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In September, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Gordon B. Hinckley appeared on Larry King Live for a rare television interview. During the friendly exchange of questions and answers, Hinckley was predictably asked about polygamy. Contemporary Utah polygamy has recently been thrust into the international consciousness after a bruised and bloodied 15-year-old girl called police from a gas station in Cache County last May. She claimed she had been beaten by her father, John Daniel Kingston, for running away from a marriage as 15th wife to her 32-year-old uncle, David Kingston. The Mormon leader responded to King by...

Uploader comments: As an ex-20 year returned missionary Mormon i can confirm this is EXACTLY what goes on in the temples. Unless they have changed the ceremony yet again to cover up the free masonry that is sold as "sacred' to the "worthy" members foolish enough to believe it. As i once was!

God Doesn't Need Secrecy or Death OathsBook of Mormon, Ether 8:19"For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man." Satan Uses Death Oaths, Especially Oaths of Secrecy and LoyaltyBook of Moses 5:29"And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die;" Book of Mormon, Helaman...

When (always) Jewish Jerusalem - Beit-Hamikdash was translated into: Bayt al-Makdis / al- MuqaddasIbn Khallikan's biographical dictionary‎ - Page 235 - Ibn Khallik�n - Authors, Arab - 1843Makdisi means belonging to Bait al-Makdis (the House of the Holy Place, or Jerusalem). http://books.google.com/books?id=6p0TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA235Description of Syria: including Palestine‎ - Page 11 - Muhammad ibn Ahmad Mukaddasī - History - 1886 - 116 pagesAmong its cities are : Bait-al-Makdis (Jerusalem), Bait Jibril, Ghazzah (Gaza), Maimas, 'Askalan (Ascalon), Yafah (Joppa), Arsuf, Kaisariyyah (Caesarea), http://books.google.com/books?id=JCYYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11Palestine under the Moslems: A description of Syria and the Holy Land from A description of Syria and the Holy Land...

In the Endowment, Lucifer is portrayed as having a "white and delightsome" body of flesh and bone. He even touches Eve's hand with his own in a little pat as he hands her the forbidden fruit. Yet Mormon doctrine teaches that Lucifer was denied a flesh and bone body of any color; and indeed that the way to tell any evil spirit is that such spirits cannot really touch you physically (D&C 129, especially v.8). Only those faithful in the pre-existent state will get tangible, white bodies according to LDS teaching. If anything, Lucifer should be portrayed as a black...

Human communication with the dead, or necromancy, is never encouraged in the Bible and is always condemned (1 Samuel 15:23, 28:6ff). Such a practice was punishable by death (1 Samuel 28:9) in theocratic Israel. Despite these grave warnings, many temple Mormons look forward with great anticipation to possibly being visited by spirits of the dead. In fact, there are a number of recorded sightings of alleged dead spirits who have visited Mormons in LDS temples. Prior to the dedication of the San Diego temple in 1993, local Mormon families were given a packet titled Family Temple Preparation Material. Included in...

Thousands of euro of Irish taxpayers’ money has been spent building a wooden ‘temple’ that will be ceremonially burnt to the ground at a hippy festival in America next month. As the nation faces yet another austerity budget, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that €9,000 has been given towards building the Temple Of Transition – a giant timber structure that will be torched at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert next month.

Tisha B’ Av 2011…Israel’s Day of Sorrow How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!The LORD hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the...

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The legend of El Dorado was definitely not set on the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. But the seven-member panel, which is drawing up a list of assets at the famed shrine here, had a feel of the lost city of gold as they set foot in one of the two secret vaults located inside the sprawling granite structure which gives the Kerala capital its name. On Thursday, the team assisted by personnel from the fire services and archeology department opened the locks of vault A to find a narrow flight of stairs leading down to an underground granite cellar. Oxygen...

Without saying his name, Mormon leaders and grassroots Mormons daily reference Wilford Woodruff when they interact with non-Mormons and the media. How so? Well, they like to tell others how polygamy is a supposed bygone of another era; how a certain Lds "prophet" in 1890 put the kabosh on it...or, at least, started a mainstream Mormon move toward monogamy. Yet, there's a little-known episode that this same Wilford Woodruff said that occurred in the 1870s -- before becoming the head "prophet" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the last two weeks before he left the St....

Hundreds of religious Jews from all streams were able to happily commemorate the 44th anniversary of the first-ever entry of Israeli soldiers onto the TempleMount. For the first time in the history of Israeli restrictions on Jewish entry to the Temple Mount, the recitation of the Priestly Blessing was permitted there. It happened on Wednesday, Jerusalem Reunification Day, when hundreds of visitors – all of whom immersed in a mikveh (ritual bath) prior to coming and took other precautions required by Jewish Law – were allowed to enter the Temple Mount in groups of 30-40. Among them were several Cohanim...

I'm not normally in the habit of telling other people what they should or should not do, but this is the time of year when a lot of young LDS couples get engaged and start nailing down their wedding plans for the spring. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and offer some valuable counsel to the youth of the church. Here it is: Don't get married in the temple. By all means, get yourselves sealed in the temple, especially if you lovebirds plan to stick it out for time and all eternity. But before you get...

Prayers at Sikh Temple in New York erupt in sword fightBy Jonathan Allen Mon Apr 25, 6:51 pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters) – A leadership dispute that turned violent at a Sikh temple in New York, interrupting prayers with swinging swords and cricket bats, landed congregants in court on Monday on criminal charges, a prosecutor said. Amid screaming, yelling, punching and the swinging of weapons, followers of the two men who each claim to be the rightful president of the Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Sikh Center in Richmond Hill set upon each other on Sunday morning, according to court documents...

The man Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, once stood before the Sanhedrin (a legal body composed of the high priest, leaders of the people, and legal experts) and established God does not dwell in items made with hands (Acts 7:48). Yet, God chose to make His presence known within the earth, the tabernacle, and Solomon’s temple. God also commanded the temple built by Zerubbabel as a place for His name. These were not places where God lived, but those which He made holy by his association with them. Scripture identifies three other holy dwelling places of God not made...

Howard W. Hunter, "The Great Symbol of Our Membership", Ensign, Oct. 1994, 2 At the time of my call to this sacred office, an invitation was given for all members of the Church to establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of their membership and the supernal setting for their most sacred covenants.When I contemplate the temple, I think of these words:“The temple is a place of instruction where profound truths pertaining to the Kingdom of God are unfolded. It is a place of peace where minds can be centered upon things of the spirit and...

I am not sure if there is another Torah portion with a pace as frenetic as Ki Tisah. The parshah takes us from celestial heights to the lowest of the lows and back again. Ki Tisah opens with the Temple and its vessels - the purpose of creation. It engages us in the secret of the incense and the secret of Shabbat - the sign of the covenant between G-d and the Jewish People, between the Creator and His Chosen Nation. From these lofty heights, we fall straight into the sin of the Golden Calf. Could there be a more...

The majority of faithful Latter-day Saints who engage in temple work for the dead probably have never heard of the Law of Adoption. Yet, for roughly a half century, until 116 years ago, it was the forerunner of today’s large-scale church temple ordinances for the deceased, which are considered sacred and necessary in the LDS Church for afterlife progression. Gordon Irving, then associate historian for the LDS Church, wrote a fascinating piece for the spring 1974 issue of BYU Studies. Titled, “The Law of Adoption: One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830-1900,” Irving explains that...

Editor's note: Third in a series about the Mormon wedding experience.In his book, “The Holy Temple,” President Boyd K. Packer provides a wise reason for brides to select an appropriate wedding dress. “When you have the opportunity to go to the temple to participate in the temple ceremonies or to witness a sealing, remember where you are. You are a guest in the house of the Lord. You should groom yourself and clothe yourself in such a way that you would feel comfortable should your Host appear,” the senior apostle wrote. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has...

The LDS Temple in Mormonism serves a special purpose in the lives of Mormons as it is utilized by church leaders who hold the keys to the Temple as a way to ensure standard ten percent tithing and increased loyalty from members. As outlined in the following paragraphs, members who receive a LDS temple recommend must agree to pay ten percent of their income to the Mormon Church, and agree to follow certain requirements such as being loyal to church leaders. Having a temple recommend also serves as a status symbol, as those without it cannot marry or attend marriage...

... The privilege of receiving one’s temple endowment is a serious matter...We are concerned...an increasing number of young adults 18 years of age and older are obtaining temple recommends from their priesthood leaders to receive their...endowment without the immediate prospect of temple marriage or full-time missionary service. Single members in their late teens or early twenties who have not received a mission call or who are not engaged to be married in the temple should not be recommended to the temple for their own endowment. They can, however, receive a limited use recommend to perform baptisms for the dead. The...

Few Mormons realize that the LDS temple ceremony is not of ancient origin, nor of modern revelation. Instead, the ceremony originated around 1790 when the Masons first conceived it for use in their secret society. Until 1990 the Mormon Temple Ceremony closely resembled the Masonic Initiators Ceremony, signs, tokens and penalties included. I never made the connection between Masonry and Mormonism until I began a serious study of the Mormon temple ceremony. In 1827 Capt. W. M. Morgan, a disillusioned Mason, published a book entitled Freemasonry Exposed, which reveals a detailed description of their ceremonies in word and illustration. Because...

According to the book of Exodus, God himself established the priestly line of Israel by naming Aaron – the older brother of Moses—to the position of high priest and designating that only Aaron’s direct descendants would thereafter be eligible to serve in the same capacity. Best estimate is that Aaron founded the company of Hebrew priests—called Kohenim-- about 3400 years ago. This tradition was meticulously adhered to up until 70 AD, when both the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans under Titus and the surviving Jewish population scattered throughout the world. Since then, tribal distinctions have been largely...

The Big East's football expansion plans leave the conference with 17 universities, including non-Football members. That's a terrible number for scheduling; the only way the basketball teams can schedule an even number of games is if they play every other team only once. 18 teams would allow three divisions of six teams each. Any team would play the other five teams in its division twice, and one half of the twelve other teams in the conference. 18 sounds like worsening the problem of too many teams, but having three divisions could actually restore some rivalries, and return the conference to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4U5BxaeWpA&feature=youtube_gdata_player Milagros del Beit Hamikdash

Disappointed over the fact that the Golden Temple in Amritsar will not figure on U.S. President Barack Obama’s itinerary, Sikh leaders have urged the U.S. leader to at least visit a prominent Sikh shrine in the capital New Delhi. Though President Obama’s itinerary will no more include a visit to the Golden Temple, there is still a ray of hope,” Giani Harnam Singh Khalsa, the head priest of Gurudwara Bangla Sahib temple in New Delhi, told India Real Time Monday. Sikh leaders have urged the U.S. leader to at least visit a prominent Sikh shrine in the capital New Delhi...

Snip ...Joseph Smith warned of the consequences when we fail to use the temples available to us: “Those Saints who neglect [temple work] in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.” Snip A key function of temples is to perform ordinance work for our deceased ancestors. When we think of temple ordinances and the necessity to do them perfectly, without error... “… For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation...they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:5, 15;...). Consider the...vision of President...

Construction has begun in the “eternal” city for a new Latter-day Saint temple. Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with Church and local community leaders, participated in the traditional groundbreaking ceremony for the Rome Italy Temple 23 October 2010. President Monson underlined the uniqueness and the historical moment whose importance goes beyond the borders of Rome and Italy. He thanked the members of the Church for their commitment to follow the example of Jesus Christ. (Watch and embed video of Rome Italy Temple groundbreaking on YouTube). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYvS8SHpzME “My heart is filled with...

NEW DELHI: US President Barack Obama will not visit Amritsar during his stay in India next month. While there was no official confirmation from the government, sources said the proposal to visit Amritsar had been dropped owing to reservations of US officials over the kind of scarf Obama would have to wear to visit the Golden Temple. The decision was yet to be communicated to the government till late on Tuesday. However, sources said Obama, who will arrive in Mumbai on November 6, will directly come to Delhi now after a day's stay in the country's commercial capital. Earlier, he...

NEW DELHI — The Golden Temple, a sprawling and serene complex of gleaming gold and polished marble that is the spiritual center of the Sikh religion, is one of India’s most popular tourist attractions. Revered by Indians of all faiths, it is a cherished emblem of India’s religious diversity. So it was no surprise when the gold-plated marvel was touted as the likely third stop on President Obama’s visit to India, scheduled for early November. But the United States has ruled out a Golden Temple visit, according to an American official involved in planning. Temple officials said that American advance...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:5th Joyful Mystery: The Finding in the TemplePious Jews would go to Jerusalem for the Passover so that they could bring a lamb to the Temple to be sacrificed at the right moment on the right day. Jesus Himself would be nailed to a Cross and die during the slaughter of the lambs in the Temple while the priests lined the stairs to the altar and sang Psalms. In the quiet of the ancient world, when Jerusalem was still on that holy day, Jesus could probabaly hear the crying of the lambs...

"Fifty years! Has it really been that long? . . . Are you sure?" That was the reaction of former Temple (and Eagles) great Bucko Kilroy, 19 years ago, when told that the last time his Owls had beaten Penn State had indeed been 1941, when he was a two-way sophomore lineman. On Oct. 18 of that year, in a steady drizzle before an estimated sellout crowd of 25,000 at Temple Stadium, the Owls took a 3-1 lead in the series with a 14-0 win. The teams have met 35 times since. The best Temple has to show for it...

STORRS, Conn. - The UConn football team is in Philadelphia for its game agsist Temple on Saturday. Check out exclusive photos of UConn's walk-through at Lincoln Financial Field. Join UConnHuskies.com on Saturday starting at 11:45 a.m. Eastern for a live chat during the Temple vs. UConn football game. This is the official live chat of UConn Athletics. You might even get some information here first before anyone else does!!!

Ruins of a fire temple dating back to the Sassanid era have recently been discovered during a series of archaeological excavations in the Vigol region near Kashan in central Iran. The discovery was made during the latest season of excavations, which are being carried out by a team of archaeologists led by Mohsen Javeri and began in mid-June, the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization announced in a press release on Monday. The cruciform temple has four entrances leading to the ruins of a fireplace embellished with unique stucco designs, Javeri said. The team has also unearthed pieces of ornate...

Obama and Tish Ba’Av Posted on July 20, 2010 by billrandles TISH BA AV AND OBAMA Today, July 20th- is Tish Ba’Av , the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, is a date of momentous significance to the children of Israel. The date became infamous when twice the Holy Temple of the LORD was destroyed on the 9th of Av, once in 587 BC and once again in 70 AD. There has also been a whole series of calamities that have fallen upon Israel on this day, as Judaism .about.com relates: 587 BCE (3338)- The First Temple is...

Half the Israeli public wants the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) to be rebuilt. This is the main finding of a poll commissioned by the Knesset Television Channel and carried out by the Panels Institute. The poll was taken in advance of this Tuesday’s national day of mourning, known as Tisha B’Av, on which the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, respectively. Forty nine percent said they want the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, while 23% said they do not. The remainder said they were unsure.

The fast of the 17th of Tammuz, known as Shiva Assar B'Tammuz, is the start of a three week mourning period for the destruction of Jerusalem and the two Holy Temples. The fast actually commemorates five tragic events that occurred on this date: Moses broke the tablets when he saw the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf. During the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem, the Jews were forced to cease offering the daily sacrifices due to the lack of cattle. Apustmus burned the holy Torah. An idol was placed in the Holy Temple. The walls of Jerusalem were breached by the...

Shortly after the Six Day War Jewish zealots paraded the streets of Jerusalem with the motto, “Rebuild the Temple now.” Protestant leaders jumped on the bandwagon, preaching the temple as fulfillment of prophecy. Soon there were reports that stone was being shipped from Indiana to Jerusalem for rebuilding the temple, but this proved to be a hoax. Newspapers have added to the false concepts by reporting that construction of the proposed “Jerusalem Great Synagogue” has something to do with a so-called “longed-for dream” and “Messianic Sign.” They conveniently overlook the difference between a synagogue and the temple with its priesthood...

If you would eliminate all the prophecy that has already been fulfilled, you would eliminate about 90% of today’s prophetic preaching and writing! A classic example of modern prophets predicting something which has already come to pass is the one concerning the “abomination of desolation,” an expression used by Jesus in Matthew 24. Perhaps you have heard this futuristic interpretation given by a pre-millennial preacher: “The Jews (having restored Herod’s Temple) will have a visit by the False Prophet who shall bring an image of the Anti-Christ into Jerusalem and set it in the temple…that will be the sign Jesus...

Rarely are currency exchange rates as good for the American dollar as that of Asian countries. In Asia, the American dollar carries a lot of clout and with the recent devaluation of the USD; it is a good thing that these countries offer an excellent trip for so little cost to Americans.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo last week robbed Judaism of its legacy and threatens the existence of the Jewish state, according to Temple Institute Rabbi Chaim Richman. The rabbi also said the president’s comments were in essence perverse and obscene. He responded point by point to President Obama’s speech in which he said that “settlements are illegitimate,” that the re-establishment of the State of Israel is rooted in the Holocaust, and that denying the Holocaust is a sin but that Iran, whose leader denies the Holocaust, has a right to nuclear power

<p>In a province in which a breakaway sect of Mormon fundamentalist polygamists...draws continuing controversy, the mainline Mormon Church realizes it has to work hard to show its wholesome face to the world.</p> <p>Because of a history of tense relationships with conventional Christians...Latter-Day Saints have been going out of their way...to dispel outsiders' suspicions...they are a "secretive" religion.</p>

Bravery isn't the first word that comes to mind when looking at these images of a Japanese log-rolling ceremony. But that is exactly what these young men are apparently proving during the bizarre Ki-otoshi ceremony, where they ride the giant logs as they are yanked down steep hills by ropes. Skidding and bumping over the rough terrain, at times the logs literally drop down the steep inclines

IsraelNN.com) The Supreme Court has rejected a petition requesting that Jews be enabled to offer the Passover Sacrifice this coming Monday, the eve of the holiday. Similar petitions have been submitted and rejected in recent years... ...They noted that according to Jewish Law, the Holy Temple does not need to be built in order to resume the sacrificial offerings. They emphasized accordingly that the Temple Mount organizations are not trying to change or make modifications to any existing structures on the Mount, but rather aim to receive permission to build a temporary altar, which would be dismantled immediately following the...

At this week's dedication ceremony for the newly re-built Hurva Synagogue, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger made the following disturbing statement: Chief Rabbi: Talk about new temple a lie "Pay no attention to malicious slander. All we are doing is resurrecting the 'Hurva,' which was destroyed 60 years ago. We have no intention of rebuilding the temple, not this week – unless the Almighty God descends it from the heavens," said the chief rabbi during the inauguration ceremony. (Ynet: March 15, '10)All of Rabbi Metzger's prayers, blessings and Torah learning revolve around the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Are they all lies?...

JERUSALEM – A member of the U.S. government met with organizers of Tuesday's "International Temple Mount Awareness Day" to pepper the activists about their intentions regarding Jewish ascent to the holy site. "It was obvious," one of the planners told WND, "the individual who met with us from the Obama government was concerned about the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and what is being done to deepen it." The organizer talked on condition of anonymity and also on condition that WND kept confidential the name of the U.S. official who met with the Temple event planners.

Thirty-seven children have been killed in a stampede at a temple in India. The youngsters' bodies, together with those of 27 women, have been recovered by police in Kunda, Uttar Pradesh. A stampede broke out as thousands of people jostled each other to get free clothes and utensils being distributed during a religious ceremony. An under-construction gate collapsed on the crowd as people surged forward towards a local holy man, police said.

A temple complex in Turkey that predates even the pyramids is rewriting the story of human evolution. They call it potbelly hill, after the soft, round contour of this final lookout in southeastern Turkey. To the north are forested mountains. East of the hill lies the biblical plain of Harran, and to the south is the Syrian border, visible 20 miles away, pointing toward the ancient lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the region that gave rise to human civilization. And under our feet, according to archeologist Klaus Schmidt, are the stones that mark the spot—the exact spot—where humans...

An Israeli archaeologist said Monday that ancient fortifications recently excavated in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and support the biblical narrative about the era. If the age of the wall is correct, the finding would be an indication that Jerusalem was home to a strong central government that had the resources and manpower needed to build massive fortifications in the 10th century B.C. That's a key point of dispute among scholars, because it would match the Bible's account that the Hebrew kings David and Solomon ruled from Jerusalem around that time. While some Holy...

The Tea Party movement has a mascot, and his name is William Temple. Temple, whose day job is preaching to an African-American congregation in Georgia, has been popping up at conservative events around the country, including the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville earlier this month and the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington this week. He’s easy to spot, no matter which of his 12 historical costumes he’s wearing, or which olde accent he’s adopted for the day. On Friday at CPAC, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty addressed a blazers-and-khakis-clad crowd, Temple stood on a balcony in full Revolutionary...

JERUSALEM - Israel's chief rabbis, who will meet the pope Friday, said they hope to get permission to search Vatican storerooms for artifacts such as the huge golden menorah that stood in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Vatican officials confirmed the meeting would take place but declined comment on the rabbis' request. Yehuda Metzger and Shlomo Amar are to have an audience with Pope John Paul II, the first by Israel's chief rabbis in the Vatican. The pope met Israel's previous chief rabbis in the Holy Land during his visit in 2000. Amar, spiritual leader of Israel's...