Years ago I used to be very interested in Mormonism, though that was when I was an evangelical Christian and my main interest was in converting them. But I learned quite a lot about them and even attended a Mormon church for a while (incognito, as it were).
One thing I learned was that, according to Mormon theology, every human soul born on earth was originally procreated in heaven by God the Father having sex with one of His many wives, who then gave birth to a “spirit child,” which in turn had to be born into a physical body in order to progress into eventual godhood. Considering that the current birth rate is something like 200,000 per day, that’s a whole heaping helping of heavenly humping!
Strangely, though, while Mormonism gives each of us a Heavenly Mother along with a Heavenly Father, and while each of these Heavenly Mothers is also a god in her own right, none of them seem to have any names or identities of their own, or at least any deemed worthy enough to be revealed to us kids down here on earth. All the worship goes to the male. All the prayers go to the male. All the revelations and commandments come from the male. The females, apparently, are just there to crank out kids for the divine Patriarch.
A while ago, I posted that we shouldn’t vote based exclusively on religious affiliation, and I still believe that’s true. The religious convictions of a particular candidate, however, should be open for inspection, and we ought to consider the degree to which these beliefs influence the behavior of the candidate, so that we can make our decision on how we expect him or her to behave in office. The religious right thinks that government should impose family values on society, and that family values come from faith. It’s entirely appropriate to look at a candidate’s faith and think for a moment about exactly what kind of values those really are.
When we look at the Republican party, we can see a systematic progress towards producing a Mormon-style patriarchal heaven on earth, where men are the people who do things and run the show, and women are just anonymized baby farms. Is that really the kind of society we want to see America reduced to in this day and age?
“When we look at the Republican party, we can see a systematic progress towards producing a Mormon-style patriarchal heaven on earth, where men are the people who do things and run the show, and women are just anonymized baby farms.”
I don’t buy the connection to Mitt’s mormonism, given that it’s the evangelicals in his party who are pushing hardest for those patriarchal policies.
It’s not so much that his religion were the cause of such policies, but between Romney and Obama which would you expect to fight hardest to resist them?
Women hold a slight majority in this country. They should be able to change things but instead like most workers, they continue to vote against their self interest. None of us can have freedom if we insist on voting against it.
Yes, that’s it, blame the victims of oppression for the actions of their oppressors.
It’s like telling a victim of domestic violence “just leave”.
Do you really think it’s that simple for women to just rise up?
“Rise up”?
What a nice way to trivialise the circumstances of domestic violence victims by comparing them to the non-existent difficulty of marking one box or the other on your ballot (which you happen to do in secret).
davidct is quite right that most people are easily influenced and misled into voting against their own best interest, and women are no exception to this.
If the “victims” of oppression do nothing to change the situation – yes, they are blameworthy.
This constant harping on being victimized seems a nice way to say I feel oppressed but damned if I will do anything about it.
It is the lazy way to complain and sit tight.
With this fucked up attitude none of the industrial workers or farm workers rights would have ever been passed or child labour or slavery would have been abolished.
If you feel oppressed – fucking stand up and be counted.
Yes, it’s always the oppressed that have to fight to change the system in which they are disenfranchised, just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and fix everything. That’s why there’s no equality, because the victims just don’t fight hard enough.
That is really hilarious, who the else do you think does the fighting for you? Are you serious?
I had been a Union member, and was on the the streets in the sixties fighting “home land security” type laws then in Germany.
Who but the oppressed themselves have an interest in eliminating those conditions? Do you wait for the intervention of a god or government?
“If you feel oppressed…” is the key phrase. Republican women are taught their proper place, and the vocal ones frequently support a patriarchal structure of society. How many prominent Republican women have spoken out against the Republican misogyny that’s been so popular among them of late?
A core part of an oppressive regime’s grasp on power is to isolate the people it oppresses. Women can’t speak out, stand up, and so forth, without fear of retribution. And for some reason they seem to do a remarkable impression of people brainwashed into voting certain ways.
The context of this comment, apparently missed by some, is that women can VOTE – a right that they had to fight for – and create change. It reminds me very much of the Thomas Frank book “What’s the Matter With Kansas”. Voting against self interest has become a hallmark of the modern conservative movement.
That remind me of the procreation of bees and ant…queens that are just there to produce offspring.
Heavenly Queen bees..high hilarity ensues.
I do not think they need constant fertilization – one load by god is good for a million or so offsprings, which reduces the humping frequency tremendously.
I used to be a Mormon. During the process of my deconversion, I once asked my bishop why, when the LDS church claims to be such a defender of “family values,” they insist on worshiping the deity as a single parent.
I actually came to ask this question often before I fully left the church, and the only answers I ever received had to do with “respect.” They claim that people all over the world curse and disrespect their god. Therefore, they say, keeping all heavenly mothers out of prayer, discussion, etc., is a way to “protect” them … as, they said, they would protect their own wives.
My point was always that any goddess should be able to hold her own against her own “children.” The reason that most Mormons don’t agree is because they place women on the same level as children — there to “nurture,” but never to hold authority. That, they believe, is the man’s job.
Having spent many years amongst this particular group, I have no doubt in my mind that Romney would use his faith while deciding public policy. The thing about Mormons (as with most Christians) is that they tend to believe their worldview is superior to everyone else’s, and thus they don’t blink an eye while insisting that their own “morals” are the key answer to all of America’s problems.