{"id":43787,"date":"2017-08-01T23:14:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T05:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=43787"},"modified":"2017-08-01T23:31:49","modified_gmt":"2017-08-02T05:31:49","slug":"blame-the-mormons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/08\/blame-the-mormons.html","title":{"rendered":"Blame the Mormons!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Skidmore's<\/a>
Donald Trump in 2011, by Gage Skidmore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re just back from an entertaining performance, at the Hale Center Theater in Orem<\/a>, of the musical Tarzan<\/em>. \u00a0I was somewhat into live theater long before I met my wife, but marrying a theater major has certainly made that interest a significant factor in my life. \u00a0For which I\u2019m grateful.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said it before, and I\u2019ll say it here again, and I\u2019ll almost certainly say it again in the future: \u00a0The Hale theaters are a real Utah treasure.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why is Donald Trump the President of the United States? \u00a0Why is he the\u00a0Commander-in-Chief of our military? \u00a0Why is he the head of the Republican Party?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the fault of the 3672 opposing Republican primary candidates who couldn\u2019t work out their differences in order to present a common front against him. \u00a0It\u2019s not the fault of the broadcast\u00a0media and the radio and television talk show hosts, who gave him many times the coverage that his competitors received \u2014 effectively free campaign advertising \u2014 because he drove their ratings up. \u00a0 (Sean Hannity is, practically speaking, Mr. Trump\u2019s Minister of Propaganda.) \u00a0It\u2019s not the fault of the Evangelical pastors who endorsed him \u2014 such as the execrable Robert Jeffress, pastor of the 12,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, who repeatedly assaulted candidate Mitt Romney as a non-Christian but could scarcely contain his devout veneration\u00a0for the notably Christian\u00a0Donald Trump \u2014 nor is it the fault of the Evangelicals who backed Mr. Trump\u00a0in huge numbers. \u00a0It\u2019s not the fault of the alt.right.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Mormons\u2019<\/em> fault!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sure, Mormon Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was, with Mormon Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), among the few Republican members of the Senate to refuse to endorse Mr. Trump even after his nomination. \u00a0And Mormon Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) openly unendorsed Mr. Trump a month before the 2016 presidential election. \u00a0And Mormon former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney delivered a stinging speech criticizing Mr. Trump in March 2016<\/a>\u00a0that made him a pariah and a hiss and a byword among Trumpists and on Fox News, and then very visibly declined to participate in the Republican national convention that anointed Trump as the 2016 nominee. And, yes, the most prominent third party challenger to Trump, expressly entering the race in a bid to provide an alternative to the Trump-led Republican ticket, was the Mormon Evan McMullin. \u00a0And, I modestly add, the Mormon blogger Daniel Peterson wrote\u00a0for months about his opposition to Mr. Donald J. Trump, did not vote for Mr. Trump, resigned from the Republican Party on the night that Mr. Trump was nominated, and received a great deal of angry hate mail for his public rejection of Trumpism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the Mormons\u2019<\/em> fault.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t believe me, read this little piece from Mr. Jason P. Steed, of Dallas, Texas, an attorney whose undergraduate degree is, rather surprisingly, from Brigham Young University:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff Flake Could\u2019ve Saved Us. He Didn\u2019t. \u00a0Prominent Mormon Republicans like Flake and Mitt Romney could have paved the way for Trump\u2019s defeat. But they didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a book that you might find of interest:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

D&C 4: A Lifetime of Study in Discipleship \u2013 A History, Womanhood and Relief Society, Beatitudes, Eternal Parent, Addiction Recovery, Doctrinal Commentary, Reward of Consecrated Service<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you choose to buy it, consider using AmazonSmile<\/a>. \u00a0It will cost you nothing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And I\u2019ve just learned that this out-of-print 2001 book, which I really like \u2014 full disclosure: I have an essay in it \u2014 is available online:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Historicity and the Latter-day Saint Scriptures<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever questioned your family\u2019s ancestry?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps, instead, some folks should question their knowledge\u00a0of geography.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a nice essay by Fiona Givens:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEve\u2019s Courageous Choice Brings Us Joy!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But here, I\u2019m afraid, is a genuinely ridiculous expression of feminism:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Dunkirk\u2019 critics mocked for slamming the movie\u2019s cast\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 We\u2019re just back from an entertaining performance, at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, of the musical Tarzan. \u00a0I was somewhat into live theater long before I met my wife, but marrying a theater major has certainly made that interest a significant factor in my life. \u00a0For which I\u2019m grateful. \u00a0 I\u2019ve said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBlame the Mormons!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    We're just back from an entertaining performance, at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, of the musical Tarzan. \u00a0I was somewhat into live\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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