Turn off the lights, the party's over.

It’s been a while.

I actually wrote a really long entry just a couple of weeks after my last post. It was brilliant (naturally). But it was also all about five little kids that I had represented in the state’s case against their parents to terminate parental rights. So I can’t publish it. You know, confidentiality. But trust me, you would have loved it. Since that time, I’ve kind of been in a writing funk.

But not tonight.

Tonight I want to write about politics, mingled with scripture.

After all, what two things aren’t you ever supposed to discuss? That’s right—religion and politics. I’ve done religion, so now I’ll try politics. And maybe I’ll mix a little religion in there.

I’ve been old enough to vote for 26 years. And with the exception of the year I was on my mission, I’ve voted in every election I’ve been eligible to vote in. I consider myself to be a moderate republican (small “r”), and I’m registered with the Republican party. I was raised on the gospel of Ronald Reagan. We were a Republican household. My grandparents were Republicans, my parents were Republicans, and so I was a Republican. That’s just how we roll in the Fontano household.

Nonetheless, I’ve never been a strict party-line Republican. I’m more of a right-leaning centrist. I didn’t vote for George W. Bush in 2000. Of course, I was living in Utah then, so my vote didn’t matter one way or the other. I could have voted for any other person alive and it wouldn’t have mattered—George W. Bush was going to win Utah. I’m certain that CNN called Utah for Bush as soon as polls opened that day.

I voted for McCain in the 2000 primaries. 8 years later, I voted for him again, but he made the horrific decision to name Palin as his running mate, and then seemed in awe of the Obama campaign machine. That race was lost before it even began.

I was behind Mitt in 2012. Part of me is still behind Mitt. To say that I’ve been underwhelmed by the current crop of Republican nominees is an understatement. Rubio? Seems to be in over his head. Cruz? Inflexible and seems to have no self-awareness. Carson? Nice to a fault, and he didn’t exude leadership. Fiorina? I liked her, but she didn’t command attention and never gained any traction. Kasich? I actually like Kasich, but he lacks the flair needed to really put together a campaign.

And then there’s Trump.

Drumpf.

A self-aggrandizing, caustic blowhard who has duped seemingly hundreds of thousands of people into buying his hot air—including a number of people that I respect and consider friends. (Maybe some of you fit that category. Well, don’t take this entry personally. Or do. At this point I probably don’t care.)

If I am underwhelmed by the other candidates, I am downright dumbfounded by Trump.

Crude? Check.
Derogatory? Check.
Arrogant? Check.
Hollow? Check.
Cheater? Check.
Liar? Check.
Racist? Check.
Bully? Check.
Dangerous? Check, check, check.

People apparently like Trump because he “speaks his mind” and “isn’t subject to special interests.” Well, his mind is full of one thing and one thing only—how to further his own special interest: Donald J. Trump. Rest assured, that is the only interest he has. It’s the only interest he has ever had.

Last week Mitt Romney came out and spoke against Trump. He made some pretty damning points about Trump, and suddenly my Facebook feed was filled with Trump-supporting friends that were condemning Mitt. People who claimed to have been Mitt supporters were shocked (SHOCKED!) that Mitt would speak out against a man that had supported him just four years ago (“Well, I used to like Mitt, but I can’t believe he did THIS!”). As if receiving Trump’s endorsement constituted some sort of binding nuptial that obligated Mitt to return the favor. That because Trump had endorsed Mitt, Trump was somehow qualified to serve as commander in chief. (I guess Trump will be similarly obligated to support David Duke if he runs for president.) Several echoed their supreme commander and called Mitt a loser, you know, because he’d lost the election, and made crude comments about getting on his knees to beg. (Of course, they fail to note the irony in that their supreme commander had endorsed the loser.)

But my favorite was some guy on NPR. He wasn’t Mormon, but he was offended by Mitt’s comments because “Mitt was violating tenets of his Mormon faith”, apparently because he hadn’t returned Trump’s endorsement, and, more telling, had said something mean about Trump. In the three minutes he was on the radio he must have dropped that phrase four times.

Did Mitt violate the tenets of his faith by opposing Trump? No. His assessment and predictions about Trump were consistent with Mitt’s faith. He sees a dangerous swell in this country to support a man whose words and acts are tangible examples of behavior contrary to the tenets of Mormonism. I’ve been attending the Mormon church faithfully for 44 years. I am very familiar with the doctrines and tenets of the faith, but I am completely unaware of any tenet of the church that would preclude someone from being involved in a political discussion and sharing his position. In fact, members of the church are encouraged to be vocal, active participants in politics. Was Mitt violating tenets of his Mormon faith when he spoke out against Obama four years ago? No, no he wasn’t, and he wasn’t here either.

You want to know what does violate the tenets of Mormonism? Racism. Bullying. Arrogance. Lying. Cheating. Even when you do those things to “make America great again.” In the Book of Mormon, a prophet-king warned about this situation. Nearing the end of his life, and his sons having declined to assume leadership of the kingdom, Mosiah recommended that the people govern themselves through elected judges. He said,

Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. 

And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.

Mosiah 29:26-27. Reasonable minds can disagree on things like the size and scope of government, financial and social policies, and legalization of marijuana. I have yet to see a candidate or elected official in ANY office that perfectly reflected my positions, nor have I seen one that perfectly opposed all of my positions. There have been presidents that I’ve disagreed with fundamentally on issues, but I’ve never felt that
any had the capacity to lead the people to iniquity and destruction. Not until now.

You may not be a believer. You may not think that God or anyone else for that matter can render judgments on the people. That’s your choice and I respect your beliefs. Or non-beliefs as it were. But here’s what you should see. If we put a man in office whose tenets are arrogance, self-service, racism, fear-mongering, that will become what our nation embraces, and it will lead to our downfall.

Yep. If Trump represents the Republican party, then the party’s over—it’s time to go home.