Call to Fast for Mitt Romney in the Debates

[_Madison54]

I'm encouraging people to eat extra this Sunday in support of Obama.

Very funny.

I like your reply, Cicero! Let us know if you hear back from any of your family members.

Here's the link to Peggy Fletcher Stack on this in the SLT:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfaith ... g.html.csp

(The comments are fun to read through.)

[_EAllusion]

So she's prayerfully asking that Mitt Romney's free will be taken away by God?

[_aussieguy55]

I hope Katie Couric gets to interview Romney. Perhaps she should ask him what he likes to read. Obama surprised conservative David Brookes, by telling him he reads the works of Reinold Niebahr. Is Romney aware of the New Mormon History?. Is he aware of the debates on the historicity of the Mormon scriptures?

[_Equality]

I hope Katie Couric gets to interview Romney. Perhaps she should ask him what he likes to read. Obama surprised conservative David Brookes, by telling him he reads the works of Reinold Niebahr. Is Romney aware of the New Mormon History?. Is he aware of the debates on the historicity of the Mormon scriptures?

Isn't Niebuhr Obama's favorite philosopher? I am gobsmacked that Romney would even know the name, let alone cite him as someone he has read.

[_Elphaba]

Here is my actual reply to my family member:

"I think I'll have to pass. In fact, I think I'll take my family to brunch Sunday morning instead."

Excellent! I am very proud of you!

To help my computer illiterate mother, I needed to open one of her e-mails to retrieve information needed to install a program she had just purchased. I accidentally opened the wrong e-mail, which was, it turned out, an Obama-hating screed with numerous forwardings, the last ten or so from people in her ward. It insisted Obama had admitted he was Muslim, that a respected man in the military had said he knew this to be true, and a few other things that were so vapidly absurd I could not believe not even one of them had questioned it. Of course, a quick search demonstrated it was, in fact, a hoax. I never said anything to my mother because I have to live with her and am not as brave as you, but I fantasized about anonymously joining the e-mail chain and replying to all that "a little critical thinking goes a long way, such as asking oneself how ridiculous is it that Obama would admit he's a Muslim, even if it were true, knowing that doing so would end any chance he had of being re-elected?" Then I'd include the link to the site showing the e-mail was a hoax. I gave up at the time, but am tempted to figure out a way to do it now.

[_Gadianton]

Dear friends and family, I have been extremely frustrated with how things are going in our country. A lot of my frustration is because I feel I don't know what to do to really make a change.

What a fantastic object lesson in the right-wing work ethic Romney demands from Americans. Here's a man who is frustrated with how things are, has no idea on how to change them, and so he plops down in front of his computer to spam friends via email and ask them to pray for Romney. If everyone stops what they're doing, sits in front of their LCD for six hours and forwards his emails, then they can then all get together on the same day and beg God to fix their problems for them since they have no vision for how to create change on their own, let alone the will power to lift a finger. Even better, he wants every Mormon to go without food for two meals or rather, reduce their consumption, and thus further put the brakes on the economy. These are some fantastic ideas, all of which revolve around creativity, industry, and self-reliance. Romney should be proud of his base.

I'll tell you what, if this doesn't work out, how about opening up a restaraunt that will serve a God-damned chicken sandwich on Sunday. Or how about putting that 10% into buying a new car, or opening an IRA or something rather than pooling billions together for a bunch of geriatric bureaucrats to gamble on real estate with a fraction of the oversight that Goldman-Sachs had.

That's right TBMs, get on your knees and beg God for a free handout, this is what your church teaches you to do.

[_bcspace]

That's right TBMs, get on your knees and beg God for a free handout, this is what your church teaches you to do.

Free handout? You've obviously never read D&C 130:20-21.

[_aussieguy55]

I meant Neibahr is Obamas fav theologian. I do not imagine Romney would have ever heard of him. You would not expect except for some LDS scholars many LDS to read the writings of Bonhoeffer, Niebahr or Karl Barth

[_Drifting]

So...if they all fast and pray for Romney and he gets his ass handed to him in the debates what would that mean?

a. The fasters and prayers are not righteous
b. God is a Democrat
c. God thinks Romney is an embarrassment and doesn't want him elected
d. God is politically neutral and does not comment or contribute to political debate except in matters of moral importance (in which case the fast and pray effort was a complete waste of time)

[_Chap]

I meant Neibahr is Obamas fav theologian. I do not imagine Romney would have ever heard of him. You would not expect except for some LDS scholars many LDS to read the writings of Bonhoeffer, Niebahr or Karl Barth

Let's spell him right: Neibuhr. He was an interesting guy - the Wikipedia article is not bad, and of one its sections has some notes that are rather surprising:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_N ... and_honors

In more recent years, Niebuhr has enjoyed something of a renaissance in contemporary thought, although usually not in liberal Protestant theological circles. Both major-party candidates in the 2008 presidential election cited Niebuhr as an influence: Senator John McCain, in his work Hard Call, "celebrated Niebuhr as a paragon of clarity about the costs of a good war."[62] President Barack Obama said that Niebuhr was his "favorite philosopher"[63] and "favorite theologian".[64] Slate magazine columnist Fred Kaplan characterized Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech a "faithful reflection" of Niebuhr.[65]

So in the last election both the Republican and the Democratic candidates liked Neibuhr. It would be a sad commentary on the rapid decay of political debate in the US if the present election had one candidate who liked Neibuhr while the other hadn't heard of him ... we can only hope.

Another good Neibuhr line is:

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

Sounds good to me.