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11 October 2012
Award-winning journalist Tom Brokaw and Renowned Tenor Alfie Boe Join Mormon Tabernacle Choir for Annual Christmas Concert
October 11, 2012
Peabody Award-winning news journalist Tom Brokaw and Tony Award-winning tenor Alfie Boe will be the featured guest artists at this year’s Christmas concerts by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square on 13, 14 and 15 December in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The guest artists will also join the Choir and Orchestra for the weekly Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and a mini-concert on Sunday, 16 December.
“We are honored to have these two special guests collaborate with us in our Christmas celebration,” said Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “Alfie Boe is a fantastic artist, and we are thrilled to host a performer of his caliber. The narration delivered by Tom Brokaw with his iconic and powerful voice will perfectly complement the musical performances. Audiences are in for incredible performances of story and song.”
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/tom-brokaw-alfie-boe-mormon-tabernacle-choir-christmas-concert
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Mormon Church Lowers Age for Women Missionaries
October 11, 2012
KEPR TV (Washington)
Just this week — they learned a change would allow followers to serve on a mission younger than ever allowed before.
Men can now serve at age-18 instead of 19.
But the bigger change came for women — now allowed to serve at age 19 instead of 21.
KEPR spoke to a young woman who’s thrilled about her new opportunity.
It’s not hard to tell how Kiersten Hopkins feels about the news.
KIERSTEN: “i was really excited. Like, I’m pretty sure like I had a little spazz party,” said hopeful missionary Kiersten Hopkins.
http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/Mormon-Church-Lowers-Age-for-Women-Missionaries-173811011.html
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Former Mormon missionary’s solo-act causes a stir
October 11, 2012
Houston Chronicle (Texas)
As news that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) general assembly decided to lower missionary ages for both young men and women reverberates around the media world, a former Mormon missionary is bringing a solo theater show to Houston to tell all about his own missionary experience.
Steven Fales’ show, Missionary Position, opens at the TheaterLab in Houston this weekend (Oct. 14) with seven performances over two weekends. The second installment of The Mormon Boy Trilogy, it chronicles Fales’ adventures as a Mormon missionary in Portugal and includes, in Fales’ words, “the shocking and secret ritual from inside the Mormon temple.”
http://blog.chron.com/sacredduty/2012/10/former-mormon-missionarys-solo-act-causes-a-stir/
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Jabari Parker Could Be On Mormon Mission Next Year Due to LDS Policy Change
October 11, 2012
Rant Sports
Jabari Parker initially thought he would have another year to decide whether to attend an LDS mission or not, but a recent decision by the LDS Church to lower the age minimum to 18 could shake things up for the nation’s top ranked senior basketball player.
“I am not suggesting that all young men will — or should — serve at this earlier age,” Monson said. “Rather, based on individual circumstances, as well as upon a determination by priesthood leaders, this option is now available. … We affirm that missionary work is a priesthood duty — and we encourage all young men who are worthy and who are physically able and mentally capable, to respond to the call to serve.”
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Protestant Pastors will Vote Romney, Ignore Mormon Faith
October 11, 2012
Opposing Views
Three times more Protestant pastors plan to vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election, and Romney’s Mormon beliefs are a factor for only a small number of pastors, according to a new survey.
The survey conducted by LifeWay Research Sept. 26-Oct. 3 found that 57 percent of Protestant pastors plan to vote for Romney compared with 17 percent for Obama. Twenty-two percent are still undecided.
The breakdown is similar to what it was in 2008 when John McCain challenged Obama for the presidency. A survey conducted by LifeWay Research in October 2008 found that 55 percent of Protestant pastors planned to vote for McCain compared with 20 percent for Obama and 22 percent undecided.
The survey also found that Romney’s Mormon background has had little to no influence on pastors’ voting intentions. A majority of pastors (82 percent) who plan to vote for someone other than Romney say their decision was not at all related to his Mormon faith. And 60 percent of undecided pastors say their hesitation has not at all been influenced by Romney’s faith.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/poll-pastors-back-romney-despite-mormonism
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Catholics’ votes up for grabs, but Protestant pastors back Romney with little concern about his Mormon faith, polls say
October 11, 2012
Courier-Journal (Kentucky)
“The survey also found that Romney’s Mormon background has had little to no influence on pastors’ voting intentions. A majority of pastors (82 percent) who plan to vote for someone other than Romney say their decision was not at all related to his Mormon faith. And 60 percent of undecided pastors say their hesitation has not at all been influenced by Romney’s faith.
“The historical significance of the first Mormon candidate nominated for president does not appear to alter pastors’ political positions,” said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research.
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Majority of Protestant pastors back Romney, but many still undecided
October 11, 2012
Washington Post
Among the Protestant pastors who will not vote for Romney, just 15 percent said his Mormonism factored in their decision. Six in 10 undecided pastors said their hesitation is not related to Romney’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A LifeWay survey conducted in 2011 found that 75 percent of Protestant pastors do not consider Mormons Christians.
“If agreement on matters of faith was a necessity for pastors’ voting decisions, Romney would have little support from pastors,” said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. “In fact, Romney’s Mormon faith has led very few pastors to select a different candidate or remain undecided.”
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Horror Stories: Mitt Romney’s Shameful Record with Mormon Women
October 11, 2012
Huffington Post
As Mitt Romney tries to redraw himself as a moderate in the final days of his Etch-A-Sketch candidacy, some troubling stories from his career as a Mormon leader outside of Boston can’t be erased. In this excerpt from an investigative report for Metro Silicon Valley, award-winning journalist Geoffrey Dunn chronicles Romney’s treatment of Mormon women while he served as a bishop and “stake president” in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Massachusetts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/mitt-romney-mormon-women_b_1956568.html
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Election push from evangelicals
October 11, 2012
Monterey County Herald (California)
Evangelical leaders worried that Mitt Romney’s Mormonism could suppress conservative turnout on Election Day are intensifying appeals for Christians to vote.
In poll after poll, evangelicals have overwhelmingly said they would back the Republican presidential nominee despite theological differences with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But what had been thought of as a hypothetical question for American evangelicals for years, Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler said recently, is now a reality with this election and is being tested in a contest that will likely be decided by slim margins.
“The fact is that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and many of our people are very, very uncomfortable about voting for a Mormon, as I am. I supported somebody else in the primary. But, hey, we have no option,” said Steve Strang, an influential Pentecostal publisher, in a conference call with pastors last week.
http://www.montereyherald.com/religion/ci_21752499/election-push-from-evangelicals
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New site uses Ann, Mitt Romney to sell Mormon underwear copies
October 11, 2012
Los Angeles Times (California)
[WARNING: Photos on the site may be offensive to LDS members]
Meanwhile a new website called MormonsSecret.com is also bringing the garments into the open and introducing them to the rest of the world.
The site, which features alternating pictures of Ann and Mitt Romney photo-shopped onto underwear-clad bodies, is attempting to sell the general public replicas of sacred Mormon temple garments. But it’s also treating them in something less than a sacred way, marketing them as kinky Halloween costumes or fetishwear — which is kind of a weird notion since the garments for sale are fairly standard-looking white cotton or mesh T-shirts and below-the-knee pants.
The spin comes from the site’s founder, who goes by the alias “Ann Jackson,” citing safety concerns. Jackson is an ex-Mormon who claims to have worked in the LDS church’s “temple clothing division.” (LDS church spokesman Eric Hawkins would neither deny nor confirm the existence of a special church division devoted to temple garments.) Jackson says that each new member of the church is given a set of the special underwear once found worthy by the church. The garments resemble long underwear and are made of specific cotton polyester blends. They feature special stitching and are embroidered with Masonic symbols.
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After the Mormon Moment, What’s Next–the Muslim Moment?
October 11, 2012
Christian Post
The other day, a colleague asked me if I could ever see myself voting for a Mormon for President. What about a Muslim? My colleague and I are both Evangelical Christians. My colleague is concerned that the LDS Church would influence Presidential candidate Mitt Romney or another Mormon politician’s political decisions, and so is very wary of voting for a Mormon. No longer are we looking at candidates who are Mainline Protestant (President Obama) or Evangelical (President Bush), Roman Catholic (Senator Kerry or Santorum) or Jewish (Senator Lieberman). We are now facing the Mormon Moment in politics, as Governor Romney makes his bid for the White House. A Muslim could very well someday follow in his or her bid for the Oval Office.
I informed my colleague that as far as I am concerned the issue is not about voting for a Mormon, but which Mormon for President. The same thing goes for Evangelical candidates. I would not vote for any Evangelical. I have seen some political candidates call on people to vote for them because they are Christians, or Evangelical Christians. My question: but are they good politicians? Do they know how to work well within their party and with other groups in an effective way that honors the democratic process and that benefits the common good reflected in the golden rule as articulated by Jesus: “do to others what you would have them do to you”? (See Matthew 7:12; of course, this statement is taken by Jesus to sum up the Law and the Prophets; in a democracy {not a theocracy}, the Christian or the Jew or Muslim, etc., must make the case for their views in ways that engage those outside their religious traditions meaningfully and persuasively, showing that they benefit all peoples regardless of their religious convictions for the well-being of a pluralistic society).
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University of Virginia Announces Chair in Mormon Studies
October 11, 2012
New York Times
The University of Virginia has announced a new endowed chair in Mormon studies, making it the first university in the East to have such a position. The chair will be named for Richard Lyman Bushman, a distinguished historian of early America who taught for many years at Columbia University and more recently directed the Mormon studies program at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif., which in 2008 became the first secular institution outside Utah to offer such a program.
Mr. Bushman, the author of “Rough Stone Rolling,” a biography of Joseph Smith, said in a statement that the Virginia chair represented a maturation of Mormon studies, which has recently begun to attract scholars from across disciplines, including many with no personal connection to the church. (He is a Mormon.) “Now we will have a center for study here in the East, where the Mormon movement had its genesis,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for those of us who care deeply about researching the sources of human behavior, motivation, commitment, relationships and expression.”
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Jews & Mormons: A Zion Relationship with Mark Paredes
October 11, 2012
Santa Monica Sun (California)
Mark Paredes, member of the Mormon Church’s Jewish Relations Committee and blogger on Jewish-Mormon relations for the Jewish Journal and Meridian Magazine, will share his insights on long-standing history and relationship between Jews and Mormons on October 18, 2012 7:30pm at Sinai Temple in Westwood.
Paredes’ talk will encompass the history of Jewish-Mormon relations, Jewish-Israelite themes in LDS doctrine and practice, and current issues in Jewish-Mormon dialogue.
http://www.westsidetoday.com/m4-8193/jews-mormons-a-zion.html
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My life among the Mormons
October 11, 2012
The Villager
I went to the local school and lived like a Mormon. After I got up at 5 a.m., I milked the cows and did the chores and, like the other kids, I attended the early-morning preschool classes on Mormonism. I learned a little bit about Mormons.
At that time I thought if I was ever going to be religious I would be a Mormon. I liked the community values I witnessed: How they took care of each other — and yes not everyone was equal, but equal enough to be a part of the whole. The bishop was a bigger deal than the guy I worked for. And yes there were kids with limited abilities in school that sometimes were the butt of jokes, but everyone belonged and everyone was important to the whole group. The Mormon community was made of the whole cross-section of a normal population. Some were well-off and others poor; there were the hardworking as well as the lazy. I was deep in the culture. I lived in a Mormon household, went to the school, dated the girls, went to the community dances, played on the soccer team, had friends, went to the preschool program, went to temple. I was inside the community. An outsider, but living as an insider.
http://www.thevillager.com/?p=7838
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Column: Mormon mommy blogs
October 11, 2012
California Aggie
Mormon mommy blogs: I can’t stop/won’t stop. I’m obsessed. If you’re not a college female, I don’t blame you for not knowing what I’m talking about. Don’t worry — not only do these blogs not affect you in any way, but you can go your entire life without having to think about a growing group of bloggers that influence women and their standards of living.
With the rise of Pinterest users, more females than ever are sporting pastel-colored skinny jeans, taking pictures of their glitter espadrilles while twisting their hair into top knots. Do a little investigating and you’re led to a group of women who blog about their perfect lives, their perfect hair and their surprisingly hipster fashion for being 23-year-old mothers of two.
What I just described was what I like to call a “Mormon Mommy Blogger.” Hard to become, hard to replicate. Mostly because the majority of us don’t have enough motivation or dedication to convert and/or essentially drop off our college graduation gowns in exchange for a husband and “perfect life.”
http://www.theaggie.org/2012/10/11/column-mormon-mommy-blogs/
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Mitt Romney’s business focus indicative of a lack of political vision
October 11, 2012
Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania)
You could argue that Romney is first of all a Mormon. Now, Romney does not deny his Mormonism, but neither does he broadcast it. If he does not go to Mormonism to explain himself and his policies, we can assume that his faith is not going to be central to his governance. Still, some people hesitate.
I know as little as the average American about Mormonism. I assume, as most Americans do, that Mormons are American and moral enough to babysit our kids, chair the local school board and even be president. And that is good enough for me.
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It Is a Moral Imperative to Treat Women As If They Mattered: A Mormon Woman’s Manifesto
October 11, 2012
Huffington Post
I wanted to be honest. There are no accurate polls on how the majority of people in my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, feel about Mitt Romney’s stated policies. Even if most Mormons support his candidacy generally, I can only pass on from multiple blogs and personal conversations where Mormons write or talk about and discuss these issues, what Mormons believe about whether or not they are with Romney on these issues regarding women’s health.
I assured her that Mormons as a whole did not have these same narrow opinions. Privately and in open dialogue, I know Mormons to oppose the positions Romney has taken on women’s health care that make up what is broadly understood as “The war on women.”
Mitt Romney selectively puts forward ideas that he says reflect his faith, but other Mormons disagree with his interpretations of our beliefs. I said that certainly I was one with her — not Mitt. She was relieved that we were not at odds. This was her cause.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-dushku/romney-women_b_1957649.html
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Mormon doctor ‘who murdered his wife moved lover into the family home just weeks later to work as his children’s nanny’
October 11, 2012
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)
MacNeill, a former Mormon Sunday school teacher and father of seven is accused of murdering his wife Michele, who was found drowned in the bathtub at their Pleasant Grove, Utah home in 2007.
He is accused of forcing her to have a face lift before giving her a cocktail of lethal drugs, which he claimed would help her recovery. She was found dead eight days later.
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Lying For The Lord, Part 2
October 11, 2012
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)
So, the question….is it possible that Mr. Romney’s habit of lying, misleading and deceiving voters this campaign season is simply a result of Mitt’s long membership in the LDS…where lying for the lord…or lying for a greater good….or lying to protect your own….or speaking one thing to your own and another thing to those who aren’t…..or using multiple-meaning, special code words or phrases to deceive…..seem to have been long virtuous traditions?
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Mormon Temple tour a rare opportunity for the public
October 11, 2012
KIVI TV (Idaho)
Elder Brett Nattress of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to our studio to explain why the temple in Boise is open to the public for a limited time, and how you can get free tickets to walk through.
http://www.kivitv.com/goodmorningidaho/173708201.html
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