Event Review: An Honest Discussion About a Difficult Election

I watched this event live over the Internet. It was extremely interesting and as of this date, it is the most helpful resource I have seen so far in making my voting decisions. Last night I viewed it again. 

So the first time I saw it was before the news story of Donald Trump's lewd conversation broke on Friday afternoon (a favorite time for unpleasant news to be released). I wondered if the news story would impact my opinion of the event. I don't think it did. I was not surprised by the news story and am confident that the speakers in the forum were fully aware of Mr. Trump's character when they participated.

It was sponsored by My Faith Votes, The Florida Family Policy Council and LifeBridge Church of Windemere, Florida (where the event was held). It was held Tuesday October 4 right before the Vice Presidential Debate at 5:00 PM MDT.

There was a forum of four speakers and a moderator. There were also questions from the audience in attendance and from Facebook and folks who were watching via live streaming at the My Faith Votes website.

The moderator was John Stemberger (President and General Counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council. The speakers were 

1. Pastor Clayton Cloer of a large and diverse congregation in Orlando - First Baptist Church of Central Florida.

2. Bill Wichterman author and former White House Liaison to the Faith Community under President George W. Bush

3. Bob Vander Plaats President and CEO of Iowa's The Family Leader, political strategist, a former candidate for governor of Iowa.

4.Bishop Harry Jackson  Reconciled Divide http://www.thereconciledchurch.org/

leader of HILC (High Impact Leadership Coalition) in Washington D.C.

All five of these men are highly qualified and a sentence or two is not sufficient to introduce them. 

Another organization that was mentioned is Family Research Council and Family Policy Councils. There are state family policy councils in 38 states. There is not one in Utah.

Here are a few of my notes. 

Bob Vander Plaats: "You can fool a fool. You can con a con. But you can't kid a kid." "Our schools are not designed to raise our children. Parents raise children."

Bill Wichtermann: He enumerated multiple complaints about Donald Trump using quotations from Trump. When he was asked about whether he could vote for Gary Johnson he replied that he is a social conservative and Gary Johnson is not. And he is a military conservative and Gary Johnson is not.

Pastor Cloer: He had the perspective of being a pastor and being hampered in his helping people because of entitlements that favor single parents over married couples, gender confusion, illegal immigrants who can not have the protection of the law because of their situation, etc.

Bishop Harry Jackson was probably the most vocal. Here are his seven issues that frame his voting decisions.

1. Religious Liberty

2. Supreme Court Justices

3, Support of Israel

4. Education

5. Business Empowerment

6. Dealing with Nonviolent Offenders Fairly

7. Family Tax Incentives

One statistic for #5 was that under President Obama 1.8% of small business loans went to black Americans. Under President Bush 8% of small business loans went to black Americans. Since black Americans are 13% of the population they should have received 13% of the small business loans.

In his opinion the Democratic Party has an adulterous relationship with the Black Community. Just before an election the party comes around courting and sweet talking. Then after the election the Party disappears and there are "no flowers, no candy, no support." 

Bishop Jackson told about his father who was not allowed to vote because he was a Black American. Partly because of this he is adamant that voting is not a right. Voting is a responsibility.

John Stenberger was an excellent moderator and asked many pertinent questions. At the end he had a wonderful list of questions for us as voters to ask ourselves. 

I am motivated to Pray Think Vote.

SPOILER: Four of these men are going to vote for Donald Trump. One is going to vote for Evan McMullin.

#PrayThinkVote

Religious Freedom -- AMAR Foundation and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

An important political issue is religious freedom.

The National Platform of the Republican Party strongly endorses religious freedom and our First Amendment rights. The Church News of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for September 18, 2016 was full of articles about religious freedom.

The cover story told of Elder Holland of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles participating in talks about religious persecution at Windsor Castle in England.

The AMAR Foundation http://www.amarfoundation.org/ held a five-day conference September 10-14 titled "Religious Persecution: The Driver of Forced Migration." Baroness Emma Nicholson is the founder and chair of AMAR an international relief organization.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave two addresses at the conference. The first was September 11 and was about "a tragic problem that has for a very long time been a largely invisible part of war and conflict -- sexual violence against. women."  Religious freedom is at the very heart of empowerment. Elder Holland cited recent research which "correlates religious freedom with fewer incidents of armed conflict, high levels of health and earned income and better educational opportunities for women."

The second address given September 14 was about the Mormon refugee experience. Elder Holland said, " I do not pretend that my people's experiences are the same as we see happening today." But there are principles that can be learned from the Mormon experience that will be helpful to the relief being administered to present day refugees. One principle is that the religion and culture of the refugees needs to be respected. It is important that refugees who have lost so much do not also lose their cultural and religious identity.

Religious Freedom -- Father Michael Orsi Speaking in Naples, Florida

It is illegal for churches to endorse candidates. President Lyndon Johnson established this regulation. The National Republican Party Platform wants to change this and Donald Trump spoke about changing the law in his acceptance speech. This speech is worth listening to. Father Morsi does not mention any candidates by name. He gives examples from history where churches did not stand up and speak out. He says, "We are in a battle for the soul of America."

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/priest-you-might-not-have-a-church-to-go-to-if-you-dont-vote-the-right-way?utm_source=LifePetitions+petition+signers&utm_campaign=1db0b42bfc-Petitions_Catholic_9_309_30_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5c75ce940-1db0b42bfc-400452413

An Honest Discussion about a Difficult Election

This looks very interesting. It is Tuesday October 4, 2016 at 5:00 PM MDT. Here is the link: myfaithvotes.org/honestdiscussion

MY FAITH VOTES

in partnership with The Florida Family Policy Council & LifeBridge Church presents An Honest Discussion About A Difficult Election Date: OCT 4TH Time: 7PM (ET) / 4PM (PT) Tuesday evening, October 4th at approximately 7PM (ET) / 4PM (PT) My Faith Votes will be live streaming “An Honest Discussion About A Difficult Election." The event will focus on how Jesus followers are to choose to vote even when the choices aren’t clear. ." Confirmed speakers include: Bob Vander Plaats (President and CEO of Iowa's The Family Leader), Bishop Harry Jackson (The Reconciled Church, HILC),  Bill Wichterman (Former White House Liaison to the Faith Community under President George W. Bush), Pastor Clayton Cloer (First Baptist Church of Central Florida), and John Stemberger (President and General Counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council). To participate in the event and view it LIVE from your device, visit My Faith Votes and add a calendar reminder so you don't miss this event. If you live in the area and would like to attend in person, be sure to register for the community forum. Admission is free. My Faith Votes exists to inspire and motivate Jesus followers to vote. We are a non-partisan movement of the Church in America. An Honest Discussion About A Difficult Election Date: OCT 4TH Time: 7PM (ET) / 4PM (PT)

Book Review: The Girl Who Escaped ISIS by Farida Khalaf and Andrea C Hoffmann

This was a compelling read. It was disturbing and it gave me more compassion and understanding for the refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Farida Khalaf was a nineteen-year-old girl living with her family in the Yasidi village of Kocho in northern Iraq. August 15, 2014 was the day that her village was overcome by ISIS forces. Here is the sequence of events leading up to her ordeal.

• First ISIS told the villagers that if they would turn over all their guns then ISIS would leave them alone. So they did, but ISIS did not leave them alone.
• Next ISIS told them to bring all their money, valuables, jewelry, cell phones to the school house and turn them over and then they would leave them alone. So they did, but ISIS did not leave them alone.
• Then ISIS told them that if they would deny their Yasidi religion and become Muslims then they would leave them alone. They would not deny their religion. 
• Then ISIS took the men and older boys away and shot and killed them.
• They took the women and children to a camp. Young boys underwent brainwashing to become soldiers.
• They took all the young women on a bus to a city in Syria to a slave market where they were sold as sex slaves.

Farida details her experience. She suffered privations, beatings, tortures and rapes. She had a number of different "owners." She attempted suicide at least three times. Finally a group of six girls were able to miraculously escape an ISIS military camp. She was reunited with her mother and siblings at a refugee camp. This is where Andrea C. Hoffmann, a journalist who specializes in the Middle East and the conditions of women in Muslim countries, met her and interviewed her. Farida and her friend Evin were taken to Germany and lived in a convent where the nuns were very kind to them and let them practice their Yasidi religion. Now Farida and her remaining family members are together in Germany. They have concluded there is no future for them in Iraq. Farida wants to go to college and become a math teacher.

This horror story is told with sensitivity and is not salacious or sensational. The values of virtue held by the young women are respected. Still, it will give you nightmares. Hopefully it will inform you and motivate you to find ways that you can help the world situation through political activity or compassionate service. -- JHD

https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Escaped-ISIS-This is my Story

Disclaimer: I am not an affiliate marketer with Amazon.com. I have provided links to Amazon because Amazon has so much good information about their books, particularly the Look Inside feature and the reviews. I obtain most of the books I read from the fabulous Salt Lake County Library System.