Welcome to MormonVoices. Our volunteers respond to public discussions and comments from public figures that misrepresent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We encourage and direct Mormons to get involved in online discussions and thereby help shape the public understanding and perceptions of the Church. Please join your voice with ours, and become a member of MormonVoices.
MormonVoices is an independent organization that is supportive of, but not
controlled by or affiliated with, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
search the site
23 July 2012
Romney Presidential Victory Predicted By Mormon Prophets More Than a Century Ago
July 23, 2012
Policy Mic
More than 160 years ago this week Mormon settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley of what is now the state of Utah after years of religious and political persecution, the assassination of the faith’s founder, and after having been chased out of the United States due to the kind of theistic prejudice that should be foreign to America given its founding principles.
Back then, it would have been hard for Latter-day Saints (LDS) to imagine the rise of one of their own to the pinnacle of American political power – even for a faith predicated on the notion of prophetic visions-given the height of religious animus directed toward them, including an 1838 Missouri executive order authorizing the liquidation of Mormons, which was finally rescinded in 1976.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rich Mouw on Why Evangelicals Need to Be Quick to Listen to Mormons
July 23, 2012
Christianity Today
Richard J. Mouw startled many in the Christian world with a seven-minute speech in November 2004 that detailed how evangelicals had “sinned against Mormons.” By that, the president of Fuller Theological Seminary meant evangelicals had misrepresented what Mormons believed in order to critique them. Mouw, a longtime participant in Mormon interfaith dialogues, has spent endless hours defending his statements to evangelical friends and colleagues. He continues this outreach in Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals (Eerdmans). Salt Lake Tribune religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack spoke with Mouw on the evolving nature of Latter-day Saint (LDS) theology, where it touches and where it diverges from historic Christianity, and how believers can systematically consider faiths outside the Christian fold.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mormons on cusp of new powerful era
July 23, 2012
The Hill
Next year could be a banner one for Mormons in the nation’s capital, with their numbers and influence likely to grow whether or not Mitt Romney is elected president.
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) could raise the number of Mormons in the upper chamber to seven, should he and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) win in November.
Depending on who controls the Senate, it will have either have a Mormon Senate majority leader in Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or a Mormon president pro tempore and Finance Committee Chairman in Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mormons celebrate Pioneer Day with re-enactments
July 23, 2012
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)
July 24 is Pioneer Day, when Mormons celebrate that migration with festivities and re-enactments.
As a way to honor the arduous trek, a group of 250 Atlanta-area church members spent three days last week hiking through 20 miles of Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area.
The crowd was mostly teenagers and young people organized in “family units” with adult church leaders in charge of each group.
http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/mormons-celebrate-pioneer-day-1483071.html
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wharton: Thoughts on Pioneer Day
July 23, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
A state holiday such as July 24th should be spent celebrating all of our many Utah roots, religions and cultures. It should be a day when non-Mormons not only honor the spirit of Brigham Young — who did indeed help the pioneers make the desert blossom like a rose — but our own roles in shaping a state that, despite its quirks, remains a wonderful place to live and raise a family.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54476246-78/mormons-utah-non-brigham.html.csp
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
‘The Bachelorette’ Finale: Why Hide Jef Holm’s Mormon Connection?
July 22, 2012
The Daily Beast
Jef, the laid-back hunk of the group with great hair, took time to let his guard down around Emily, but viewers were still kept away from an important part of his life. The show went to any necessary length to avoid mentioning that Jef was raised a Mormon.
Some viewers may have noticed that Jef, unlike the other men, didn’t serve alcohol during a gathering with his family. When Emily visited his hometown, Jef had to explain why his parents wouldn’t be there. His lips seemed to say something along the lines of: “They are on a mission,” but that line was dubbed over. His family’s ranch in St. George, Utah, was a utopia inhabited by blonde, blue-eyed relatives, including his sisters, who looked like they walked off the set of Big Love.
“I think, if anything, the producers would want to bring it up to stir up [drama] or something, saying ‘Oh, Jef’s Mormon, what does that mean?” says Caitlin Mitchell, 20, a Bachelorette fan who goes to school in Provo, Utah. “When they went to his house, I felt like the siblings kept asking these questions that were hinting at a larger issue. I think they wanted to know, ‘Do you care that we’re Mormon?’ But instead, they’d say, ‘Well, do you think you and Jef have the same values?’”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The corporate side of the Mormon Church
July 23, 2012
Detroit News (Michigan)
I was surprised to learn how the Mormon Church makes money. I had no idea they were involved in so many for-profit business ventures:
First among its for-profit enterprises is DMC, which reaps estimated annual revenue of $1.2 billion from six subsidiaries, according to the business information and analysis firm Hoover’s Company Records (DNB). Those subsidiaries run a newspaper, 11 radio stations, a TV station, a publishing and distribution company, a digital media company, a hospitality business, and an insurance business with assets worth $3.3 billion.
They have an agri-business, AgReserves, which owns “about 1 million acres in the continental U.S.” and have land holdings “in Britain, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.” Its property in Australia alone generates annual sales of about $276 million.
http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2012/07/23/the-corporate-side-of-the-mormon-church/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mormon young men help baptize ‘Pancakes’
July 23, 2012
Examiner
Questions were asked and answered and a copy of the Book of Mormon was given to Pancakes. An invitation was extended to Pancakes to ask God what he should do.
“I still believe that God sent them out into the middle of nowhere, to find me,” Pancakes said. “It’s just been an awesome experience. And I got everything I needed at that camp; I got the Book of Mormon, I got the confirmation. And camp had a special place in my heart already, but now even more so.”
Pancakes was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Angelo Texas. The young men from the camp and their leaders made the 14 hour round trip drive to attend his baptism and Thomas Colbert, the troop’s scoutmaster, baptized him. Pancakes has announced that he is now preparing to go on a church mission.
http://www.examiner.com/article/mormon-young-men-help-baptize-pancakes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jordan Bachynski: Mormon missions … and tiny feet?
July 23, 2012
NBC Sports
Bachynski is the Sun Devil’s 7-foot-2 center that just so happens to be Mormon. Bachynski took a Mormon mission to Miami, where he spent two years in some rough, spanish-speaking neighborhoods in an effort to share his faith.
And as you might imagine, this led to some interesting interactions with the locals.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Obama vs Romney: Mormon Racist Teachings Will Inspire Record African American Turnout
July 23, 2012
Policy Mic
The Mormon faith, to which the Romneys belong, is known to have doctrine that the black skin color was a curse from God against those who turned away from Him. 2 Nephi 5:21 reads, “And the Lord had caused the cursing to come upon them. Yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.”
This is one of several verses that speak of how the curse of black skin came about for African-Americans. Throughout the vast majority of its history, Mormon theology has viewed blacks as “the descendants of Cain and as less valiant fence-sitters in the battle between God and Satan in heaven.” It is because of this theology that Brigham Young led the Utah territorial legislature to sanction slavery.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Daniel Martin Varisco: The Weakness of Romney’s Right
July 23, 2012
History News Network
No doubt many of the Bible-believing saints are praying for the Rapture before November. Let’s face it: what would Jesus do if his choice was between voting for a Mormon (that born-againers say are heretics) or a stealth Muslim (as the birthers contend)? I suspect few would quote the biblical passage (Matthew 22:21) where Jesus says “Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s,” since taxation is obviously Satanic. Besides, Caesar died a long time ago. And I imagine that the Sermon on the Mount mantra of not smiting back, when someone is cheeky. and not resisting evil would also not be quoted. If you happen to be a Mormon, of which there are over 6 million in the United States, then you would expect Jesus to vote for Mitt, since Mormons teach that Jesus has returned to visit various Mormon leaders here in America, as recently as 1918. Muslims are not very likely to vote for Romney because the Mormon church borrowed several ideas (like a divine book delivered by an angel and polygyny) from Islam. So the right wing that has come to vote Republican without thinking is really between the Rock of Ages and a hard place.
http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/147447.html
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Romney Campaign’s Race-Baiting Strategy Could Have Dire Consequences for America
July 22, 2012
AlterNet
Among Christian evangelicals, however, the discomfort with Mormonism is more pronounced, with only 62 percent of that population saying they’d be comfortable with a close relative marrying a Mormon, compared with 78 percent of other adults. But the poll showed that racial attitudes play a stronger role in determining a voter’s preferred candidate.
http://www.alternet.org/election2012/156397/romney_campaign‘s_race-baiting_strategy_could_have_dire_consequences_for_america/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Growing gardens . . . and community in Morristown
July 23, 2012
Morristown Green (New Jersey)
Approximately 85 volunteers from the Morristown congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helped prepare The Urban Farm at Lafayette for an upcoming fundraiser for the farm’s parent organization, Grow It Green Morristown.
Members wearing the traditional “Mormon Helping Hands” yellow vests partnered with Grow It Green Morristown volunteers on July 21 to weed gardens, mulch walkways, build a lean-to storage area and repair fences damaged from the recent ravages of a very persistent groundhog.
http://morristowngreen.com/2012/07/23/growing-gardens-and-community-in-morristown/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
NOTE: This is posted for those who are interested in keeping abreast what is being said around the world about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. MormonVoices cannot and does not guarantee the validity or truthfulness of any information reported. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of this information lies with the reader. As all information comes from other news sources and has not been independently verified, MormonVoices cannot guarantee or be responsible for the security of links in the clipping service. MormonVoices will attempt as much as possible to exclude news articles containing strongly offensive language or which lead to offensive images, but cannot guarantee that some will not slip through.
Journalists
