Somewhere Only We Know

It’s stupid. I had a plan. We were gonna’ go somewhere together. We were in a car, driving really fast. Someone was chasing us, I don’t know who. It felt like an escape. I was just laughing and I had this huge smile on my face, it hurt that it was so big. We were just two people looking out for each other. It’s stupid.

Ann Curry’s advice for young journalists 

Ann Curry On Journalism, Her PBS Series And Working On The ‘Today’ Show

Photo: David Turnley/PBS

‘everyone speaks latin, right? so let’s put a silent b in debt. like debitum, which is latin for debt. problem solved.’

also the reason why there is a h in ghost is because when the printing press first came to england the only people trained to operate it were flemmish speaking, and they put a h after g because that’s what you do in flemmish. they put shit like ghirl and ghoose, but the only reason why ghost stuck is because people saw ‘the holy ghost’ in the bible and were like ‘well, that MUST be right’.

1. Mormon Doctrine supports liberal ideals

  This scripture here (verses 16-23) but to sum it up:  Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

This is literally almost word for word a republican argument, which a book of mormon prophet said believing in is a one way ticket to hell. King Benjamin is 100% for social programs and eliminating poverty sorry I didn’t make the rules

2. Historically, Mormons have been a systematically oppressed minority and therefore should understand the struggle.

It was legal to kill a mormon in the state of Missouri, and in the process of driving them out of the state Missouri mobs raped mormon women and children and shot and killed men, women and children alike. The law was only officially redacted in 1975

Mormons were considered non-white by most white Americans of the time-no I’m not kidding. It was said: “The yellow, sunken, cadaverous visage; the greenish-colored eyes; the thick, protuberant lips; the low forehead; the light, yellowish hair; and the lank, angular person, constitute an appearance so characteristic of the new race.” (none of this was true obv) They were grouped with other nonwhite groups in political cartoons in an attempt to dehumanize them to justify systematic discrimination. 

Mormons were banned from voting first in Missouri by the state government, then in Utah from the Federal Government. They were banned from public office.

So. Mormons as a whole should be fighting for the rights and safety of all minority groups instead of reveling in their current status as traditional white americans.

3. Up until recently the mormon church was extremely progressive and fairly antipatriotic

Joseph Smith believed the US was on a fast track to hell. The mormons moved west to Utah before the US purchased the western states specifically to leave the US. When Utah became a us state they were annoyed, actually. 

In the early days of the church black members were fully fledged members, with callings and authority and the lot. They refused to comply with Missouri laws regarding the return of escaped slaves, and this was a huge component of their expulsion from the state. 

Women held leadership positions and preached publically in the 1800′s. Utah was the 2nd state in the US to give women the right to vote. 

4. The Republican Party’s main campaign in the 1800′s was to dismantle the Mormon Church

There’s nothing more to say on this one.

But yes, I do wholeheartedly agree with all of the above. Especially when it comes to loving the poor and minorities, we should know better. I think there is a tendency (a very human tendency not exclusive to LDS people) to get out of abusive situations and have a hard time not becoming abusive ourselves. I think remnants of this are what we see among portions of church members today. When we had been abused in early church history, being exclusionary and weary of strangers was safe. That is no longer the case. Now the xenophobia is a false tradition of our fathers, which needs to be unlearned and replaced with the loving gospel of Jesus Christ. And even back in the day, despite the abuse in early history, it was never ok to mistreat strangers. Jesus taught to love even those who hate you.

The State of Missouri has a page on Executive Order 44 and its 1975 rescission.

This is a good article from BYU Studies on the 1838 Gallatin election day battle, which started when a Missouri mob tried to prevent Mormons from voting. Under the congressional Edmunds Act, polygamists were prevented from serving on juries, holding public office, and voting, with the clear purpose of suppressing the Mormon vote in Utah territory. 

Utah gave women the right to vote, after agitation by Mormon women, when it was still a territory in 1870…until Congress took that right away as part of the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887. 

Girls supporting Girls.