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8 August 2012
Why I Still Choose To Believe
August 8, 2012
FAIR Blog
There are many paths by which we might return to God, or so some would claim. “Organized religion is not necessary” they might say, “and is too prone to abuse by those who would use it to control their fellow man.” Others who disbelieve in God entirely think it is but an opiate to the masses, or a delusional pacificationinto a state of peace by promising something that will never come in this life. I am aware of such arguments, and yet I am a decided member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Yes, I believe!
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For a Mormon political first, a Mormon blessing?
August 8, 2012
Fox News
Spiritual leaders will give invocations and benedictions each day at the Republican National Convention. Will Mitt Romney ask anyone from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to offer a blessing?
Romney, who will be the first Mormon nominated for president by a major party, never discusses his church while campaigning unless the circumstances require it. Instead, he talks about “my faith” or “shared values” with voters.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/08/for-mormon-political-first-mormon-blessing/
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The Book of Mormon: Twenty reasons you’ve got to see it, courtesy the cast and crew
August 8, 2012
Denver Westword (Colorado)
18. Mormons aren’t just an easy target. They’re a lens.
“They definitely took a chance in writing about a religion that is in the news a lot today,” says Grey Henson, who plays Elder McKinley. “It’s not even just about Mormonism; it’s a vehicle for the show to be written. It’s funny and silly and happy, and we don’t make them caricatures. It’s not about putting them under the magnifying glass or picking on them.”
http://blogs.westword.com/showandtell/2012/08/book_of_mormon_1.php
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Did Budweiser Fire This Ad Agency Because Its Founder Is A Mormon?
August 8, 2012
Business Insider
Anheuser-Busch InBev just axed ad agency McGarryBowen from its most prestigious account–the $270 million Bud Light business–in part because shop founder Gordon Bowen is a Mormon, and thus presumably cannot drink his client’s product, according to longtime ad blogger and BI contributor George Parker.
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A Mormon Girl Among Jews
August 8, 2012
Tablet Magazine
Before I met any Jewish people, I learned about Jews in my Mormon Sunday school classes. But no one used the word “Jews.” Instead, it was always “Israel,” or “the tribes of Israel,” or “Israelites.” Or maybe even “Hebrews.”
During sacrament meeting on Sunday morning, I would trace the movements of the Israelites charted on the colored maps at the back of my scriptures. Perhaps the most important of these movements, I learned, was the exodus of a small family of Israelites led by a righteous man named Lehi away from the land of their ancestors and across the ocean to the Americas, where they grew and divided and clashed and became the civilizations of the Book of Mormon. In Sunday school, I studied the colorful Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon illustrations that my teacher propped up on her knees as we all sat in our little semicircle of child-sized chairs. The Israelites in these pictures were tall, dark-haired, and heroically muscled. Their expertly crafted wooden ships parted the waters as they approached some unspecified American coastline. At the center of the painting stood Lehi, the white-bearded patriarch, looking toward the heavens in prayer as the rest of the traveling party strained to see land on the horizon; his wife, Sariah, clung to him and silently rested her head upon his shoulder, eyes closed.
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/108421/a-mormon-girl-among-jews
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Controversial author Richard Dawkins rips Mitt Romney and Mormonism
August 8, 2012
The Hill
Controversial evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins, a leading anti-religion activist, ripped Mitt Romney and his Mormon religion over Twitter on Wednesday.
“Romney confuses Sikh with Sheikh,” Dawkins tweeted.
At a fundraiser in Iowa on Tuesday, while discussing the Wisconsin temple shooting earlier in the week, Romney mistakenly used the word “Sheikh” while referring to the victims.
“Also confuses ‘Prophet’ with ‘convicted conman using magic hat to read gold plates,’ ” Dawkins continued, in reference to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and Romney’s Mormon religion.
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200 Mormon women lend a hand
August 8, 2012
Orange County Register (California)
It seemed like one project wasn’t enough for the women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Rancho Santa Margarita area. Last month, at the Humanitarian Night of Service, the projects included collecting food for South County Outreach, collecting professional clothing for Working Wardrobes, sewing diaper changing pads for Casa Theresa, and creating quilts for the teens at Orangewood Children’s Home.
Last year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, provided assistance in 179 countries. Additionally, church leaders encourage congregations to spend time and resources to help those in need in their own communities.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/women-367791-help-children.html
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The Rainbow Bridge Page 1
August 8, 2012
Salt Lake City Weekly (Utah)
Martha Arndt had no idea whether she would be booed or simply given a stone-cold reception when she decided to march with the group Mormons Building Bridges in the June 2012 Pride Parade. The former LDS Primary president and Relief Society counselor was nervous as she dressed in her Sunday best, grabbed her scripture bag and headed out with a friend to drive from Logan to Salt Lake City.
Arndt is not your average “don’t make waves” Mormon. For example, she doesn’t fall in line with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ opposition to same-sex marriage. “I’d like to see the church recognize gay marriage as being a legitimate marriage,” she says. “But I would also like to see [LGBT people] take it to the point of obeying the LDS law of chastity, where the policy of no sex before marriage would apply to gay relationships, as well.”
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-51-16318-the-rainbow-bridge.html
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Mormons rallying brethren around Romney
August 8, 2012
Washington Post
We sought a slogan that would simply but directly capture our message and be the focus of our cause. While we considered other possibilities, ‘Choose the Right,’ a phrase familiar to our faith and upbringing, made sense; simple but direct.”
Stephen Steele, leader of a grassroots effort called Romney “Choose the Right” Initiative, on developing a faith-based slogan to rally other Mormons for the Republican presidential candidate.
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Column: Michael Gerson on Romney’s faith
August 8, 2012
Winston-Salem Journal (Oregon)
Questions remain about the role of Mormonism in depressing evangelical political enthusiasm. Some religious conservatives are concerned that a Romney presidency would provide theological legitimacy for a rival, proselytizing faith. But it is unclear how silence from Romney on religion would mitigate this fear. And a portion of the evangelical enthusiasm gap is explainable for another reason entirely: the suspicions of social conservatives about the authenticity of Romney’s social conservatism.
Romney’s pressing need to inject some authenticity — or at least some personality — into his campaign is the primary reason he should talk more about his faith. Take away Romney’s religion and you are left with Harvard, Bain and various corporate boardrooms. Mormonism has been one of the main stages for his leadership, as well as the main setting where he has displayed humanity. He has been a missionary, a lay minister, a spiritual guide. He has delivered sermons, counseled couples and worked with leaders of other faiths. Mormonism is the reason for Romney’s rectitude, the explanation for his wholesomeness, the key to understanding his persona. Without it, he would merely be a stiff, able management consultant. Romney’s reticence on religion leaves a large biographical gap.
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/opinion/2012/aug/08/wsopin02-romney-and-his-faith-ar-2500706/
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Former Sen. Gordon Smith has no plans to seek office again
August 8, 2012
Bend Bulletin (Oregon)
“When I went to Dorchester two years ago, it was essentially to say thank you and goodbye,” he said.
Smith has turned 60. He is CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters and a key Mormon church leader responsible for much of the northeastern United States.
http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20120808/NEWS0107/208080363/
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The Bible plus
August 8, 2012
The Christian Century
A Latter-day Saint friend of mine once invited an evangelical coworker to church. The coworker found much that was familiar in the LDS service: hymn singing, an informal sermon style, robust fellowshiping and scripture-driven Sunday school. But then came the moment when the Sunday school teacher, after beginning with Genesis, said “Let’s now turn to the Book of Moses” and began reading: “The presence of God withdrew from Moses . . . and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.’” I am told that the visitor reflexively searched through his Bible before he realized that he’d never heard of such a book, though of course the story of the burning bush was familiar. And while he didn’t mind the sentiments expressed in the words he’d heard, he knew that they were not in his Bible.
http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2012-08/bible-plus
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The Read: SDSU prof on ‘Daily Show’
August 8, 2012
San Diego Union Tribune (California)
Joanna Brooks, an SDSU scholar of religion and literature, will be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart Thursday to talk about her new memoir, “The Book of Mormon Girl.”
With Mitt Romney running for president, curiosity about Mormonism is growing, and Brooks has become a prominent voice on the faith, featured in The New York Times, on NPR and in the U-T earlier this year.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/aug/08/sdsu-prof-daily-show/
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