I am invariably amused when I am asked, either with horror or with confusion, "how can you be a Mormon Democrat?" My answer is, "how could I not be"? 

There are so many reasons Donald Trump should not be president. In fact, this list outlines in brutally efficient fashion a few of the ways Mr. Trump is entirely unfit to be President of the United States. Polls show that Utah voters are warming up to Trump (he'd beat Hillary Clinton if the race were today), which means that at least some Mormons are actually contemplating the act of casting their ballot for a man who boasted about his genitalia on national TV. With these poll numbers in mind, I'll look at two questions about Donald Trump from a Mormon perspective.

Pioneer Day is a great opportunity for us to stop looking backward and start looking forward. 

While some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are trying to decide whether to vote for Donald Trump or Gary Johnson, we'll be putting forth the case that our Mormon sisters and brothers should consider a third, too-often-overlooked option: Hillary Clinton.

It was the picture that shattered all of our records.

Too many conservatives today practice cafeteria morality. They boldly stand in defense of moral issues when they feel like it, and send "thoughts and prayers" when they don't.

As a newly registered candidate for the Utah House of Representatives I sat down to write up my platform.  I began talking about my young family and how important it is to me that they received a high quality education. I deleted the line and started over.  My reason for running for state office was not about my family.  They will be fine.  My reason for running was to make sure all Utah residents had an opportunity for self reliance.

It being summertime, schools are getting out; people are graduating high school and college, soon will be July and Independence Day.  We are also, thankfully, deep into the U.S. Presidential election at this time.

There have been various incidents in the news lately about Patriotism, and our Constitutional rights, and how they are to be upheld, and who has the right to what.  There are those in the State of Utah, some who possess high and or important positions, like Sheriffs, State Legislative members, members of Congress, who feel that it is not the Federal Government’s role or position to be able to tell them how to do things, or how they can control Federal lands.  This is in direct contradiction of the Lord’s words to us in these days.

Love your neighbor as yourself

--Jesus

The Savior's teachings were clear, but their applications are not always so clear. One thing I do know, however, is that the first step in loving someone is to understand where they are coming from. This post will be organized around five key questions about my brothers and sisters who are transgendered:

1) Is Gender Dysphoria treated as a mental illness?
2) What are the dangers of letting people use the restroom of the gender with which they identify?
3) What are the dangers of requiring people to use the restroom of the gender with which we think they should identify?
4) What about children? Should we be encouraging them to accept this life?
5) So, now what?

I was raised listening to Rush Limbaugh on talk radio.  I graduated from BYU.  I voted straight Republican - telling myself I was voting for the best, without actually doing any research.