Pat Oliphant for January 26, 2012
Transcript:
Man: I figure if we live off the carried interest of our myriad stock holdings and mutual funds, and dodge the payroll tax, and don't mention the accounts in the Cayman and Swiss banks, and if we don't live too long, we can probably just scrape by - if I can find a job. Punk: And if we become a Latter Day Saint...
I invariably love Pat Oliphant’s work. He pillories everyone without regard to race, color, political party, or creed. This, however, comes across as a cheap shot. If Mitt is rich, it’s not because of his faith; if he’s out of touch with the rest of us because of his life of privilege, it’s not because of his faith either. Intended or not, this cartoon delivers the message that Latter-day Saints are uniformly rich and uncaring. The fact that Romney pays tithing – as all active Mormons do, rich or poor – has no bearing upon the man’s politics. Mock him for his behaviour if it seems warranted, but for the love of Ella Wheeler Wilcox, as Nervy Nat once said, leave religion out of it. It’s beneath your usual standard, and gives credence to the unfortunate prevailing sentiment that somehow, it is still socially acceptable to publicly make fun of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rewrite that tagline to say “Or become a Jew” and see how well it would fly… You’d have half the world jumping down your throat in football cleats before you could say “meshugeh.”