An Update on The Mormon Malian

A lot of folks are talking about the troubles in Mali and Algeria these days.  It seems that Northern and Saharan Africa are the next big trouble spots, taking their places alongside the Middle East, and Afghanistan.

Not long ago, as I was listening to the news about the hostages and the attacks against the kidnappers, my thoughts drifted back.  “Wasn’t there some report once about a Mormon that was running for president of Mali?”  At first, I wasn’t sure if I had confused Mali with some other country there on western Africa.  There are a lot of countries there that I’m vaguely aware of, but unable to properly identify on a map.

I looked it up, and, sure enough, that was the report.  I’m not quite sure of the details, but apparently the election was interrupted by a military coup.  Yeah Samake (the Mormon in question) has been still pressing the current government to step down and to allow the civilian election to proceed.

You gotta believe, though, that if he somehow manages to get into the top spot there, he will have inherited a pretty big mess.  In the meantime, he’s still the Mayor of the community where he started, and is still advocating for his country.  I also found it interesting that although he's the only documented Mormon in his country, a nation that's 90% Islamic, he says he's not been persecuted for his faith.  The most recent thing I was able to find on his story was this interview dated Dec 5, 2012.  

You know, I wish him well.  It will be really interesting to see what opportunities for national service come to him in the current crisis.  I haven't met him, so who knows what he's like up close and in person.  But reading his words makes me think a bit about King Benjamin, and his political treatise in Mosiah...  Time will, tell, and I know I’ll be paying attention.






Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

Max: Why I Loved Maurice Sendak

Unless you’re living under the proverbial rock, you’ve heard by now that Maurice Sendak is dead.  Many blogs, editorials, and facebook posts have been made in his honor, and many others have commented on those postings.

I’ve searched in vain for the comments that resonated with me.  Many have said that his writings got to the essence of childhood, and that it dealt with the naughty side of children, etc, etc...  But all that misses the boat for me.

When I was a kid I had lots of nightmares.  I was terrified of the dark.  I used to turn off the light (the switch was by my bedroom door), then run like mad for the bed and dive under the covers before anything scary could get to me.  I would run with fear and terror when, in the dark winter evenings, mom would tell me to take the garbage out.  And don’t even ask me to go down in the basement.  That place was terrifying.

But then there was Max.

He traveled across the sea to a land of monsters.  They were rolling their terrible eyes and gnashing their terrible teeth, and all that monstery stuff.  Was he scared?  No!  He tamed them with his staring trick.  He became the king monster!  He out-monstered the monsters.  And then, the wild rumpus began.

Man, you can talk your psychobabble about being imaginitive and creative, for me, this stuff was empowering.  I didn’t have to be afraid, I could take charge.

Well, it was still scary, and taking charge has always been an issue in my life.  But it became a little less so when I would think of Max.







Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

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Romney, Gingrich, and the Republicans

Religious Discrimination, Then and Now


In 1982, I had a girlfriend.  I was also contemplating and deciding whether or not to go on a mission.  Under the best of circumstances, that would complicate life enough.  My situation, however, was even more messy.

I lived in Indiana, where Mormon girls were rare.  So, in high school and early college, I dated mostly non-members.  Even though at the time, most of the church leaders were trying to discourage this, I didn’t have many options.  Not only were there few Mormon girls, they didn’t like me much.

So, this girlfriend I had was not a member of the church.  She didn’t understand my growing commitment to my faith, and didn’t get why I had to make any kind of choice to leave.  Still, we were “in love” (whatever that means to a 19-year-old).  One thing she had going for her was her morals.  She was one of the few in the college there in my home town who understood that it was a good idea to wait for marriage.

One thing that worked against her, however, was her mother, and this is really what I wanted to talk about today.  This lady hated Mormons.

Let me restate that:  This lady H A T E D Mormons.

In her eyes, I was just this side of the spawn of Satan himself, and why her beautiful daughter would waste her time with me was just beyond her.  She spent a lot of effort trying to get her girl to break up with me, both while I was deciding whether or not to go on the mission, and, later, when I actually was out in the field.

One of her tactics was to try and get her back with her ex-boyfriend.  My girl and this guy had been together about a year and a little more before she and I had started dating.  This guy was a prize, truly.  A real mother’s dream.  In the two years that followed their time together, spanning the time that the girl and I were dating, this guy was married and divorced, all the while trying to get back together with my girl and having a baby with yet a third girl.  My girl used to tell me about how he’d get drunk and come on to her, but she had always been able to keep him off.

And yet, when you add up all of his points, he still some how totalled up to be a better choice than a Mormon.

To tell the end of the story, by about a year into my mission, I could tell that this wasn’t going to work out, so I ended it.  Her next few letters made it clear to me that it was the right choice for both of us.

Then, fast forwarding to now, I’m looking at Mitt Romney, and I’m feeling connection.  Not a political one, I still disagree with his positions too much to actually vote for him, but a personal connection.  The republicans are kinda like my girlfriend and her mom.  Yeah, maybe Perry and Bachman are a homophobic idiots, and maybe Cain and Gingrich both need to learn to control their libidos, and get things clear with their wives (no matter how many they’ve had up to that point), but at least they’re not, well...  You know...  How do I say this nicely...?   ...not MORMON.

Mitt, I feel yer pain...

Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.