Revelation and Politics
Today a student compared Obama to Hitler in an editorial to the BYU newspaper The Daily Universe.
He said that his Great Uncle received a revelation that Obama is just like Hitler, and that we should all follow that revelation.
Here's the whole editorial, so you don't think I'm making this up:
He said that his Great Uncle received a revelation that Obama is just like Hitler, and that we should all follow that revelation.
Here's the whole editorial, so you don't think I'm making this up:Hitler and Obama
My wife and I took a trip down to St. George this weekend and we had an opportunity to talk with a great uncle who lived in Austria during World War II. He remembered he was six years old when he heard Hitler speak for the first time. He told us he had a very distinct feeling of how evil Hitler was. the conversation switched to politics later on and he told us that he had the exact same feeling when he heard Obama speak for the first time. There's the common saying that those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it. I'm not a hard-core Republican or anything like that, but since he received the same revelation for these two people, shouldn't we be doing something?
My wife and I took a trip down to St. George this weekend and we had an opportunity to talk with a great uncle who lived in Austria during World War II. He remembered he was six years old when he heard Hitler speak for the first time. He told us he had a very distinct feeling of how evil Hitler was. the conversation switched to politics later on and he told us that he had the exact same feeling when he heard Obama speak for the first time. There's the common saying that those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it. I'm not a hard-core Republican or anything like that, but since he received the same revelation for these two people, shouldn't we be doing something?
CHRISTIAN ANDERSON
St. George
Two things wrong with this:
1. If Obama was the next Hitler, the revelation would come through the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, not Old Man Crazy in St. George.
2. Personal revelation never applies to the entire church, unless you're the prophet.
Revelation is useful in politics. For example, the church is pushing heavily for its members to vote yes to Proposition 8 in California.
But individual members do not have the right to use personal revelation to fear-monger and slander political candidates. The reason Grampa Anderson is afraid of Obama is probably because Obama is black, and Grampa hasn't seen a black person since he was in Europe in the 1930's.
Utah: Where politics are black and white. Minus the black.
Use sound judgment this election, not the spirit of fear.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
St. George
Two things wrong with this:
1. If Obama was the next Hitler, the revelation would come through the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, not Old Man Crazy in St. George.
2. Personal revelation never applies to the entire church, unless you're the prophet.
Revelation is useful in politics. For example, the church is pushing heavily for its members to vote yes to Proposition 8 in California.
But individual members do not have the right to use personal revelation to fear-monger and slander political candidates. The reason Grampa Anderson is afraid of Obama is probably because Obama is black, and Grampa hasn't seen a black person since he was in Europe in the 1930's.
Utah: Where politics are black and white. Minus the black.
Use sound judgment this election, not the spirit of fear.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I came to work tonight for the closing shift, and I picked up the Daily Universe. I read the Reader's Forum, and immediately I thought, "I wonder how Christopher West handled this... hmmm." I'm so glad to have my answer. I just wish that all people could develop a little maturity and sense before they write something like this publicly. Years down the road, if they remember this statement, they'll smack themselves in the forehead and realize how stupid their logic is. Or maybe like Grandpa, they won't.
ReplyDeleteI shake my head at the poor Mormons who will vote without thinking first.