Saturday, November 12, 2011

Native American Jews and Mitt Romney

I took a road trip up to Jamesport today. Didn't really plan to, just found myself headed that way.

On the way back I stopped off at one of the more interesting Mormon historical sites. A little place north of Gallatin called Adam-ondi-Ahman.



According to the official church web site,

10. The Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman
Here Adam and his righteous posterity met (see D&C 107:53–57). Adam, other prophets, and faithful Saints from all ages will meet the Savior here prior to His Second Coming.

Here is the citation from D&C 107:53–57:

53 Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.

54 And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.

55 And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.

56 And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation.

57 These things were all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time.

The Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, identified this site as being Adam-ondi-Ahman "because of an old Nephite altar" he discovered on Tower Hill.


"The Nephites were an ancient people who lived on the American continent. They are named after their prophet and leader Nephi, who traveled with his family from Jerusalem to the Americas in approximately 600 B.C. Nephi and his descendants were commanded by God to keep a record of their people, an abridged version of which is now found in the Book of Mormon, which is considered scripture by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).

When Nephi’s family arrived in the Americas, the group split into two rival groups—the Nephites who followed Nephi and for the most part were righteous followers of God, and the Lamanites who followed Nephi’s older brothers Laman and Lemuel and who opposed the Nephites throughout most of their history."

So the Nephites and Lamanites were Jews who somehow made it to America 600 years before Christ. Yet there is ZERO evidence of any Jewish DNA in Native American peoples, nor is there a shred of archaeological evidence linking Native Americans to Jewish culture.

According to the commemorative plaque on the site, "The exact location of the structure is not known today and there is no visual evidence remaining."

How convenient.

So. Just to recap. We have 2 Republican Presidential candidates, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, who believe that Adam, the very first human being created by God out of mud, met with all of his descendants AND Jesus Christ and spent some chill time hanging out just north of Gallatin, MO around some sort of altar that no longer exists.

I ask you...if these Republican Presidential candidates are capable of believing such blatant nonsense, what else are they able to allow themselves to believe?

Do you really want either one of these gullible fucks to have their fingers hovering over a button that could launch nuclear weapons?

If your answer is anything other than "Oh fuck no!", then please stay the hell away from the voting booth in November, 2012. You aren't well informed enough to cast a vote.

25 comments:

Marti said...

It certainly worries me! I am concerned over all of the "anti-intellectual" vibes from the Republican party. They act like being well-educated is a BAD thing. I honestly think they want to deliberately dumb down the population so people are too stupid to understand what the politicians are doing. Turn everyone into sheeple who will go along with whatever agenda is proposed, as long as it is wrapped in God and the flag.

Xavier Onassis said...

Marti - As far as I'm concerned, non-Mormon, "mainstream" Christians like Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum are just as problematic.

Virgin birth, ressurected dead are bad enough.

But their ideas that America is somehow "exceptional" and ordained by God to rule the world are EXTREMELY dangerous.

Rule oy the religious fanatics and you are left with the sexual harassing Herman Cain and the batshit crazy Ron Paul.

The Republicans have NOTHING!

4 more years for Obama!

sue hanes said...

XO - I'm sure I don't.


But then I don't want any of the
Republican candidates to be President.
~~~

And I'm prety sure that I will not have to get a new Presidential
Poster next year.

:) seg

I Travel for JOOLS said...

I really don't care what Mitt Romney's religion is nor do I care what Obama's religion is. What I really care about is who is going to get us out of this financial mess we are in and Obama's track record is disastrous.

XO - Please show me one quote where any of the Republican candidates said that America is ordained by God to rule the world.

And, I'm trying to decide if it takes more education to be a sheeple or a lemming. Hmmm...

Anonymous said...

No what is scary is there isn't a good canidate seeking the office of the president.

And as always the american people run out and vote a loser into office.

Most voters seek out who the majority of the voters they know or are their friends are going to vote for and they follow suit.

Its all a sham and sad to say the majority of the people again and again support it. Then we the people have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Old Fart said...

XO, Obama believes in the same make believe shit you are mocking the repubs for.

Oh wait, I'm sorry... O plays for your team so you excuse his stupidity while inferring he has some moral superiority that will make his finger on the trigger a better option.

Anyone who believes in fairy tales should be banned from politics.

Brett Cottrell said...

Mitt Romney's religion will help him win the Casserole Belt. Plus, any stray Nephites hanging around might vote for him.
http://brettcottrell.blogspot.com/2011/11/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-mitt.html

Xavier Onassis said...

Jools - Oh I can't supply a quote. You know that.

CAVEAT: This response took on a life of it's own and went WAY BEYOND what you said and is no longer directly related to your comment. You know I love you!

That being said...

The Republican goal of a world ruled by American Christians is implicit in the conservative embrace of the ideas of American Exceptionalism [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/americanexceptionalism.htm] and Christion Dominionism [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/14/dominionism-michele-bachmann-and-rick-perry-s-dangerous-religious-bond.html].

The Republican view is that America is Exceptional. Meaning that it is special and not subject to the rules of law and history that have held sway over every other Great Power in history.

Not only is it OK for us to stomp all over the globe attempting to impose our vision of the world on other countries, but our Exceptionalism demands that we do so! We owe it to the rest of the world to make them just like us!

Not surprisingly, the rest of the world doesn't view us as being all that "exceptional".

They view us as being "exceptional" in the same way that the Egyptian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Alexandrian Greek Empire, the Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate Empire, the Mayan Empire, the Aztec Empire, the British Empire, the Napolionic Empire and the Third Reich's Empire were all "exceptional".

They all thought they were "exceptional" and would last forever.

None of them did. Neither will we.

The "Dominionism" embraced by Bachmann and Perry is particularly disturbing.

Dominionism flat out believes that Christians should rule the world and the way to kick that off is by dominating American politics and culture by saturating it with "Kingdom Minded" leaders who will impose Christian values on every citizen in every area of American life.

The current bunch of Christian Republicans would impose a Christian Theocrocy over this nation that would not be all that different than a Sharia Law based Islamic Caliphate.

I don't want my daughter's reproductive cycle controlled by the likes of Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann or any of the rest of those fucking idiots.

You wanna be religious? Fine. Just keep that shit to yourself and don't try to shove your dogma down my throat by passing laws based on your medieval, supersticious bullshit.

Go pray in the corner and wash your hands when you are done.

Xavier Onassis said...

Old Fart - I don't think Obama does believe any more than I do. I think his "Christian Faith" was a lie that he told to the American people just like damn near every other politician lied about it because they know that American voters won't vote for an Athiest.

Anyone who wants to be President has to at least pretend to believe in God to get elected.

Because Americans are stupid and supersticious.

I Travel for JOOLS said...

I love you too...dammit...why, I don't know...lol

Anyhow, you're right in that all empires fail, and so will we...

We're not there yet, but, I guess what really worries me so much is wondering what in the hell will my grandchldren have to live through. And, I guess that's how we all feel.

To bad that there are those among us who don't know how to kiss and make up any more.

Xavier Onassis said...

Jools - Aww! You have been commenting on my blog longer than anyone but that total jackass emawkac. With whom I have enjoyed many beers and burgers.

We need to bring balance to that disparity. I'll come to your white chile if you will come to my beef stew. Deal?

I wish members of our Congress could enjoy the level of civil debate that we have enjoyed for so long.

I would love for our grandchildren to have a smooth road.

But the world that you and I inherited was a direct result of our grandparents NOT having a smooth road.

Progress is made through trial and tribulation. Social justice is achieved by fighting and over throwing injustice.

I have equipped my daughter with the intellectual tools to know when to say "FUCK THAT, and FUCK YOU".

My daughter will face an uphill battle. No doubt.

But she will grow stronger and build a better society around her.

She knows that trusting corporations and rich people to devise ways to make themselves richer probably won't trickle down to her.

Xavier Onassis said...

Jools - No matter how much we may disagree about our fundamental values,I have no doubt that if we were tasked to solve a problem together, we could solve the problem!

I have ZERO confidence that our elected officials can do the same.

Old Fart said...

Interesting. You don't like politicians who believe and tell you that... and you do like politicians who you think actually lie to you about belief in superstitious bullshit just to get elected.

If they can lie about that, what else are they willing to lie about to the people whose money supports their chosen "profession"?

Mark Smith said...

I like Romney, could give a fuck what his religious beliefs are. Im guessing all those years as gubner Romney never peered inside his hat for revelations or passed a mandate requiring everyone in his state to sport sacred underoos. As for bama faking it to make it. Didnt he attend the same church for like 15 or 20 year? That was rev wrights church. If we fear that a presidents religious beliefs might influence his decisions, I guess that explains those Goddamn America tirades of Wright, and the way our current potus has taken that message to heart. On the bright side, Obama speaks well, no dreaded southern anti intellectual accent, and he keeps a good crease in his slacks.

Xavier Onassis said...

Old Fart & MM - What a person believes to be true is a direct reflection of their level of intelligence.

I think that the President of the United States and the "Leader of the Free World" should be intelligent. The more intelligent the better.

So when a Presidential candidate tells me that they believe a virgin can give birth (impossible), or that a man can walk on water (impossible), or that a dead person can come back to life (impossible), I view that person as being very suspect.

How can they believe in shit that is demonstratably impossible?

Carl Sagan said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

So if Midtown Miscreant claims he spent time in the joint and his stories sound credible, I'm inclined to believe him. I don't require much proof because I know I can verify his story via public records if I need to.

But if MM claims to be Elizabeth II, the Queen of England, I'm probably going to call bullshit because there is absolutely no evidence to support his claim and there is a HUGE body of evidence to refute it.

So if a Presidential candidate says "I believe that Midtown Miscreant is the Queen of England". I have to question that person's sanity.

Back to the real world: When we have not just 1, but 2 Presidential candidates who believe that Native Americans are Jews, an Angel presented a convicted con-man with a set of gold tablets less than 150 years ago which somehow got "lost", I have to question their sanity.

How the fuck do you 'lose' stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God with the basic laws of all mankind (that would be Moses) or a set of gold tablets handed to you by a fucking angel (that would be Joseph Smith)?

If I "lose" my care keys I tear shit up until I find them.

How the fuck do you "lose" the handwritten word of God hand delivered to you by a fucking angel?

"Yeah, I don't know. I had them around here somewhere. Check the couch cushions."

So my question is, what is the threshold?

Where do we draw the line on delusional mindsets?

Judeo Christians seem to be grandfathered in.

JFK got the Catholics in.

Now Romney and Huntsman want to expand the envelope to include Mormons.

What's next?

Scientologists? Westboro Baptists? Klingons?

Where do you draw the line and say "You are too stupid to be President. Or Senator. Or Representative. Or Mayor."

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that:

"No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States."

I would add a clause that says "neither shall any person be eligible to that office who believes in a bunch of supernatural bullshit".

Just give me a rational, intelligent human being to vote for.

I Travel for JOOLS said...

XO - Have you ever wondered if your beliefs are irrational?

To be discussed over white chili and the Russian doesn't live too far away either. I'd love it if MM would come too. Actually, chili goes a long way. Bring friends.

Date: Sometime soon

Morrison said...

So what Xavier is really saying is that religious believer should not be able to hold political office.

Despite the fact that the Constitution clearly says there shall be NO religious test for public office.

Xavier is letting us know, perhaps unintentionally, what atheists like himself would do to believers if they have the power...as in fact they have done in Officially Atheistic Countries where they have had and still do have the power.

An atheist, who believes that all existence, life, mind, and reason itself are the products of mindless forces, and who is a Moral Relativist, can be quite dangerous.

Their beliefs, and thats what they are, are indemonstrable and self refuting.

But don't worry. A guy like Xavier is never going to have a poltical office of any kind.

I do appreciate his admissions, however. It is ironice that his hero Obama continues to wars and intrusions that he finds so offensive.

And has sold out to the corporations and international bankers.

I wonder if Xavier is really this stupid, or just trying to pull one?

Xavier Onassis said...

Morrison,

Oh wait...I need another cup of coffee. Hold on...

OK, I'm back.

You said "...the Constitution clearly says there shall be NO religious test for public office."

What Article VI, paragraph 3 actually says is:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

The proper and historical interpretation of this clause is that a person cannot be required to have a religious affiliation in order to be qualified for public office.

If anything, this clause backs up my premise that religion has no place in public service. This clause actually encourages atheists to serve in government.

You also said "An atheist, who believes that all existence, life, mind, and reason itself are the products of mindless forces, and who is a Moral Relativist, can be quite dangerous."

Perhaps you can explain how that is "quite dangerous"?

I love the "Moral Relativism" trope. The idea being that unless there is some supernatural being dictating laws and backing it up with a reward of eternal life or a punishment of eternal torment that it is impossible for mere humans to have a moral code and "anything goes".

Let me give you an example of why that's complete bullshit.

Let's say you have a tribe of our lovable Homo Erectus ancestors a couple of million years ago. The Homo Erectus were primarily hunter gatherers with very limited verbal commuication. Better than chimps, but certainly not what we would recognize as language.

Now, suppose one of these tribe members decides he doesn't really want to do all that hunting and gathering. He'd rather just wait unti the hunter and gatherers came back and take what the fruits of their labor.

What would happen is, all of the other hunter gatherers would beat this lazy fuck to a pulp and leave him for dead. The other tribe members get the message. "Thou shalt not steal".

No supernatural beings, no stone tablets, no afterlife, no written or spoken language. And yet, a very clear delineation between right and wrong. Crime and punishment. A Moral Code.

However, you are correct about me never holding political office. You don't have to go rooting around in my closet for skeletons. They are all right there on my front porch for all to see, many of them posed in comical or sexually compromising positions.

I also have a theory that anyone who wants to be President bad enough to do what it takes to achieve that office should probably be excluded on the grounds of extreme ego, dangerous ambition and delusions of grandeur.

I'm tired of typing now.

Donna. W said...

Religion needs to be kept out of politics. I'm a believer, but this mess of preachers in politics just doesn't work. I'm for batshit crazy Ron Paul. By the way, he isn't a Republican. Obama will win the next election and nothing will change. As long as I can keep the trespassers out of my morels next spring, I guess none of it matters. We're going to hell in a handbasket, but I won't live to see the worst of it.

Kristine said...

But where are the pictures of Jamesport!

Xavier Onassis said...

Donna - All politics and religion aside, I'm just going to go ahead and claim dibs on a bag of your shrooms right now! LOL! Put me on the list!

Xavier Onassis said...

Kristine - I got to Jamesport late in the day and didn't really have time. Did manage to pick up some cinnamon raison bread and a small loaf of apple nut bread though. The cinnamon raison bread makes EXCELLENT french toast, BTW.

My favorite Jamesport photo, and one of my favorite photos ever was taken several years ago. But you wouldn't know it was Jamesport. Check it out:
http://hipsubwg.blogspot.com/2006/02/door-handle.html

Donna. W said...

unXO, I don't think my thieving nephew will be living off his mom next door next year, at least I hope not. However, if you enjoy hunting mushrooms for yourself, I will welcome you at any time.

Lisa said...

I bet Obama is an atheist too because he is the one he wants people to worship.
You can tell by the way he turns his nose to the clouds after he says something awaiting applause.
You know like an imperialist does.

Xavier Onassis said...

Lisa - What the fuck are you even talking about?

"I bet Obama is an atheist too because he is the one he wants people to worship."

WHAT???

OK, nothing in that sentence makes any sense.

Atheists don't believe in God.

Even if Obama is an atheist, how the fuck does that somehow translate into him wanting people to worship him???

"You can tell by the way he turns his nose to the clouds after he says something awaiting applause.
You know like an imperialist does."

You seem to be comparing Obama to some supercilious "imperialist" that you have seen exhibiting such behaviour.

Perhaps you can share with us. To whom are you comparing him? Which "nose in the clouds" "imperialist" inspired such a comparison?