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14 July 2012
Mormons Are Descending On New York For This Huge Pageant Spectacle
July 14, 2012
Business Insider
I arrived last night at Hill Cumorah, a tiny hamlet outside of Rochester that is recognized as the birthplace of the Mormon religion.
Every year, thousands of Mormons make the pilgrimage to Hill Cumorah for a huge pageant that celebrates their religion and its founder, Joseph Smith, who is said to have had his encounter with the Golden Plates on this very hill. For one week in July, a 700-person spectacle recreates the discovery of the plates — which Smith translated into the Book of Mormon — and the events that the Book describes every night, with a show that The New York Times described as “the G-rated version of Bonnaroo.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/mormon-pageant-hill-cumorah-romney-2012-7
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Spike Lee Says Don’t Bet on Mitt Romney for President
July 14, 2012
eurweb
*Mitt Romney is really holding tight to his position as the Republican candidate, but Spike Lee says he can only hold so long.
The movie maker shared in a recent interview that there’s going to be a group of people who won’t vote for the white guy simply because he’s a Mormon.
“I think there will be a block of people saying, ‘I cannot vote for a Mormon,’” he said. “They got a tough decision: Obama or a Mormon. Their beliefs got them between a rock and a hard place.”
http://www.eurweb.com/2012/07/spike-lee-says-dont-bet-on-mitt-romney-for-president/
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Ohio Mormon cemetery fascinates researchers
July 14, 2012
my SA
A tiny northeastern Ohio cemetery containing the unearthed headstones of 19th century Mormon settlers may grow if officials find more of the grave markers on the site of a recently closed school.
The Akron Beacon Journal (http://bit.ly/MfqX9W) reports that New Portage Cemetery in Barberton was fenced in about 13 years ago by local Mormon researchers, who had placed headstones there that had been found near a local elementary school. It continues to fascinate local historians who believe the eventual demolition of the now-closed school could yield even more grave stones.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Ohio-Mormon-cemetery-fascinates-researchers-3707080.php
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Immigration spurs a rare split among Arizona mormons
July 14, 2012
SCPR
Mitt Romney is the most famous Mormon running for office this fall. But he’s far from the only one.
In Arizona, two other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Rep. Jeff Flake and businessman Wil Cardon — are vying for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.
All three candidates have said they’ll be tough on immigration. And while Mormons in Arizona have been closely identified with conservative politics, the immigration debate has exposed a rare divide on the issue.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/07/14/33275/immigration-spurs-a-rare-split-among-ariz-mormons/
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Keep your mitts off me, thetans
The Sydney Morning Herald
July 15, 2012
Far be it for someone raised a Catholic to question the authenticity and origins of other religions. After all, I can imagine the look on the faces of the Canaan cops when they pulled over carts returning home, full of wedding guests, and the donkey drivers said they drank only water at the wedding feast. I can hear the young cop on a camel saying, ”Let me get this right. A bearded guy at the wedding turned the water into wine and that’s why you can’t walk in a straight line?”
Fair enough, but the origins of the Mormon Church and the Church of Scientology raise serious questions when their elders are seeking the highest offices in the world.
Mitt Romney wants to be president of the US, Tom Cruise wants to be King of Hollywood and the whole wide world.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/keep-your-mitts-off-me-thetans-20120714-222o1.html
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Romney a hot topic at pageant
Buffalo News
July 14, 2012
As many as 8,000 spectators are expected to assemble tonight on a grassy stretch along Route 21 south of this rural community just off the Thruway to watch a cast of hundreds dramatize the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Hill Cumorah Pageant has been a mid-July ritual here for 75 years, with Mormons coming from around the country to the site where an angel is believed to have bestowed golden tablets to church founder Joseph Smith Jr., who then translated the divine plates into the Book of Mormon.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article947770.ece
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Vatican OKs investigation into Cora Evans sainthood cause
Catholic News Agency
Jul 13, 2012
The Vatican has approved a complete investigation into the cause of sainthood of a former Mormon wife and mother who reported visions of Jesus and a mission to promote “The Mystical Humanity of Christ.”
The March 29 letter of approval from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to Monterey Bishop Richard Garcia was necessary for further investigation into the life of Cora Evans.
Evans, who was baptized in 1935 in Utah after becoming disillusioned by the Mormon faith, died March 30, 1957, near Monterey. She reported visions of Jesus and the saints and a mission from Jesus to promote the “Mystical Humanity of Christ,” the idea that Christ is always within us and we should behave always as Christ would, said Mike McDevitt, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Pillar in Half Moon Bay, who is the promoter of Evans’ cause of sainthood. The spirituality is also focused on praying the Mass.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-oks-investigation-into-cora-evans-sainthood-cause/
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Op-ed: Queer Eye for the Mormon Bishop Guy
Advocate
July 13 2012
Last year, as a sitting Mormon bishop, I came out publicly as an ally to my LGBT sisters and brothers in and outside the church. In the aftermath of my talk in Salt Lake City apologizing to the LGBT community and LGBT Mormons for the pain that they have gone through and recognizing that all too often that pain has been inflicted in the “house of their friends,” their families, their religious institutions, and their communities, people have asked how I made my journey from an adversary to fence sitter and finally to becoming an ally and advocate.
One of the turning points was when I first began developing personal relationships and friendships with LGBT individuals. For me this came about first in a surprising way. I began watching a television show called Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. As is sometimes typical for Mormons on a variety of issues, I was late. I didn’t see it until a year or two ago, when it went into syndication.
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The Mormon behind the Bloomberg cover
Deseret News
July 13 2012
When Bloomberg Businessweek used a sketch of an angel appearing to Joseph Smith as the cover for its July 16 issue about the LDS Church finances, it inadvertently chose an image tied to the sacrifices and faith of a Mormon pioneer artist.
C.C.A. Christensen was born in Copenhagen in 1831, a year after Joseph Smith Jr. founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By the time Christensen was baptized a member, Joseph Smith had already been killed by a mob.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865559030/The-Mormon-behind-the-Bloomberg-cover.html
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Mormons and non-Mormons alike should regard Businessweek story as harbinger of salvation
The Washington Post
July 13 2012
First, the economy is in the toilet. The numbers get worse every day. We can’t see the end of the slump, only the end of the American economy as we know it.
Second, Mormonism is going to seize the country and turn the 50 states of the union into 50 stakes of Zion. (You can Google the Mormon terminology here.) With Mitt Romney’s election, the country will be run by the sinister LDS brotherhood in Salt Lake City that is the real force behind the Illuminati.
Given these two concerns, it seems to me that Mormons and non-Mormons alike ought to regard Businessweek’s recent cover story, “How the Mormons Make Money”, as a harbinger of salvation. I’m befuddled that no one sees it: the LDS Church –an institution of devilishly clever and hellishly successful economic strategies–is poised to rescue the country from financial ruin.
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Businessweek’s story on Mormon money shortchanges faith, writers say
The Salt Lake Tribune
Jul 13, 2012
The problem with Businessweek’s controversial exploration of Mormon finances is not in the details but in the assumptions it makes about the LDS Church and its money.
At least that’s the LDS Church’s view as well as several Mormon writers.
Mormonism is not “just another form of prosperity gospel,” says Joanna Brooks at the online magazine, Religion Dispatches.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfaithblog/54485250-180/church-money-businessweek-faith.html.csp
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Mormon church lashes back at magazine over portrayal of prophet and profits
The Washington Post
Jul 13, 2012
The Mormon church is lashing back at a business magazine that parodied their prophet’s mission and portrayed the church as lucratively rich but miserly with charitable donations.
A lengthy story in Bloomberg Businessweek that hits newsstands on Friday (July 13) details The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ vast financial holdings, from a $2 billion mall in Salt Lake City to a $1 billion ranch in Florida.
Reaction to the magazine’s cover has overshadowed the article, however. The illustration satirizes the moment when Mormons believe John the Baptist bestowed the priesthood on Joseph Smith, the faith’s founding prophet.
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Businessweek’s Mormon caricature cover draws fire
CNN
Jul 13, 2012
Reaction to a recent Businessweek cover was swift and direct, with some bloggers and commentators going as far as to call the magazine exclusive “bigoted” and “out of bounds.”
The article – titled “How the Mormons Make Money,” by Caroline Winter – is an in-depth look into the business side of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with much attention given to the tax benefits the church enjoys and the extent of its holdings of property and stock in multinational corporations.
The magazine cover, the aspect of the article receiving the most criticism, is a caricature of a well-known Mormon painting that shows John the Baptist blessing two Mormon leaders, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/13/businessweeks-mormon-caricature-cover-draws-fire/
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