The American Spectator

You may be interested to know that Damon Linker was once a visiting professor at BYU. Yes, the same BYU that is Brigham Young University, the school owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I took a political philosophy class from him, and liked it so much that I also took his class on Nietzsche. It was in my Nietzsche class that he announced he had taken the job at First Things. I found him to be fair and understanding of the church, of which he is obviously not a member. I thoroughly enjoyed his classes. I find it hard to believe that he would write an article suggesting that Romney would be unduly influenced by the Prophet of the Church. I thought that teaching at BYU would have opened his eyes to the fact that Mormons are free-thinkers, not mindless robots controlled by the Prophet.

p>That is why I happen to think that Linker’s article was simply a push for higher readership. As an editor of a magazine, I’m sure you also understand why someone would write a controversial article just to get more sales, especially an article that sets forth an idea that they don’t necessarily believe in. That is what Linker has done here. br> — Sean Coletti /p>

I’m sure that Mr. Antle finds also finds this interesting. It appears not to be a problem at all that one of the candidates for president from the other side of the aisle once smoked pot and snorted coke. But we can’t abide a Republican candidate who happens to be a Mormon, now, can we?

Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem for Harry Reid, also a Mormon, because we know that a Democrat, when faced with following the teachings of his church or toeing the party line, will without hesitation do the latter every time. John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy, and of course Nancy Pelosi (even Say it Ain’t So Joe Lieberman) have proved that again and again.

p>Understand, I’m a Southern Baptist. I don’t see a lot of Mitt’s theology that I can agree with. But as Richard Land said, we’re electing a commander in chief here. Theology aside, Mitt and I see eye to eye on most social and budgetary issues, and I’ll vote for him in a heartbeat before I’d vote for Jimmy Carter or Al Gore, fellow Baptists both (or, BINOs, if I can invent a new acronym). br> — Tim Jones br> Cordova, Tennessee /p>

The irrational fear of Mitt Romney is interesting. Here’s my take on it: Liberals, leftists, secularists are afraid of anyone who says “I know” or “I saw and heard.” And so it is necessary to say that Joseph Smith was a con man, because to admit that he might have been telling the truth is to admit that God might actually be real. A real living God is not something the secular world is interested in. Or, if he is real, they prefer him to mind his own business and leave us alone. And anyone who really believes in a living God who calls living prophets is a dupe, a fool and an intellectual lightweight — and dangerous. And so, these people fear Mitt Romney because he believes in the reality of God and living prophets. By the way, dead prophets seem to be okay with most people, as long as they have been dead a very long time.

p>The late LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie once said in a church conference, “If you want to know what we believe, why don’t you ask us. We know.