Doug Wright and the Counter-culture of the 1960's

[jonholb55]

KSL Radio needs to revamp its programming! During one of his programs after Senator Harry Reid went to BYU to attack the LDS Church and its pro-constitutional stance, Doug Wright stated that both Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ were liberal. Brother Doug further stated that President Ezra Taft Benson errored when he stated that you could not be a good member of the LDS Church and a member of the Demoratic Party. Last Tuesday, Brother Doug advocated a more open policy to help drug addicts. He pointed to the clinics that are operating in Vancouvre, British Coumbia. All you have to do is to visit another city which has the same liberal policies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Both cities are so overrun with drug addicts that decent people have left and these cities are tettering on anarchy. Doug Wright also viewed favorably an article that said that the LDS Church and its members should be more accepting of homosexuals. Brother Doug went on to assure his radio audience that his view of homosexuality reflected the view of his church congregation. I didn't know that the Great Doug was now official spokesman for the LDS Church, did you? Doug Wright in the early 1970's worked as a disc-jockey at KRSP. It was a rock'n'roll station. If you saw a picture of him during that time, he had long hair and was a hippie in appearance and attitude. The era of drugs, sex, and rock'n'roll. I grew up in that same era. I didn't get involved in the counterculture. I became active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to the world's problems, not the liberalism or neo-conservatism of yesterday and today. If you talk to Doug Wright or contact him some other way, be a good brother or sister and correct his errors in a Christ-like fashion. Thank-You.

[lundbaek]

Thanks for this report. If I had heard Harry Reid publicly attack the Church's pro-constitutional stance I would have gotten with our branch president, who is one of the few I know who "get it", and asked his help in challenging Reid's worthiness of Church membership. I'm sorry I don't know what he said and when. Does anybody else have detail of Reid's statement, or link to an article about it? Seriously, if it is really critical of the Church's pro-constitutional stance, I'd like to get a copy of what he said and try to initiate action against Reid.

It's bad enough that congressmen like Cannon, Hatch, and Bennett ignore it in many of their actions in Congress, and action against Reid might help set them straight, as well as awaken LDSs to the seriousness of LDSs upholding the Constitution.

[SwissMrs&Pitchfire]

The details were posted at:

http://www.latterdayconservative.com/fo ... reid#14404

Mormon senator says Democrats' stance on social responsibility is a good fit with his faith
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/10/2007 09:56:27 AM MDT



"My faith and political beliefs are deeply intertwined. I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it," he told a gathering of more than 4,000 at the Marriott Center.
But Nevada's senior senator says he also hopes votes for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are "determined by his political stands, and not his religion."
Reid said people often question how he can be a Democrat and a Mormon, but called the social responsibility Democrats espouse a good fit with the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He questioned the guidance of some LDS Church leaders, though.
In remarks to the media following his address, Reid said that, "In the past years we've had some very prominent members of the church, like Ezra Taft Benson, who are really right-wing people.
"Members of the church are obedient and followers in the true sense of the word, but these people have taken members of the church down the path that is the wrong path," he said.
However, Reid says he doesn't have to answer to those who question his faith in the LDS Church.
"I have to go get my [temple] recommend, and they're not present," he quipped.

Reid didn't convert to the LDS Church until he became an adult, after he married his wife, Landra, both of whom were 19 at the time.
Before joining the church, he said the figure he came closest to worshipping was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A pillowcase with the quote "We can, we will, we must" stitched on it hung in his living room growing up in Searchlight, Nev., in a house with no indoor plumbing.
"He fought for the workers of America," Reid said. "President Roosevelt is the basis of my political direction."
Reid praised workers' unions, condemned the thought that free enterprise alone can solve global warming and spoke out strongly against the war in Iraq.
"I say the invasion of Iraq was the worst foreign policy blunder in our country's history," he said, to loud applause from many in attendance. "I say our diplomatic army should be larger than our military army."
Reid said afterward that the reaction did not surprise him because many Americans oppose the war, including BYU students.
Although Reid is a Democrat, he says he is adamantly anti-abortion, and instead of voting for abortion bills, he votes for family-planning measures such as federal health insurance programs covering contraceptives, he said.
Katherine Winters, a graduate student in civil engineering, said she was happy to get beyond the typical sound bites and begin to know Reid "as a person."
She said she originally registered as a Republican when she turned 18 because her parents were Republicans. But lately she's been rethinking her political stand.
"Recently there's so much that the Democratic Party has embraced; there is so much good that those social causes have done," she said. "I don't think you can call yourself a true Christian without caring for the poor."
[email protected]

[lundbaek]

Mormon senator says Democrats' stance on social responsibility is a good fit with his faith
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/10/2007 09:56:27 AM MDT


The following lines seem to be the closest Reid gets to publicly criticizing the Church.

"Reid said that, "In the past years we've had some very prominent members of the church, like Ezra Taft Benson, who are really right-wing people.
"Members of the church are obedient and followers in the true sense of the word, but these people have taken members of the church down the path that is the wrong path," he said."

I plan to run this by our branch president, who will at least listen attentively to me, but I welcome any thoughts to help me make a case for Reid criticizing the Church or its apostles and prophets.

I hope I'm not the only one who sees this as a teaching opportunity.

[John Adams]

This was after he had said during his talk that Social Security is one of the greatest programs ever and that FDR is his hero. I think I missed those Sunday School lessons.

Ugh!

[lundbaek]

Nevada Senator Reid has recently made a remark, quoted in the 10/10/07 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, that strongly implies that Ezra Taft Benson, an Apostle for many years before becoming President of the Church, was among "some very prominent members of the church" who "have taken members of the church down the path that is the wrong path." In fact, many of Ezra Taft Benson's talks on political issues were made during Church conferences, and many of his writings were included in Church publications. His statements on political issues were always based on Holy Scriptures. I know of only one verbal statement, which he made in the April 1972 Conference, that did not appear in the Conference Report. So I assume all of his other statements were acceptable to the Lord. Senator Reid's public criticism of Elder Benson's statements alone should, in my opinion, be brought to the attention of the First Presidency, so that they can take appropriate action to insure that the senator's remark is recognized as false, and that the sentator is properly corrected for publicly making such a critical and false statement. Such action might set a lot of Latter Day Saint voters on the right path with regards proper government.

I expect to meet with our branch president tomorrow and present him with a letter comprising the above paragraph and a copy of the SL Trib article containing Reid's remarks. I would encourage others to do likewise. I think a public rebuttal of Reid's statements would serve to set a lot of LDSs on the right path.

[lundbaek]

On another thread Mark posted: "Gee speaking of Pres. Benson look who's trashing hiim now. Where are all the protests? "

Mark was referring, I believe, to the recent statement by Senator Reed reported in the 10/10/07 Salt Lake Tribune that implied that Ezra Taft Benson and other “prominent members of the Church.....have taken members of the Church down the path that is the wrong path.” The Tribune article gives me the impression that Senator Reid believes that some of the teachings of Ezra Taft Benson and perhaps other Church General Authorities given in General Conference addresses or in Church publications on political subjects were wrong. It seems the senator fails to understand or accept that some of the teachings he is scornful of were given by the Lord’s anointed servants and acceptable to the Lord.

Senator Reid’s history in the US Senate reveals him to be at odds with certain constitutional principles to begin with, and scornful of Church leaders who espouse and promote them. I am concerned that the senator’s remarks may influence certain people into believing that teachings given in General Conference or in Church publications need not be taken seriously or considered correct.

For that reason I am trying to evoke a response from the Church leadership that will make clear the position of the Church and the Lord on these issues. Yesterday I gave a copy of the Trib article, together with a cover letter to our branch president asking that my concern be conveyed to attention of the First Presidency and that they take "appropriate action to insure that the senator's remark is recognized as false, and that the senator is properly corrected for ppublicly making such a critical and false statement." I also stated that "I should hat to think that anyone who listened to Senator Reid would be led to believe that the Lord's servants were in the wrong for teaching about God's plan of agency and against Satan's plan fo force."

I was advised last evening that the letter was given to the stake president. It will be interesting to see how far it gets. My thanks to jonholb and LDSConservative for bringing Reid's statement to our attention, to Mark for issuing a challenge to protest, and to a few friends who assisted me in composing my cover letter. I hope I'm not the only one taking action on this matter.

[lundbaek]

Well, that was fast. I did get an appreciative response. They know.