Slog - Comments on So, That Seven-Year Marriage Thing?

Comment by lorax

lorax — Wed, 09 May 2007 11:56:23 -0800

I hope so badly that Romney is the Republican nominee.

Comment by Providence

Providence — Wed, 09 May 2007 11:59:15 -0800

Oh man that is too funny. I think I've read that book too....

Be careful what you wish for lorax - this country elected GWB twice. Do you really want to experience 8 years of Romney?

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:11:35 -0800

Equally sad is that the original comment went to print without being fact checked. Romney is an ignorant loon for sure, but c'mon (was is the Post or NYT?).

Comment by elswinger

elswinger — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:13:33 -0800

The more I read about Mormons the more I think they are evil, or at least lead by people who are evil.

On the History Channel I saw a show how Brigham Young had closed off the borders in Utah and slaughtered homesteaders that were passing through on their way to California. It could be false, but I choose to believe.

Comment by gavigan

gavigan — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:20:45 -0800

BWAH HAH HAH!

'Scuse me, couldn't help myself. Seriously, though, it can't be good when men like this are the ones people choose to represent the populace.

Comment by keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:26:44 -0800

@4,

Yeah they did that, but Mormons have been, historically, the most oppressed religious group in the United States.

Comment by jamier

jamier — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:50:24 -0800

elswinger: Unlike the normal christians who just slaughtered everyone with brown skin on their way to California?

Comment by flamingbanjo

flamingbanjo — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:52:43 -0800

Well, even so Romney's basic point stands: Those outer-space French Mormons are ruining marriage for decent folk everywhere, and they must be stopped.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Wed, 09 May 2007 13:01:44 -0800

I'm feeling deja vu. The "moderate" Republican, the one who shuns that overt hate speech, the one who talks about bringing people together and "compassionate conservatism", who is just running to the right in order to get nominated, but is actually a complete shithead who believes garbage like this, is going to become President, and turn out to be everyone's worst nightmare.

Comment by longball

longball — Wed, 09 May 2007 13:43:07 -0800

@4 - they just aired a really good PBS special on the Mormons and it looked closely at the incident you are referring to, the Mountain Meadow massacre. Those settlers did happen to be from Arkansas and Missouri, where the Mormons themselves had been the victims of violence, so it wasn't mormonism that made them killers, but just plain old fear and vengence. I doubt any religion this side of Tibet would really want to compare attrocities with the Mormons. They have commited one; that's a pretty clean reccord as far as religions go. That being said, they are totally bonkers to believe the wigguty whacked stuff in the book of Mormon.

Comment by monkey

monkey — Wed, 09 May 2007 13:54:13 -0800

dumb dumb dumb dumb duuumb

Comment by Enigma

Enigma — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:07:50 -0800

Well, at least Orson Scott Card got some publicity out of this. It's amazing to me more people haven't read his work.
(Yes, he's Mormon, but he's also one of the best sci-fi writers. I haven't read that particular story, but I think I will now.)

Comment by Soupytwist

Soupytwist — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:18:02 -0800

Of course Orson Scott Card is a great sci-fi writer - Mormons just make shit up all the time! They're like 19th Century Scientologists*.

*A word my spell check does not recognize.

Comment by Christin

Christin — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:25:02 -0800

Heh, I've actually read the series. If you can swallow past the preachiness, they're actually quite good books.

(I don't buy Orson Scott Card books new--it's a vice I won't indulge on ethical grounds. I find guilty pleasure in his books used or at the library, though.)

Do yourself a favor, though, and try to throw out everything you know about Mormon theology if you read them--they're better as "wacky tales about a pseudo-futuristic community with interesting characters and odd moral standards" books than "come be Mormon or you'll end up like these bad guys!" books.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:26:44 -0800

Well, it's looking like a good shot that we'll either get an evolution-denying creationist (three of them) or a mormon who wants scientologists to vote for him.

Guess the Reds are heading for their 40 years in the wilderness, cause that ain't gonna fly in the 22nd Century.

I remember babysitting OSC's kids at a WorldCon.

Comment by Sandeep Kaushik

Sandeep Kaushik — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:06:25 -0800

Romney also recently named L. Ron Hubbard's tedious and interminable space epic, Battlefield Earth, as his favorite novel. Much jeering ensued, including a funny bit on the Colbert Report. He's clearly a sci-fi fan, though one with questionable literary taste.

Comment by Cascadian

Cascadian — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:18:45 -0800

I wish I could be confident, but Romney is a master bullshitter and is raising the most GOP money. He's as goofy as Reagan without the grandfatherly charm. Instead of confusing old movies with reality, he confuses bad cult-inspired science fiction with reality.

In America, Republicans like this get elected.

The anti-evolution candidates are longshots anyway. McCain and Giuliani are the only announced candidates other than Romney with a chance at the nomination. If the religious right has its way in the primary, McCain and Giuliani are toast. McCain's the winner if the lunatics who think Iraq is going well outvote the rest of the Republicans. Giuliani's the candidate if fear of 9/11 wins out over the war and hatred of gays and women.

Any of the Dems are orders of magnitude better than Romney, but I'm not sure the US electorate will see it that way with their prejudices and the likely media coverage. If the race is cast as doofy white guy against shrill emasculating woman, the clean and articulate black guy, or the sleazy trial lawyer, I'm not going to bet against the Mormon.

On the other hand, even the caricatured versions of the top Democrats could beat any of the other candidates on the GOP side.

Comment by Mrs America

Mrs America — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:08:14 -0800

I'd have divorced Dubya years ago, but that fat guy keeps pointing a shotgun at my head.

Comment by catalina vel-duray

catalina vel-duray — Thu, 10 May 2007 07:37:10 -0800

There is a fascinating book called "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer that delves into the history of the RLDS church (and their fundamentalist offshoots) by way of a true story about a murder of a woman and her infant daughter back in 1987.

It covers, among other things, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and the death of Joseph Smith at the hands of a mob back in the midwest somewhere.

btw, I believe there is supposed to be a movie about the massacre, which explored Rommney's forebearer's role in it, this summer.

Comment by Kristi

Kristi — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:18:14 -0800

After reading Orson Scott Card's opinions on homosexuality and gay marriage I find it impossible to enjoy his books. If you don't know what I'm talking about:

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2004-02-15-1.html

http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html