Card and The Memory of Earth

Just thought I'd toss in a few words about The Memory of Earth since Mitt Romney has opened up the conversation. I picked up the entire series in 2 vols at a garage sale a couple of years ago, primarily because I like Ender's Game. Not being terribly familiar with Mormon mythology I didn't realize that it was a re-telling of the Book of Mormon until after the fact. I went to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant at the same time I was working my way through the second volume and then a light went on.

First a quibble regarding Ana Marie Cox's summary: only a small portion of the Homecoming series take place in outer space, mostly in the form of a fictionalization of the ocean crossing that I believe takes place in 1 Nephi.

Once I understood the context of the series my first thought was that Orson Scott Card must have some problems with the Mormon Church. The Homecoming series has a rather sympathetic portrayal of a gay supporting character, and the final book or so (its been awhile) seems to be, in part, a criticism of the church's current organization. So it's hard to understand why Mitt Romney would be referencing it, even obliquely. It's also difficult to reconcile the series with Ed's assertion that Card is "virulently anti-gay".