There are all sorts of LDS groups

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 04/18/2008 | Robert Kirby

[JRochelle]

This flailing and hand wringing that the LDS church is doing about not using the word Mormon when polygamy is mentioned is to no avail.

I live in middle America.

You say the word Mormon the first word association most people have is polygamy. That is just a fact, there is nothing they can do to change it.

[JRochelle]

First is should be it!

[Utah Binger]

There must be one called Angry Old Mormon Men or Mad Old Mormon Men. I believe there is a chapter called Horny Old Mormon Men in Colorado City....HMMMMMM. Seems Jeffs liked the little boys too.

[Tennessee Nana]

Mitchell .......thought he was “higher than God.”
__________________________________________________

Mitchell was a good disciple of the false prophet joseph Smith...

The false prophet Joseph Smith thought he was higher than Jesus...

[ears_to_hear]

I agree

[Colofornian]

There could not be two groups of people more different. Mormons do not look like members of the polygamous group in Texas — they do not dress like them, worship like them, or believe the same things.

(Give me a break, OMM...Here later in your post you boast about LDS being in every country...and then you have the gall to claim that every Mormon worldwide has a certain "look"...)

Mormons do not...believe the same things...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could not be more different than these small, secretive, polygamous societies.

I would say that four of the key distinctives of the fLDS in comparison to the "Mother Ship" is...
(a) polygamy for "time" (otherwise both groups agree on polygamy for "eternity"):
(b) blacks as eligible members of the priesthood (fLDS is still pre-1978 mainstream Mormonism on that tenet);
(c) they follow distinct leaders;
and (d) the fLDS is isolationist whereas the "Mother Ship" openly proselytizes. (Most of the rest of the distinctions are minor)

Bottom-line? The fLDS are simply a time-machine reminder of what generations-ago-Mormonism was. And that's why I've said on other posts that LDS have a "love-hate" relationship with fLDS polygamy & its own polygamous past AND alleged future.

Of course LDS want to distance themselves from the children, grandchildren, & greatgrandchildren of LDS (now called fLDS)...After all, who wants to look in the mirror of what their grandparents, great grandparents, & great-great grandparents were like? Who wants to open the time machine door & see your own heritage, something you thought was carefully tucked away, displayed in color for all the world to see?

[SkyPilot]

I saw that in the paper this morning. My first thought was, come on Kirby, try to be a bit more honest. Then again, we can be certain to hear the same BS from Lonsberry and Beck.

LOL and Amen! I have to say Utah - you cut through the BS like a buzz saw. I would love to meet you someday.

[SkyPilot]

There must be one called Angry Old Mormon Men or Mad Old Mormon Men. I believe there is a chapter called Horny Old Mormon Men in Colorado City....HMMMMMM. Seems Jeffs liked the little boys too.

Old Mountain Man - this might be time for one of your deep, introspective, sensitive, patented Freep Mail "conversations."

[SkyPilot]

I second it! (Remember, OMM, Lds have taught that Joseph Smith needs to give his consent for you to enter into the celestial kingdom. How's he going to take this moment in time if you denied the reality of all his wives in celestialdom?)

"I won't call you from Behind the Veil."

[Tammy8]

I am not an apologist for the LDS church- any branch of it. I know quite a lot about their history because I am very interested in history and my husband was raised LDS (and has had no part of it since he bacame an adult) His ancestors went to Utah and some stayed and practiced polygamy but his line went on to Oregon because his g-g-g-grandmother would have no part of polygamy and she convinced her husband to continue to Oregon. My sister was LDS, converted as an adult with her husband. I have known many LDS members- there is an LDS community near me. I think their beliefs are quite odd to say the least. I will also say they are as a rule very hard working, and would give you the shirt of their back if they thought you needed it. Most are good upstanding people who live quietly and harm no one. That of course is not true of all the branches. I have never been able to understand how they could believe some of the outlandish things they believe. Warren Jeffs and his inner circle are nutcases and would be nutcases in any religion- but I do agree that they are following many of the teachings of the early LDS church- in spite of what some would like everyone to think.

I have read Ann Young’s book- I read the book in the 1970’s and LDS claimed she was really his 17th wife, but I can understand the confusion- hard to keep track when you take marriage so casually. The book is now out of print and can be found used but maybe not now with all the interest.

[SkyPilot]

Great post (#14) Zakeet.

[greyfoxx39]

pretzellogic...I like it!

[Utah Binger]

Our son was on a Spanish speaking mission in New Jersey. We went to pick him up; stayed at the Holiday Inn in Edison and went over to his apartment in Perth Amboy. (Wow) After his release, he said, “Mom and Dad, I hope you will not be offended but I am now leaving the church”. We had already left by then but as a BYU’er he decided to go on a mission. What a beautiful place NJ is.

Our daughter is a Jazz singer in New York.
You can see her at the Total Wine Bar in Brooklyn on Thursday nights and sometimes at Birdland in NYC on Monday nights. http://www.angelabingham.com/

Next time you are in Southern Utah, please come to see us. Check out the home page.

We try very hard to be direct and honest about our point of view. I notice you do too.

Thanks,

UB

[FastCoyote]

Yes, Wife #19 is biography. The other book to be read that covers the polygamous roots is Tell It All by Stenthouse (intro by Harriet Beecher Stowe). The second link is probably easier. A mirror image of current FLDS events.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;rgn=full%20text;idno=ant6396.0001.001;didno=ANT6396.0001.001;view=image;seq=3;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/6373/fstenhouseindex.html

[SkyPilot]

I just clicked that link. My goodness - Angela is so beautiful.

You must be so proud.

[Utah Binger]

Thanks

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Politicalmom]

Your home is beautiful.

Are you attending a different church now? Is your son happy? Is your daughter still LDS?

Feel free to tell me to mind my own business. :)

[Utah Binger]

The building is now a Living History Museum and former home of the American painter, Maynard Dixon. We don't live there but are in the process of building a home on the adjacent property. If you come here as a painter, photographer or writer, you might qualify for an internship to stay in that building.

Our son is a marketing director for a large computer firm in California. He married a into a Lutheran family and is very passive about any religion. He is fluent in Spanish so that was one benefit of going on a Spanish speaking mission. You might describe our family as Deists. We do not follow any religious organization seeking money but we have firm belief in the larger power in the scheme of things.

The view of the mountain at sunset is proof of that power. Can you believe we have to look at that every day? We also believe in doing good things in our own way. That is why we do art workshops for people with special needs and provide artist retreats and internships free of charge. http://thunderbirdfoundation.com/special-needs-program.cfm

Our daughter is bringing a jazz group of four this year to our annual fundraiser called Maynard Dixon Country. Come and see us sometime!

Sign up here to be included in our news release programs: http://thunderbirdfoundation.com/mailing-list.cfm

[Old Mountain man]

From the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

• The Church reiterated on 6 April that it has no affiliation whatever with the Texas-based sect that has been subject to investigation by state law enforcement officers and child protective services in recent days, and whose leader, Warren Jeffs, was jailed in 2006.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discontinued polygamy officially in 1890. Some people left the Church to continue the practice of polygamy, or were excommunicated because they refused to give up the practice. Some of their descendants are found in polygamous communities today in various parts of the United States and Canada, but especially in the West. They are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• [The late] Church President Gordon B. Hinckley stated the following about polygamy in the Church’s October 1998 general conference: “I wish to state categorically that this Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this Church. Most of them have never been members … If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the Church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church.”
• Some news reports, especially those outside the U.S., still fail to draw clear distinctions between Mormons and polygamous sects whenever stories arise about polygamy in the Intermountain West.
• The term “Mormon” is correctly used to apply ONLY to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Mormon” should never be used to describe polygamous sects.
• Latter-day Saints are offended when elementary mistakes are made in the news media or when printed or posted photographs fail to make the distinction between the Church and polygamous groups.
• Elder [M. Russell] Ballard [of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles] stated: “You would think that after over 100 years, media organizations would understand the difference. You can’t blame the public for being confused when some of those reporting on these stories keep getting them wrong.”
• There could not be two groups of people more different. Mormons do not look like members of the polygamous group in Texas — they do not dress like them, worship like them, or believe the same things.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a global faith with 13 million members worldwide. We teach the gospel in 90 languages. There are members of our faith in every country. We are the 4th largest denomination in the U.S. We have donated over $1 billion in humanitarian aid worldwide. We operate Brigham Young University. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could not be more different than these small, secretive, polygamous societies.