Utah Third District Congressman Jason Chaffetz Seeks To Stop The Official Recognition Of Out-Of-State Gay Marriage In Washington, D.C.

Utah Third District Congressman Jason Chaffetz is leading the charge in Congress to overturn the District of Columbia's move to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Chaffetz, who is the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee that oversees the district, has huddled with House minority leaders to discuss options on how to stop the process. The subcommittee is officially known as the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee; its membership roster is available HERE.

"I'm in a favor of recognizing marriage as a union between a man and a woman," Chaffetz said. "I'm not in favor of trying to redefine it, or disguise it under another name."

The Washington D.C. City Council voted 12-1 to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Ironically, the lone opposition vote was cast by former crack Mayor Marion Barry. But unlike any other American city, Washington D.C. has no ultimate control over its own laws and budgets, and Congress can cancel the City Council vote within the next 30 days. The district, home to nearly 600,000 residents, has no voting member of Congress, although its Democratic non-voting Delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, expressed support for the measure.

So why is Rep. Chaffetz taking an interest in D.C.'s internal affairs? Because the District of Columbia receives federal funding as the nation's capital. "People in Salt Lake City are paying for the operation and government in the District of Columbia," Chaffetz says. He also believes that Congress should vote on the issue. But a strong Democratic majority in Congress may thwart Chaffetz' efforts.

And how does D.C. feel about Rep. Chaffetz' efforts? The City Council is hoping Congress will let residents decide their own fate under a principle called home rule. "The Council hopes Representative Chaffetz and other members of Congress will respect home rule and allow the local representatives of the District of Columbia the right to legislate on this issue, as with others, in the best interest of the citizens who have elected them to do so, and not intervene," Chairman Vincent C. Gray said in a statement. Democratic Mayor Adrian M. Fenty plans to sign the bill into law.

What the Salt Lake Tribune leaves out is that there is considerable local opposition to the City Council's move, most of it from within the Black community. Over 100 Black ministers, to include the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, have expressed public opposition, and Marion Barry, who represents Ward 8, says the black community is just adamant against it. An estimated 98 percent of his constituents are black and at least 70 percent of them are opposed to gay marriage. A detailed Washington Post story can be read HERE. Blacks opposed gay marriage in California at a higher rate than other races as well.

Recognition of out-of-state gay marriages is widely recognized as a Trojan horse for actual gay marriage in D.C. itself. We now have five states officially recognizing gay marriage; Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and Maine.

Contact Jason Chaffetz HERE to express your support for his efforts. For those in other areas, review the list of Subcommittee members and contact them directly as needed.

LDS Church Officially Disavows Posthumous Proxy Baptism Of Barack Obama's Mother, Stanley Ann Durham

On May 5th, 2009, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially disavowed the posthumous proxy baptism of Stanley Ann Durham, the mother of President Barack Obama. This doesn't mean that they invalidated it; it simply means that the Church denounced it as not being in accordance with the prescribed Church policy on such baptisms.

An LDS Church spokesperson explained that "the offering of baptism to our deceased ancestors is a sacred practice to us and it is counter to Church policy for a Church member to submit names for baptism for persons to whom they are not related. The Church is looking into the circumstances of how this happened and does not yet have all the facts. However, this is a serious matter and we are treating it as such." A more complete statement has since been posted on KSL Channel 5; and here's a earlier background statement on LDS Newsroom from November 2008.

The baptism record was discovered through a search of FamilySearch.org. Records on the site, which is the LDS Church's genealogical site, show that Stanley Ann Dunham received proxy rites in the Provo temple on June 4th and June 8th of 2008. The birth and death dates of the person for whom the rites were performed match those of Obama's mother. A screenshot of the actual record is posted on Politico. Dunham's name has been submitted multiple times by at least three people in three states.

For almost two centuries, Mormons have performed baptisms on behalf of deceased relatives, but church members are counseled to request temple baptism only on behalf of their relatives. To do so for those who are not relatives is contrary to Church policy. The LDS Church previously ran afoul of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors over the efforts by Mormons to posthumously baptize Jews who died as a result of the Jewish Holocaust; the history of this conflict was documented in greater detail in this previous post. As a result of persistent Jewish objections, the Church is changing their massive genealogical database to make it more difficult for names of Holocaust victims to be entered for posthumous baptism by proxy.

Specifically, the Church removed 260,000 names of victims submitted to its International Genealogical Index. Subsequently, 43,000 additional names -- 42,000 of them identified by the church -- had made their way into the system, only to be removed, which demonstrates that the Church is monitoring the process to ensure it is upholding its end of the deal. But Catholics were also troubled by the issue; early in 2008, the Vatican called LDS baptisms for the dead a “detrimental practice” and directed each Catholic diocesan bishop not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the LDS Church. But the Vatican ruling had minimal impact on Catholic-Mormon relations; both groups cooperated to stop gay marriage in California.

Proxy baptism for the dead is an ordinance based upon the LDS belief that those who do not receive essential ordinances in this life can receive them by proxy. When Mormons research vital records to identify their kindred dead, they then submit those names to the Church. If the member is temple-worthy, in possession of a temple recommend, then he or she will go to the temple and perform those vicarious ordinances personally; otherwise, they are performed by others who are temple-worthy.

But once the ordinances are performed, the Church does not list persons as members of the Church or "Mormons", because it is unknown at that point whether or not the intended beneficiary in the spirit world has accepted the ordinances as binding. Church doctrine merely teaches that at some point in the future, the spirit of the deceased person will be informed that a baptism has been performed on his or her behalf and will be offered the opportunity to accept or reject it. Read more information on baptisms for the dead on the LDS website. Other ordinances performed for the dead include temple marriage (valid for eternity), sealings, and endowments.

Reaction now beginning to show up on the Bloggernacle. Times and Seasons, A Soft Answer and Mormon Matters have already weighed in. There has been no reaction from the Obama Administration to this story. Perhaps President Obama is too busy still trying to find that pesky birth certificate. LOL!

There is no logical reason for anyone to object to vicarious ordinances for the dead. First, according to LDS doctrine, they do not take effect unless or until the intended beneficiary in the spirit world accepts them as binding. Second, if you don't believe these ordinances have any effect, then why would you object to them in the first place? And finally, since when do you "own" your ancestors?

The Church has made a reasonable compromise in directing its members to restrict the practice to only those in their own family tree. No other compromises are necessary.

Utahns May Prefer Mitt Romney Over Jon Huntsman Jr. For President, But Barack Obama May Be More Scared Of Huntsman In 2012

According to a recent Dan Jones poll, Utahns would prefer Mitt Romney over Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. as the Republican Presidential nominee in 2012. However, Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, appears to be more scared of Huntsman. This story now picked up by the Deseret News, which offers considerable more detail.

While no Republican presidential candidate yet makes Obama's team shake in their shoes, so to speak, President Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, says Governor Huntsman makes him, a "wee bit queasy...I think he's really out there speaking a lot of truth about the direction of the party."

And Kirk Jowers of the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics agrees. "Huntsman has positioned himself in a great place right now because he is the only presidential candidate really running in the middle right now." And Jowers, who has advised three Republican Presidential candidates, says Huntsman has now become a top five candidate for 2012.

Another sign of a possible Huntsman run - KTVX noticed that the governor's schedule for Tuesday, May 5th at 11:15 A.M. includes a phone call with Frank Luntz. The significance of this is that Luntz is one of the premier Republican pollsters and strategists in the country. And nearly all serious Republican presidential candidates will talk to Luntz and possibly employ his services. But Governor Huntsman has repeatedly denied any intent to run for President in 2012.

According to the Dan Jones poll, discussed HERE, 55 percent chose Romney, 32 percent picked Huntsman, and 13 percent were undecided. On the other hand, Utah is "redder" than most of the country, and while Romney may play well in Utah, he might flop in other more moderate states.

Many conservatives are turned off by moderate Republicans because of the negative example set by John McCain. However, McCain might have been handicapped by the fact that he showed his advancing age so visibly during the campaign. A younger and more vigorous moderate Republican like Huntsman could prove more palatable. But Huntsman has made conservatives uneasy through his public endorsement of civil unions and his support of the cap-and-trade carbon cult.

Nevertheless, Huntsman consistently pulls popularity ratings of greater than 80 percent here, because most people are satisfied with the efficiency with which he runs the state. So if he was to become the Republican Presidential nominee, Utah would line up behind him.

Trial Of Accused West High School Sex Abuser Jose Fanjul Canceled; Defense Motion To Dismiss For Prosecutorial Misconduct To Be Argued On May 8th

Update June 5th, 2009: Jose Fanjul found NOT GUILTY on all charges. Updated post HERE.


A defense motion to dismiss charges against West High School teacher Jose Bernardo Fanjul, accused of having sex with a female student, triggered the cancellation of his trial, which was to begin on Monday May 4th, 2009 in Third District Court. Third District Judge Ann Boyden said the motion to dismiss based upon prosecutorial misconduct requires a special hearing, which is now scheduled for Friday May 8th. The judge also imposed a gag order on all parties connected to the case.

Update May 8th: Defense attorneys for Fanjul withdrew their motion asking for the case to be dismissed today. The defense had claimed Fanjul could not get a fair trial after prosecutors purportedly prejudiced potential jurors by filing charges against two other men accused of having sex with the 16-year-old girl. But defense attorney Ken Brown said Friday the issue of a "polluted" jury pool became moot when all parties agreed to dispense with a jury and try the case before 3rd District Judge Ann Boyden, who ordered the four-day trial to start June 2. KSL news video of this latest development embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The defense motion claimed prosecutors purposely waited until last week to charge two potential defense witnesses with lying under oath about having sex with the same girl who allegedly had sex with Fanjul. The motion, filed by Ken Brown and Ann Marie Taliaferro, claims prosecutors had threatened for months to file the charges, then abruptly did so on the eve of the trial, and also leaked information about the cases to the media. As a result, Fanjul's ability to get a fair trial has been compromised.

At a January pre-trial hearing, the two men in question each denied having sex with the girl. The defense apparently hoped that at trial the men's testimony would discredit the girl's assertion about having sex with Fanjul. On Thursday April 30th, the two men were each charged with several criminal counts.

One of the men, 27-year-old Bozhider D. Petajan, had admitted to an investigator that he did have sex with the girl and that he had lied about it at the January hearing. The man was charged with giving second-degree felony false or inconsistent material statements and third-degree felony obstructing justice. The other man, 30-year-old Augustine Allotey, continues to deny having had sex with the girl, but was charged with second-degree felony false or inconsistent material statements, third-degree felony unlawful sexual activity with a minor and class A misdemeanor obstructing justice.

But the girl claimed she had sexual intercourse with the 30-year-old man in December 2007 when she was 15, at a residence where he was house-sitting. The girl was able to describe the man's bedroom, which is in the basement of the home and not visible from any open area on the main level of the residence.

Fanjul, 46, a U.S. history and Spanish teacher, is charged with five counts each of first-degree felony forcible sodomy and second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with the 16-year-old female student between March and July 2008. Read my first post about this case from September 2008 HERE, which contains links to other posts on the case.

The victim is the same girl who, when she was 14 years old, had sex with West High counselor Marco Herrera between April and June 2007, according to court documents. Herrera, who was 51 years old at the time of the sexual encounters, pleaded guilty to three second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse. He was sentenced to consecutive one-to-15-year prison terms. And if Fanjul's case is thrown out, you can bet Herrera will be asking for a new trial.

And considering this so-called "victim" has apparently been sleeping with anything that had a penis in the Salt Lake Valley, a new trial for Herrera might be very much in order.