"Rex is at it again," writes blogger Banjomike of 43rdStateBlues.
Rammell is going to save us all.
Republican Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell held a news conference Wednesday in order to defend his decision to stage a series of meetings that would admit only active male members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to Nick Draper of the Post-Register.
"I am tired of people telling me I can't bring God and the Constitution into my campaign," said Rammell at a news conference held in his Ammon home. "As governor, I will be on my knees petitioning God to help me save this nation."
Rammell's proposed meetings target "faithful priesthood-holders of the LDS church" and will focus on the "White Horse prophecy," which Rammell said is a Joseph Smith prophecy that predicts LDS elders will save a corrupt United States and restore a diminished Constitution.
The authenticity of the prophecy is questioned by some LDS church scholars and authorities.
The LDS Church says it doesn’t back Rex Rammell’s candidacy for Governor of Idaho and doesn’t endorse this prophecy Rammell believes in which church founder Joseph Smith supposedly said the U.S. Constitution "will hang ... by a single thread."
Rammell's first meeting is scheduled for Jan. 19 in Idaho Falls, and Rammell, an LDS elder, expects 100 men to participate.
Rammell said:
it's appropriate to limit the upcoming forums to LDS men because of their belief that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but he also said he didn't think non-LDS men would want to attend anyway.
"Quite frankly, I wouldn't think anybody who wasn't LDS would want to come," said Rammell, adding he'd be more than willing to discuss the White Horse prophecy with non-LDS groups if there are any requests.
Rammell said space concerns prevented him from inviting active LDS women to the meetings, but he said they'll still receive his message because they have "the same political views as their husbands."
Rammell said LDS women also realize that the White Horse prophecy says LDS men will be the ones to save the Constitution.
"I think the LDS women will understand," he said.
Even with the upcoming LDS-only meetings, Rammell said he doesn't believe he's alienating the significant percentage of Idaho residents who don't share his faith.
"I don't see that as a problem," he said."
The LDS Church released a statement this week:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is politically neutral and does not endorse or promote any candidate, party or platform," spokeswoman Kim Farah’s statement said. "Accordingly, we hope that the campaign practices of political candidates would not suggest that their candidacy is supported by or connected to the church.
The so-called ‘White Horse Prophecy’ is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research and is not embraced as Church doctrine.
At the news conference, Rammell reaffirmed his belief of the prophecy based on his research of alleged statements by former LDS President Ezra Taft Benson.
"In order to motivate my fellow elders in the LDS church, I have invited many to attend meetings to discuss Joseph's prophecy and how we can help save the Constitution," he said in a statement.
"Some people, LDS and non-LDS, think it is inappropriate for me to hold such meetings. I think that is ridiculous."
According to the Rexburg Standard Journal:
the only accounts of the prophecy were provided second-hand, years after Smith died, and cannot be corroborated with other sources, said Scott Gordon, the president of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, a group of LDS defenders who have studied the topic.
For many people, it is a faith-promoting rumor that been around for a long time, Gordon said. It's a rumor that never dies.
Rammell plans his first meeting at the Hampton Inn in Idaho Falls at 7 p.m. Jan. 19. Subsequent meetings are planned in Rexburg, Blackfoot, Pocatello, Twin Falls and Boise. He invited only the Elders of Israel, who are all men, but said anyone who believes Smith is a prophet may attend.
In fairness to Rammell, during his last campaign, for US Senator, he had a pretty cool commercial during the Superbowl.
So why doubt him?