Politics and Religious Intolerance

Poor Jon Huntsman he's found himself the target of many Mormons thanks to his answer about his membership in the Mormon church asked by Melinda Henneberger. This is the part of the interview that has members in an uproar.

And as for whether or not Huntsman still belongs to the Church of Latter-day Saints, I know less than I did before I asked him. ("I'm a very spiritual person," as opposed to a religious one, he says, "and proud of my Mormon roots." Roots? That makes it sound as if you're not a member anymore. Are you? "That's tough to define," he says. "There are varying degrees. I come from a long line of saloon keepers and proselytizers, and I draw from both sides.")

I've been more sympathetic than most (of course, I'm liberal)and I live in Utah. Idaho, parts of Arizona and Nevada are the same. I think our rural areas fall into a twisted dogma that can be a caricature of what the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ truly is intended to be as restored by Joseph Smith. There was a question that made it's way to facebook "How would YOU answer the question in Huntsman's position?" This was my answer:

I think he did answer it well. Now days being Mormon IS hard to define. All around me I see people who find things in shade of black and white and I'm not just talking about racists. I'm often surprised that people don't stumble in testimony meeting and say that they know that Glenn Beck is the true prophet. I see little tolerance and a lot of judgement. More people in my area identify with the Tea Party. THAT'S religious to them. It's not an easy question and honestly it's practically political suicide.

Then a guy posted the most EXCELLENT OP ED:
Some LDS Conservatives Worship Political Dogma

The real question is, have you always been so comfortable with your actions that you are okay with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints to be judged by YOUR actions?