Senator Mike Lee – (R) Utah
I was at the temple recently, and was surprised to be there when Utah Senator Mike Lee entered the temple. LDS temples are open only to members that meet certain worthiness criteria. Senator Lee has joined forces with Senator Ted Cruz (of Texas) in shutting down the government, and trying to cause the government to go into default. Since Senator Lee is obviously a devout Mormon, I thought it might be interesting to see how his recent actions stack up against D&C 121.
Verse 41 states that “power and influence can or ought to be maintained…by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.” Did Lee utilize any of those characteristics? Verse 42 continues “By kindness, and pure knowledge which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile.” How well do you think Senator Lee’s recent actions on the shutdown follow these scriptures?
Some people might say that Senator Lee’s “principled” stand is following verse 43 where he is “reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost.” Do you think Lee was moved by the Holy Ghost to offer this stand?
Verse 43 continues, “and then showing forth an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy.” Lee is unapologetic in his stand. He said “there are some battles that need to be fought whether you’re certain you could win at the outset.” I think many people consider Lee to be not only their enemy, but an enemy to the American people for voting to default on the national debt.
Do people think that Lee’s “faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death (verse 44).” No, I think he is trying to kill the American form of government by his irresponsible positions.
I think Senator Lee is unfortunately described in verse 37. With his “principled” stand, he is trying to “exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men.” What happens to men who do this “in any degree of unrighteousness[?] behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.”
Senators Lee and Cruz are brand-new senators, and they seem to both be described in verse 39: “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” Verse 40 continues, “Hence many are called, but few are chosen.”
Senator Lee, I am one of your constituents and a fellow Latter-day Saint. Please stop acting irresponsibly. Please follow D&C 121.
Comments?
Mormon Heretic 
This is an unfortunate misuse of the scriptures to push your own version of politics. It is not your place (or mine) to judge his righteousness. Nor do you know of any of the actions taken (or not) prior to (or even during) the shutdown. Behind closed doors, there may have been much ‘persuasion’ and ‘long-suffering’, etc but of which you did not see or hear.
You feel that his position was/is irresponsible. Then vote him out. But it is not your place to declare his righteousness. There is a reason the church does not officially comment on most legal/political issues.
But let’s be more specific. You ignore the critical part of the verse 41: “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;” NOTE: it is talking about the use of priesthood.
verse 44 needs to be read with verses 41-43, again talking about the use of priesthood power when necessary to chasten someone. Or correct their actions. The faithfulness is in response to not creating an enemy.
Many are called but few are chosen, again refers to priesthood responsibilities. He was elected by the people NOT called by god to this position. To say that he is to lose the companionship of the Holy Ghost for actions with which you disagree is actually placing yourself in the greater error.
Did I, perhaps, stumble upon “The Onion”?
Alex, I never called Lee’s “righteousness” into question. (I thought that pointing out he was at the temple indicated his righteousness, at least in the eyes of the Church.) I asked if his actions in Congress were consistent with D&C 121. I find that they are not. Your assertion that “we don’t know what went on behind closed doors” is laughable. Senators Orrin Hatch and John McCain have lambasted Lee and Cruz’s coercive tactics. I’ll get quotes if you would like them, but they are really easy to find.
By the way, I did vote against Lee in the election.
My comment is the same to all who are arm chair politicians. Put your money, mouth and reputation on the line and throw your hat in the ring. I don’t know enough about the particulars but one or two legislators can’t bring the government to its knees. There’s a whole lot more to this situation than you can address in this post.
Well, I can see why you think that he is using compulsion, but in my opinion, most of the policies that are currently being advanced by the liberal senators/congressmen are trying to compel people to do things, like Obamacare – you must by insurance. There are many other policies of compulsion that have been trying to be implemented in the past few years by our federal government. I haven’t personally watched the words that have come out of these government leaders’ mouths, but I have noticed that Harry Reid (another Latter-Day Saint, of the other political party) does not always say nice things, either. I am glad that you and I, though our views differ, tend to agree to disagree and say things in a nicer way with more persuasion and longsuffering.
Shauna, I think we’ve plowed this before. Both sides complain about compulsion: seat belt laws, same sex marriage, sex education, evolution, abortion, death penalty, etc. Both sides that disagree say the other side is using compulsion to advance their position.
There is one thing about Mike Lee that he fails to understand. By using these extreme tactics, he is hurting the republican party. I used to complain about Harry Reid too. Now I’m becoming a fan because he seems much more reasonable than Mike Lee. I think Alex is spot on, and I hope there will be more Tea Party types that lose elections in the future. If only the Tea Party hadn’t removed Bob Bennett from office, this post probably would never have been written. The Tea Party is a disaster for the nation and I hope the gerrymandered voting districts vote the bums like Lee out of office. Utah needs more reasonable people like Jim Matheson than wackos like Lee and Mia Love. Lee is a disgrace.
Maybe he’s trying to trigger the White Horse prophecy! 😉
Mike loves Rafael Cruz the Canadian Lucifer.