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6 November 2011
Ex-Mormon to Christians: Don’t Call LDS Church a Cult
November 5, 2011
Christian Post
An evangelical pastor who grew up in a Mormon family and later embraced the biblical Christian faith said traditional Christians should talk “real issues” with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instead of just calling it a cult.
“It is very clear there are very significant theological differences between Mormonism and traditional Christianity,” acknowledged Ross Anderson, who was raised in California as an active member of the Mormon faith and is now a teaching pastor at Alpine Church in northern Utah.
But the word “cult,” as it is commonly understood, does not rightly describe Mormonism, he told Standard Examiner Friday while talking about his new book, Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor.
“We are just arguing labels rather than talking about actual issues,” said Anderson, director of Utah Advance Ministries which plants “culturally appropriate” churches in Utah and ministers to former Mormons.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/ex-mormon-to-christians-dont-call-lds-church-a-cult-60610/
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Christianity’s growth divides Mongolians
November 5, 2011
AFP
Erdene Otgon Tsagaankhun, one of Mongolia’s growing population of young Mormons, has just spent two years trying to spread the word as a missionary — in the United States.
The 24-year-old is one of around 1,000 young Mongolians the Mormon church has sent to other countries to — as she puts it — “go out on the street, in cars, on the bus, and find people to teach about Jesus Christ”.
Their existence is a mark of how successful the Mormon church has been at converting young Mongolians since the early 1990s, when the fall of communism brought religious freedom to the traditionally Buddhist nation.
The political vacuum and economic hardship that followed enabled a number of Christian groups to enter the country, providing aid and English language teaching, an attractive mix in the impoverished country of 2.7 million people.
A 2010 government census found 3.4 percent of Mongolians now claim to be Christian — a small but growing proportion of the population.
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‘Cult’ criticism of Romney’s faith mixes religion and politics
November 5, 2011
Hanford Sentinel (California)
The debate ignited by the remark once again brought Mormonism, a religious movement that started in America in the 19th century and now numbers millions of worldwide followers, into the limelight.
In some ways, Mormons are used to the criticism. After founder Joseph Smith announced in the 1820s that God had directed him to found a new church that would restore Christianity to its original intent, his followers were persecuted.
That slowly changed as Mormonism gained greater acceptance. Now, with Romney having a good chance of becoming the first Mormon presidential nominee for a major political party, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is poised to achieve greater prominence.
But the group has never been able to shake criticism from evangelical Christians like Jeffress, who view Mormon beliefs as being outside of historical Christian teachings.
“People have been referring to Mormonism as a cult for many years,” said Kathy Barberich, a spokeswoman for the Hanford stake, which includes Mormon congregations throughout Kings County. “We have a lot of detractors.”
“We profess to be Christians and followers of Christ. We are a Christian denomination. Christ is the head of our church. We see our church as the restored church, the original church,” Barberich added.
“I think the more people know about our church, they less inclined they are to believe that we are a cult,” said Paul Thompson, a leading official in the Hanford stake.
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/article_cfad4b2e-075b-11e1-bee7-001cc4c002e0.html
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Conference explores unique challenges of gay Mormons
November 5, 2011
Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — The unique challenges encountered by those who identify themselves as both Mormons and gay were explored Saturday morning during the first general session of “Circling the Wagons,” a three-day conference dedicated to the issues of homosexuality within LDS faith and culture.
The conference, which drew 300 people to the First Baptist Church on Saturday, is sponsored by Mormon Stories, an organization with no affiliation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon Stories claims to “build bridges between all who identify as Mormon.”
The conference featured a number of presentations that conference organizer Joseph Broom said were aimed at “creating a space where LGBTQ or SSA (same-sex attraction) individuals and their families and allies can gather to acknowledge, explore and honor shared experiences.”
Broom conducted the first session of the gathering and read the following from its statement of purpose:
“No issues strike more deeply than whom we love and how we understand and honor God In convening this conference, we are inviting LGBTQ Mormons and their families and allies to step beyond historic divisions to establish a shared space where all who have ever self-identified as Mormon and have experienced same-sex attraction can speak truthfully and respectfully.”
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LGBT MORMONS GET TOGETHER
November 6, 2011
Towleroad
As you read this, “hundreds of gay Mormons, their families and friends” are gathered in Salt Lake City, UT, to talk about sexuality at a conference called “Circling The Wagons.” According to The Salt Lake Tribune:
The purpose of the conference, sponsored by researcher John Dehlin, along with Mormon Stories and Open Stories Foundation, is “to create a space where LGBTQ or SSA individuals and their families and allies can gather to acknowledge, explore and honor shared experiences.”
http://www.towleroad.com/2011/11/lgbt-mormons-get-together.html
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An Israeli Attack on Iran: Justified by God?
November 5, 2011
Jewish Journal
“Judaism affirms the permissibility of war as a response to life-threatening aggression, current or anticipated.” – 2003 Resolution on Conflict with Iraq, The Rabbinical Assembly
“Inasmuch as ye are not guilty of the first offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.”–Alma 43:46 (Book of Mormon)
The drumbeat of war in the Middle East grows louder with each passing day as senior Israeli leaders hint that they may attack Iran in the near future. Yesterday President Shimon Peres, a Nobel Prize recipient widely viewed as pragmatic and even dovish on peace issues, told a television station that “there is not much time left” to try non-military options. There is ample justification in Jewish law for a preemptive attack on people who have announced their intention to kill you. However, many of my readers may not know as much about LDS teachings on the subject. While modern LDS scriptures certainly support defending one’s family and nation from aggression, it is up to individual members to decide whether they can be used to justify a preemptive attack on a genocidal wannabe nuclear state.
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WET’s The Mormon Bird Play Confounds
November 5, 2011
SeattleST (Washington)
Washington Ensemble Theatre continues their exciting eighth season, a season entirely devoted to original works by Seattle artists, with The Mormon Bird Play, written and directed by recent Gregory Award-nominee Roger Benington (SEXTET, O Lovely Glowworm). The “sketches for an allegoric dream” of which the play is constructed are drawn with very soft edges, leaving most of the work of digging out logic or meaning to the attendee.
Or maybe the employment of logic runs contrary to appreciating the show as intended? Maybe the show is meant to appeal foremost to our senses of intuition or our gut-level instincts for metaphor? This head-scratcher of a journey through confounding worlds and rituals poses more questions than it offers answers, seemingly going out of its way not to bog itself down with closed moments or rationalities.
The play, several parts coming-of-age tale, revolves around six young children in Salt Lake City, four of them girls, two of them boys, most of them mormon, all of them portrayed by grown men (although I have no strong suggestion as to why). Most of the pot-stirring is inadvertently perpetrated by Ivona, a bald, mostly-silent creature seemingly of another spiritual realm. When Ivona discovers and resuscitates a wounded bird outside the LDS temple, thus adding to her strangeness and mystique, she becomes a source of admiration, scorn, and curiosity.
http://seattlest.com/2011/11/05/the_mormon_bird_play.php
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Biden defends Romney on faith
November 5, 2011
CNN
Vice President Joe Biden said it is “outrageous” that a portion of the American public feels uncomfortable with presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith.
“Even though he may very well be our opponent, I think it’s outrageous – I think it’s outrageous that people – or the polling data show that they will not support him, whatever percentage it is because he’s (Latter-day Saints), because he is a Mormon,” Biden said while speaking at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday.
Romney’s faith was the center of controversy last month when an evangelical leader and Rick Perry supporter called Mormonism a “cult” and urged Republicans to vote for a Christian instead of a “non-Christian,” referring to Romney.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/05/biden-defends-romney-on-faith/
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Biden says Romney’s religion shouldn’t be an issue
November 5, 2011
Republican Mitt Romney’s religion shouldn’t be an issue in the presidential campaign, Vice President Joe Biden said during a visit to Pittsburgh on Friday.
Biden spoke to a standing-room only crowd of about 500 students at the University of Pittsburgh. They greeted Biden with applause and cheers during a speech that focused heavily on education and student aid issues.
Biden made the comments about Romney when a student asked a question about religion and Biden’s faith. Biden is Roman Catholic.
“I think it’s outrageous” that polling shows some people won’t support Romney because he is Mormon, Biden said. “It’s embarrassing, and we should be ashamed.”
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Students-welcome-Biden-to-Pittsburgh-2253764.php
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Male bashing in Barbados (#5D): Occupying the crease against corruption
November 6, 2011
All Voices
A time when beauty and terror are fundamentally confused: when the most redeeming feature of the Mormon piety Mitt and Tagg Romney espouse – its openness to radical, reformational change – can be easily exploited or perverted to service the spiritual subterfuge of competing pecuniary, political and other interests.
What others denounce as Romney’s ideological flip flopping – for example, his seemingly opportunistic, political pronouncements and policy decisions supporting or opposing gay rights and environmental issues – I see as an extension of his Mormon molding.
I see it as an extension of the secular-religious gambling (or gambit) that mammon mindful Mormonism has always engaged in: a holding in tension of the heavenly and earthly most clearly expressed, perhaps, in the accumulation of material wealth by Mormons like hotel magnate J Willard Marriott – the best friend of George Romney, Mitt’s father.
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Morning Bits
November 6, 2011
Washington Post
In case you were wondering, Vice President Biden may be the most decent person in the administration. “Vice President Biden denounced questions about [Mitt] Romney’s religion, saying it is wrong and unfair to suggest the former Massachusetts governor shouldn’t be president because he is a Mormon. ‘I think it is outrageous,’ Biden said during remarks at the University of Pittsburgh, repeating, ‘I think it is outrageous.’ Biden also said that Romney ‘may very well be our opponent’ in 2012. Citing the prejudice that Catholic candidate John Kennedy faced in 1960, Biden said it’s ‘embarrassing’ that the same kind of issue is arising in 2011. ‘I find it preposterous,’ the vice president said.” I don’t think that Texas Gov. Rick Perry understood the incident was about more than Mormonism.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/morning-bits/2011/11/04/gIQApHxAqM_blog.html
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Tabernacle choir members sign book for Dubuquer
November 6, 2011
Telegraph Herald (Iowa)
Dubuquer Jennifer Dement bought a book called “Amercia’s Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir,” at Borders about two years ago.
Dement, 32, really wanted to fill the book with choir members’ autographs.
http://www.thonline.com/news/tri-state/article_1e983bef-3207-526c-9a69-3afd61bf0502.html
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Community Voices: Separation of church and everything?
November 5, 2011
Savage Pacer (Minnesota)
In 2008, Mitt Romney faced fierce interrogation about his Mormon faith, particularly an old Mormon bylaw, which discriminated against blacks. The bylaw had been off the books for 30 years, but because Romney was a practicing Mormon at the time, they wanted to know why he didn’t do something about it back then.
A short time later, word got out about racist remarks made by Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s pastor and mentor of 20 years. Public broadcasters eagerly gave Rev. Wright a chance to smooth things over in an interview, and were shocked by more racial vitriol. After trying to equivocate his pastor’s rhetoric with remarks by his white grandmother, Obama eventually said, “That’s not the man I met 20 years ago.” The press forgot about Wright in 30 days, but they remembered the Mormon bylaw for 30 years post mortem.
In his 1985 album, “On the Fritz,” Steve Taylor identified the kind of religious belief the press finds acceptable: “I’m devout, I’m sincere and I’m proud to say, that it has no effect on what I am today. I believe for the benefit of all mankind, in the total separation of church and mind.”
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Little-known federal database helping crooks profit from deceased
November 6, 2011
Independent Mail (South Carolina)
“We understand that there is some sensitivity around this database, which is why we only disclose information provided by the Social Security Administration that has already been made public,” said Heather Erickson, spokeswoman for Ancestry.com, which claims to be the world’s largest genealogy site.
Officials at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) said the federal government does not allow them — or others — to redact Social Security numbers they post on the site they administer, FamilySearch.org.
“By contract, the records received from the Social Security Administration must be posted in their entirety,” said Chief Genealogical Officer David Rencher in Salt Lake City. “This same subscription service is also used by organizations including banks, credit unions and credit bureaus to protect against identity fraud.”
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2011/nov/06/little-known-federal-database-helping-crooks-profi/
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Protecting charities, churches and others’ charitable donations
November 6, 2011
Deseret News
From the moment the first settlers arrived in America, churches and civic institutions have been the bedrock of our society. These private organizations, not government, are the foundation of our communities, and their lifeblood are the charitable contributions made by hardworking citizens and families.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks , a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently confirmed this central role for charities and churches at a hearing on charitable giving held by the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee. Unfortunately, the current tax deduction for charitable contributions is under attack from many quarters.
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Mesa voters wading into uncharted waters
November 5, 2011
Arizona Republic
That’s among the tamer allegations. One of the worst came from an e-mail Pearce forwarded from a supporter claiming that Lewis was a “Judas goat” leading the nation to slaughter. The e-mail claimed to be divinely inspired and was aimed at followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Pearce and Lewis also are members.
Add in the firestorm surrounding Olivia Cortes, and it’s a royal mess. Cortes’ now-defunct campaign was contested in court and may face an Attorney General Office’s inquiry for failing to divulge who paid for signs and signature gathering. Testimony revealed that Pearce supporters were handling her campaign in an effort to siphon votes from Lewis and ensure Pearce’s victory.
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Colo. LDS temple moving forward with city support
November 4, 2011
KSL (Utah)
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A city planning board has recommended land for a proposed LDS temple in Fort Collins, Colo., be annexed into the city and rezoned, a move that will allow plans for the 27,000-square-foot temple to advance.
The board made the recommendation Thursday night, as some residents objected to the action.
Planning and Zoning Board members said Thursday their hands are tied, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in July that it plans to build the temple at approximately the corner of Trilby Road and Timberline Road in the southeast part of Fort Collins.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=1016&sid=17947101
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