Elder Stapley Letter To Gov. George Romney

[_moksha]

What do you think of this letter? It flabbergasted me.

http://www.boston.com/news/daily/24/delbert_stapley.pdf

[_Polygamy Porter]

So he was a racist.

Many Mormons were back then. Mo'pologists will tell you it was the social norm to be a racist.

[_Jason Bourne]

So he was a racist.

Many Mormons were back then. Mo'pologists will tell you it was the social norm to be a racist.

Of course in your narrow little world view you miss the point entirely.

[_Polygamy Porter]

So he was a racist.

Many Mormons were back then. Mo'pologists will tell you it was the social norm to be a racist.

Of course in your narrow little world view you miss the point entirely.

George Romney may have had racist feelings from his Mormon beliefs, but he knew he was a politician and there were many potential voters who agreed with the civil rights movement.

And lookie! His boy is just like him!

"I support gay rights and a woman's right to chose... oh WAIT, now I don't!"

[Guest]

George Romney may have had racist feelings from his Mormon beliefs, but he knew he was a politician and there were many potential voters who agreed with the civil rights movement.

And lookie! His boy is just like him!

"I support gay rights and a woman's right to chose... oh WAIT, now I don't!"

I think you are missing the point, too. There is a lot more to this letter than simply the fact that many in church leadership espoused racist philosophies. Here is an apostle trying to influence the policies of a sitting governor (even containing veiled threats that God would strike him down if he continued supporting the cause) and we only hear about it 40 years later - even though Gov. Romney didn't abide by it. I'm sure we would never seen the letter if George had decided to go where Stapley intended. How can we be sure that Harry Reid didn't get a similar letter when the constitutional ban on gay marriage was gaining traction?

You are also being a bit harsh on George. There is no reason to believe that George didn't actually transcend the inbred racism and was sincere in his efforts for civil rights. Being a TBM and still dissing direct advice from an apostle because it is nonsense should be applauded. Would Mitt would have the testicular fortitude to ignore such a letter?

[_Blixa]

I agree that the letter is indeed shocking, perhaps more in terms of its backward anecdotal threats than even its racism. It speaks well of George (and Lenore, let's not parenthetically forget the little lady!) that he disregarded such Bircheresque crackerism.

[_huckelberry]

So what ever happened to the Mormon Church and the John Birch Society? I remember when there was a big JBC builiding downtown Salt Lake City. Last time I went to visit SL, an infrequest occurance, it was not there. Move to suburbs? All found the red under their own bed and disband? Is there still JBC?

[_Blixa]

The JBS is still around kicking the former Soviet Union, China, global warming and the liberal media (at least that's what I've gleaned from scanning the first page of their website). I have no idea about their current occupation of SLC, having not been in town for a long time. Hopefully the LDS/JBS connection faded with ETB's demise.

[_Jason Bourne]

So what ever happened to the Mormon Church and the John Birch Society? I remember when there was a big JBC builiding downtown Salt Lake City. Last time I went to visit SL, an infrequest occurance, it was not there. Move to suburbs? All found the red under their own bed and disband? Is there still JBC?

ETB was big John Bircher and during that time was a constant difficulty for President McKay, though President McKay seemed to be to easily swayed by ETB.

[_Rollo Tomasi]

What do you think of this letter? It flabbergasted me.

http://www.boston.com/news/daily/24/delbert_stapley.pdf

This certainly would seem to undercut the constant apologist refrain that the Church always supported civil rights for blacks despite the continuing priesthood ban.