Marco Rubio Was Once a Mormon

The GOP base - or at least the extremist evangelical Christian portion of it - has demonstrated a continuing fear of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. Among the far right there seems to be a false belief that religious belief is some type immutable characteristic as opposed something that can be changed, rejected entirely, or discarded like a change of clothes. Thus, it is only too hysterical to learn that Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio - a top darling of the GOP base - was once a Mormon. I imagine some conservative heads will explode on this news. BuzzFeed has details. Here are some highlights:

In the compelling personal narrative that has helped propel Florida Senator Marco Rubio to national political stardom, one chapter has gone completely untold: Rubio spent his childhood as a faithful Mormon.

Rubio was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his family at around the age of eight, and remained active in the faith for a number of years during his early youth, family members told BuzzFeed.

The revelation adds a new dimension to Rubio's already-nuanced religious history—and could complicate his political future at a time when many Republicans see him as the odds-on favorite for the 2012 vice presidential nod.

Rubio spokesman Alex Conant confirmed the story to BuzzFeed, and said Rubio returned to the Catholic church a few years later with his family, receiving his first communion on Christmas day in 1984 at the age of 13.

A sign that Rubio's aides see the story as potentially damaging: BuzzFeed's inquiries appear to have sent them into frantic damage-control mode, and after email inquiries from BuzzFeed — but minutes before Conant responded with a phone call this morning — a brief item appeared on the blog of the Miami Herald mentioning the Senator's religous past. Conant said Rubio planned to discuss his time as a Mormon in his forthcoming book.

The story of Rubio's conversion to Mormonism, his enthusiastic immersion in LDS adolescent life, and his eventual departure from the church was recently related to BuzzFeed by two of the Senator's first cousins, Mo Denis, a Democratic State Senator in Nevada, and his sister Michelle — both of whom were close to his family at the time.

"He was totally into it," Michelle recalled. "He's always been into religion. Football and religion. Those were his things." Over the years, he and his cousins frequented LDS youth groups, attended church most Sundays—often walking to the chapel because his mother didn't know how to drive—and latched on to the mainstream Mormon culture that was easily accessible in LDS-heavy Nevada.

Conant told BuzzFeed that Rubio never requested to have his name removed from the LDS Church's records, which means officially, the church is likely still counting him as a member.

Michelle said the family eventually started identifying as Catholic—once again, at Marco's urging. "He really convinced the whole family to switch religions," she said. "He's very vocal so he convinced them all the become Catholic."

The reason for his adamancy is unclear. But even while the conversion marked a return to his family's religious roots, it wasn't the end of his spiritual evolution. While Rubio continues to identify as a Conservative Roman Catholic, he frequently attends a non-denominational Baptist church with his family in Florida. As his notoriety increases, both communities have sought to lay claim to the rising political star, with little resistance from Rubio himself.

To me, one's religious affiliation doesn't matter as long as they can grasp that their personal religious beliefs should not affect laws and policies in a manner that harms the religious freedoms of other citizens - something the Christianist clearly refuse to grasp. The batshitery being pushed by the Christianists and Virginia GOP is a case inn point of how personal belief needs to remain out of public policy.

Catholic Pharmacy Shutters Doors in Virginia

A reader sent me the link to a story in the Washington Times - not one of my normal reads I will confess - about a pharmacy in Northern Virginia that opened to a lot of wingnut fanfare that was forced to close because it put "moral values" ahead of stocking inventory that customers want to purchase. The American Family Association and other "family values" organizations have perennial "boycotts" and other attacks on businesses that market to the LGBT community - e.g., Ford, Coke, Walgreens, etc. In truth, these businesses not forgotten the message the Catholic Pharmacy apparently never grasped. Businesses are in business to make money and earn a profit. And in the case of publicly traded companies, to generate dividends to shareholders. By refusing to carry contraceptives, many cosmetics and other products, the pharmacy sent the message that segments of the consumer base (including many Catholics who ignore the Vatican's teachings on birth control and many other issues) were simply not wanted. Or worse yet, that they were looked down upon and condemned by the sanctimonious pharmacy operators. Here are some story highlights:
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DMC Pharmacy, a pro-life Catholic pharmacy that opened with much fanfare in Chantilly, Va., in October 2008, closed last month because of lack of funds. "We could not make it work financially," said Robert Laird, executive director for the pharmacy, whose letters stood for Divine Mercy Care. "We could never get that big push to make it viable and finally the board of directors said enough was enough." By the time the store closed March 4, it was losing in the tens of thousands of dollars per month.
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[T]he 1,500-square-foot store on Metrotech Drive did not stock birth control pills, condoms, cigarettes or pornographic magazines. It did have booklets on natural family planning below a picture of St. John Leonardi, the patron saint of pharmacists. It was one of seven pharmacies in the country that refused to dispense contraceptives for moral reasons, on the grounds they caused abortions, lead to promiscuity or endangered a woman's health.
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Situated next to a Catholic bookstore, the founders hoped to attract clientele from St. Timothy and St. Veronica, two nearby Catholic parishes totaling 20,000 members. Within five miles were four other booming churches with 30,000 Catholics. . . . But regular customers never materialized in great numbers.
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Plus, DMC never got into the heavy retail items, such as cosmetics, toys and fast food, that help keep similar pharmacies afloat.

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I feel sorry for employees who have lost their jobs, but not so much sympathy for the store's owners who should have had more business sense.

Therapy and Relationship – A Key to Survival

Once I had told my wife my horrible secret, I began to see a therapist. My therapist was a PhD Psychologist and also an ordained Presbyterian minister. The first item to be worked through was the religious based self-hate that had been instilled in me so successfully by the Roman Catholic Church. If nothing else, the Church is moist expert in instilling guilt and self-hate into countless millions, particularly LGBT Catholics. This therapist helped me to see that there were other interpretations of the Bible and provided many references to books I should read. Seeing him weekly for well over a year, I finally reached a point of some peace with my sexuality from a religious belief perspective. I truly believe anyone from a strong, conservative religious background needs to find an understanding therapist to help them recover from the religious poison they have been given growing up.

Eventually, I hit a plateau with this therapist. He helped me get over much of my religious based self-hate and angst, but we were not making progress on the issues of me moving on as a gay man and dealing with the sense of guilt and failure that haunted me from my failed marriage. Fortunately, I found a therapist who specialized in men in mid-life going through transition due to divorce, loss of a spouse, coming out of the closet, death of child, etc. He was exactly what I needed. It’s taken a long time, but I have put all of the guilt and sense of failure baggage behind me and accept that God made me gay for some unknowable reason. Along the way, there were a couple of overdose attempts and many very dark days. But now, I have reached a peace with who I am and my sexual orientation. My therapist had to hear a lot of crap and whining at times, but now I do not feel the need to apologize to anyone.

One thing many gays say is that they don’t like their therapist or that it’s not working. To that my advice is to keep looking for the right therapist. At some point you will find the right one and your journey from the closet can be made far easier and less of an emotional nightmare.

The other thing that I see as critical in making the transition out of the closet is to have gay friends that you can talk with, either in person or online. Just knowing that there are others out there who have been through the coming out process and made it through mentally in one piece means a great deal. Better yet, find a relationship with a special lover. My long distance relationship with the Chicago CPA did not last, but it did help me on my path. For the last three years, my b/f has played a critical role in loving me and helping me to feel comfortable as a gay man and as part of a gay couple. That’s not to say there were not a lot of bumps along the road or that the b/f didn’t have a great deal of crap to live with as I made my transition. The important thing is that he stood by me at the times it counted most.

Easter Sunday

It’s Easter Sunday, and I have been to Church at First Lutheran Church (FLC) in Norfolk (http://flcnorfolk.com/index.asp) where I have been a member for over four (4) years. It was a beautiful service and it was nice that so many people were warm and welcoming even though I am openly gay. This would never happen in a Catholic Church, especially under the current Nazi Pope. As I will explain later, I left the Catholic Church around the time I came out (which at the time the whole sex abuse scandal was exploding, starting in Boston), since I could no longer stand the lies and hypocrisy of the institutional Catholic Church. I believe it is important for gays to find welcoming churches that understand that being gay is not a choice and that God in his/her wisdom made GLBT people the way there are for HIS purposes and reasons. The homophobia of “Christians” who attack and marginalize gays is basically blasphemy against God’s creation, in my view.

Also, ironically, one of my friends from my “summer life” growing, which will be described in more detail later, attends FLC and I will be going over to her house this afternoon. Tomorrow, I will have an “Easter lunch” with my youngest daughter, Victoria. Overall, it’s a good day so far.