Free Republic

Parts of my article found at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/840079/posts (disproof-inserts added by Bro. Frank Fantasia) "And so it was said that his name would be known for both good and evil." --D&C I am going to be rather bold here. I am both a proud and active member of the LDS Church and of the Fraternity of Freemasory. I have also had the privalege to study under a 9th generation Witch who is also a friend of mine. Becoming an author, I am also a University Student in Theology, History, Literature, Creative Writing, Fantasy, Philosophy and Poetry. I have been a practitioner...

SINCE its beginning in 1830, the Mormon Church has denied any continuous historical connection with Christianity. Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith, claimed that in 1820 God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in the woods near his home in Palmyra, New York. Jesus said that for the preceding 1700 years (give or take a century--Mormons can't say exactly) the world had been living in the darkness of a total apostasy from the gospel. This was the answer to a question young Smith had been pondering. "My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of...

SAN ANGELO, Texas – The first of more than 400 children taken from a polygamist compound boarded buses Tuesday bound for 16 emergency shelters, children's homes and foster care agencies throughout the state, including two in North Texas. As the buses rolled out, the children eagerly waved and smiled at television cameras. Lawyers inside the San Angelo Coliseum who were meeting with their adult or child clients said authorities allowed no one in or out while the children, 114 of them by day's end, were loaded onto the buses.

Texas child welfare officials say more than half the teen girls swept into state custody from a polygamist sect's ranch have been pregnant. Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar says 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were living on the ranch in Eldorado. Of that group, 31 already have children or are pregnant.

After decades of ignoring the polygamous sects of the American Southwest, state and federal officials are now cracking down on the child abuse and other illegal activity within them. Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), has been convicted of being an accomplice to rape and sentenced to two five years-to-life terms. Mohave County, Arizona, charged eight others for sexual conduct with minors in 2005. In March, 2006, the federal government fined one contractor over $10,000 in child labor law violations for using FLDS boys. Washington County, Utah, prosecutor Brock Belnap is investigating deaths of children in the...

This is the fifteenth episode of The Ancient Paths television program, hosted by Pastor Jason Wallace. In lieu of the new LDS movie on the life of Emma Smith (the first wife of Joseph Smith) Pastor Wallace welcomes back Sandra Tanner to discuss the historical details of the life of Emma Smith. The program airs on Wednesday nights at 8:00pm on KTMW-TV20, a station that is available in Utah and parts of surrounding states. The program is hosted by Christ Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City. This episode aired on 03/26/08.Scroll Down to Episode #15

Author Ed Decker, a former Mormon who has been one of the religion's staunchest critics for decades, says a vast majority of people who convert to Mormonism leave the religion within a year because they realize it's not Christian. Decker's latest book is called My Kingdom Come: A Mormon Quest for Godhood. He says the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends out about 60,000 volunteer missionaries around the world -- but most of the 300,000 annual converts, he notes, do not stick around. "Eighty percent [of converts] actually leave the Mormon church within the first year," states Decker....

Mitt Romney isn't the only casualty in his failed presidential bid. The Mormon church, yearning for broad acceptance, also took a beating. Extremists denounced Romney's campaign as a Mormon plot to take over the country. Some Evangelicals feared that a Mormon in the White House would draw more converts to his faith. Mormon practices were picked apart, even ones that had been abandoned long ago such as polygamy. Romney tried to focus on politics, but was often asked about sacred Mormon undergarments. "It is prejudice," said Richard Bushman, an emeritus professor at Columbia University, who is a leading historian and...

  Friday, February 08, 2008 I Hate This   [Kathryn Jean Lopez] From WSJ: A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in late January revealed that 50% of Americans said they would have reservations or be "very uncomfortable" about a Mormon as president. And from Steven Waldman at Beliefnet: Was Romney's religion a big factor in his political fortunes? Here's a data point: the online survey Beliefnet did a couple of weeks ago asked evangelicals whether the religious beliefs of any candidate would make thems more or less likely to vote for a particular candidate. 35.6% of conservative evangelicals them said Romney's...

Mitt Romney suspended his presidential campaign yesterday, after his poor showing on Super Tuesday made a victory over John McCain all but mathematically impossible. As much as McCain and Mike Huckabee loathe Mitt, it's been easy to imagine them conspiring to deliver the killing stroke. Conventional wisdom says Huckabee won five southern states outright and helped turn others, such as Missouri, to McCain by taking conservative votes away from Romney. But Romney probably wasn't going to earn those ballots anyway. Southern states have GOP primary electorates dominated by evangelical Christians, specifically by Southern Baptists. And many of those Southern Baptists...

Using only his Bible as a guide top internet evangelist Bill Keller has a new website entitled “A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan.” Bill Keller the founder of the controversial “LivePrayer” program running for the last eight years is no stranger to controversy. He has confronted the gay activists, Planned Parenthood, Muslim groups and even posted a video response to Osama Bin Laden.

Key Tenets of Mormon Faith By The Associated Press – 18 hours ago Key tenets of the Mormon faith: _Nature of God: God once was a mortal who became an eternal being after a great trial. _Jesus Christ: Christ was God's first-born spirit child, his only earthly child and the only perfect mortal. _No Trinity: Mormons reject the idea of the Christian Trinity — God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as one ethereal being. Instead, they believe the three are separate beings joined in a common purpose. _Pre-existence and the afterlife: Before their mortal birth, humans existed in pre-mortality...

What has happened to the simple principle of telling the truth? That question should be posed to the Mormon community. I’m not an expert on anything—but I do know a little bit about Mormonism—or, as they prefer to be called, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). My father was a Mormon for several years and many of his family were Mormons. I have also spent a considerable amount of time reading LDS literature. Again, that doesn’t make me an expert, but at least educated. I have observed a notable change in the way the LDS Church...

You can tell a man's character by how he acts when he's a guest in someone's home. By that standard, Harry Reid has none. No character, no class, no honor. He came to Brigham Young University this week, a guest of the school, and he acted like a fool. A dishonest, arrogant, manipulative fool. Harry Reid is the Senate majority leader, a Democrat, and he is also a Mormon. A stealth Mormon. The kind who doesn't let it get in the way of his politics. Certainly, that is rude and judgmental to say. But given the nature of his remarks...

BOSTON (Reuters) - As he seeks to become the first Mormon U.S. president, Republican Mitt Romney faces a dilemma in courting conservative Christians who often dismiss his religion as a cult but now could decide his political fate. ADVERTISEMENT Should he address his religion head-on in a speech, as John F. Kennedy did in 1960 to Texas Baptists while campaigning to become the first Roman Catholic U.S. president? Or should he resist debate over a religion that evangelicals, who are key to winning the Republican primaries, often view with suspicion? "It's a delicate balance, but I don't think the strategy...

Romney's visit in South Carolina had a not so surprising McCain/Anti-mormon moment.

The Mormons (Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints) are known for holding many views which are contrary to God’s word. One of those views is that man can become God. In fact, they teach that God was once a man. Notice the following Mormon teachings and we will then examine the subject matter from God’s word: 1. "We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement -- a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it...

BYU NewsNet Evangelists visit BYU, Temple Square By Emilie Foss Daily Universe Staff Reporter 21 Jan 2005 Eighteen Bible students from the evangelical Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Biola, visited BYU campus Tuesday to build friendships, develop relationships and clarify doctrine. ... “It’s time to put away the sticks and stones and do some serious talking,” said Robert Millet, an ancient scripture professor. The group had studied a bit about the LDS faith and read the Book of Mormon prior to coming to Utah. ... Millet and Pastor Greg Johnson, director of Standing Together Ministries in Utah, are trying to...