Protest against Condoleezza Rice speech at BYU this Thursday
27January 11, 2011 by The Mormon Worker
What: Protest against Condoleezza Rice, who is speaking at BYU this Thursday, Jan 13 at 11:00 a.m. at the Marriott Center.
Where and When: Protesters will gather just west of campus, at 1469 North Canyon Road at 10:30 AM that same day, Thursday, January 13. From there they will march toward the Marriott Center.
Why: To let Condoleezza Rice know that we object to her visit because she played a key role in launching a war of aggression against the people of Iraq. Condoleeza Rice has blood on her hands for the needless and violent deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and over 4,000 American soldiers. She also played a key role in an administration that has tortured thousands of innocent people in American prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. We believe that invading countries in an offensive capacity and a torturing innocent people is exactly contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ, which ask us to love others as we love ourselves, including our supposed enemies. Launching offensive wars is also contrary to the admonition that Latter-day Saints “renounce war and proclaim peace (D&C 98:16).”
Who: This protest is sponsored by The Mormon Worker Collective, a newspaper devoted to promoting Mormonism and Radical Politics. 
Contact: Please direct questions to William Van Wagenen.
Email: themormonworker@gmail.com
Cell: 801-623-1249
http://www.themormonworker.org
http://themormonworker.wordpress.org
The Mormon Worker 
Keep an eye out for President Monson or another popular GA being her personal escort like Hinckley did with Cheney back in April, 2007. And, if that’s the case, also keep an eye out for the two shaking hands with the patriarchal grip! Monson’s already been caught doing that with GWB in a photo.
Condi…what a true patriot. We love you and honor your years of service to this country. You made the hard decisions with honor and inspiration. The Lord is proud of you and we are proud of you. We forgive these people and their pseudo intellectual protests. These radical views are shared only by a few insecure fringe radicals. In their hearts they know what they promote to be wrong and of darkness. Make no mistake about it, the Lord will sort them out. As for you, keep pressing forward boldly with the resolve of a true leader. God Bless!
Chris,
Is the internet “Poe’s law” in effect with your comment? I hope so.
Here is my question. Was Condoleeza Rice’s endorsement of the torture memo/techniques an example of her making a “hard decision with honor and inspiration.” The evidence is now clear she endorsed the torture program so the only remaining issue is whether you include that as part of her “honor and inspiration”? Here is a paste from Harper’s Magazine which I assume you would agree is reputable.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004849
And this is just a tip of the iceberg. Assuming you will do the honorable thing and try to defend her torture endorsement somehow, we can then shift to her involvement with the neo”cons” who “created” evidence for our murder of tens of thousands of Iraqis.
One other point Chris,
You mentioned that the “Lord is proud” of Condi and how she served. You stated that the “Lord” will “sort out” those of us that protest those that endorse torture and wars of aggression. Two thoughts:
One, I am impressed that you apparently know the mind and will of God on this matter and can speak for Him.
Second, myself not having the “honor” or “inspiration”— being a “pseudo-intellectual” with such a dark mind that I actually protest torture and wars of aggression, AND, therefore, having no direct line to knowing God’s will, I am left with scriptures and HIs recorded words. So using DC Section 98 and the actual words of Christ during his ministry, educate me as to what actual words of Christ do you use to justify Condi’s and neocons trotting out false information in order to justify our invasion of Iraq? I need help given your access to His mind and will on the matter.
Are we still riding “Poe’s law” or is this a real discussion/debate?
Chris,
I also wish to point out D&C 64 37-43 wherein the Lord talks about the cleansing of the church by the inhabitants of Zion. Liars, hypocrites, and false prophets, apostles and bishops will be made known, condemned, and judged by those who obey the Laws of God. God’s position on war is clearly stated in section 98 and there are several examples of how to treat the “enemy” found in the latter half of Alma in the Book of Mormon. Near the end of his life, Mormon mentioned that the Nephites were committing the greater sin in torturing their prisoners to death and considering that “a mark of courage.”
Chris,
In all honesty. Are you for real, or just a plant from the vermon of which you associate. I hope that you are allowed more time in which to read some good things which may , in turn, help you in your endeavor. However, your adventure might not always end up the way you intended. You may actually develope a conscience.
Dave,
It will be interesting to watch. I was disgusted seeing the photo of Hinckley smiling and chatting with Cheney like a fellow politician. I can’t imagine a real prophet, Abinadi, for instance, letting that monster Cheney off the hook like that.
I love a good protest. We’ll be interested to see how it goes!
Ron,
If I hadn’t already bumped into people like Chris on my own blog, I would have surely taken his comment as intentional satire.
Sadly, there are way too many latter-day Saints like him who are so unaware of the teachings of their own religion that they are willing to put government ahead of God and country and call THAT patriotism. Truly, we live in a world turned upside down.
To your admonition that Chris read D&C Section 98, I would only add that he take particular notice of verse 33, and then please tell us how Condaleeza rice does not stand firmly in defiance of the Lord’s command.
Rock,
great to have your frequenting here. I am a contributor and not an administrator in the Mormon Worker website but I am certain they would be on board with my directing the readers here to check out and link to your web page Pure Mormonism here: http://puremormonism.blogspot.com/2010/12/merry-christmas-you-wonderful-old.html#comments
And check out all his posts—all very much worth the read.
Also your comments with ABC 4 News in Utah on the Condi speech was very helpful…thanks again.
In a missionary conference of the church early in 1844, Elder Brigham Young, then a member of the twelve, advised the elders to not contradict their companions in public if they started preaching false doctrine, but to pray with all of their hearts that the listeners would forget the false doctrine.
Later as president, he suggested the same thing for members to do when church leaders taught false doctrine from the pulpit.
I pray that the members will forget everything spoken by church leaders in favor of Cheney, Rice, and other Mammon worshipers, like Margaret Thatcher, who have been approved to speak at BYU forums, devotionals, or graduation exercises.
Forest—funny quote from Brigham! I bet Orson Pratt tried to pray away a number of Brigham’s discourses–not to mention Brother McConkie….
I have the same hope you have, but realistically I see it as a vain hope in that we have “embraced” the neocons’ thinking so thoroughly that it is embedded into our church body’s muscle memory. We are the Nephites of old and are fully convinced of our chosen-ness to the point that whatever we do is no evil
Here is a piece from ABC news with a few comments from Will —nice little coverage. Note that Condi still supports the Bush Pre-Emptive war doctrine of what Cheney called the One percent Doctrine. Wow. Let’s comment on the article.
http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top_stories/story/Condoleezza-Rice-speaks-at-BYU/nX4KbLAu3kmAAQauvYIXyA.cspx
Thanks for the link. I put in my two cents worth.
Forest—as always your “two cents” is educational and I value your voice. thanks
Here’s what I wrote in response to a comment on President Hinckley’s April 2003 ambivalence about the attack on Iraq:
In President Hinckley’s talk in the 2003 April conference he explained why he was willing to defer his own judgment to that of political leaders:
“…But as citizens we are all under the direction of our respective national leaders. They have access to greater political and military intelligence than do the people generally.”
[This sentiment was also abundantly evident in his October 2001 conference talk in which he told of a meeting of religious leaders with President Bush prior to the invasion of Afghanistan.]
He was right about the greater access, but didn’t realize that the secret facts were intentionally misrepresented to the public.
I wonder what President Hinckley would have said had he known that the “intelligence and facts [were] being fixed around the policy.”
Thou shalt not kill. That is the scripture which has no asterisk…and no parenthesis. Please, do not forget this when twisting all the words of your father. Condi is as she looks…
Ron,
I really appreciated your reply to Mrjfutz over at the Channel 4 comments regarding how the violence ethos gets folded into our religion and becomes seen as the true way. Very insightful.
Of course, it all went right over the head of our friend Jfutz, but I at least wanted you to know that I got a lot out of what you wrote.
Rock,
I am glad that MrFutz commented—allowed you to make some very important counterpoints—particularly the last one about not caring about the 501 (3) (c) corporation’s opinion but rather what the we a the body of Christ believe or should believe on this issue. Thank you for your continued contributions—I also listened to your group podcast with Mormon Expressions tonight re: Ronald Poelman’s edited talk—very informative and revealing…
I subscribed to this blog too late to know about the protest. Damn. But I’m interested in knowing how it went. Any kind souls out there willing to fill me in?
I would be interested in hearing what happened as well.
Tangerine and Joseph,
Let me give it a shot at describing what happened. We first arrived west of campus and a couple of news reporters were interviewing Will Van Wagenen and a few other people (at that time there were about 15 of us). Then our numbers grew to about 30 by my count and we took signs that were made and carried them (no chanting or anything of that nature, but some the signs were really large and well done and our message was clear). We marched to the corner where the BYU sign says “The World is our Campus” We stood there for about fifteen minutes and there is a lot of traffic there. We then decided to march towards the Marriot Center where Condi was speaking. We knew that we would be entering private property and the campus police would stop which they did about half way up the hill. The head of security knew we would be coming (I think Will warned them ahead of time) so the head guy was really cool in that he told us that the very best spot to get our message out would be on the Northwest corner of the Marriot Center where we would be on public property but right by the Marriot Center. So we marched over there and planted ourselves for the next hour and half. We were very visible and when the devotional was over hundreds of those exiting saw us. A few passerbys honked and gave the thumbs up—but then there were probably more that were thumbs down. Only a few caustic remarks such as “you hippies” or “you are dead meat” or “you should have been in there to hear the message” etc. Overall civil. More importantly, most of the main news channels covered us and took pictures/video and interviews. Will did most of the interviews and did quit well as usual.
Of note, we found out that Condi did in fact address the pre-emptive wars and why pre-emption is justified. The Marriot center was packed to capacity. So twenty thousand plus were in there with thunderous applause (as described by the news) while our rag tag group of 30 were out protesting—but we got a lot of press.
Now we know where to go for our next protest on campus—the Northwest Corner of Marriot–perfect location.
It felt good to be part of the “denouncing” instead of the embracing of the Bush Doctrine that has lead to so much killing and torture.
anyway, I would and will do it again even if there is only a handful of us. Maybe they will invite George Bush someday.
thank you for your interest. You can see channel 4’s coverage in a link I posted above . Nice coverage there in my opinion
A new and shocking doc on Condoleezza Rice is essential viewing for anyone interested in the protest – political biography focusing on her relationship with Bush and involvement in the least savoury aspects of the war on terror:
The title is American Faust – From Condi to Neo-Condi – and it’s made by British director Sebastian Doggart. Here’s the blurb from the website:
“From a deprived and segregated childhood in Alabama to becoming the most powerful woman in the world: Condoleezza Rice cuts an extraordinary and enigmatic figure. This incisive doc tells a mesmerising Faustian tale of a woman whose pursuit of power destroyed her core values and rocketed America into a fateful new direction.”
Thanks. that is perfect.
I discovered this blog only recently, so I missed all of this (19 months ago), but I appreciate the work done by those who are trying to ‘overcome evil, in good take delight’–
My sincere thanks to those who ‘run’ this blog.
my name is LDSDPer; I have worked on the Ron Paul campaign, and I’m sorry to drag politics into this, but I am one of those Ron Paul supporters who is anti-war and LDS.
This is very heart-warming. Thank you.
LDSDPer, Welcome, look forward to your input and voice here at Mormon Worker