He served as a U.S. diplomat at the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv from 1994 to 1996 and the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara, Mexico from 1991 to 1993.
He wrote extensively on the subject, including a regular column in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
Paredes' November 2014 blog post "Good riddance to Harry Reid, the Mormon Senate leader"[3] generated controversy[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and received criticism from LDS Church spokesman Dale Jones for "publishing such views while using a title of a church officer, even if only as a leader of a local congregation as in this case.
"[4] In his post, Paredes implied that then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is not worthy to enter an LDS temple, due to his leadership position in the Democratic Party and some of his associated political views, which Paredes claimed included support for abortion rights, gay marriage and the Nevada gambling industry.
[21][22][23] Paredes has also been highly critical of fellow Mormon Glenn Beck, calling his Restoring Courage tour "delusional self-aggrandizement masquerading as Israel advocacy".