I was so pleased this weekend to have a conversation with a friend whose personal friends with Jon Huntsman. She told me that his wife Mary Kate is Episcopalian, not Mormon, and their daughter was just married at the National Cathedral. (Jon too was married out of the temple since his wife is not Mormon.) He's actually not a practicing Mormon despite having gone on a mission as he says in this article. People just assume he's an active Mormon because of his father's Mormon prominence.

This explains so much of why Jon Sr has been he driving force behind getting the Mormon church involved in interfaith projects since the Olympics in 2002.

I voted for Jon Jr for governor despite believing he was Mormon because I agreed with him on so many things. Now I understand why.

www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/48753_Page2.html
http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/5809-jon-huntsmans-daughter-weds-at-national-cathedral

I thought Huntsman was a Democrat, not Republican. Not sure why I thought that. (I'm Canadian.)

Hearsay evidence is accepted routinely...

But a Democrat in Utah? Right...

Even Jim Matheson--who is a Mormon--is a DINO...

Years ago we had an Exmormon "Social Board" that I lampooned as the "Relief Society Board."

I'm thinking I should dust off some old one-liners...

here's his wife;s bio.

http://www.clippertoday.com/view/full_story/163108/article-Mary-Kaye-Huntsman---Instilling-the-power-within

I'm thoroughly familiar with that one, but right now off-topic discussions are problematic. Frankly, it's pretty obvious you're displaying the sort of perceptual distortions and cognitive dissonance I get all kinds of e-mails about from RFM friends describing their family members...

From your first link:

>An Episcopal ceremony was performed by the dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III. The Huntsmans are Mormon.

I'm happy their daughter married outside the church and wish them well. But your vote for Huntsman in Utah amounted to selecting Gary Herbert, a global warming denier, as Utah's governor.

And from your second link...

>When she and Jon were married in 1983, they made a commitment to spend their lives in service. She's accomplished that through her involvement in local non-profit campaigns and her service in the LDS Church. But in the back of her mind, the "Power in You" campaign was always something she wanted to create.

Good grief, can't you read?

Why does she do service in the LDS church.....just to please her Mormon hubby? Sounds weird to me. She can't be strattlin the fence and be respected. What service does HE do OUTSIDE the Mormon church.

SL Cabbie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm thoroughly familiar with that one, but right
> now off-topic discussions are problematic.
> Frankly, it's pretty obvious you're displaying the
> sort of perceptual distortions and cognitive
> dissonance I get all kinds of e-mails about from
> RFM friends describing their family members...
>
> From your first link:
>
> >An Episcopal ceremony was performed by the dean
> of the cathedral, the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd
> III. The Huntsmans are Mormon.
>
> I'm happy their daughter married outside the
> church and wish them well. But your vote for
> Huntsman in Utah amounted to selecting Gary
> Herbert, a global warming denier, as Utah's
> governor.
>
> And from your second link...
>
> >When she and Jon were married in 1983, they made
> a commitment to spend their lives in service.
> She's accomplished that through her involvement in
> local non-profit campaigns and her service in the
> LDS Church. But in the back of her mind, the
> "Power in You" campaign was always something she
> wanted to create.
>
> Good grief, can't you read?


Global warming denier? He's got my vote.

he was TBM to the core.

Since he isn't quite that, I wonder how he would handle the inevitable press on the church.

From the bio:

"When she and Jon were married in 1983, they made a commitment to spend their lives in service. She's accomplished that through her involvement in local non-profit campaigns and her service in the LDS Church."

Whatever the case, they seem far more well-grounded than your average Mormon on the street. I personally am not conservative enough to vote Republican, but these are people I could probably feel comfortable with. It would still have a very bad impact on the the LDS church, which is one of the reasons I say "bring it on."

I was very sad to see him go a get uber TBM Herbert. I loved how Huntsman changed the liquor laws among other things. That made me suspect that he wasn't so hard core. My conservative Mormon family did not like Huntsman, they thought that he was too liberal!

I'm no Republican, but I had no problems with Huntsman.

He's a nice looking gentleman.

That's what she meant by Jon Huntsman is one of us.

The press has constantly labeled them Mormon, as it would all of us because of our Mormon background. The wife is actively involved in the Episcopal church in Utah and elsewhere. Google it. They've both been involved in promoting civil unions and many other things.

Their two adopted daughters are not sealed to them in the temple.

Why the article decided to say she has served in her LDS church is curious. Because she's known to be involved in the episcopal church and interfaith work. It may not mean what it implies.

I was stating information I got from a personal friend of theirs plus links that support they are not active Mormons as the media insinuates because of the Mormon heritage.

NonMormons don't make a distinction between what it means to be a believing Mormon and a Mormon by family heritage. He's Mormon to everyone because of his heritage. Most people in politics don't come out and take a stand on which parts of their religious upbringing they hold to and which parts they now reject. So there's been no reason for him to make that kind of statement in the past.

No I don't care about Huntsman Corp, the company his father founded, because that was not the purpose of my post. I was pointing out he's not the rigid Mormon he's assumed to be. I don't have to justify my vote for governor Cabbie. I was stating that it now makes sense to me why I could vote for him despite having believed he was a practicing Mormon.

Is someone doing a little undercover spin work for her politician brother?!?!?!

;-)

My name is not Christina, its Cristina. I'm not related to them. I'm a registered democrat and have voted republican in local elections twice in my life.

I would say more of what my friend told me but because this is a public forum if I shared more details without asking her I'm afraid of breaking a confidence as the details may expose who told me.

I've met his wife. I don't know how she comes across as a bitch to anyone. She's very involved in humanitarian causes and even adopted children from India and China instead of white babies here as most rich people can do.

Uh. Okay, I guess. Here goes nothin':

Stupid motherf@*cking shitty-ass dirtbag Mormon! I'd NEVER vote for him! NEVER! Goddamn moron!

His wife is a nasty bitch! Who would want that blond whore for a first lady, anyway?! She's a bloody Episcopalian, for God's sake! I want to drive a stake into her heart! I want to break off her head and vomit down her neck!


I don't do disrespectful very well sometimes, and need to set the proper mood. I hope this is sorta what you needed.

Respectfully yours,
&c.

They didn't know if he was MINO, but he was certainly not hard-core. His public support of civil unions while he was Utah governor, and making the liquor laws less laughable are consistent with that.

I haven't seen any convincing proof one way or the other in the articles cited. His wife may still be Episcopalian. A 28 year old quote that she participated in LDS service projects does not make her a Mormon. It doesn't make her not a Mormon either, but as we all know here, personal attitudes toward Mormonism can change a lot in a quarter century.

Plus, if you are a Utah politician, there is substantial incentive to not trumpet a lack of TBMitude. I see nothing that convinces me that the his family is active and committed to Mormonism, and a few things that indicate they might not be. so I am willing to allow for the possibility that they are not, and will keep my eyes open.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/48753.html

Snippets:

"The presence of a second Mormon in the race could help Romney by making the church seem less unusual to those who are unfamiliar with it. But it seems just as likely that Huntsman, with his strikingly similar profile, would erode Romney’s base of support, reordering the GOP field."

"There is another tension that could play out in uncomfortable ways between Romney, the devout Mormon who has organized his life around his faith, and Huntsman, a more secularized figure who is open about his distance from his church...."

"...Huntsman, too, went on a two-year mission, to Taiwan. It was there that he became fluent in Chinese. But his family — wife Mary Kaye and their seven children, two of them adopted from Asia — are not strict Mormons, and he has never served in church leadership. More than a few eyebrows were raised in the church when Huntsman’s eldest daughter, Abigail, was married last year not in a Mormon temple, but at the National Cathedral by an Episcopal priest."

"Causing even more of a buzz within the tight-knit church was a blunt interview Huntsman gave last year to Fortune that nearly everyone interviewed for this story brought up, without prompting."

"I can’t say I am overly religious,” he told the magazine. “I get satisfaction from many different types of religions and philosophies.” He pointed out that his children attended Catholic schools and his adopted daughters came from Buddhist and Hindu cultures."

Thanks for the article and quote. Definitely good to contrast Romney vs Huntsman.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2011 11:14PM by Susan I/S.

a former mission pres. & the running designate home teacher for the president of the LDS church, and they were batpized & have served a mission themself, Unless or until they make the open declaration that they are no longer affiliated with the LDS church, I am going to assume that they are, just as LDS Inc does. & I would expect anyone to do the same with me in similar circumstances.

He had nothing to do with his Father's Callings, or even his own Baptism, since he was a child when that decision also was made. He certainly chose to go on a Mission, but so did a lot of us on here. Doesn't someone here have better criteria for wether or not I hate this guy?

This is big news to me.

If true, some of my TBM relatives comments about Jon are starting to make a bit more sense now. Even though they politically lean center-right, they are big Mitt supporters, who strikes me as much further to the right than Jon. I didn't understand the disconnect until now.

Could it be that word has gotten round in mormon circles Jon Jr. is not a true believer? I've noticed KSL/DeseretNews tend to be big on Mitt and more critical of Jon. I know also that Jon Jr. really wanted the Olympics job, but the Utah power brokers gave it to Mitt.

This is really an interesting development.

Huntsman is the University of Utah. Romney is BYU.

A relative of mine is dating Huntsman's daughter. He made it pretty clear after a couple outings with the family that Huntsman doesn't think or act in ways that most mormons would.

You make an important point:

"NonMormons don't make a distinction between what it means to be a believing Mormon and a Mormon by family heritage. He's Mormon to everyone because of his heritage. Most people in politics don't come out and take a stand on which parts of their religious upbringing they hold to and which parts they now reject. So there's been no reason for him to make that kind of statement in the past."

Often, Mormons don't make the distinction either.
If it's your heritage, it's always your heritage.
How they live it, is another question all together.

A friend of mine is friends with the Huntsmans and has had them in her house numerous times - she said she's seen Mary Kate dressed with obvious garment lines and recently too. I'm pretty sure this friend doesn't make a habit of checking other people's underwear, despite being Mormon herself, but obvious lines are hard to ignore.

They may be very liberal, or New Order Mormons - or maybe they are in the process of ditching the whole thing before the election. But they are both LDS on some level now.