Is Senator Bob Bennett a religious fanatic?
ANTI-MORMON
'Leap of Faith' >> Campaign denies senator's book timed to politics
by Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
08/25/2009
Washington >> Sen. Bob Bennett knows The Book of Mormon is true, and in
a new book he tells others how he came to that conclusion. (with no
facts to support that conclusion)
The book, published by LDS Church-owned Deseret Book, comes as the
Utah Republican faces a tough re-election challenge from within his
own party ranks. In fact, Deseret Book's news release was issued the
same day the conservative group Club for Growth launched a blistering
attack on Bennett's bipartisan health-care-reform bill co-sponsored by
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. (no non-LDS church owned publisher
would touch this book of fiction)
Bennett's campaign says the timing of the book's release has nothing
to do with politics, resting entirely in the hands of the publisher.
(He is trying to get reelected based on religion in Utah)
In the book, Leap of Faith , Bennett applies four forgery tests to
determine whether the book is a fake, according to the news release.
(scientific tests have already concluded it is fiction)
Deseret Book said Bennett decided to write the book after becoming
upset with the "shallow" media coverage of The Book of Mormon leading
up to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. (loyal cult members
will always get upset when confronted with the facts)
"Most of it was evenhanded, but publications that discussed The Book
of Mormon in any degree of detail almost universally treated it as a
fabrication," Bennett said in a release, "one whose claims and history
were so bizarre that no one with any common sense could believe it to
be authentic." (many scientific persons in different fields of
expertise are correct in their analysis)
The Book of Mormon, according to the LDS Church, was translated from
ancient gold plates revealed by an angel to church founder Joseph
Smith. It is held out as the documented history of God's interactions
with Israelites who came to America before the birth of Jesus Christ.
(pure fiction)
Bennett acknowledges that the book "requires a leap of faith" to
believe. (no facts support it)
"I offer it in the hope it will convince all who have an interest in
The Book of Mormon, be they believers or skeptics, that any decision
with respect to its origins requires a leap of faith," Bennett wrote
in the preface to his 318-page book. (no one else would write the
preface)
The three-term senator faces three GOP competitors in his 2010 re-
election bid, all of them portraying themselves as more conservative
alternatives to the incumbent. (Bob Bennett is out of touch with
reality)
The timing of the book's release immediately raised questions about
political motives. (correct)
"Certainly, it's hard to believe it is purely a coincidence that the
same time he's running for re-election he's also working on this book
and releasing it in advance of the [potential] primary," said
University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank. (Bob
Bennett is running scared)
Under Utah's system, the top two vote-getters in a state Republican
convention face off in a primary unless one secures 60 percent of the
delegate vote -- and thus the nomination -- at the convention. (Bye
Bye Bob Bennett)
Burbank, though, said Bennett might be trying to answer a question
that voters don't have: They already know he is Mormon. But he says it
likely will give him a buzz in LDS circles. (Bob Bennett is running
scared)
"It may remind some people that they like him," Burbank said, "but I
doubt it will change anybody's mind." (Bob Bennett is trying to get
reelected based on religion in Utah)
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who is soon to release his own
book on the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott ruling, said he doesn't
believe Bennett's book has anything to do with the election. (Looks
like Shurtleff is off the mark)
But another GOP challenger, Tim Bridgewater, wasn't so sure. (Tim is
trying to find the bridge to Washington riches)
"The timing seems strange, but other than that I'll reserve judgment
until having read the book," he said. (I wouldn't waste my time
reading about Bob Bennett's gut feelings)
The campaign denied any political motive in the book's publication.
(bullshit)
The senator's son and campaign manager, Jim Bennett, said the campaign
has no involvement in the book and Deseret Book was responsible for
the timing of its release. (The entire family has a financial stake in
Bob Bennett's reelection)
"This book is in the works for something around seven years," Jim
Bennett said. "This has been going through the editing process at
Deseret Book for quite some time. No one anticipated one way or
another what the political climate would be when this was
released." (bullshit)
Bennett, according to the news release, honed his skills in applying
forgery tests while working as public-relations director for the late
billionaire Howard Hughes. Bennett previously applied similar tests to
disprove Clifford Irving's supposedly authorized Hughes biography,
which infamously turned out to be a hoax, and later the fake Hughes'
will purporting to leave a big part of his fortune to Utah gas-station
owner Melvin Dummar. (Bob Bennett probably came up with the bogus
Howard Hughes Mormon will via forgery)
Bennett's book applies four approaches: Is the book consistent within
itself? Is there evidence to back up the book's claims? Would someone
have a motive to fake the book? Is there a revelation in the book that
someone faking the text would not have known at the time? (The answer
to the third question is yes.)
His findings? Bennett says that there are legitimate issues with the
book and that he fairly addresses those rather than hide them. Deseret
Book calls it a "remarkably balanced approach." (The LDS church will
back up any book that supports the BOM)
In the end, the book's conclusion is that it takes faith to believe
the origins of The Book of Mormon. (no facts to support the BOM)
"No one should make that leap without having heard all sides of the
argument," Bennett writes in the preface. (Senator Bob Bennett is a
religious fanatic)
LifeOnaPlate
balanced. If believing in the existence of God or miracles makes one a
fanatic perhaps Bennett is guilty as charged, but one certainly
wouldn't make that argument if one has actually read his book, which I
have.