The Gaming Den

I'm an atheist, but most of my family is Mormon at least two generations deep. There's been an argument between a couple people in my family over Utah's recent push against internet pornography; one side claims it's because of influence by the Church of LDS, while the other is incredibly offended at the accusation and demands physical proof.

It got me thinking, is there any physical evidence of the Church interfering in politics; at least in this century. The practice in their early years is kind of self-evident and part of general history.

I don't know much about Mormon history or their influence on politics.

Regarding the conversation with your family, I'd ask what problems they think pornography causes. Can they point to actual non-religious issues?

RobbyPants wrote:Regarding the conversation with your family, I'd ask what problems they think pornography causes. Can they point to actual non-religious issues?

Neither is all that fond of the push, but the one demanding proof is of the opinion it's due to general Republican/conservative behavior and that bringing up the Church is agenda-driven bashing of their faith.

virgil wrote:

RobbyPants wrote:Regarding the conversation with your family, I'd ask what problems they think pornography causes. Can they point to actual non-religious issues?

Neither is all that fond of the push, but the one demanding proof is of the opinion it's due to general Republican/conservative behavior and that bringing up the Church is agenda-driven bashing of their faith.

Yes, because I'm sure that the people with an agenda to bash the Mormon faith are that way because Satan influences them, and not because the Mormon Church regularly and constantly interferes in politics... What is Prop 8 anyways?

But as for evidence, Utah is the only state to do this. The sponsor of the bill is Mormon, most of the Co-Sponsors are Mormon. Alabama isn't worried about the Public Health Crisis of Porn. So isn't it strange that Mormon Politicians who receive support and funding from Mormons are pushing in the Legislature a specifically Mormon Agenda, meanwhile, Conservative Republicans elsewhere aren't? Almost like being Mormon and getting your votes and campaign donations from Mormons is relevant.

When the Sponsor of the Bill was asked why Porn is bad, he said he wasn't a scientist, and people should get their science from an organization "Fight the New Drug" which is totally not affiliated with the Mormon Church at all, and it is totally just a coincidence that all the founders are Mormon, and it bases it's "science" on the claims of a Mormon author who wrote a book called "He Restoreth My Soul: Understanding and Breaking the Chemical and Spiritual Chains of Pornography through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." But yeah, I'm sure the Mormon Church has nothing to do with this at all.

Isn't Utah the state with the incredibly restrictive alcohol laws because of the Mormons?

I think your family is "straining at a gnat", as the saying goes. The Mormons are well-known for having unusual standards and working hard to get them implemented locally / regionally - as democracy is supposed to work, actually.

Utah and Idaho have relatively restrictive liquor laws, yes. I'll leave whether or not they are a result of high Mormon populations and Mormon representation in local government up to you.

I actually didn't realize before now that Utah restricts individuals from carrying alcohol into the state. I definitely have never done that myself. Definitely.

In the Utah senate, the whole "pornography is a public health hazard" thing was put forward by Todd Weiler, a mormon. As justification, he cites the "research" of Fight the New Drug, a faith-based anti-pornography organization founded by mormons. This is the guy Kaelik is talking about. The governor who signed it, Gary Herbert, is also mormon. There is a fuckton of Mormon up in this bitch, and there are states which are both more conservative and less Mormon that aren't doing this shit. Obviously we are talking about pretty small sample sizes, but when the conclusion is corroborated by Mormon fingerprints all over the god damn thing I'm inclined to blame it on the oppressive nature of the Mormon faith.

ckafrica wrote:Utah is the largest consumers of porn in the US (at least as of 2009)

When I heard about Utah trying to fix their "porn epidemic", the first thing I thought about was them having the highest rate of paid porn subscriptions. I wonder how much this is them being mad of being mocked.

I can't speak about Utah as a whole, but I'm told that Salt Lake City's everyday life is incredibly influenced by Mormons.

The idea of asking for proof that the fucking Mormons are responsible for cucky political activism is hilarious. The Proposition 8 shitshow is what put them on the map for thousands and thousands of people; it's, like, the thing they're known for, now. Buncha Mitt Romney motherfuckers who didn't have the stones to keep up the backwater rabble-rousing when it made them internationally notorious stock villains, but who got some better results out of their dorky bizarro-apparatchik contingent and decided to found the next hundred and fifty years of their subcultural development on lame sex and short-sleeved buttondowns.