Sister DewDefinitely NOT Jewlicious
The opening invocation at the RNC today was performed by Sheri Dew of the Church of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons). Sheri spoke at a conference in Washington DC last February where she likened those not actively opposed to gay marriage to supporters of Hitler:

This escalating situation reminds me of a statement of a World War II journalist by the name of Dorothy Thompson who wrote for the Saturday Evening Post in Europe during the pre-World War II years when Hitler was building up his armies and starting to take ground. In an address she delivered in Toronto in 1941 she said this: “Before this epic is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up with Hitler or against him. Every living human being either will have opposed this onslaught or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If he takes no side, he is on Hitler’s side. If he does not act, that is an act—for Hitler.”

May I take the liberty of reading this statement again and changing just a few words, applying it to what I fear we face today? “Before this era is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up in support of the family or against it. Every living human being will have either opposed the onslaught against the family or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If we do not act in behalf of the family, that is itself an act of opposition to the family.”

Eschaton in presenting this story, linked to a letter to the editor that outlined the history of the LDS Church with respect to Hitler that ought to have given Sheri Dew pause before she went all Hitler this and Hitler that on folks.

William H. Munk of Salt Lake City Utah wrote to slmetro.com:

If Dew still wishes to ignore documented world history perhaps a refresher course in LDS church history is in order. Concerned members of the LDS Church in Germany asked then-president Heber J. Grant what they should do about Hitler’s rise in power. He told them not to make waves but rather to obey the 12th Article of Faith, which required them to honor and sustain their elected leaders. I could more accurately rephrase her statement to say those who oppose gay marriage are like the members of the LDS church who, at the counsel of their prophet, did not oppose Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Certainly she must aware of the story of Helmuth Hubener… He was an LDS youth who, with a few friends, secretly fought against Hitler and the Nazis. He was eventually arrested and executed for those actions but not before the LDS church excommunicated him for “conduct unbecoming a member of the church” or, as she so succinctly put it, opposing Hitler’s rise to power. By her comparison, the LDS leaders of the time, including President Heber J. Grant, were the type of people who would have supported gay marriage.

Maybe she should learn a little bit about Hitler and the Holocaust before calling anyone else a Nazi.

So it seems that abusing the whole Nazi / Hitler thing (one of my pet peeves) is not just within the unique purview of the extreme left. I mean, regardless of what your views are on gay marriage – Dew’s attack was not just offensive and hateful, but unbelievably stupid and ignorant. I’m embarrassed for the Republican Party.

Tip of the hat to patriotboy and eschaton.

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About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

21 Comments

  • Its late at night and my partner just pointed this crap out to me about sister Dew.
    I am a lesbian and I believe sister Dew is a homophobic lesbian afraid of her own sexual identity.
    Everything about her SCREAMS lesbian.

  • No matter what Ms. Dew’s feeling about gays are, she dehumanizes and demonizes gays by equating them with Hitler. She also diminishes the millions who died at the Nazi’s hands to compare gay marriage to genocide. If you are interested in reading a letter I sent to Sheri Dew, I have posted it on my blogg.

    http://pirateaggro.blogspot.com/

  • I am Mormon and what you are saying has such an agenda, just say it you hate Mormons. Don’t hide behind the fact that we believe to suport our leaders. No one at the time opposed Hitler because the believed he was doing great things for Germany. He did it legally. He was voted in as chancellor, and the Mormons believe to follow our elected leaders. We also believe in being fruitful and replenishing the earth and being gay is a derict vialation of that. She didn’t relate the holocaust to gay marriage in the sense you are taking it. She mearly says that as the nations and people of the world chose facism and democracy, as they chose good and evil, they must also choose between the preservation of the family and moral decay.

  • As a mormon I would like to personally appologise for Sheri’s comments, and state that there are a lot of us who don’t feel that way.

  • As a member of the LDS church I make NO apologies for Miss Dew! She is spot-on in her comparison of Gay Marriage with Hitler . . . it is a slippery slope. Homosexuality is wrong and if left unchecked and unopposed will destroy the family just as surely as Hitler destroyed millions of people. Face it . . . Homosexuallity is an abomination in the eyes of God.

  • “If left unchecked.” What does that mean exactly? How do we “check” homosexuality and how does it remain “unchecked” if we do?

  • c. campbell – do you eat shrimp? How about ham or bacon? Also abominations in the eyes of God. Besides, what was it that Jesus said about casting the first stone again?

  • uh, another Mormon here. Really lame rhetoric from sister Dew. Sorry about that.

  • I am a gay mormon and currently raising a son with my partner. I do not find sister Dews comments offensive just ignorant. It has nothing to do with your sexual perferance but what is in your heart and the communication you have with Heavenly Father. I have met her and in my opinion she is in the closet but that is her choice.

  • I grew up LDS, Mormon, and I find Sheri Dew’s comments very distrubing. I agree with Nora, I think she is in the closet. She has not idea what real life is all about, she seems devoid of emotion, she has never been married, and never had children, here I am judging, but you know what? It really bothers me that she acts so self-righteous. I went to an LDS church today for the first time in a while and I was so uncomfortable I almost left the room, her comments are sexist, demeaning to women, and put women centuries back with no ability to vote, own property, have their own credit, banking, etc. She speaks of ‘The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World’ on Forbes Magazine as being ‘weird’. She spoke of man on an airplane kneeling beside her praying, then joked, “How many times have I wished for that?” Who says that? And why should we listen to you if you are so horrible and demeaning? Why can’t women ‘do it all’? Why is it bad or so awful for a woman to hold a job? She spoke of women of the world wanting to be a CEO, fame, money, or athletics. Who the heck cares? If you do that with your life, good for you. If you want to stay home and not provide at least somewhat for yourself to secure your life, then good for you. I hope your husband or eternal companion doesn’t go bankrupt, divorce you, cheat on you, or die young. I hope all goes well for you and your life turns out perfectly. As for me, I will be continuing my education as to secure a good job, saving money for my own retirement and teaching my two daughters to be independent and self respecting. I was raised LDs and am straight, but have been divorced. But the LDS church is sooo sexist, I can barely stand it.

  • Wow, really. . . . . . . . . . gay mormon, thats not possible at all. Its like saying there is no racism in the world, or that AIDS is a good thing. Last time I checked you get ex-communicated for that so. . . . . . . yea. . . . wow. Also if yall want to look at the numbers over this whole gay marriage crap in california, Mormons only make up 8 percent of the voting population there. So why do you hate on the LDS community when the catholics are dishing out at yall to, oh wait, thats actually every other major christian dinomination. WOW never would of thought that

  • The World is truelly a sick place, I oppose gay marriage because it is part of the sickness that is spreading in the world today, a world filled with unhappy people. If i am called a homophobe then i am proud of that. I do not preach hate against people who choose to be gay and certainly hope no one will use violence to force their will on others. I oppose gay marriage because it will give sick men and women the right to adopt children and bring them up in an unbalanced enviroment, and believe me there is a lot of that happening already. Husband and wife is the natural combination designed if taken serious to give a child ballance.

  • Gay people already have the right to adopt. And none of the gay folks I know chose to be gay. Do you think you chose to be heterosexual?

  • I would say those above are judging!! This is EXACTLY the type of post I was looking for. I am a straight, 34 year old LDS single woman with a Masters Degree. President Gordon B. Hinckley trusted Sherri Dew enough to put her in her calling- that should be enough said. Sherri Dew is carrying heavy burdens alone without a spouse and one top of it spending tremendous amounts of time for good. Those criticizing her I’m sure don’t contribute half as much as she has to society. Back off of her. Why should she be criticized because maybe no one was good enough for her- or maybe there is a different plan for her- or maybe the timing isn’t right. I get so sick and tired of the criticism coming against her when she’s done nothing to hurt anyone. And if you read her books you would know she has close friends who are gay. And if you saw her in person like I have you would realize she tops a lot of mothers. Sherri Dew has enough hurt without these types of blogs. I take criticism too, and she’s been taking it twice as long. Back off!!!!!

  • Most people are heterosexual and therefore the child that two perverts adopt is most likely heterosexual too. Putting an innocent child in a home with two mentally ill people is a horrendous form of child abuse. No pervert should have the right to adopt a child. Only an equally sick society allows such an abomination.

    We all make choices. I chose to be heterosexual in the pre-earth life.

    Hitler shared my views. If you are opposed to all this subversion about “gay rights”, then see that Adolf Heitler was right on this subject, as he was about most everything else.

    And before anyone condemns the German “invasion” of Poland, perhaps you should acquaint yourself with Polish atrocities committed against the German people by the “innocent” Poles. And most of the people killed by the German Army were Communists in Stalin’s Army. Anyone have a problem with that?

  • LOL… this is awesome!

    One of my favorite sayings is that “a text taken out of context is just a pretext.” The comparison that Ms. Dew made between the choices people made is a valid comparison, but is just that, a comparison. She is giving an example of how people who don’t take an active part in political issues to support their beliefs will only benefit the causes and beliefs they don’t agree with. She isn’t trying to say that supporting gay marriage will lead to genocide although… If you look at it, homosexual couples don’t have children of their own so they’re not adding to the population and if enough couples become same sex couples then eventually you could kill off the human population. But that’s a long way off and a really big IF.

    I personally do not support calling a same sex union marriage but that is just semantics. I do think that politically speaking a same sex union should have the same rights and priveleges as a heterosexual marriage. Either that or take away all perks and benefits from everybody and treat them all like single individuals.

    Also, about choosing to be homo/heterosexual, I think you do have a choice. I believe people are meant to be the sex they were born and that they should fulfill the responsibilities associated with that sex. Every society views those responsibilities differently, so that’s all I will say about them. Nature intended humans to pair up as male and female to propogate the species. If it was supposed to be another way then we would be hermaphrodites like earthworms, asexual like amoebas, or able to change from sex to sex according to our circumstances like some amphibians (see Jurassic Park for a specific amphibian that does that.)

    One more thing… The LDS church may appear to be very sexist, but it is organized to play to the various strengths of the sexes. Men and women are NOT equal. We each have unique attributes that are gender specific. Men cannot conceive and give birth to babies. Being part of that creative process naturally brings women closer to “God.” In order for men to achieve that closeness we need to become more caring and nurturing towards others. The responsibilities of the Priesthood are intended to do that. Remember that it was Eve that first realized the predicament that she and Adam were in. They were told to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the Earth. They were also told not to eat the forbidden fruit. In innocence they couldn’t replenish the Earth, and as usual eve had to take the stubborn man and say we have to break this little command to be able to follow this more important road.

    Ok I’m don… Let the flames begin. 🙂

  • It hurts my heart to hear people calling gays perverts or mentally sick. If you read the information on the LDS site you would know that the Church does not condone this type of talk. We are to love our brothers and sisters whether they are gay or straight. I understand the stand the church has on gay marriages as it is not the family that Jesus said you would leave your mother and father for. I am also surprised that I did not hear anything about the other churches who opposed the Bill. I am sure that the Catholic church worked hard to stop it and also the Christian fundamentalist churches would do their best also. Why do they only talk about the LDS church? I think Satan is getting worried. I have a granddaughter that is gay. I can’t stop loving her because of this. I pray that she will one day come into the church and abstain from physical relations with another girl, but I don’t stop telling her I love her. I know that she always felt this way and even though I don’t fully understand why this happens, I do know that there must be a reason for it. Before I joined the church I would say I was addicted to sex, now that I am in the Church, I am a single woman who must abstain from it. I imagine that is how it would be for gays but it can be done. Perhaps instead of “marriage” there could have been given a different name to the joining of a gay couple with all the legal rights afforded the men and women in a marriage.
    I hope I have made some sense. The whole thing rests on one premise. If you believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church and we have a living prophet, then we must have the faith to follow our leaders. If not, don’t call yourself a member
    as you do not have a true testimony.

  • The comment about Hubener being excommunicated is misleading at best, but I suspect you already know that. Hubener was excommunicated by a misguided local leader, but was then reinstated to full membership when leadership in SLC found out. At least be honest.

  • I personally know Sheri Dew, I am a Mormon, and I support the defining of marriage as a union between a man and woman. However, Ms. Dew’s analogy was completely inappropriate. I am opposed to the extreme gay agenda and support the official LDS Church position regarding gays. Ms. Dew’s comments were her own and not representative of the church or most of its members.

  • Mormons know about Hitler. They supported him. Fought in his Army. Served in his SS. Even excommunicated the one Mormon boy brave enough to stand against Hitler and the Nazi’s – Helmuth Huebner.(who was executed by the Nazis)

    Mormon missionaries taught Germans basketball in preparation for the 1936 Olympic Games. Mormon genealogy researchers provided Hitlers murderers with genealogical data and information on Jewish background and ancestry of people in Germany.

    Mormons supported Adolf Hitler. Their “prophet” did nothing to warn the world of this paragon of EVIL and what he was about and what was to come. Their “prophet” and leadership are to be held accountable for upholding the evil that was leashed on the world.

    Their actions were shameful and no amount of apologizing can ever erase them.