THIS WEEK Web Extra: Huntsman on a Mormon Controversy
TAPPER: Do you think it's fair for reporters or members of the public to ask candidates about their faith?
HUNTSMAN: I think it's fair, but it doesn't matter what I think about it, reporters are going to ask regardless.
TAPPER: Well, OK. Here I go then.
You're Mormon. Until you were 18, your church had racist rules. It would not allow anyone with African ancestry to become a priest and blacks were also banned from participating in certain Mormon ordinances, such as temple marriages. Then the leadership of the church, in 1978, announced something along the lines of that God had changed his mind or the rules had changed because of revelation. You seem to be a thinking man. What was it like to go through this as a — as a young man, your church having racist rules and then all of a sudden, God says no more?
HUNTSMAN: I think it was wrong, plain and simple. I think it was wrong. I think it was something that divided people, divided friends and maybe even divided families. I believe they — they saw the errors of their way and they made a policy change. And I think they're much better because of it.
TAPPER: Did it make you question at all your faith?
HUNTSMAN: Well, over the years, of course, you can't help but reflect on — on certain policies. Any church, any religion is — any religious tradition, I'm sure in their decades or centuries of history, would have some episodes that would cause you to look back and question it a little bit. But you put everything in perspective, or at least you try to.
– Jake Tapper
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Huntsman is correct when he states that climate change skepticism is “not a winning formula” for the GOP in 2012, and his correct to call out the loons in the Republican presidential primary field for their willingness to let the US default on its debt.
Last week, he tweeted, “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”
And I’m sure the anti-science wing of the GOP, which has grown much to the party’s detriment, WILL call him crazy, but moderates and liberals and the well-educated will not.
Tapper asked, “Were you just being cheeky or do you think there’s a serious problem with what Governor Perry said?” Huntsman’s response: “I think there’s a serious problem. The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party – the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012.”
“When we take a position that isn’t willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science – Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man’s contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position….I can’t remember a time in our history where we actually were willing to shun science and become a – a party that – that was antithetical to science. I’m not sure that’s good for our future and it’s not a winning formula.”
It’s sad really when you consider Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower were Republicans and so pro-science.
Posted by: Kimberly | August 20, 2011, 7:04 pm 7:04 pm
Libs HAVE to ask about a candidate’s religion – no matter what the religion. Makes them uncomfortable – afraid that it might interfere with the “Freedom of (from)Religion clause – WHICH IS GOBBLEDEGOOK. I put this in the same category of the Sarah Palin trashing – fear of damaging their liberal philosophy.
Posted by: Tom Barnow | August 20, 2011, 9:08 pm 9:08 pm
God forbid all except Levites to hold the priesthood. Not even Jews(from the tribe of Judah) could have it. Did this change?
Posted by: brad lee | August 20, 2011, 9:12 pm 9:12 pm
“It’s sad really when you consider Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower were Republicans and so pro-science.”
I am pro science but have questions about the so called global warming. I might feel differently about it if there weren’t some getting filthy rich from it. I look at what scientist have done with modern medicine or how 1 gallon of gasoline can propel 5000 pounds of metal 25 miles down the road with 4 people riding inside in comfort, with a scant percentage of the pollution of 20 years ago.
There are scientist who disagree with those claiming global warming but good debate will usuaally get to the truth eventually.
Posted by: david | August 20, 2011, 10:09 pm 10:09 pm
David, while some of today’s cars get better gas mileage there are many more in our country and world-wide. When I was a kid in the 60′s most families had just one car, that’s not true today. And that isn’t even considering the increase in coal burning.
We know that the last 10 years are the warmest on record since 1850. And we know from computer models that climate change brings more violent storms, more and stronger tornadoes, more drought, all of which we see happening.
Visit any city in the summer and notice how the increased pollution increases the temperature there. Carbon in the air traps heat, it is as simple as that.
Posted by: Lydia | August 20, 2011, 11:39 pm 11:39 pm
Now a question for Mr. Tapper. Name the religion, organization, government agency, educational institution that had it right during that era? Martin Luther King marched against his own church, the Baptist church. Either you didn’t do any research and didn’t realize that all of America was quite guilty or you purposely singled the Mormons out – thus exercising a form of the very behavior you “expose”. Intelligently, if you’re going to badmouth Mormons for those black policies, you have to badmouth the whole American nation for it. It was wrong, but we were all wrong together. Thank goodness we all grew up.
Posted by: SixMom | August 21, 2011, 12:26 am 12:26 am
Thank goodness we all grew up.
Posted by: SixMom | Aug 21, 2011 12:26:08 AM
You wish…
Posted by: Paul | August 21, 2011, 5:13 am 5:13 am
Jake still hasn’t asked a question about Reverend Wright.
Posted by: karen | August 21, 2011, 6:37 am 6:37 am
Good for Huntsman. It is about time we had someone that is not afraid to denounce the LDS policy against blacks for what it was- racist. I’ve heard so many excuses for it trying to justify why God would do that. It seems very few in the Mormon Church are willing to call it what it was, racism pure and simple. The LDS Church may never admit it officially, but at least there are some like Huntsman that can just own it. That’s really the only way Mormons won’t be asked about it anymore.
Posted by: Jay | August 21, 2011, 8:17 am 8:17 am
That doctrine changed 30 years ago-isn’t it a little late to be asking a question about it now? Why not ask about “plural marriage”?How come nobody asks Al Gore how it was growing up with a racist who voted against the Civil Rights bill as a father?
Posted by: Nephron | August 21, 2011, 8:42 am 8:42 am
Being good emocrats and liberals the media will try to destroy any religon they worship at the altar of abortion. Remember how hard they questioned Obama and rev wright.
Posted by: daniel | August 21, 2011, 8:48 am 8:48 am
How many votes to Huntsman get in River City, Iowa, in the straw poll? About 20? There is trouble in River City. What does Huntsman think of Obama’s April 27th fake birth certificate, which has a smiley face and a gross misspelling “TXE” while missing the official seal of the state in the official stamp? Surely just these two little anomalies can be explained by the intellectual prowess of the liberal left, or Mr. Huntsman. We don’t even need to ask them to explain why a 1950′s typewriter was capable of kerning or had multiple variations of a single letter. Nor should we ask them to explain why it was in layers or that the scan bent some lines of letters and not others. I am afraid it would simply blow their minds to come up with an explanation as to why Stanley Ann Dunham’s signature was written in an exact straight line without one pixel of divination from the documents horizontal. But I am sure the libs can explain why the sequence of Obama’s document number being higher than those two twins born a day later than he was supposedly born. Next time Obama comes to River City, the school board is going to ask for his credentials but Obama will get the stenographers to break out into the Obama song.
Posted by: Colonel Rebel | August 21, 2011, 9:22 am 9:22 am
I think religious questions are important, as beliefs that go against science reveal a personality trait that doesn’t belong in the White House. Presidents needs to be grounded in reality to make the best decisions.
Posted by: Lydia | August 21, 2011, 11:15 am 11:15 am
Skepticism is fine… question science, but don’t distort the facts, and that is what the AGW does, it cherry picks facts and distorts the words and works of dedicated scientists to sway public opinion.
Facts are there, the “theory” has been proven a hundred times over and yet the Corp think tanks and deniers still scream their dis-information.
Once again it comes down to the simple fact, if believers are wrong, we get a cleaner planet to blame them for, if the deniers are wrong, we die as a species… so base your positions accordingly.
Posted by: DewyB | August 21, 2011, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm
Huntsman will not be nominated but he is doing a great service to the Republican Party, to the American People, to the planet.
Posted by: Lucette Smoes | August 21, 2011, 2:23 pm 2:23 pm
Tapper is parroting the “Book of Mormon” musical when he says that “God changed his mind.” The musical is not intended as a source of reliable information about Mormon doctrine. Tapper should know better.
Mormons say that God approved the policy change, but they don’t assert that God implement the racist ban in the first place. So it doesn’t mean that God changed his mind.
By the way, go read Acts, Chapter 10. Does that mean that “God changed his mind”?
Posted by: Travis | August 21, 2011, 5:32 pm 5:32 pm
Really? Isn’t this story a little old? That was 33 years ago – ancient history almost. Of course no one brings up the FACT that other churches have (and still do) discriminated against various races. This is the mainstream media trying to make an issue out of something that is out of line and out of date. Shame on you ABC!
Posted by: Pete | August 21, 2011, 7:15 pm 7:15 pm
The computer models predict (Insert your favorite upcoming disaster) and I know it’s correct because I programmed it myself.
A computer model is a Computer MODEL; it’s not a statement of fact, and is very little more accurate than reading the tealeaves. Why? Because there are too many bits of information that aren’t taken into account. Nobody’s fault –the universe is just too big and too complex for even a computer programmer to know all about.
Posted by: Beryl | August 21, 2011, 8:10 pm 8:10 pm
How come reporters don’t ask about how the Mormons were mobbed, robbed, raped and plundered in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois in 1830-1840′s? Why don’t they focus on the injustices that were wrought upon members of the church then? In 1838 the governor of Missouri put out an extermination order on the Mormons. What’s that all about? Sounds like a Hitler before his time! If we are going to report on injustices, then let’s be fair and balanced, eh? But wait, then that wouldn’t be ABC or any of the mainstream media. Ridiculous.
Posted by: disgusted | August 21, 2011, 9:23 pm 9:23 pm
If Jon Huntsman wants to join the side of ‘scientists’ whose emails describe their efforts to suppress evidence that ran counter to their chosen belief, then he has not chosen “a winning formula”.
Posted by: Joe White | August 22, 2011, 12:54 am 12:54 am
There is a fair chance that this Mormon tradition actually came from other Protestant traditions. Brigham Young was a convert, and his position on the subject does not appear to be in harmony with Joseph Smith’s actions. Smith ordained at least one black man to the Priesthood, if not many, and ran for President in 1844 on an anti-slavery platform, many years before Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation and the Civil War.
However, the idea that the Priesthood was limited to certain people is Biblical. At one point only the Levites were allowed to perform the ordinances of the temple. In the New Testament, Jesus said he was sent only to the Jews, but it wasn’t long before Peter had a vision instructing him to expand the teaching of the gospel also to the Gentiles, who before that were considered “unclean.”
Whatever the origin of long past restrictions, we are blessed to live in a day when the Priesthood of God is available to worthy men of all races for the blessing of their individual families, the Church, and mankind.
As a missionary in Houston, I had more success among African Americans than anyone. We are all children of God, one great human family. As we draw near to God, he draws near to us.
The Gospel, I am convinced, is meant not only to draw us closer to God, but to each other.
Posted by: Jed | August 22, 2011, 2:12 am 2:12 am
Faith and religion are two different things.
Posted by: Flash Override | August 22, 2011, 10:03 am 10:03 am
He could worhsip Baal for all I care-he is totally irrelevant politically.
Posted by: Nephron | August 22, 2011, 1:12 pm 1:12 pm
It is difficult to believe the misinformation that is posted for political or religious reasons by those who post them here in their attempt to destroy the faith of those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, who under the direction of His Father created all things.
Should we rather than promote a personal agenda seek out the truth and let our integrity shine out.
The absolute only way one could post an informed response to this article would be for them to go back before 1805 and diligently study the history of the United States along with the actual history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with all of the other faiths in America. dismissing the propaganda of their enemies, right on down thru the early 1960′s and on to today.
I grew up in Illinois where the saints were driven out during the years from 1844 thru 1846 some chose not to leave.
For many years I wouldn’t consider such an endeavor of informing myself by a study of the history of all involved. Because of the propaganda being spread by other so called Christian religions.
I decided in 1974 to find out the answers for myself and surprise. I have never know any religion with so many enemies that those enemies would lie thru their teeth in order to destroy that church organization and its members.
My father’s family was southern Baptist and in my study I found them to be among the enemies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I did a study as well of one of their ministers Walter R Martin and discovered that he was a scam artist claiming to be a doctor using a diploma produced by a diploma mill in Washington State.
Most of those who fought against the LDS are using the works of the likes of Walter Martin and others just like him which brings into question their works.
I have studied and discovered that most of the negative against the LDS Church is nothing more than propaganda as this article is.
Joseph Smith was killed in Carthage Jail in Hancock County Illinois in part because of his stand against slavery. He believed that all men are created equal he also believe the constitution to be a document inspired by the God of Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob. The God that modern day Christians say they worship, Many of which have not professed to be an enemy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would ask how much money the Anti Mormon Sites and ministries have collectively taken in by doing the exact opposite that the Saviour commanded us. They even use the words of Christ to prove their negative actions warranted.It does not matter to me what other may believe or what religious philosophy they may choose to embrace but it gets a little old to constantly see these claims against The Church of Jesus Christ when I know most of it is false.
Posted by: Fred E. BARRETT | August 22, 2011, 3:47 pm 3:47 pm
Huntsman’s said what few Mormon’s will— that LDS leaders made a mistake. Sure, LDS say they don’t believe their leaders are infallible but they can’t ever come up with an examples of where it happens— which really just means they think LDS leadership IS infallible.
LDS don’t like to admit that the Brethren make mistakes when speaking as prophets because it not only calls into question the history and doctrines of the Church since 1830 but also the so called continuing revelation that is supposedly leading the Church today.
The priesthood ban was clearly a man-made mistake mistaken for revelation— but because of the LDS idea of following the prophet and continuing revelation it lasted at least 15-20 years longer than it would have. The LDS practice of plural marriage was any instance of this and I think the future will show the Prop 8 campaign to be one as well.
Until LDS can admit their leaders are fallible and actually admit to some some of their mistakes— the LDS church will always follow behind on social issues, continue to support bad behavior as revelation from God (until it becomes untenable) only eventually give in with a convenient revelation.
Anyway congrats to Huntsman for having the courage to say it like it is.
Posted by: LDSRevelations | August 22, 2011, 4:37 pm 4:37 pm