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27 July 2012
Youth Worker Carries the Olympic Torch
July 26, 2012
With the Olympic Torch Relay making its way around the United Kingdom before arriving at the Olympic Stadium in London on July 27th there is one person who will always remember the day when the torch came to the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. David Graydon, of the Gateshead Ward, Sunderland England Stake was nominated to be a torch bearer by the young people he works with as a youth worker for Gateshead Youth Council. David was chosen for the difference he makes in the community where he helps young people get involved in activities in their area. He is always available to help them with their work as well as participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, a personal development programme for youth aged 14-24 years of age which includes volunteering, physical challenges, developing skills and an expedition. The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, who launched the scheme back in 1956, presents the gold medals himself on various occasions throughout the year and over 4 million young people have taken part in 60 countries around the world.
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.uk/article/youth-worker-carries-olympic-torch
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Mormon Tabernacle Choir President Takes Final Bow
July 27, 2012
In June we noted that Ronald B. Jarrett was named as the new president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, effective 1 August 2012. At the conclusion of this Sunday’s broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word, the Choir will sing “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” to outgoing choir president Mac Christensen, who has served as president since 2000.
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-tabernacle-choir-president-last-sunday
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Obama’s Muslim problem = Romney’s Mormon problem
July 27, 2012
Washington Post
And on Romney’s side, reservations about Mormonism don’t seem to be moving numbers. Four percent of Republicans and Republican leaners who are uncomfortable with his religion say they are voting for Obama, but Romney also gets the votes of 4 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners who are uncomfortable with his religion.
Both are very normal crossover vote numbers and suggest the issue isn’t very important for even for the limited number who say they are uncomfortable with Mormonism.
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Poll: Mormonism not impacting Romney support
July 27, 2012
Baptist Press
The poll found that 60 percent of voters correctly identified Romney as Mormon and that most are not bothered by his beliefs. The research shows that for those who know Romney is Mormon:
– 60 percent are comfortable with his faith.
– 19 percent are uncomfortable.
– 21 percent said it doesn’t matter or have no opinion.
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=38371
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My Take: Obama is not a Muslim (and Romney is a Mormon)!
July 27, 2012
CNN
The people at Pew wanted to see how the candidates’ religions are affecting voters’ views of them. But it is hard to hold Romney’s Mormonism either for or against him if you don’t even know he is a Mormon. And according to Pew, only 60% of Americans do know that.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/27/my-take-obama-is-not-a-muslim-and-romney-is-a-mormon/
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Poll: Qualms about Mormonism widespread, but may not impact Romney’s run for the presidency
July 26, 2012
Newser
Misgivings about the Mormon faith are widespread and persistent. Nearly two-thirds of non-Mormons said they see Romney’s faith as very different from their own while just half consider it a Christian faith. Those numbers are little changed since Romney’s first run for the presidency pushed Mormonism to the political forefront in 2007.
Despite those qualms, most voters who know that Romney is a devout Mormon say they are comfortable with his religious beliefs, and few voters reject his candidacy solely because of concerns about his faith.
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Voters and Romney’s Mormon Faith
July 27, 2012
Commentary
The vast majority of those who are aware of Romney’s faith say it doesn’t concern them. Fully eight-in-ten voters who know Romney is Mormon say they are either comfortable with his faith (60 percent) or that it doesn’t matter to them (21 percent).
Oddly enough, more voters (60 percent) correctly identify Romney’s religion as Mormon than (49 percent) correctly identify Obama’s religion as Christian. Seventeen percent still say Obama is Muslim, a statistic that the media always loves to jump on as “proof” of public stupidity.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/27/voters-and-romney-mormon-faith/
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Poll: Most Voters Okay With Romney’s Mormon Faith
July 27, 2012
Christian Post
A recently released poll found that most respondents are either comfortable with candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith or do not consider it an issue.
In findings released on Thursday by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 60 percent of respondents who knew that Romney was Mormon were comfortable with this fact, and 21 percent did not believe it mattered.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/poll-most-voters-okay-with-romneys-mormon-faith-79019/
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Obama names first Mormon to faith-based council
July 27, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
President Barack Obama has appointed the first Mormon official to serve on a White House advisory council that seeks to improve partnerships between religious groups and the federal government to help deliver social services to the needy.
Obama this week named Steven E. Snow, a member of the LDS Church First Quorum of the Seventy, as a member of the president’s advisory council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54572955-90/advisory-based-council-faith.html.csp
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Elder Steven E. Snow appointed to President’s advisory council
July 27, 2012
St. George News (Utah)
President Barack Obama nominated various individuals to key posts within his administration Thursday. Among the nominees was Elder Steven E. Snow, a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Snow, a member of the Seventy, a body that makes up a part of the LDS Church leadership, was nominated for an appointment to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. According to its website, the council’s purpose is “to form partnerships between the Federal Government and faith-based and neighborhood organizations to more effectively serve Americans in need.”
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Obama appoints Mormon historian to White House faith-based council
July 27, 2012
The Republic (Indiana)
A Mormon church official has been appointed to a White House advisory council on faith-based partnerships.
Steven E. Snow is the first Mormon to serve on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Snow is the historian and recorder for The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints. He serves on the First Quorum of the Seventy, the church’s third-highest governing body.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/f5af59dc6cb34c029c0284e45c887842/UT–Obama-Mormon-Appointment
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Romney As A Mormon Bishop: What Was He Like?
July 27, 2012
Huffington Post
Typically, excommunication in the Mormon Church is rare and reserved for someone who fundamentally violates church tenets. Gerson, a Democrat, said her mother interceded with a church authority in Utah, and she does not know if the trial went forward.
The incident raises the question about Romney that has frequently come up in his campaign as the Republican candidate for president: Can Romney relate to the average person?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/romney-mormon-bishop_n_1708387.html
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Poll: Few identify with Romney’s Mormon faith
July 27, 2012
Dubuque Telegraph Herald (Iowa)
“I’m — without question — I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’m proud of that,” Romney said. “Some call that the Mormon Church, that’s fine with me. I’ll talk about my experiences in the church. There’s no question they’ve helped shape my perspective.”
Views of Mormonism generally have held steady. About six in 10 non-Mormons see it as very different from their own faith, and about half say they consider it to be a Christian religion, as Mormons themselves do. Among other Christians, black Protestants (66 percent) and white evangelicals (63 percent) are most apt to say they consider the faith sharply different from their own.
http://www.thonline.com/news/national_world/article_f8305464-81a0-5db0-98bb-892146638ef6.html
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New Pew Poll Finds Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Religion
July 27, 2012
Meridian Magazine
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 28-July 9, 2012 among 2,973 adults, including 2,373 registered voters, finds that 60% of voters are aware that Romney is Mormon, virtually unchanged from four months ago, during the GOP primaries.
The vast majority of those who are aware of Romney’s faith say it doesn’t concern them. Fully eight-in-ten voters who know Romney is Mormon say they are either comfortable with his faith (60%) or that it doesn’t matter to them (21%).
http://ldsmag.com/article/1/11195
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Pierce: PBS’s ‘Frontline’ promises full report on Romney’s Mormonism
July 27, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
If Mitt Romney has, perhaps, soft-pedaled his Mormon faith as he campaigns for the presidency, PBS’s “Frontline” won’t.
Filmmaker Michael Kirk promises that when “The Choice 2012″ airs nationally on Oct. 9, “We are going full speed, ears back, head down, right at it to understand it in every possible way.”
He promised to delve into “every bit of it — his mission to France, and the politics of it. I think when we are done, you’ll understand it in a much better way.”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/54567045-80/romney-kirk-obama-choice.html.csp
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Hippodrome confirms ‘Book of Mormon’ for 2013-2014 season
July 27, 2012
Baltimore Sun (Maryland)
The Hippodrome Theatre has confirmed what could only be vaguely hinted at before, namely that “The Book of Mormon,” the hottest Broadway musical in years, will play Baltimore.
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‘Book of Mormon’ musical coming to Tampa’s Straz for 2013-14 season
July 27, 2012
Tampa Bay Times (Florida)
The national tour of The Book of Mormon, winner of nine Tony Awards including best musical, will play the Straz Center in Tampa as part of the venue’s 2013-14 Broadway season.
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Was Jesus Lily-White? Author Edward Blum Discusses Race and the Mormon Religion
July 27, 2012
Daily Beast
In the 2008 presidential race, the words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former preacher, about a black Jesus being killed by white Romans, caused a firestorm of controversy and almost destroyed Obama’s campaign.
Those hostilities still linger among many white conservative Christians, says Blum. But, he says, there has been little if any questioning in this campaign of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ approach to what Jesus looked like.
“Why did Wright’s jeremiads and visions of a black Jesus so terrify Americans in 2008, and why does the powerful white, blue-eyed imagery of the Jesus of Romney’s Mormon faith arouse no interest?” asks Blum. “Neither one is accurate, but only one has generated outrage or gotten much media attention.”
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Sunstone: Designer recalls history of LDS Church’s ‘visual identity’
July 27, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
The push to create a singular look for the church’s name didn’t happen until the 1970s, said Salt Lake City graphic designer Randall Smith Thursday during a presentation at the annual Sunstone Symposium, an annual gathering of Mormon intellectuals.
Smith had just received his design degree from the University of Utah in 1972 when he was hired to work in the church’s graphic design department. Not long after, an LDS general authority asked if the team could create “a welcome sign” to stand in front of Mormon chapels, much as they do in front of many Protestant and Catholic churches.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/54575040-80/church-logo-lds-smith.html.csp
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Gay Mormon shares life experiences at Northern Utah LGBTQ summit
July 27, 2012
Standard Examiner (Utah)
Thursday was the first night of a three-day Northern Utah LGBTQ Youth Summit on helping families and caretakers accept their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children, and Mayne, opening the summit with his story, said he wished the research available today had been there for him more than 30 years ago.
“Those were not the words of a mother who wanted her son dead. Those were the words of a Mormon mother who was terrified,” he said. “She did not know what else to do.”
Mayne is now the executive secretary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Bay Ward of the San Francisco Stake. He laments that LGBT young people, including those in LDS families, are still being told they have “an affliction” or are educated about their sexual identity with science from the 1970s, not modern research, in ways that make them feel broken.
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