Wall
Street Proclaims!
| by
John Stanton
“...blood
on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the State
as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel
that all the world cannot impeach; and their innocent blood on the banner of
liberty, and on the magna charta of the United States, is an ambassador for the
religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all
nations; and their innocent blood,with the innocent blood of all the martyrs
under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord of Hosts till he avenges
that blood on the earth. Amen”
( October
22, 2012, Virginia, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to a 2010 census conducted by
the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, there are 150 million
Americans who believe in some form of myth worship (religion) ranging from
mainline Christianity to Tao.
There
are some 76 million protestants of various stripes, 59 million or so Catholics,
6.3 million Mormons (Church of Latter Day Saints of varying orthodoxy) and 6.5
million Jews. One in three Mormon's live in Utah and the Mormons are increasing
their numbers along with Muslims. Eastern Orthodox religions are on the rise as
well.
All
the myths are peculiar in their own way. It's alright to make fun of Jesus but do not
take the Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) name in vain. No problem funnin' with the
Bible, God and Yahweh over at the Brick Testament. Even the United States
Air Force Academy has recognized the Wiccans and Druids and have provided a
place for their followers to worship nature.
No
question about America's religious tolerance. Hell, there is even the Landover
Baptist Church where no religion is spared a humor attack. Latest headlines
there include Landover Ladies Discover Depraved Cult in Utah and “Baptist
Congregation Stripped Naked in Mormon Underwear Bust!
Seriously
though, what is the gig with the Mormon religion? Do they have a sense of humor
when it comes to the Prophet Smith being gunned down in a jail in Illinois in
1844? It seems strange thinking about a Prophet being thwacked in a jail and
that the State of Illinois is damned because of the murder. But so goes
religion and worship.
So
what matters to the Mormons? And is Romney typical of Mormons in his own way?
Show
Me the Money!
It
is money that matters of course. The Mormon church is a cash machine. They
really do Trust in God. And they would feel better about the 47 to 99 percent
of Americans who are freeloaders if they joined the Mormon Corporate Church.
According
to Bloomberg Business Week's very insightful How the Mormon's Make Money
(July 2012) the Mormon Church built and owns a $2 billion shopping mall in
Utah named the City Creek Center.
But
that is literally the tip of the iceberg.
“Mormons
make up only 1.4 percent of the U.S. population, but the church’s holdings are
vast. First among its for-profit enterprises is DMC, which reaps estimated
annual revenue of $1.2 billion from six subsidiaries, according to the business
information and analysis firm Hoovers. Those subsidiaries run a newspaper, 11
radio stations, a TV station, a publishing and distribution company, a digital
media company, a hospitality business, and an insurance business with assets
worth $3.3 billion....
AgReserves,
another for-profit Mormon umbrella company, together with other church-run agricultural
affiliates, reportedly owns about 1 million acres in the continental US, on
which the church has farms, hunting preserves, orchards, and ranches. These
include the $1 billion, 290,000-acre Deseret Ranches in Florida, which, in
addition to keeping 44,000 cows and 1,300 bulls, also has citrus, sod, and
timber operations. Outside the US, AgReserves operates in Britain, Canada,
Australia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Its Australian property, valued at
$61 million in 1997, has estimated annual sales of $276 million, according to
Dun & Bradstreet....As a religious organization, the LDS Church enjoys
several tax advantages. Like other churches, it is often exempt from paying
taxes on the real estate properties it leases out, even to commercial entities...
The
church also doesn’t pay taxes on donated funds and holdings. Mitt Romney and
others at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded in 1984, gave the
Mormon Church millions’ worth of stock holdings obtained through Bain deals,
according to Reuters. Between 1997 and 2009, these included $2 million in
Burger King and $1 million in Domino’s Pizza shares. Under U.S. law, churches
can legally turn around and sell donated stock without paying capital-gains
taxes, a clear advantage for both donor and receiver. The church also makes
money through various investment vehicles, including a trust company and an
investment fund called Ensign Peak Advisors, which employs managers who
specialize in international equities, cash management, fixed income, quantitative
investment, and emerging markets...”
No
wonder the finance and banking industries like the Mormon buy in Romney.
According to Open Secrets,
Romney's largest organizational contributors (see definition at the link) are:
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase and Credit
Suisse Group.
Obama's
are the paltry University of California, Microsoft, Google, Harvard and the US
Government. Of note is the lineup that Ron Paul came in with: the US Army, US
Navy, US Air Force, Google, and the US Department of Defense (Paul wanted the
US out of Iraq and Afghanistan, took a no-war/sanction position with Iran and,
well, the rest will be history in a couple of weeks). What does the military
know that US voters don't?
President
George W, Bush was once asked who his favorite philosopher was? His response
was Jesus Christ.
What
would Romney's response to such a question be? Joseph Smith the Prophet? Hyrum Smith
the Patriarch? Where in the Book of Mormon or the Doctrines and Covenants would
Romney turn to for guidance, inspiration or action?
Prophet
Smith
How
would Romney's Mormonism affect his decision making duties as President of the
USA? The revered Prophet Joseph Smith was shot to death in Carthage, Illinois
in 1844. Would Romney seek revenge in some form? According to Section 135,
Doctrines and Covenants:
“Hyrum Smith was forty-four years old in February,
1844, and Joseph Smith was thirty-eight in December, 1843; and henceforward
their names will be classed among the martyrs of religion; and the reader in
every nation will be reminded that the Book of Mormon, and this book of
Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth
century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world; and that if
the fire can scathe a green tree for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up
the dry trees to purify the vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they
died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their
names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.
They
were innocent of any crime, as they had often been proved before, and were only
confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men; and their
innocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail is a broad seal affixed to
“Mormonism” that cannot be rejected by any court on earth, and their innocent
blood on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of
the State as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the
everlasting gospel that all the world cannot impeach; and their innocent
blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna charta of the
United States, is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will
touch the hearts of honest men among all nations; and their innocent blood,with
the innocent blood of all the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry
unto the Lord of Hosts till he avenges that blood on the earth. Amen.”
John
Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security. Reach him
at cioran123@yahoo.com
