{"id":4783,"date":"2011-06-06T16:02:43","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T20:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faithpromotingrumor.com\/?p=4783"},"modified":"2011-06-06T16:02:43","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T20:02:43","slug":"sounds-like-satans-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithpromotingrumor\/2011\/06\/sounds-like-satans-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"“Sounds like Satan’s plan!”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"From the recent Newsweek<\/a><\/em> coverage<\/a> of us Mormons:<\/p>\n

Congressman Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) sees an even deeper connection between his faith and his economic and political views. According to Mormon tradition, God and Satan fought a \u201cwar in heaven\u201d over the question of moral agency, with God on the side of personal liberty and Satan seeking to enslave mankind. Flake acknowledges that the theme of freedom\u2014and the threat of losing it\u2014runs through much of Mormonism<\/a>, and \u201cthat kind of fits my philosophy.\u201d (Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared, \u201cI am a Democrat because I\u2019m a Mormon, not in spite of it,\u201d his is a minority view among members of the faith.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This quote reminded me of other conversations I\u2019ve read, arguments about the proper role of government in assisting the poor, taxation, etc. The idea seems to be that laws which require the payment of taxes, which finance things like helping the (undeserving?) poor, are an offense to our individual moral agency.<\/p>\n

Fancy that, but many who would make such an argument regarding taxes \u00a0might overlook the laws restricting something like same-sex marriage. Such laws would seem problematic if the bottom line is simply allowing for choice, not coercing.<\/p>\n

Further, tying the war in heaven to economic ideas seems most often to be geared against things like government regulation of markets. This move assumes that legislated stipulations are of utmost concern regarding freedom to make choices. How can such a view account for the problems some might point to as being inherent in a structure already reeling from inequality. There is more to coercion than can be found in written law.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I\u2019m interested in a preliminary discussion about the coupling of the LDS war in heaven narrative to contemporary political conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like Satan\u2019s plan!\u201d is a response I\u2019d like to see explored much more fully.<\/p>\n

For those interested in the theological nitty gritty, aquinas\u2019s critique of Terryl Givens is recommended. Check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the recent Newsweek coverage of us Mormons: Congressman Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) sees an even deeper connection between his faith and his economic and political views. According to Mormon tradition, God and Satan fought a \u201cwar in heaven\u201d over the question of moral agency, with God on the side of personal liberty and Satan seeking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-philosophy","category-politics","category-speculation-doctrine","category-theology-doctrine"],"yoast_head":"\n"Sounds like Satan's plan!"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the recent Newsweek coverage of us Mormons: Congressman Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) sees an even deeper connection between his faith and his economic and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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