March 25, 2015

Support Israel’s Security, Not Its Conquests

Americans have a deep sympathy for Israel’s founding story, which is rooted in the Jewish people’s emergence from one of the greatest crimes of all time- the Holocaust. We recognize that since its founding, Israel has experienced continuous hostility from some of its neighbors - a hostility that continues today. Americans will always have Israel’s back in the face of violent extremism and aggression. Mormons are especially sympathetic with the plight of Israeli Jews as our faith was born amidst great suffering and oppression.Additionally, the Jewish people hold a special and revered place in our Christian doctrine. Nonetheless, it is crucial that Americans separate their abiding affection for the Jewish people from the State of Israel’s policies, which affect our security and our interests in the rest of the Middle East and beyond.

March 8, 2015

Voter Fraud vs. Voter Suppression- Which is the Real Problem?

After the November 2012 election, Republicans across the country were understandably frustrated. Conservative media outlets had been predicting an easy win for former Governor Mitt Romney. The right-wing media and blogosphere kept telling Republican voters that the polls were biased towards President Obama. Well-renowned conservative pundit George Will famously predicted that Romney would win the Electoral College in a 321-217 landslide. Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson told his followers that God had informed him that Mitt Romney would win and become a two-term president. Instead, Barack Obama was handily reelected and Democrats gained seats in both the Senate and the House. Demographers’ predictions of the expanding importance of minority voters, especially Latinos, in presidential elections were spot-on.