Pat Schwind Presents: Strategic Edge Thursday, 11/05/2009

Local Liberal Radio Talk Show Host, “Dr. Mike” Newcomb: Health Care Reform.

Minutes of 10/22/2009

1. Attended 10/22/2009 : Frank Rickey, Pat Schwind, Rich Woods, Mark Sordahl, Powell Gammill, Katie Puzauskas, Sue Ellen Allen & David Grammer, Bill & Barb Blewster, Jay Shelton, Bob Ciancola, Barb Bentley, Rhonda Jensen, Scott Seymann, Carrie Sperling, Steve Neil, Linda & Gerald Williams, Fred Ash, Jim Shahbazian, Tony “The Magician” Barnhart, Laurin Hendrix, Michael Kielsky, our speaker Cecil Ash, & his lovely wife Linda.

2. Note: All opinions are those of Pat Schwind only, & not those of anyone else at Impact Mortgage Network.

   Our guest was my good friend, AZ State legislator & Devout Mormon, Cecil Ash. His topic was "An Antidote to Atheism: How a Rational Person can Believe in Angels and Lost Gold Plates." I originally asked Cecil to respond to the claims of "apostate" ex-Mormon, (US Army veteran & ex-cop), Sterling Smith, a direct descendant of LDS Church founder, Joseph Smith, who at a Strategic Edge meeting (7/16), called the Mormon faith an evil cult, & claimed that the Church used its influence in Navajo County (AZ), to put him in prison & tried to ruin his life. Sterling also claimed the LDS church was "in bed with the Mob". Being an atheist, I feel that for someone to defend their religion, especially one with such a detailed & controversial history as the Mormons, in front of a crowd of diverse folks, takes a lot of guts, & a real grasp of their material. Cecil did not disappoint us.

   He had some statistics about how well educated Mormons tend to be, & how the more educated they are, the stronger is their faith, not weaker. I had no idea that so many Mormons were so prominent & successful. Cecil gave a lot of specific examples: Famous investigative reporter of the 60's - 80's, Jack Anderson. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, along with 15 other Congressmen & U.S. Senators. The current CEO of Deloitt-Touche CPAs; (Sorry, I didn't catch the name). A former dean of Harvard Business School, & the guy who's now president of BYU-Idaho, (the old "Ricks College"). Philo T. Farnsworth, instrumental in the invention of the T.V. Gladys Knight (of the "Pips")!!

   Cecil went into some amazing detail about the founding of the Mormon faith, known as the "Church of Jesus Christ & Later Day Saints", hence, LDS. The history is very intricate, & begins with a vision by Joseph Smith, at age 14 in 1820, about a visitation by the archangel Moroni, in which he actually saw the "holy trinity", of God the Father, Jesus, & the Holy Ghost. Moroni gave some golden plates to Joseph Smith, (who only had a third grade education), inscribed in a form of ancient Egyptian. Smith then translated the plates with the help of his scribe, Oliver Cowdery. Without divine guidance, such a task would seem impossible for a person of Smith's limited education.

   I thought that Cecil said that only three people ever saw the plates: Smith, along with Cowdery & Sidney Rigman. But in the materials Cecil provided it says that every "Book of Mormon" begins with a testimony from the 3 witnesses, but the third person was David Whitmer, not Sidney Rigman. Perhaps the discrepancy is due to my hearing problem. I apologize for not calling Cecil in the last week to clarify these items, but life's tough & there's never enough hours in a freakin' day. That's life.

   Other materials Cecil provided state that four men named Whitmer, three named Smith, including Jos. Smith "Senior", & Hiram Page, all (8) testified publicly that they saw the original golden plates. And then the information immediately states that Jos. Smith "Junior" was the twelfth witness. The plates were later reclaimed by the angel Moroni. Complicated!

   Cecil then got into a brief summary of the Chiastic Analysis of the translation of the plates, by various linguistic experts. This was very esoteric, involving "Stylometry" or "Word Print Analysis", & sounded a little like the numerology of Louis Farrakhan. But Cecil's not a whack job like Farrakhan, (despite his belief in spirits, & the whole "we got the plates from an archangel" story, which you must admit, is a little hard to believe, if you're a rational person, who bases their belief system on science & reason.)

   I mentioned that, according to Sterling Smith, Jos. Smith only introduced the idea of polygamy, after his wife caught him having sex with a 14 year old girl. Cecil said that's not true, the idea of polygamy came to Smith in a vision, in 1832.

   Re: Sterling's claim that the church is "in bed with the Mob", Cecil said that a few years ago, the "Arizona Republic" (or was it the "East Valley Tribune") newspaper, did an exhaustive study of the LDS church's finances, & found no impropriety at all. I asked Sterling to show up for this meeting, but he declined.

   I'm sorry that I'm really not giving Cecil's presentation a decent review, simply because he gave us so much info, & despite taking notes "fast & furious", I just missed a lot of it. And again, I should have gotten together with Cecil in the next few days, for some clarification, & did not. That's my fault, not Cecil's. Suffice it to say that Cecil did a great job of defending an organization that looks a little "kooky" from the outside, especially when you think back to the "Talking Salamander Scandal" of the 80's (or '90's?). If you'd like more info on Cecil, or the LDS church, please let me know, & I'll put you in direct contact with Cecil.

3. Our next meeting is this Thursday, 11/05/2009

   Please arrive before 7:30 AM at “JIM’s CONEY ISLAND CAFE”, 1750 No. Scottsdale Rd., Tempe, at the southwest corner of Scottsdale & Cavalier, Click Here for a map, 1 block south of McKellips, ~ 1 mile north of the 202 Freeway.

   Our speaker will be Local Liberal Radio Talk Show Host, “Dr. Mike” Newcomb: Health Care Reform.

   Bring Guests!

4. Future Speakers

   • 11/5- Local Liberal Radio Talk Show Host, Dr. Mike Newcomb: "Health Care Reform".

   • 11/19- Update on the “9-11 Truth” Movement, with “Truthers” Mike Shoen, & Russ Wittenberg. That’s right folks: 9-11 was an INSIDE JOB!!

   • 12/3- Former coach of the Belgian National, & UVA Fencing teams, Dirk Moonen, & a student, will give a real live Fencing Demonstration, in the parking lot, after a breakfast presentation.

   • 12/17- How Dan Dominey & Pat Schwind outfoxed one of the Greatest Con-men in the History of Great Britain; We'll watch the original documentary "The Lying Game", from the BBC.

   • 1/14/10- Local Political Analyst & Radio Host Charles Goyette presents his new book: "Dollar Meltdown".

   • 1/28/10- The Holocaust: History's Greatest Genocide or Outright Hoax? Pat Schwind debates Holocaust Denier Friedrich Paul Berg.

   • 2/11- Award Winning Political Columnist, Becky Fenger; Topic TBD’d.

   • 3/11- Denver Police Officer, (36 years), Commander Tony Ryan, now a spokesman for LEAP, (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition): “The War on Drugs is Killing America; Legalize Now”! Tony was the first Police Commander on the scene of the Columbine High School massacre.

   • TBD- Nuclear Power: Hard Core "Greenie" Russell Lowes will debate my good friend & nuclear engineer, Joe Napier.

5. Interest rates are fantastic!! If you need to Buy, Build, Remodel or Refi Real Estate, Call me. 480-250-8182.

Sincerely, Pat Schwind, MBA