MORMONS! The Church doesn't work that way. If they wanted Harry Reid to retire, THEY'd call him, not some guy. I can almost guarantee "Former Bishop" got in some serious trouble. The church very loudly does not tell anyone how to vote or whom to vote for. They encouraged people to vote against gay marriage, true… but it had been 30 years previous to that since they had said anything political, and even on gay marriage they were very strategically abstract in their comments.
If anything, they've told members to vote for the person they feel is most likely to listen for and follow the promptings of the Lord, independent of platform or party affiliation.