# The LDS Church's Statement on the US Elections **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226 "2012-11-07T15:34:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/201 "2012-11-12T02:26:10Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > So, the first point would be that someone who saw a seminar and documented this as diabolical. OK, that sounds like a reasonable definition. > > OK we could say paranoid, as you say, or Everything is Connected kook. > > How much money would like like to wager that this is the case for this video? I don’t know, because I’m not going to spend watching a twenty-minute video that you couldn’t be bothered to summarize. This is a _ **message** _ board, not a movie theater. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/202 "2012-11-12T03:02:32Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > I don’t know, because I’m not going to spend watching a twenty-minute video that you couldn’t be bothered to summarize. This is a _ **message** _ board, not a movie theater. Come on. You’ve got ESP as you can tell without, sight unseen, what a link is like and are able to tell what it’s all about. I wonder who needs the tin foil hat? ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/203 "2012-11-12T03:23:33Z")
Girl fight _gets popcorn_ ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/204 "2012-11-12T03:35:51Z")
They’re both guys. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/205 "2012-11-12T03:36:39Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Of course I believe that. About the garden of Eden, who knows. But that Jesus wouldn’t visit all of His creation is preposterous if you believe He visited some. And it’s not just the Native Americans, it’s all of God’s creation who are part of his Kingdom and we believe that it will be eventually revealed through additional scripture that he was able to visit all his children after his Resurrection. God doesn’t neglect any of His creation. > > Now if you don’t believe he visited anyone or that he was ever really resurrected and was just some dude running around the Middle East preaching, then it’s all a moot point anyway. I guess we dodged a bullet then. I can’t imagine someone with the nuclear launch codes who essentially rejects geology, geography, archaeology, genetics, history, and common sense. > [@](#): > > P.S. The concept of Lost Tribes is not a new one: Neither is the flat earth. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/206 "2012-11-12T04:34:46Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > They’re both guys. Oops. Haha. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/207 "2012-11-12T04:37:45Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > I guess we dodged a bullet then. I can’t imagine someone with the nuclear launch codes who essentially rejects geology, geography, archaeology, genetics, history, and common sense. > > Neither is the flat earth. Neither is having the sun as the center of our Solar system. What is your point? Just because a flat Earth has been proven to be untrue and a sun centered solar system had been proven to be true doesn’t inform us if Lost Tribes are true or not. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/208 "2012-11-12T04:42:54Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Neither is having the sun as the center of our Solar system. What is your point? Just because a flat Earth has been proven to be untrue and a sun centered solar system had been proven to be true doesn’t inform us if Lost Tribes are true or not. What about the genetic evidence? ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/209 "2012-11-12T04:47:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What about the genetic evidence? The genetic evidence of what? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/210 "2012-11-12T04:49:09Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > The genetic evidence of what? The complete lack of any genetic matchup between American Indians and Jews. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/211 "2012-11-12T05:00:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The complete lack of any genetic matchup between American Indians and Jews. There isn’t any reason to believe the Lost Tribes are necessarily genetically Hebrew. (Judaism is a religion not an ethnicity, FYI) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/212 "2012-11-12T05:03:29Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > (Judaism is a religion not an ethnicity, FYI) Judaism is [both a religion and a race](http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm), FYI. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/213 "2012-11-12T06:47:03Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Neither is having the sun as the center of our Solar system. What is your point? Just because a flat Earth has been proven to be untrue and a sun centered solar system had been proven to be true doesn’t inform us if Lost Tribes are true or not. So you are arguing against your own position that the Lost Tribes of Israel being an old idea makes it less absurd. I’m starting to feel like the first time I saw a dolphin in the wild. I knew they existed, but it was still surprising to see one in person. I knew that Mormons supposedly believed the American Indians were the Lost Tribes of Israel, but it’s still a shock to hear it from one. Having seen pictures of murals on the wall of LDS temples depicting a blond haired Jesus, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/214 "2012-11-12T11:54:40Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > There isn’t any reason to believe the Lost Tribes are necessarily genetically Hebrew. (\*\*Judaism is a religion not an ethnicity, FYI) \*\* Not true. It is both. There are certain genetic traits, for example, significantly more prevelent in Ashkenazic Jews (Tay-Sachs and BRAC1 come to mind). ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/215 "2012-11-12T13:15:10Z")
I was glad to see the statement. It was good to see some sanity amid the over-reactions from some Republicans. Whatever the church’s motivation, a public statement like that was a decent thing to do in the present political climate. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/216 "2012-11-12T13:37:35Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/217 "2012-11-12T14:32:24Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > I was glad to see the statement. It was good to see some sanity amid the over-reactions from some Republicans. Whatever the church’s motivation, a public statement like that was a decent thing to do in the present political climate. You can read [this](http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865566393/Religious-leaders-across-the-country-send-congratulations-on-Obamas-re-election.html) to see the same decent thing done also by the Roman Catholic Pope, the Dalai Lama, the Southern Baptist Convention President, the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the World Jewish Congress President. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/218 "2012-11-12T15:06:02Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > There isn’t any reason to believe the Lost Tribes are necessarily genetically Hebrew. (Judaism is a religion not an ethnicity, FYI) No, of course there isn’t. The Book of Mormon has much to say about Lehi’s genealogy, but may have accidentally forgotten to mention that Lehi was a cultural Jew with Siberian ancestry. That explains everything! Oh, and the horses that the Nephites and Lamanites rode into battle? FAIR LDS research indicates that the war horses were actually [tapirs](http://www.fairlds.org/authors/ash-michael/horses-in-the-book-of-mormon). ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/219 "2012-11-12T15:24:56Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > So you are arguing against your own position that the Lost Tribes of Israel being an old idea makes it less absurd. > > I’m starting to feel like the first time I saw a dolphin in the wild. I knew they existed, but it was still surprising to see one in person. I knew that Mormons supposedly believed the American Indians were the Lost Tribes of Israel, but it’s still a shock to hear it from one. > > Having seen pictures of murals on the wall of LDS temples depicting a blond haired Jesus, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The Jesus I have on my wall isn’t blonde. That is just a silly criticism. So you criticize black Churches when they have a black Jesus? > [@http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/losttribes2.html](#): > > Tribal Groups > Straddling the boundaries between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir lives the world’s largest tribal grouping—the Pathans. All of the 15 million Pathans, who comprise some 60 tribes, claim descent from Kish, an ancestor of the Biblical King Saul. Many of them also claim to be them children of the Lost Israelites. The Pathans perform circumcision of the eighth day, wear a fringed garment similar to the Jewish tzizit, light candles on Friday nights and observe food taboos similar to the laws of Kashrut. In South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, tens of thousands of blacks have, in recent years, declared themselves descendants of one of the Lost Tribes. The Lemba claim to have been cut off from mainstream Judaism hundreds of years ago. They are well-versed in the Old Testament and avoid marriage outside their community. From every imaginable corner of the world theories arise linking different peoples and tribes with the Ten Lost Tribes: the Crimea, the Caucasus, Kenya, Nigeria, Armenia, Persia, Central Asia, North Siberia, West Africa, Peru, South America, Australia, Ireland. While the evidence may at times seem flimsy, the Jewish elements in these tribal cultures continue to fascinate scholar and layman alike. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226/220 "2012-11-12T15:31:39Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > The Jesus I have on my wall isn’t blonde. That is just a silly criticism. So you criticize black Churches when they have a black Jesus? There is no consensus about Jesus’ ethnicity or appearance. But there is a lot more evidence to suggest that he might have been or appeared black than there is that he looked or appeared Aryan. You still haven’t answered whether you think Native Americans are actually Jews… What do you think of the [DNA evidence that refutes this claim](http://www.equip.org/articles/dna-science-challenges-lds-history/)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lds-churchs-statement-on-the-us-elections/640226.md?page=12)