Monthly Archives: September 2012

Like millions of other Americans watching Monday Night Football this week, I was in disbelief. It didn’t matter what team you were routing for, if you had even one good eye to see with, you knew that the losing team got robbed by an obviously wrong ruling on the field. The call was so obviously incorrect that every commentator, especially former players and retired referees, were dumbfounded and nearly speechless.

Most people who follow sports know that the referees’ association in the National Football League went on strike weeks ago and refuse to work until they get a better contract. The NFL, for its part, has failed to successfully negotiate new contracts. In the place of seasoned referees, the NFL hired high school and community college referees to work its professional games. Folks, that’s like asking a kid with a new chemistry set to judge Nobel Prizes in science – it’s not that the kid isn’t interested in the subject, it’s that he’s not capable of judging anything at that level of skill and talent. read more

Two newspaper commentaries recently caught my eye – one from the Deseret News and the other from The Salt Lake Tribune – both written by self-proclaimed LDS Democrats and both arguing a deeply spiritual connection between their Mormon faith and the Democratic Party.

In the Tribune, former state legislator Scott Daniels tries to make the case that the Book of Mormon, held sacred by Latter-day Saints, is a blueprint for liberal fiscal and social policies. Daniels writes, “I don’t see how it is possible to read the Book of Mormon, believe it is the word of God and support the Romney-Ryan tax and budget plan.” He goes on to describe sections of the Book of Mormon that chastise people for materialism and implies that supporting Mitt Romney for president is a vote for materialism. Likewise, I suppose, the author is defending the idea that a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for God’s team. read more