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The following message (though not this picture) was posted yesterday on the Mormon Church's public affairs blog. It explains the group's unhappiness with recent news reports that refer to "splinter groups" which hive off from the Salt Lake City-based "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (AKA "the Mormon Church") as "Mormons." These splinter groups (AKA "Mormon Fundamentalists") assiduously devote themselves to the practice of the doctrine of polygamy (which was renounced by THE Mormon Church in 1890) and around whichever Viagra-addled alpha male has set himself up as the prophet, seer, and revelator for that particular harem.

I'm a huge Beck fan, in fact I'm listening right now here http://www.ksfa860.com/common/gap_streamer.php but something really confuses me. It takes the ability to use real critical thinking to know what Beck (and most of us know about the state of the country and where we are heading). That is, we have the ability to discover the truth no matter how much the media or conventional wisdom try to hide it. Yet on Mormonism, Beck is cleary wrong. Any Christian knows that the book or momonism is severely flawed and that Joseph Smith was no prophet. How can Beck cut through...

Any Islamists who may have watched a Glenn Beck interview with Chuck Norris, must have taken delight from Beck pointing the soles of his shoes at Norris:As they also took delight from Obama doing the same to PM Netanyahu:The incident occurrs at about 4:33 minutes into the video. Caution Mr. Beck, Norris sleeps with a night-light. Not because he's afraid of the dark, but because the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris. As well as jihadists!As an article at Weasel Zippers points out, among Islamists there is no greater insult than pointing the soles of one's shoes at someone. Obama certainly knew this....

You might think that the Mormon people celebrate Christmas like a good Christian denomination would. But a doctrinal issue broods over the Mormon people, a historic issue that prevents many Mormons from appreciating the Christian meaning of Christmas. Indeed, it is an issue that prevents Mormons from having a saving relationship with the real Jesus Christ. Just who is that Jesus in the manger? How was he conceived? And what kind of salvation does he freely offer to those who want eternal life and the forgiveness of sins?One of the fundamental tenets of Christianity is that Christ was born of...

As members of the church we recognize that the Book of Mormon was written for us and for our day and age. No earthly Nephite, other than Mormon, and perhaps Moroni, ever read the Book of Mormon in its entirety. It was edited by the Prophet Mormon under the direction of the Savior with the intention of articulating doctrine, events and experiences that relate to our times and circumstances. We live in a time of endemic warfare, and as Joseph Smith prophesied on Christmas Day 1832, from that time forth, "war shall be poured out upon all nations" until the...

Dear Seeker of Truth, I am a former Mormon missionary and apologist (defender of the faith). I wrote a book defending the Church against anti-Mormon attacks ("The Gainsayers" 1989). I spent many years of my life in research, hoping to find evidence for The Book of Mormon, and to counter anti-Mormon claims. I studied Book of Mormon archaeology and also Mormon history far more intensively than 99% of other Mormons. I did this because I wanted to defend the Church. Ultimately, I discovered the truth. I resigned from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1996. Below is...

Dear Seeker of Truth, I am a former Mormon missionary and apologist (defender of the faith). I wrote a book defending the Church against anti-Mormon attacks ("The Gainsayers" 1989). I spent many years of my life in research, hoping to find evidence for The Book of Mormon, and to counter anti-Mormon claims. I studied Book of Mormon archaeology and also Mormon history far more intensively than 99% of other Mormons. I did this because I wanted to defend the Church. Ultimately, I discovered the truth. I resigned from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1996. For those...

The Book of Mormon has undergone thousands of changes through the years as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has corrected typos, grammatical errors and mistaken words. Brigham Young University professor Royal Skousen highlights some of the most significant changes in his latest book, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text. Several examples are listed below: 1 Nephi 13:24"It contained the fullness of the gospel of the Land." (original manuscript)"It contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lord." (printer's version, 1981 edition)"It contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lamb." (BYU Critical Text Project)1 Nephi 17:48"Whoso...

Joseph Smith was just one of a proliferation of preachers and prophets who found God along the stony ridges and narrow lakes of western New York in the first half of nineteenth century. It was a place and a time of intense interest in religion: pathways to paradise ran in all directions. Prospective pilgrims had a choice, and many a wanderer journeyed a little way down first one path and then another testing alternate routes to heaven. The story of the strange systems and unusual faiths that resulted is essentially a record of unsuccessful experiments with religion. Some survived for...

One of the attractive components to Mormon theology was the notion that Mormons were a chosen people, and both figuratively and literally part of the House of Israel.  The Book of Mormon also offered the idea that Israel was all over the earth throughout time in various times and places and that they are always the chosen people.  Mormon youth (and adults) who receive a Patriarchal Blessing are personally informed of their own lineage as a member of the House of Israel.  So, how does this compare to other religions’ views of Israel and Judaism?Christian sects have a Jewish problem. ...

On his own dime, Mark Paredes is headed to Europe to try and explain Jews and Judaism to Mormons and to reassure Jewish people that they have a friend in Mormonism. Paredes, who currently is the president of the Los Angeles office of the Zionist Organization of America and a high councilor in the Santa Monica California LDS Stake, plans to speak in Holland, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Slovenia and Austria starting on Aug. 29. Earlier this year, he did a similar tour in Norway and Sweden. Paredes believes he is being spiritually urged to visit Europe and speak in support...

The LDS Church’s Public Affairs Department has joined the lively, often contentious world of Mormon blogging. The blog — at LDS Newsroom — will include “commentary, additional context, localized stories and background to help the news media and the public better understand news and issues related to the church,” Lyman Kirkland, the department’s manager of social media, wrote on the site. The information, managed and written by the church’s public-affairs staff, will be “reliable and accurate,” Kirkland wrote, but “should not necessarily be viewed as official statements from the [LDS] Church.” In addition, the blog’s tone will “more conversational” than...

BEAVER, Utah (AP) -- Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is being force-fed in jail for the second time in less than a week after again refusing to eat, Arizona officials said Tuesday. Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said force feeding of Jeffs started Friday...

The LDS prophets are "inspired men called to speak for the Lord" and the current prophet is "the only person on the earth who receives revelation to guide the entire Church," according to the LDS Church website. This does not mean that everything the prophet says comes straight from God, however.  Some LDS members believe the prophet largely operates with autonomy and that he is mostly expressing his own, sometimes incorrect, opinions.  So while what the prophet says may be useful or uplifting, "we don't need a lot of continuing revelation."In 2007, the church released a public statement that says...

Q: Do Mormons believe in the Trinity? A: Yes, Mormons believe in the reality and divinity of the trinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost; however, Mormons believe that the trinity is composed of three separate and distinct beings with individual bodies. As seen in Matthew 3:16-17 the Son “was baptized” and “went straightway out of the water…and he saw the Spirit…descending like a dove…And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Thus the three divine beings that constitute the trinity are separate beings, yet one in purpose.

On June 27, 1844, Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Ill.

MRMOVES - I was reading one of the questions in the faq where one person asks.... JOHN - "Asks whether President Hinckley contradicts Joseph Smith's concept about God once being a man" At one point you answer... President Hinckley could not say that we believe God was once a man like us, because it has never been identified as official Church doctrine... I was reading the book, " Preparing for a celestial marriage" where it bluntly talks about that God was once a man and that he was once like us, and I know that is a approved Church Manual....

Official Mormon Statements about the Bible: The Mormon church teaches that the Bible has been corrupted and does not contain the fullness of the gospel. This is reflected in one of their Articles of Faith which states: "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Pearl of Great Price). Joseph Smith stated: "it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.10); "I believe the Bible as it read when...

... In this one chapter, we learn a lot. Moses speaks with God “face to face” in terms that indicate strongly that God indeed has a face. We learn of God’s Only Begotten Son. As the Father speaks with Moses and teaches him of Jesus Christ, we are reminded in clear scriptural terms that the Father and the Son are separate divine beings. We also learn something of ourselves, that we—left to our own resources—are “nothing,” yet we are sons and daughters of God created in the image of his Only Begotten, endowed with enormous potential. We learn about God’s...

c. 2009 Salt Lake Tribune PROVO, Utah -- Tyson Boardman sits before the computer screen at the LDS Missionary Training Center, discussing Mormonism with Jason and Travis in two Internet conversations at the same time. Why do people say Mormons aren't Christian? What does it mean to be baptized for the dead? How do Mormons view Jesus? Why do you have a prophet? Answering these and many other Mormon-related queries is Boardman's full-time assignment as a two-year missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he loves it. "I've had questions from Canada, England and every part...

With the revelation that President Barack Obama's mama may now be a Mormon, the LDS practice of baptism for the dead is once again in the news. Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, was baptized by proxy recently in an LDS temple. Mormons believe Dunham would need this ordinance when she got to the other side. Obama hasn't commented on the matter. According to my double secret source inside the White House, he might have said, "If I didn't care what Mormons thought when I was running for president, why would I care now?" Mormons tend to see baptism...

Reporting from Las Vegas -- A male model wearing a kilt of black vinyl strips, a red belt with a gold buckle and little else is flexing his muscles amid fake oil derricks and Roman columns in a photo studio. All chiseled pectorals and tanned thighs, he is playing Captain Moroni, a battlefield hero in the Book of Mormon who rallied troops with the Title of Liberty banner. ... Hardy was emboldened. The 2009 calendar cover resembles a painting of the second coming of Christ. The shirtless model wears a rose-colored sash and white loincloth and is outlined in...

Elder Tyson Boardman sits before the computer screen at the LDS Missionary Training Center, discussing Mormonism with Jason and Travis in two Internet conversations at the same time. Why do people say Mormons aren't Christian? What does it mean to be baptized for the dead? How do Mormons view Jesus? Why do you have a prophet? Answering these and many other LDS-related queries is Boardman's full-time assignment as a two-year missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he loves it. "I've had questions from Canada, England and every part of the U.S.," Boardman says. "It's...

It was suggested that being anti-Mormon is the new politically correct anti-semitism given what happened to Romney in Dixie.  There are some problems with that concept especially down in Dixie.  The first that comes to mind is when did anyone ever accuse Dixie of being poltically correct.  But on a more serious note,  any Mormon who had lived awhile in either the South or the Midwest could not have been very surprised that Romney took a shellacing in the Midwest and the South. The fact that religious prejudice reared it's ugly head and took a bite out of the only...

Today, many people generally view Mormons as a people with strong family values and clean living, according to one pastor at McLean Bible Church. Some also believe they are just one of many Christian denominations. But that view is the result of a multibillion dollar campaign over the last couple of decades by Mormons who have attempted to present themselves in such a way, according to Todd Phillips, teaching pastor at Frontline, the young adult ministry of McLean in Virginia. Many Americans, including Christians, see Mormons as "just another branch of Christianity who talk about Jesus all the time and...

Associated Press - March 6, 2009 5:45 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is revamping its business arm, the Deseret Management Corp., a holding company for commercial enterprises ranging from restaurants at Temple Square to real estate across the country. Executives say Deseret Management Corp. will become an active operating company that takes more control of its seven subsidiaries. Deseret Management's new president and CEO, Mark H. Willes, will become chairman of the board of each subsidiary, with their CEOs reporting directly to him rather than their own boards.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a Utah city can refuse to put a religious group's monument in a public park near a similar Ten Commandments display. The justices unanimously sided with the city of Pleasant Grove, which had said a ruling for the religious group would mean public parks across the country would have to allow privately donated monuments that express different views from those already on display. The Summun religious group, founded in Salt Lake City in 1975, sought in 2003 to erect a monument to the tenets of its faith, called the...

In my Father's house are many mansions. if it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2-3 KJV My Father's house are many mansions." He didn't say "My father's house will have many mansions." So then "mansions" were in His Father's house as he spoke. In Genesis, while Jacob went on a journey from Beersheeba toward Haran, he had a dream. After...

"It is a 'Mormon' truism that is current among us and we all accept it, that as man is God once was and as God is man may become." — Elder Melvin J. Ballard General Conference, April 1921 "From President Snow's understanding of the teachings of the Prophet on this doctrinal point, he coined the familiar couplet: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.' This teaching is peculiar to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ." Marion Romney (1st Presidency) General Conference, October 1964 "The Lorenzo Snow couplet expresses a true statement: 'As man is, God...

This question was put to me the other day over lunch by a close friend who I had not seen for a number of years. I hasten to add that he is not about to tell his wife this. They are both still Mormon. However, we had a great conversation about all kinds of things, and this question came up. I could tell he was moved by what we talked about in that regard, and so decided to record the essence of our conversation. Here are the guts of the essay for those who like short as opposed to long...

If the past is a window to the present, then a new book about polygamy among early Mormons could be a portal to understanding where some contemporary Utah polygamists have found inspiration for their way of life. From child brides and secret ceremonies to their defiance of marriage laws, the narrative in George D. Smith's "Nauvoo Polygamy" illustrates the development and breadth of polygamy as it was first practiced in the 1840s by the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in Nauvoo, Ill. "It changes our understanding of a plurality of wives," polygamy historian Martha...

<p>Speaking at its annual conference held in Detroit in July 2007, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond called on the American public and the entertainment industry to stop using the “N-Word.” Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick added, “Today we’re not just burying the N-word, we’re taking it out of our spirit.” I applaud this effort, and with it I offer my own challenge to Mormons everywhere to bury their own infamous “N-word,” that being the word “anti-Mormon.”</p>

In Joseph Smith's day some of the most prominent Americans were disgusted with the creeds of Christendom. Thomas Jefferson said: I [Jefferson] am a real Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the preachers . . of the gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said or did. They have compounded from the heathen mysteries a system beyond the comprehension of man of which Jesus, were he to return on earth, would not recognize one feature. . . . It is the speculations of crazy theologians...

A grand jury in West Texas handed down eight more indictments Wednesday in the criminal investigation into abuse allegations involving members of a polygamist sect. Jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs and three other members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were charged with eight different felonies, including aggravated sexual assault, bigamy and tampering with physical evidence, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. FLDS members have been under investigation since April, when Texas Child Protective Services removed more than 400 children from the group's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, south of San Angelo. The...

Thousands in Salt Lake City protest LDS stance on same-sex marriage More than 3,000 people swarmed downtown Salt Lake City to march past the LDS temple and church headquarters, protesting Mormon involvement in the campaign for California's Proposition 8. At one point, the crowd took up the mantra made famous by the country's new president-elect: "Yes, we can!" Church officials are "disturbed" that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was "singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election," said LDS spokesman Scott Trotter earlier Friday. "Millions of others from every faith,...

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- More than one-third of California's lawmakers added their voices Monday to the chorus calling on the state's highest court to overturn the prohibition on same-sex marriage approved by voters last week. Forty-four members of the California Legislature filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support one of the three lawsuits seeking to invalidate Proposition 8. The case, brought on behalf of gay couples who have not yet married, argues the ban should be tossed out because voters did not have the authority to make such a dramatic change in state law. The brief argues that the gay...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A group opposed to same-sex marriage wants to help defend Proposition 8 before the California Supreme Court, saying lawsuits seeking to overturn the Nov. 4 ballot measure threaten the initiative process. Three suits filed the day after the election open the door to "step-by-step elimination of the people's right to amend the Constitution by initiative," attorneys with Liberty Counsel said Monday in papers submitted on behalf of the Campaign for California Families. They said Attorney General Jerry Brown's office, which plans to defend Prop. 8 in court, represents only the interests of state officials in "furnishing marriage...

Dozens of gay-marriage advocates gathered Friday in downtown San Jose to protest voter approval this week of a state constitutional amendment that California will recognize marriage between a man and a woman only. "Demand resolution, give us back our constitution!" chanted the crowd of about 75 gay and heterosexual Silicon Valley residents gathered at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez as passing cars honked their horns in approval. The gathering coincided with a similar march in San Francisco organized by opponents of Proposition 8, approved by 52.5 percent of voters statewide though only 44.3 percent supported it in Santa Clara County....

Facing reporters the day after she and John McCain went down to defeat, Sarah Palin professed not to be thinking much about the next presidential election. “2012 sounds so far off,” she said. Of course, that’s exactly the kind of answer that any potential presidential candidate is supposed to give now and for the next two years or so – until the 2010 midterm elections signal the more formal start of the next White House campaign cycle. And make no mistake: the race is very much underway, and it has been for some time. In fact, there’s already been a...

Romney: Obama Would Kill Millions of Jobs Thursday, October 30, 2008 3:11 PM By: Ronald Kessler Article Font Size “It’s too late in the process to be unveiling new initiatives,” Romney says. “Instead, you focus on the consequences of an Obama presidency and the benefits of a McCain presidency. And frankly, in my lifetime, I don’t recall a more anti-job program than Barack Obama’s.” McCain’s program creates jobs, Romney says, while Obama’s shrinks them. “My own view is that’s the message in the last days. Boil it down in a way that people understand,” Romney says. “You don’t have to...

Resilient Communities: The LDS Perspective read the original article hereBig welcome to Chris Dierkes and Todd Banus. Chris had an excellent first post yesterday on resilient communities, discussing the notion of the church as a uniting base across diverse cultural tensions. In short, Chris thinks that we can weather tomorrow's storms better if we adopt best practices from religious communities (stop me if I'm off base here Chris). He suggested we look to the Latter-day Saints and hey, I think I can help! :) What do you think the monthly payroll is for a local LDS ward? How much does...

Religion and Politics: Good or Bad? Pictured right: Nineteenth century political cartoon, depicting Mormonism as a ravenous threat to society. Charles W. Carter Collection.Much of the debate around religion and politics has to do with getting religion in and out of the public square. Tensions run high; snippets from private correspondence sneak into the Constitution; creche exhibits in city hall become a rarity and graduation benedictions turn into litigious minefields for local clergy. But this post is about the inverse debate: getting politics in and out of religion. I'll speak from my own experience in the Mormon church and let...

Mormons should never respond with arrogance or hostility to attacks on their faith, but be peacemakers among themselves and in the community of faith, said several speakers at the 178th Semiannual LDS General Conference on Sunday. "More regrettable than the [LDS] Church being accused of not being Christian is when church members react to such accusations in an un-Christlike way," Apostle Robert D. Hales said on the second day of the two-day conference. "Surely our Heavenly Father is saddened - and the devil laughs - when we contentiously debate doctrinal differences with our Christian neighbors." Sometimes, the best response is...

The increasingly protracted battle between the FLDS community and the state of Texas has prompted a number of discussions about the Texas polygamous group and the Mormons. A MormonTimes.com reader identifying himself as Tom Jones sent a question to the site's "Mormon Q&A section," where answers and discussion on topics of interest are addressed by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR). Jones' question reads: Since the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has much more in common with the mainline LDS Church than the LDS Church has in common with mainline Christianity, why is it...

More than two months after being forced to return children from a polygamist sect to their parents, Texas child welfare authorities want eight youngsters put back in foster care.Individual hearings for the four mothers of the children, who range in age from 5 to 17, are set to begin Monday. Child Protective Services has asked a judge to return the children to foster care because their mothers have allegedly refused to limit their contact with men accused of being involved in underage marriages. "We continue to have concerns in particular for these eight children, which is why we have asked...

ELDORADO - A Schleicher County grand jury issued indictments today against Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs and five other sect members, alleging sexual assault, bigamy and related charges. Jeffs was charged with sexually assaulting a child, a first-degree felony, and the four others were indicted on allegations of sexually assaulting girls younger than 17. Each of those four face one felony count of sexual assault, and one faces an additional charge of bigamy.Jeffs was identified because he was served with the indictment in jail. The other four remain unidentified until they are served....

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will introduce a measure Wednesday establishing a federal task force on polygamy and offering help to those trying to escape polygamous communities. The bill, if passed, would set the stage for likely the largest orchestrated crackdown on polygamy in a century. Ahead of the first congressional hearing focused on polygamy since the 1950s, Reid, a Mormon convert from Nevada, will introduce the Victims of Polygamy Assistance Act. It would set up a collaborative effort between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to combat "broad patterns" of polygamy-related crimes. The bill also would create grants...

Warren Jeffs married his underage daughter to the 34-year-old son of his chief deputy, one day after she turned 15, according to pictures, diaries and a marriage record kept by Jeffs' polygamist sect obtained Friday by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. The documents were attached to a report filed Friday by Court-Appointed Special Advocates in San Angelo, the girl's guardian, in a battle over who represents her in court. The CASA report contradicts both interviews the girl and members of her church, The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have given denying that she...

Once upon a time, people who wanted to be president were not expected to admit it in public. This mask of false indifference had to be dropped when the rise of primaries forced candidates to campaign actively for the office.

A Texas judge is set to consider a request from the teenage daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs that her attorney be replaced. Natalie Malonis, ad litem for Teresa Jeffs, requested that 51st District Judge Barbara Walther meet with the teen privately to hear why she wants Malonis to step aside. That hearing is set for Monday afternoon. Malonis also has filed two motions asking the judge to stop two other attorneys participating in the child welfare case involving Jeffs. A rift between Malonis and Jeffs, 16, became public last month after the Flower Mound, Texas, attorney sought...