In a June of 2006 speech, Barak Obama spoke honestly about the uncertainties of belief. “Faith doesn’t mean that you don’t have doubts,” Obama declared. “You need to come to church in the first place precisely because you are first of this world, not apart from it.” Senator Obama laid down principles for how to discuss faith in a pluralistic society, including the need for religious people to translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values during public debate. Continue reading…
Published in Culture,
Discrimination,
Mormon,
blacks,
christianity,
church,
diversity,
inter-faith,
missionary,
news,
race,
racism,
religion and
sacrament meeting .
I was scanning through the news stories over at cnn.com when I came across this article, “Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated”. It started me thinking about my own ward. I live in a state where about 30% of the population is Hispanic, but you wouldn’t know it by going to a Sacrament Meeting Sunday morning. We have a mostly white congregation with a minority member here and there. For a while we had an Asian contingent in our ward. It was so nice to have some diversity. They added a different view point in lessons and 
helped us to learn more about different cultures. Continue reading…
Our new news feature will present an LDS look at current events with an opportunity for our readers to interact from a Mormon viewpoint. Your thoughts are welcome–just remember we all bring a different slant to the table, and be respectful.
Hurricane season is here, with the most recent tropical storm Dolly leaving hundreds of thousands of people in South Texas without power. An estimated 236,000 people were left without food, power, or other services for several days. Retired Lt. General Russel L. Honore, who was leader of Joint Task Force Katrina before retiring, is now urging Americans to develop a culture of preparedness. Since I was in Texas for tropical storm Allison, I saw firsthand how LDS wards reacted in an emergency. One of the most impressive experiences I had during that disaster was the chance to use and share food storage items. So I was taken aback this week when a member of the Church advocated using firearms to protect our stash, stating: “That’s why the Church tells us to keep a gun with our food storage!” Continue reading…
Prophet of Peace
This is why I love President Monson! He has the common touch and appears to love people.
If you watch the video linked above, you will see the news piece on Salt Lake TV. At the very end, President Monson ends the informal report by flashing a peace sign, saying “Peace!” and chuckling. I was completely enamored of him once again. Continue reading…
Published in Asides,
BYU,
Bloggernacle,
Culture,
Discrimination,
LDS,
Leaders,
Mormon,
Mormons,
christianity,
church,
curiosity,
diversity,
doubt,
faith,
families,
history,
international,
liberal,
mormon,
new order mormon,
news,
orthodox,
politics,
questioning,
religion,
reverence and
thought .
We’ve established that there are conservative Mormons (obviously) and there are liberal or “new order” Mormons. Taking the politico-religious rhetoric to its next logical conclusion, I’d like to make a case for moderate (or independent) Mormonism.
Continue reading…
Published in Asides,
Culture,
Happiness,
Mormon,
Mormons,
curiosity,
gay,
homosexuality,
liberal,
love,
marriage,
mormon,
news,
questioning,
sexuality,
thought and
women .
What can we learn about gender roles in marriage from committed gay couples? Is equity the ideal? Is it possible? With less than 24 hours until Father’s Day, here’s some food for thought. Continue reading…
Published in Anti-Mormon,
Asides,
Discrimination,
FLDS,
Government,
Mormon,
children,
faith,
inter-faith,
international,
marriage,
media manipulation,
news,
obedience,
politics,
polygamy,
questioning,
religion and
thought .
Are teens who practice polygamy devout or brainwashed? Are teen terrorists devout or brainwashed? When is a teen old enough to be held accountable for crimes, but not old enough to make his or her own life decisions? Continue reading…
Published in Asides,
Culture,
LDS,
Mormon,
Mormons,
christianity,
church,
inter-faith,
mormon,
news,
politics,
questioning,
religion,
thought and
women .
Should our political views always align with our moral views? When and if they don’t align, why not? Guest blogger Ray explores this idea in today’s Guest Post:
Continue reading…
Published in BYU,
Culture,
Discrimination,
Government,
LDS,
Mormon,
Mormons,
RLDS,
Utah,
church,
curiosity,
evangelicals,
inter-faith,
marriage,
mormon,
news,
politics,
polygamy,
religion and
women .
The raid in Texas is interesting (and differs from AZ and UT prosecutorial efforts) in that polygamy is being attacked directly. So, will this shift in approach result in the end of polygamy (again)? Continue reading…
At the recent press conference (April 6th 2008) celebrating Elder Christofferson’s Apostleship, he was asked to comment about a local issue by The Salt Lake Tribune’s Jessica Ravitz. The question was about a situation that centered around a local group’s wishes to erect a monument displaying their, 10 commandments style, ‘Seven Aphorisms of Summum‘. The group wishes to erect their monument next to an established monument of the ten commandments which is located in a public city park. Jessica asked Elder Christofferson if he had anything to say regarding their wishes. Continue reading…
Ben Stein is prominently featured in an upcoming documentary called “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” where he takes a stab a neo-darwinism, and seeks to bring increased legitimacy to the intelligent design camp. The creation vs. evolution debate is of course nothing new to Mormons, as the early and mid 20th century saw a good deal of postulation and debate on this matter among LDS Church leaders. Typically, Mormons seem generally untroubled by the issue, often finding resolution with “religion tells us why, science tells us how.” Mormons tend to be willing to accept the fossil record and the geological data all while acknowledging the role of a Creator, but without apologizing for the Genesis account. I perceive that latter-day saints figuratively sit back, munch on popcorn, and enjoy the show as the young-earth-creationist-evangelicals duke it out with the secular darwinists. Continue reading…
I am not an Obama supporter and this article is not politically motivated. It is actually a commentary on how the media often creates a controversy rather than reporting an existing controversy. This issue has been weighing on my mind since the Danzig case and the Salt Lake Tribune’s quick retraction of the headline. The Samantha Power story seemed like an apt example.
The headline read:
‘Hillary Clinton’s a monster’: Obama aide blurts out attack in Scotsman interview
Continue reading…
Published in Culture,
Discrimination,
LDS,
Mormon,
doubt,
faith,
gay,
homosexuality,
marriage,
news,
politics and
questioning .
Many of you may be aware of an ongoing case in Utah involving Peter and Mary Danzig. I’m not going to summarize here, as you can read about the details on various sites, but I’ll post links to the back-stories below. This post is just about opening a conversation. The core issues I feel are under debate are about how much involvement the LDS church officially has in the opposition of same sex marriage. The Danzigs resigned their membership because they felt the church was pressuring them to act against their own consciences. The church says (in a very unusual press response to a personal case) that it does not encourage one position or the other, but rather to be active in politics to support your values. Continue reading…
What do ya’ll think?
More steps towards openness in the church?
If so, hooray!!!!!
