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A few weeks ago Mitt Romney spoke at a college commencement exercise and encouraged the graduates to marry early and have a lot of children. He used the words “quiver full” taken from the Old Testament.The comment was unremarkable, particularly for a Mormon to make. They are known for marrying early and having quivers full of children. Contra the contraceptive culture, even among Evangelicals, the notion of a quiver full from the Psalms is gathering steam among orthodox believers.Here is what he said, “You only live one life. Don’t spend it in safe, shallow water. Launch into the deep. If...

Since 2000, the number of Spanish-speaking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the United States has doubled. Many of those Latino Mormons lack legal documentation, which poses a problem for the church. Young Mormons are called to serve missions — two years on the road, trying to convert strangers to the faith. So what happens when Mormons without papers come of legal age, and set off on their missions? Isaac’s story sheds some light on this quiet demographic. Isaac is his middle name. When his father, Rafael, was 17 years old in Mexico City,...

<p>Cablevision Systems Corporation Go to your Portfolio » The announcement on Wednesday night came two months after TheBlaze began a campaign to get onto cable and satellite systems across the country. Cablevision, which has about three million subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, is the largest system to sign the channel up since then. It is unclear if Cablevision was influenced by the campaign.</p>

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has given tacit approval to the Boy Scouts’ proposal to allow gay youth to join, saying they “appreciate the positive things” included in the plan to end the organization's controversial ban on gay boys. The Boy Scouts of America last week proposed allowing gay youth – but not adults – to participate in the private youth organization. That came two months after they floated the idea of allowing gays and lesbians of all ages to join, a proposal that was denounced by the conservative religious groups that make up a bulk of...

The Mormon bishop who used a samurai sword to defend a neighbor lady being attacked by a stalker is just an irresistible story. So many contemporary memes collide. First the facts, from Fox News: Kent Hendrix woke up Tuesday to his teenage son pounding on his bedroom door and telling him somebody was being mugged in front of their house. The 47-year-old father of six rushed out the door and grabbed the weapon closest to him -- a 29-inch high carbon steel Samurai sword. Hendrix, a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it was the...

SALT LAKE CITY — Mormon Democrats announced a new national organization Thursday with chapters in eight states joining the Utah State Democratic Party's year-old LDS Dems Caucus. The Florida-based head of LDS Democrats of America, Robert Taber, said the organization is intended to counter the perception that "there's only one way to be involved in political life as a good Mormon and that's as a Republican." The LDS Church itself has a long-standing policy of political neutrality. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is neutral in matters of party politics,” church spokesman Scott Trotter said. Taber, who also...

Florida Atlantic University student Ryan Rotela provides example of Jesus' name written on paper that students were instructed to stamp on in March, 2013 class. Read more at http://global.christianpost.com/news/fla-professor-makes-class-trample-on-jesus-name-suspends-student-who-refused-92445/#xi7XADbKX001bKAU.99 March 22, 2013|8:22 pmA Florida Atlantic University professor made his students write the name "Jesus" on a piece of paper and then trample on it, as part of a "lesson in debating," a student suspended for refusing to participate in the exercise has revealed. "I'm not going to be sitting in a class having my religious rights desecrated," student Ryan Rotela, a Mormon, told WPEC. "I truly see this as I'm...

A South Florida college professor’s bizarre classroom antics have made waves for their shocking display of religious intolerance. But they were even more instructive in educating the rest of us on the alarming thought process of yet another Palm Beach County Democratic leader. Florida Atlantic University professor Deandre Poole instructed his intercultural communications class earlier this month to write the name “Jesus” on a piece of paper, then drop it on the floor and stomp on it. One student, a devout Mormon, was so so disturbed by the exercise that he complained to school officials, saying Poole had offended his...

I did not expect to meet so many atheists when I moved to Utah seven years ago. But I should have known better: America as a whole is secularizing, and Mormonism itself has a “scorched earth policy.” My Mormon girlfriend in high school once essentially said, “If the LDS Church isn’t true, I don’t know that I could ever believe in God.” Mormonism already is a form of atheism: it denies the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, first, most high God, and instead teaches a kind of naturalism or materialism: everything is matter, even spirits, and everything is subject to...

The Mormons take tithing very seriously. They are very well organized about it. Members are supposed to meet with their bishop for a tithing settlement. Here is a training session on what is supposed to happen in a tithing settlement. At the end the bishop will mark you as a full tithe payer – or not. If you are not a full tithe payer you cannot be admitted to the temple, much less hold offices. Mr. Thompson had a letter from his bishop explaining this to the Tax Court. The tithing rule is so strict that some have argued...

Last Friday, the LDS church announced a newly released digital edition of the LDS canon, which includes "adjustments" (as they call them). Many have called the changes a bomb detonated to revise history, especially on troubling issues such as racism and polygamy. The reason for the changes? The first paragraph of official discussion on the "adjustments" says this: "The current printing masters of the 1979 edition of the King James Version of the Bible and the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price have deteriorated because of age and long use. The...

A newly released digital edition of the four books of LDS or Mormon scripture—the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—includes editorial changes that reflect a shifting official view on issues like polygamy, the Church’s history of racism, and the historicity of LDS scripture.Perhaps the most significant is the inclusion of a new heading to precede the now-canonized 1978 announcement of the end of the LDS Church’s ban on black priesthood ordination: The Book of Mormon teaches that “all are alike unto God,” including “black and white, bond and free, male...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday the creation of 58 new missions, including one in Utah. The announcement came after the LDS church saw a drastic increase in members interested in serving missions following LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson's October announcement that the church would lower the age of mission eligibility to 18 for men and 19 for women.

<p>DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement Monday regarding an LDS missionary who was sent home to answer felony charges of child rape, which allegedly occurred before he left for the mission.</p>

Former Utah governor and presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman is speaking out in favor of marriage equality, arguing that it is a “conservative cause” that the Republican Party should support. In an op-ed for The American Conservative, Huntsman writes about his time as governor of Utah during which he pushed for civil unions and equality for the LGBTQ community, and adds that the GOP now has the opportunity to do more. “Conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry,” Huntsman writes... Huntsman’s pro-marriage equality stance is not...

...The very recent decision by the current leadership of the Maxwell Institute to forego explicit defense and advocacy of Mormonism—to renounce explicit apologetics—may have been influenced by concerns about the arrogant mean-spiritedness of one or two of those most prominently associated with its apologetic side... SNIP ...notice how the 2012 Mission Statement of the Maxwell Institute reads, and contrast it with the one I quoted...from 2010:.. ...Gone is the language about “defend[ing] the Restoration”... ...during the last conversation that I had with the director of the Maxwell Institute before I left for six weeks overseas—I was dismissed by email roughly...

OREM —Striving for perfection may be driving some female members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to depression, one researcher says. Utah Valley University professor Kris Doty looked at depression among LDS women, finding that "toxic perfectionism" was one major factor of depression reported by the group. The other four factors, Doty found, were genetics, history of abuse, family relationships and feeling judged by others. Over a one-year period, Doty and her colleagues looked at clinically diagnosed depressed women who identified as LDS. Seven of the women were using multiple medications to treat their depression, 19 were...

PORTLAND, Oregon — The Boys Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a Portland man who said they didn't do enough to stop a Scout troop leader from sexually abusing children. A document filed Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Boise said both sides agreed to an undisclosed monetary settlement. SNIP The lawsuit alleges the leader of a Boy Scout troop in Nampa in southwestern Idaho sexually abused the plaintiff over three years in both Idaho and Oregon starting in 1967, and that the abuse left...

SALT LAKE CITY-A Sandy man accused of sexually assaulting a woman and two of her children has been ordered to stand trial on the charges against him. Efrey Antonio Guzman, 47, was ordered to stand trial on charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies, as well as sex abuse of a child and forcible sexual abuse, second-degree felonies, following a hearing on evidence against him... A 13-year-old girl told police that Guzman, a "family friend," knocked on her door May 8 when she and her older brother were home alone. When Guzman learned that the brother was...

Woman accused of brutally murdering boyfriend describes religious conversion and sexual relationship...

Mali has been a hotbed of Islamic extremism of late, as al Qaeda operatives have taken the West African nation by storm. As the country deals with an influx of violence, a presidential election is slated for this year — and there’s a fascinating candidate running for office. Yeah Samake, 42, a Mormon who was born and raised in Mali, is hoping to win the presidency and to save his homeland from the grips of extremism. Samake is currently one of the top candidates in the race — a democratic election that was pushed off last year after extremist activity...

I had my first panic attack somewhere around the age of 12... I thought...I would grow out of such episodes over time...As I got older, the attacks and periods of depression only grew more frequent and intense... For those inexperienced with depression, it’s not simply a few bad days or fleeting moments of unhappiness, but a constant, oppressive feeling of hopelessness. It interferes with your day-to-day life. It was difficult to focus or do anything. Some days it would take me hours to get out of the house simply because I couldn’t summon the will to do anything. Several times...

...LDS women in Utah are at risk for depression due to "toxic perfectionism" and a host of other cultural factors, according to a recent study presented at Utah Valley University... UVU professor Kris Doty..conducted a "qualitative exploratory study" by repeatedly interviewing 20 women over a one-year period. The women were diagnosed as depressed, signed up for the study and identified themselves as active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In her findings, Doty identified five major factors that she said led to depression among the study's participants — genetics, history of abuse, family relationships, feeling judged...

Arizona Attorney General claims sect is holding women against their willHe says police in Hildale and Colorado City are holding the womenMarshal's office in Mormon stronghold strongly denies the claim Police in a Utah town dominated by one of the largest polygamous sects in the U.S. have been stopping women from leaving, according to a top lawman. Arizona's attorney general Tom Horne yesterday announced a criminal probe of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and the Marshal's Office, which serves as a small police force in the twin polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and...

...Follow me on Stand up comic, Dave Ackerman, goes to Brigham Young University to find out what BYU students know about Black History Month.

Late last year (2012) a copy of the 2006 Mission President’s Handbook was posted on an individual’s blog site. This document, produced by the Mormon Church as a practical instruction manual for mission presidents, “contains basic policies and guidelines established by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to help you lead your missionaries and direct the work” (6). The book is not intended for general readership; “general” readers have found that it contains some things that are surprising in light of the public face that the Church puts forth. PaycheckOne such surprise is found in Appendix...

There has been a Utopia, Ohio, and there still exists a Utopia, Texas. In a country with a long history of creating idealistic communities, America may soon see another added into the mix — a city rooted in America’s past, or at least Glenn Beck’s version of it. Mr. Beck, the outspoken conservative U.S. media personality and commentator, this month outlined his proposition to create a self-sustaining city and theme park hybrid. Independence, USA represents a harkening back to a time of a simpler America and would be built on values he sees the country as now “going away from”...

On the Sunday news shows, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., promised that the U.S. Senate would provide a budget this year. That shouldn’t be news. The Senate should always present a budget to be considered. However, it is news because the U.S. Senate, under the leadership of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has failed to present a budget for more than three years. We hope that Sen. Schumer is correct. The failure of the U.S. Senate, controlled by Democrats, to live up to its fiscal responsibilities and produce a budget for consideration, has always been shameful. Such inaction underscores the partisan bickering...

Candace Richins was in the midst of her freshman season with Utah State University’s women’s volleyball team when the announcement came from Church President Thomas S. Monson women can serve missions at age 19 and men at 18. Although thrilled about the possibility of serving a mission earlier, Richins — a possible starter on the team in 2013 — worried because her scholarship and spot on the team would not be guaranteed if she left.A few days later, while in a religion class near campus, Richins knew what she needed to do. “I felt very impressed that I needed to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyQr-U_bJE&list=UUM6L02IavEXd8IxrZF75dMw&index=3

Mormons and "post-election depression" Back on November 8th, Kathryn Skaggs wrote an article on her blog, "Mormons in Mourning: Post Election Depression." In the article she expresses the dismay at having the hopes that Romney might have been the fulfillment of several prophetic statements by early Church leaders regarding a time when the elders of Israel (LDS priesthood) would save the Constitution when it should hang by a thread. Sister Skaggs and other conservatives had their hopes dashed when Romney lost. The reason I mention this nearly two-month old article is that it has surfaced on Free Republic, posted by...

From childhood it has been my nature to find that double rainbow in even the worst adversity I've experienced throughout my life, and like so many of you I've had my share. As an adult I am now well conditioned to find it immediately -- as I've learned that to do so I'm able to overcome a setback much quicker, press forward -- come what may. (Of note, this usually accompanies a very fast turn to Christ as part of the process.) But on occasion, life's disappointments refuse to allow such expediency and we are compelled to pause briefly...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A grand jury has indicted the former manager and current co-owner of Valley Dairy, which owns and operates Palmer-based Matanuska Creamery, on charges of misusing federal grant money that was intended to help Alaska's dairy industry.

In the scramble to make the GOP more diverse, a lot of people are looking at Asian Americans, whom many believe are a natural constituency for the party. I would love it if Asian Americans converted en masse to the Republican Party, but the challenge for Republicans is harder than many appreciate. President Obama did spectacularly well with Asian Americans, garnering nearly three-quarters of their vote. This runs counter to a lot of conventional wisdom on both the left and the right. On average, Asian American family income is higher and poverty is lower than it is for non-Latino whites....

I speak to you today as a teacher.-SNIP-When I decided to become a teacher, Dr. Schaefer’s example inspired me to try to the best of my ability to teach basic, simple truths in the most understandable way. I have learned how very difficult it is to simplify. Years after the war, I returned to Washington State University and found Dr. Schaefer. He, of course, did not remember me. I was just one of many hundreds of cadets in his classes. I thanked him for what he had taught me. The math and calculus had long since faded away, but not...

Most LDS women wear their “Sunday Best” to Church, but one group is trying to encourage sisters around the world to wear pants on Sunday, December 16. The group is called All Enlisted. Their Facebook Page already has more than 600 followers and is gaining national attention. All Enlisted was started by a local LDS woman. Members of the group said this new movement is all about equality and not necessarily about wearing pants to church.

Mormon leaders unveiled a new website Thursday encouraging church members to be compassionate in discussions about homosexuality.Church officials insist they haven't changed the Mormon teaching that marriage is only between a man and a woman and that same-sex relationships are sinful.However, the website includes an appeal to gay and lesbian Mormons to stay in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.-SNIP-"We must not judge anyone for the feelings they experience," church authorities wrote, saying homosexuality "should not be viewed as a disease or illness."The website does not use the words "gay" or "lesbian," the terms preferred by the...

Meridian Magazine, a Mormon magazine, (its website is http://ldsmag.com) has published an excellent article by Warren Aston, titled “The Other Half of Heaven: Debunking Myths About Heavenly Mother.” (Read) It’s refreshing to see this piece published in Meridian, which is often a vanilla-plain LDS-themed publication. (Hat tip for learning about the article goes to LDS writer Joanna Brooks, via her Facebook page).For a divine individual who is presumably equal to her spouse, Heavenly Father, Mormons are hesitant to discuss Heavenly Mother. As Aston points out, the most condescending reason sometimes offered for the silence on Heavenly Mother is that to...

-SNIP-Though a Romney win, by many indicators felt within reach, it didn’t happen. However, the fact that it almost did - and with very few variables could have - this reality has changed everything for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints (Mormon) – for the good.-SNIP--As members of the LDS Church have taken increased opportunities to discuss their faith because of interest in Mitt Romney’s Mormonism, over time it became increasingly evident that no matter what sensitive issue came our way, be it baptism for the dead, racism, polygamy, Mormon temple worship, gender equality, etc… the...

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here) A key difference between Latter-day Saints and many other Christian churches is that Mormons believe that there are various post-judgment kingdoms in the outskirts of heaven. There’s the Telestial Kingdom, for anyone from Hitler to that lawyer who’s cheating on his wife. There’s the Terrestrial Kingdom, for those decent folks who said “not now” when the missionaries came by the door. And then there’s the Celestial Kingdom, the jackpot prize. But even the Celestial Kingdom comes in degrees. According to Joseph Smith, there are three degrees of glory...

Members of the LDS Church are familiar with the charge that Mormonism isn't a Christian faith. They hear it often enough, but they really don't understand why people think that. "We are Christians," Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley insisted. "We have the name of Jesus Christ right in the name of our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We follow Christ. We worship Him. We love Him. He is the center of all we do"("Inspirational Thoughts," Liahona, June 1999, 3; 2 Nephi 25:24-29). In the summer of 2005 we asked Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois to take a...

How America got used to his religion, and mine.On the night of the South Carolina Republican primary in January, I sat near the front of a dark campaign press bus and listened to reporters talk about Mitt Romney's underwear.Earlier in the day, one of them had happened upon the candidate and his wife doing laundry in the basement of our Columbia, South Carolina, hotel, and a small cluster of colleagues had now gathered to listen to him relate the anecdote, lapping up every mundane detail of this rare interaction with the closed-off couple.Finally, another reporter interrupted."Did you see their underwear?"...

Mia Love was supposed to be the first black Republican woman in Congress. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Love was the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, a recently-incorporated, fast-growing suburb of Salt Lake City. She had a newly redrawn Congressional district that put six-term Congressman Jim Matheson, a Blue Dog Democrat and a member of a politically prominent Utah Mormon family, in a precarious position. She had a big-time spot as a speaker at the Republican National Convention. She had Republican All-Stars like Condoleeza Rice, John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Mitt Romney raising money and programming robocalls for her. And...

If the religious makeup of the GoP candidate didn't matter to many FREEPERs, why is the religious make-up of certain voter demographics of sudden interest to many of these same posters? In three post-election days, I've seen five FR threads on what Evangelicals did -- or didn't do -- at the polls...and yet NONE on what Catholics did. Why the lopsided attention? Given that Catholics supported Obama by a 50-48 percent margin, wouldn't that be at least as relevant -- if not more? [Note: Going into the election, Pew Forum found that Latino Catholics were supporting Obama 73-19%, so even...

The ruling United Russia party’s youth wing staged a protest on Thursday against Mormon missionaries, accusing them of being American spies and calling for them to leave Russia. Activists from Young Guard gathered outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Russian headquarters in Moscow, chanting slogans such as “No to foreign agents!” and hoisting placards reading “Foo, CIA!” They also left a symbolic plane ticket, emblazoned with the CIA logo, for a one-way flight from Moscow to Washington outside the headquarters. “This is an American sect,” said Ekaterina Stenyakina, co-chair of Young Guard’s coordinating committee. “They are funded...

A new mobile device app called “BillionGraves,” which combines GPS location data with the pictures users take of gravestones...

BOSTON, October 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – As a young Mormon bishop, Mitt Romney made a passionate attempt to stop a woman from aborting her child.

What would you think if you were told that the most bigoted, intolerant, hateful, and xenophobic political messages this election cycle are being spread by Obama supporters? From ridiculing and disrespecting the Mormon religion to spreading secretly taped videos recorded by an Obama supporter in a Mormon church, those on the left are sanctioning this particular form of bigotry because it’s all for the cause: Obama. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the media, where pages upon pages have been devoted to Romney’s religion. Vicious, anti-Mormon rhetoric, ramping up in the final days leading up to the election, has...

Our White House has been residence to Unitarians, at least one likely Deist, and multiple Freemasons. Is Romney’s Mormonism really any weirder?