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I subscribe to a Mormon apologetic Newsletter titled FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research). Normally it falls into my junk email account and I don't even open it, but today I had a few minutes and scanned the latest offering and was stunned to see the hypocrisy of the authors. Please note the entire email is posted below. This particular issue has a great deal of whining about those mean Christians who make the spurious claim that Mormons are not Christians, but are a cult. A couple of examples: -"Mormons are a cult" epithets into the national spotlight. In...

The Associated Press with their inability to write factually on Iraqi violence felt the need to point out that Mitt Romney’s family has a polygamist past. That’s not surprising since he does come from a line of Mormons: While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate’s great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12. Real people. Real success stories. Yahoo! Personals. See Stephanie and Mike’s story. Polygamy was not just a historical footnote, but a prominent element in the family tree of the former Massachusetts...

Ack, the headline reminds me of a grade school report card. While there seems to be no way to predict to what end Team Romney may eventually calculate itself, most every "smart" move they make serves to confirm how unsuitable Romney is for what's needed right now. He appears to be completely out of touch.Naturally, he's sensitive to being painted as a rich white Republican, which he is, for the most part. So, I get why the brain trust would think, hey, let's not go too hard on this Wall Street stuff. Maybe we need to back off a bit....

A leading Southern Baptist theologian spoke out Monday -SNIP- ........In a posting today on his influential blog, the theologian, R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., spelled out why traditional Christians do not consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be simply a different denomination of Christianity. “Mormonism rejects the Bible as the sole and sufficient authority for the faith, and insists that The Book of Mormon and other authoritative Latter-Day Saints writings constitute God’s final revelation,” he wrote. “By its very nature, Mormonism borrows Christian themes, personalities, and narratives. Nevertheless,...

As a Mormon who did his missionary work in France, Mitt Romney knows something of uphill battles. Imagine spreading a faith that renounces smoking, coffee and alcohol in the cafes of Paris. -SNIP- Even without recourse to calumny, it is clear that evangelicals will not be reconciled to Mormon doctrines without ceasing to be evangelicals. Presidents are elected for their policy views, leadership skills and character, not their soteriology. Such theological convictions about salvation may be infinitely important, but they are politically irrelevant. But presidential primaries are not always the best place to maintain such distinctions. In interfaith relations, it...

Rick Perry just gave a well received speech Here at the annual Values Voters summit in Washington, D.C.–though not flawless, the Texas governor is a lot sharper when he’s in control, not under fire in a debate setting. But the Texas pastor who introduced Perry has unexpectedly opened the door to a sensitive issue barely discussed in this primary so far: Mitt Romney’s faith. ....whether he had in fact been referring to Romney and Mormonism, Jeffers said he had. “Mormonism is a cult,” he said cheerfully, before rephrasing his onstage statement in a more explicit way: The choice, he said,...

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...

Culture shock: Seized polygamous sect kids face tough adjustment The Associated Press Article Last Updated: 04/24/2008 07:32:33 AM MDT Posted: 7:33 AM- SAN ANGELO, Texas - The hundreds of children from a polygamist compound taken into state custody are on their way to group homes, shelters and residences, but experts and lawyers fear their transition may be much harder than it is for other foster children.     The 437 children taken from the compound in West Texas will be plunged into a culture radically different from the community where they and their families shunned the outside world as a hostile, contaminating...

Don’t mess with Texas.The slogan used to be reserved for bumper stickers. But on April 3, Texas authorities showed the world a whole new meaning of the phrase—spreading out on a sprawling FLDS compound in Eldorado, ultimately taking more than 400 children of polygamists into custody. They did so, apparently, based on a March 31 phone call from a 16-year-old girl, who claimed to have been forced into marrying a 50-year-old man and to have had his child. Bam. Done. Round up the kids and many of their mothers. Give them safety and shelter. Detain the men on the YFZ...

Our post-denominational age should be the perfect time for a Mormon to become president, or at least the Republican nominee. Mormons share nearly all the conservative commitments so beloved of the evangelicals who wield disproportionate influence in primary elections. Mormons also embody, in their efficient organizational style, the managerial competence that the party's pro-business wing considers attractive. For the last half-century, Mormons have been so committed to the Republican Party that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once felt the need to clarify that Republican affiliation is not an actual condition of church membership. Yet 29 percent of...