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17 October 2012
Notes on Apologetics
October 17, 2012
FAIR Blog
Over the last couple of days I’ve seen a number of comments around the Bloggernacle and on Facebook that reflect some fundamental misunderstandings of Mormon apologetics in general and FAIR in particular. (Such as a confusion of material on the Mormon Dialogue Board with FAIR, and such as attributing material from the FARMS Review to FAIR.) I thought it might be worthwhile in light of this kind of persistent misunderstanding to share my comments on apologetics from this past summer’s Sunstone Symposium. Kaimi organized a session on the topic, featuring him, me, Bridget Jack Jeffries and John Charles-Duffy. Below I have attempted to produce a rough transcript of my comments. At the end I have reproduced the questions, followed only by my own comments (not those of the other panelists).
http://www.fairblog.org/2012/10/17/notes-on-apologetics/
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Mormon FAIR-Cast 111: More on DNA Evidence and the Book of Mormon
October 17, 2012
FAIR Blog
How much Native American DNA has actually been tested? Has any of the testing revealed a connection to the Middle East? If so, what conclusions can we draw from this? In this episode of Religion Today, which originally aired on KSL Radio on August 12, 2012, Martin Tanner follows up on his interview with Dr. Ugo A. Perego regarding DNA research.
http://www.fairblog.org/2012/10/17/mormon-fair-cast-111-more-on-dna-evidence-and-the-book-of-mormon/
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Keeping the Faith During the Mormon Moment
October 17, 2012
FAIR Blog
I recently attended a conference for religion news writers in Bethesda, Maryland, and it left me with some pointed thoughts. For 3 days at the Religion Newswriters Association annual conference, religion and politics were discussed amongst strangers (sshhh! some of us became friends). Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, Buddists, Islamists and secularists met and discussed a variety of topics in the news – all relating to religion. Except for a single panelist who singled out a solitary religion for criticism (guess which?), all religions were treated with respect and deference.
During the conference, we were told we live in the “Mormon Moment” – a time when there is an extraordinary amount of attention being placed on the Church. Culturally, we are highlighted in popular programs, stage plays, and political arenas. Our sacred beliefs are introduced to others through secular channels, and the world around us is beginning to notice us and, in some ways, to accept us.
http://www.fairblog.org/2012/10/17/keeping-the-faith-during-the-mormon-moment/
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Graham family ties tighten with Romney
October 17, 2012
Kansas City Star (Missouri)
The election-year embrace of Mitt Romney by evangelical Christians now borders on a bear hug, given a series of moves by Billy Graham and his family that appear to say it’s OK to vote for a Mormon.
This week, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed Mormonism from its list of religious cults.
The reclassification follows Romney’s visit to Graham’s mountain home last Thursday, a meeting that also included Graham’s son Franklin, who now runs the association for his 93-year-old father.
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/17/3872123/graham-family-ties-tighten-with.html
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Graham site deletes post calling Mormonism a cult
October 17, 2012
Gaston Gazette (North Carolina)
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said Wednesday that it removed language from its website referring to Mormonism as a cult following a visit by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the minister’s home.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported (http://avlne.ws/QX55mV) that the association’s website has deleted an article from its website which listed as cults “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others.”
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/local/graham-site-deletes-post-calling-mormonism-a-cult-1.32012
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Billy Graham’s Website Stops Saying Directly That Mormons Are In A ‘Cult’
October 17, 2012
NPR
Just days after Rev. Billy Graham endorsed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s bid for the White House, the website of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has stopped overtly listing the candidate’s religion among what it says are “cults.”
As The Citizen Times in Asheville, N.C., reports, an article on the website had listed as cults “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others.”
Romney is a Mormon. Now, Ken Barun, chief of staff for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association tells the newspaper, “we [have] removed the information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”
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As Partners, Mormons and Scouts Turn Boys Into Men
October 17, 2012
New York Times
In this hilltop suburb of Salt Lake City, where a vista of white spires signals a concentration of Mormons and their churches, it is a given that every boy will become a Cub Scout at 8 and then a Boy Scout at 11.
With mutual exaltation of God and country and a shared aim of nurturing “morally straight” men with leadership skills and a service ethic, the Mormons and the Boy Scouts seem made for each other, as entwined as a square knot. And in an unusual partnership dating to 1913, the Mormon Church has embraced scouting wholesale, giving it a central role in preparing male youths for their two-year missionary stints and adulthood as lay priests.
Virtually every Mormon church, or ward, has a scout troop. Every Mormon boy is automatically enrolled, and the vast majority participate. An exceptional share — three out of four at Troop 1194, here in Cedar Hills — attain the top rank, Eagle.
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Billy Graham stops calling Mormonism a ‘cult’ after meeting with Romney
October 17, 2012
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)
Top evangelist Reverend Billy Graham is no longer calling Mormonism a ‘cult’ following a sit-down meeting with Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney last week.
The decision to remove the article on their website defining the religion as such is explained as a way to disengage themselves from ‘debate,’ the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said in a statement.
It stopped short of calling it a change in their opinion of the religion, however, which is that of the GOP contender’s devote faith.
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Bill Graham Is No Longer Saying Mormonism Is a Cult For Some Reason
October 17, 2012
Slate
As recently as last week, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association made no secret of what it thought of Mitt Romney’s faith, naming Mormons among an online list of those religious groups it deemed a “cult.” This week, that reference is nowhere to be found on the group’s website. What happened between now and then? The group’s 93-year-old namesake, the Asheville Citizen Times explains, sat down with Romney and promised to do everything he could to help the GOP hopeful get elected.
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Billy Graham’s group removes Mormon cult reference from website
October 17, 2012
Kentucky Post
Shortly after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney enjoyed cookies and soft drinks with the Rev. Billy Graham and his son Franklin Graham on Thursday at the elder Graham’s mountaintop retreat, a reference to Mormonism as a cult was scrubbed from the website of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
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“Freepers” turn on anti-Mormons
October 17, 2012
Examiner
There’s something interesting afoot over on the Free Republic site today. The Free Republic site has been repeatedly surveyed by the Free Republic Anti-Mormon (FRAM) Report for the last few years. It is a hotbed of anti-Mormon activity that is encouraged by its owner Jim Robinson. It has been with interest that this writer has observed the dilemma that has now come to full fruition for the anti-Mormon “Freepers.” Do they vote for a Mormon, whom they regard as a Satanically deluded cultist, or do they withhold their vote and allow Barack Obama, whom they regard as a Communist and a Muslim, yet another four years?
http://www.examiner.com/article/freepers-turn-on-anti-mormons
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How Mormons Have Shaped Modern Management
October 17, 2012
Harvard Business Review (Massachusetts)
I’m also a Mormon, and the statement struck me because, when given a final opportunity to paint a clear picture of himself for the American people, Romney chose to focus on his faith above all else. It’s significant, because it shows how much Romney believes his faith has shaped him as a person, as a business leader, and as a potential president. And he’s not alone in this. Mormonism has shaped many influential business leaders and thinkers of our time. In fact, one of my clients recently asked me, not at all unkindly, “What drives so many Mormons to be management thought-leaders?” She took me by surprise when she listed quite a number off the top of her head. Certainly, it is interesting to note how many Mormons have played an active role in shaping modern management theory. As one data point, while something in the range of 1.9% of the U.S. population are Mormons, 6% of this year’s Thinkers 50 are. Consider the following examples:
The #1 Management Thinker on the Thinkers 50 list is Clay Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, which introduced the idea of disruptive innovation. Just one testament to the impact of this book is that it deeply influenced Steve Jobs’ thinking as he built Apple, according to Walter Isaacson in Steve Jobs’ biography.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/10/how_mormons_have_shaped_modern.html
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Can we please talk about Mitt Romney and his ‘magic underwear’?
October 17, 2012
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)
And if that’s the case things have definitely changed in America. When I was a wee bairn, ‘Mormon’ was a word whispered among grown ups. It denoted something mysterious and unexplainable: they were a society apart, not unlike Scientologists, only with more wives and less predilection for applying tins to the side of your head to measure ‘stress levels’.
When I got older I made some friends who were Mormons. Their religion, as I understood it, forbade all sexual activity outside of marriage (including masturbation). So far so fundamentalist guilt of any ideological stripe – total abstinence neither originated with, nor was perfected by, the heirs of Joseph Smith. Even their fondness for ‘magic underwear’ seemed more comical than threatening.
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Mormon church
October 17, 2012
New Bern Sun Journal (North Carolina)
If you want to learn something about the nation of Israel, or the Jewish faith, or the reality of the Holocaust, you can find a more credible reference than Ahmadinejad of Iran. If you want to learn something about the United States of America, you can find a more credible reference than Chavez of Venezuela. If you want to learn something about the Mormon church, you can find a more credible reference than McCauley of Trent Woods. Truth is usually a casualty when political expediency rules.
McCauley’s letter, published Oct. 7, was a vile, and spiteful, attack on Christianity in general.
http://www.newbernsj.com/opinion/editorials/mormon-church-1.31678
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McEntee: Mormon apostle misses mark on gay parents
October 17, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
Oaks, speaking for his global church, quotes scholars, saying “Throughout history, marriage has first and foremost been an institution for procreation and raising children.”
Has Oaks ever met a same-sex couple with kids? Has he taken time to talk to them, to understand them? Then he might have more charity for people who love their kids and grandkids just like any straight couple would and do.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55100079-78/oaks-marriage-gay-apostle.html.csp
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The Mormon Girl’s Guide to Equal Opportunity in the Workplace
October 17, 2012
Religion Dispatches
5. Type up letter-perfect resume. In a pleasing font.
6. Place resume in hand-quilted, appliquéd binder.
7. Leave the binder somewhere important.
8. Wait for Beneficent and Powerful Father Figure to pick you to work for him.
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Mormon Church lowers age for missions
October 17, 2012
Springfield News-Leader (Missouri)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has lowered its eligibility age for mission work, allowing many young people to volunteer before going to college instead of splitting their education.
Men will now be eligible at age 18 instead of 19, and women can go at 19 instead of 21.
“The Lord is hastening this work,” LDS apostle Jeffrey R. Holland said. “And he needs more and more willing missionaries.”
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20121017/NEWS07/310170084/Mormon-Church-lowers-age-for-missions
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BYU coaches await impact of lowered missionary age
October 17, 2012
Boston Herald (Massachusetts)
Point guard Cooper Ainge just turned 19, yet if he knew a year ago what he knows now he’d be off on his church mission rather than in his first season as a Brigham Young basketball player.
That’s the situation of many Mormon athletes after a new rule recently went into effect that lowers the age when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can go on a mission from 19 to 18. It’s already affecting players deciding now whether to come to schools across Utah, and BYU in particular.
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LDS stakes see rise in mission applications as age limits lower
October 17, 2012
East Valley Tribune (Arizona)
All of her young life, Eliza Andreasin has wanted to become a missionary in the church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints.
In January, the sophomore at Brigham Young University who is 19 years old, can begin that process two years earlier than she had originally thought possible — something she says many other young women and men at the school are interested in also doing.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_ca5b9ee2-17e9-11e2-a7b4-0019bb2963f4.html
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Mitt’s ‘Binders of Women’ called ‘Sister Wives’
October 17, 2012
World Net Daily
Mitt Romney’s remark about “binders full of women” in Tuesday night’s debate is taking on a life of its own today, even being seized upon by anti-Mormon bigots on Twitter who suggest his comment refers to having multiple wives.
The Republican nominee used the phrase in discussing his efforts to find qualified women to serve in his cabinet when he was governor of Massachusetts.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/mitts-binders-of-women-called-sister-wives/
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Why “Binders Full of Women” Was Such a Curious Thing for a Mormon to Say
October 17, 2012
Jezebel
“Binders full of women” struck such a chord with the Internet after Mitt Romney said it during last night’s debate, because it’s just a really weird thing to say. It conjures up the mental image of a man sifting through the pages of a homemade catalog of females, as though he’s lady-shopping. It’s kind of creepy, and maybe you couldn’t put your finger on exactly why. But maybe it’s because before this, “binders full of women” already had some association with creepiness, and like Romney, with Mormonism.
Known as the “joy book,” it’s a register that the FLDS prophet allegedly keeps of girls who are eligible for marriage, most of whom are underage, and it serves as a dating pool for fundamentalist Mormon men looking to add more wives to their homes. While the “joy books” have been discussed by members of the faith that had fled their compounds before being married off to older men without their consent, they were most famously featured on an episode of Big Love, in which they’re depicted, quite literally, as binders full of young women.
http://jezebel.com/5952656/why-binders-full-of-women-was-such-a-curious-thing-for-a-mormon-to-say
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Memes mock Romney over ‘binders full of women’
October 18, 2012
Asia One News (Singapore)
Another meme on a fast-growing Tumblr page (bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com) showed a white binder labeled “All My Wives” – a reference to Romney’s Mormon faith which, in the 19th century, preached polygamy.
“Binders full of women? Oh sure, I’ve got hundreds of them,” ran the gag line across a photo of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner standing in a bathrobe amid rows of books in a library.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20121018-378327.html
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State historic park in Yuma addresses polygamy in new exhibit
October 17, 2012
Cronkite News (Arizona)
Among the murderers and other criminals in Yuma Territorial Prison in the mid-1880s, prominent Mormons were also incarcerated.
Their crime? Polygamy.
These otherwise upstanding citizens were imprisoned to serve as an example. Polygamy, common among Mormons at the time, was and continues to be a crime.
An interactive, digital exhibit recounting the stories of nine of these prominent men is now a permanent fixture at Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. It’s based on the scholarship of David Boone, a professor of religious studies at Brigham Young University.
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Billy Graham, Even After Endorsing Romney, Still Believes Mormonism Is A Cult
October 17, 2012
New Civil Rights Movement
Billy Graham, who endorsed Mitt Romney for president last week, then scrubbed his website of all references calling the Mormon faith a “cult,” still believes Mormonism is a cult. The New Civil Rights Movement, which was the first news outlet to discover and report that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association had removed pages from its website referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as a cult, explained why they removed the pages from their website, but refused to alter their judgment.
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Romney’s in a Cult and Ryan’s a Satanist? The GOP’s 2012 Religion Woes
October 17, 2012
Alter Net
A few months ago, despite ongoing, savage swipes from prominent fundamentalist pastors who called Mormonism a “cult”, the Republican Party sloughed off evangelical right challengers in the 2012 presidential primaries, along with its “anyone but Mitt” syndrome, to pick a Mormon as the GOP standard bearer in the 2012 presidential election.
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Lead Letter: What evangelicals think about the election
October 17, 2012
Florida Times-Union
I read with interest The Associated Press article, “Evangelicals … put to test in support for a Mormon.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Evangelicals know that God has frequently used nonbelievers to get where He will go.
Even in the birth line of Jesus are descendants of both Rahab the harlot and Ruth. Both were born Gentiles, but both chose to align themselves with the God of the Jews and with a healthy fear of His ways.
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Comedian Bill Maher keeps it ‘Real’
October 17, 2012
San Francisco Chronicle (California)
On presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his Mormon religion: I really do think there is something about being brought up a Mormon that allows Mitt Romney to be the ultimate shape-shifter in politics. All politicians do that, but Romney does it in a way that’s just freaky, like the old version just never existed. He came out during the (first presidential) debate and was a completely different guy without any acknowledgment of the past.
http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Comedian-Bill-Maher-keeps-it-Real-3957627.php
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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.
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