Mormonism in the News

Recent new articles of interest discussing Mormonism

Church to release answers to troubling issues - 6/3/13 - updated 6/4/13

MormonThink has learned from multiple reliable sources that the LDS Church will soon begin publishing on the official Church website a series of at least 13 essays addressing controversial historical Church topics. The rising tide of accurate, first-hand historical source documents available for faithful members to research on the internet has forced the LDS General Authorities to move beyond giving shallow answers to the issues these documents raise.

The essays addressing historical concerns will provide more extensive details and will attempt to re-contextualize the first-hand source documents regarding topics that the Church deems most problematic for its members. Among the first essays approved by the First Presidency and slated for release at this time will be the multiple, differing accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision -- a subject that will undoubtedly catch many lifelong members by surprise as most will learn about these alternate, conflicting First Vision accounts for the first time.

We are encouraged to hear that the Church leadership is finally acknowledging the reality of the varying historical accounts, and is making what appears to be a good-faith effort to share this factual information with the general Church membership. It is our hope that the growing availability of information that contradicts the Church's depictions of historical events will encourage the Church to break its pattern of marginalizing and trivializing accounts that challenge official Church versions (e.g., Book of Abraham translation issues, Book of Mormon historicity, polygamy). We hope that Church leaders will be forthright regarding all aspects of the historical record and do not merely summarize the issues and quickly dismiss them. As always, we encourage faithful members to explore the information and source documents objectively to determine if the interpretations the Church provides are the most probable or likely interpretations.

We at MormonThink will be certain to examine these essays for historical and contextual accuracy and provide the most relevant and accurate information to our readers for a balanced review of the topics addressed. We are hopeful that the Church, with its vast resources, will provide full and complete detail on each topic. If it falls short on this, you can be assured that MormonThink, with its small team of volunteer contributors, will correct any misrepresentations and fill in any identified gaps.

More on this story: Mormon Disclosures Blog

 

Ensign Article "Balancing Church History" - 6/3/13

The June 2013 Ensign has an interesting article about Church History. Some quotes are encouraging such as:

We should seek sources that more objectively describe our beliefs and our history. Some websites are very mean-spirited and can be sensational in how they present the information. Look for sources by recognized and respected historians, whether they’re members of the Church or not.

We totally support that members should look much more closely at Church history and from a variety of credible sources. We do, however, object to the constant use of the term 'anti-Mormon' used in the article which implies that anything that is critical of the Church is 'anti-Mormon' and therefore something evil from Satan and full of lies. Many things written by credible critics of the Church are completely factual even if they are not faith-promoting for the Church.

 

Exit Narratives Sought - 5/27/13

A volunteer research group is looking for exit stories from those who lost faith, or are losing faith, in the LDS church. This is your chance to let church leaders know about the emotional pain and difficulties experienced by those who no longer believe. Exit narratives are to be 700 words or less and remain anonymous. A short survey and the submission form is found here: https://faithcrisis.wufoo.com/forms/faith-crisis-stories/

 

A Mormon mystery returns: Who is Heavenly Mother? - 5/10/13

The Salt Lake Tribune article:

On Sunday, Mormon speakers may share stories of supermoms who run marathons, home-school their 10 children, help out at the homeless shelter and sing Bach cantatas — all while leading daily prayers, scripture study and blogging about it.

Few members, however, will hear about the greatest mom of all: Heavenly Mother.

To read entire article

 

Mormon church pleased with Boy Scouts proposal - 4/28/13

The Mormon church has given its blessing to the Boy Scouts of America on its latest proposal to lift the gay ban for youth members but continue to exclude gays as adult leaders. Read complete article.

 

Huffington Post article on religion - 3/14/13

Religion Among Americans Hits Low Point, As More People Say They Have No Religious Affiliation. Read article

 

LDS Church announces new scripture edition - 3/1/13

 

Book of Mormon Musical coming to the UK - 2/20/13

 

A modern-day Martin Luther for the LDS Church - 1/25/13

Read about one man's vision to reform the LDS Church through honest portrayal of its history:

95 LDS Theses: http://mormonreformation.blogspot.com
Event: http://on.fb.me/SJEBtt

Mentioned in the Huffington Post

 

KSL - LDS Church to lay off employees from 2 departments - 1/24/13

 

Salon - Religion may not survive the Internet - 1/17/13

 

Huffinton Post article - Mormon Women Wear Pants To Church, Get Threatened - 12/23/12

 

Proclamation to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve - 12/21/12

Several prominent members of the LDS Church in the UK have sent a proclamation to the Church in an effort to get the church to respond to the concerns of its members. Read Proclamation

 

NY Times article - Mormon Women Set Out to Take a Stand, in Pants - 12/20/12

 

The Pew Forum - 12/17/12 - Americans Learned Little About the Mormon Faith, But Some Attitudes Have Softened

America’s“Mormon moment” is over, and public opinion appears to be little changed. Eight-in-ten Americans (82%) say they learned little or nothing about the Mormon religion during the presidential campaign, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Most Americans still are unable to correctly answer basic questions about the history and sacred texts of the Mormon Church. And three-in-ten Americans continue to consider the Mormon religion a non-Christian faith, though there appears to be some warming of attitudes toward Mormonism, especially among religious groups that voted heavily for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. Full article

 

Salt Lake Tribune article - Kirby: Mormon dress code restricts men, too. - 12/17/12

 

Mormons in the UK send pleading letter to UK Area Presidency - 12/15/12

Twelve concerned Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the UK recently wrote to the Europe Area Presidency of the Church asking for Full, Open and Honest answers to some deeply troubling questions which threaten to undermine the authority of the Church itself.

The Plea for Honesty comes a few months after two Open Letters detailing the questions were sent to the Europe Area Presidency by Chris Ralph, which to this date remain unanswered.

The complete story, as well as the two letters can be read here: Steve Bloor's Blog

 

Sister in Pants Day at Church - 12/13/12 FaceBook also

 

How To Make $71 Billion A Year: Tax the Churches - 12/11/12

 

Mission Presidents and paying taxes -- 12/9/12

This blog discusses the rules for Mission Presidents and interesting things like how they treat taxes.

 

Huffington Post - Mormon Church Calls For Compassion Toward Gays, Says Homosexuality Is Not A Choice - 12/7/12

 

Huffington Post - Romney As Angel Moroni Receives Backlash From Mormon Church - 11/20/12 OC Weekly Photo

 

The Mormon Missionary Revolution - 11/19/12

Wall Street Journal: It has been quite a year for Mormonism in America. Outside the faith, the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney sparked unprecedented levels of interest and attention. Meanwhile, church leaders have transformed how young Mormons start their adulthood, affecting everything from education to dating and marriage.

Though you might not know it from Broadway's "The Book of Mormon," 12% of Mormon missionaries are women—a number that is about to skyrocket thanks to an unexpected change in official Latter-day Saint policy. The church announced last month that Mormon women are now eligible to begin serving missions at age 19 instead of 21, and that Mormon men may serve at 18 instead of 19.

The response was immediate. Within two weeks, the number of missionary applications jumped an astonishing 471%, from the usual 700 per week to more than 4,000. Slightly more than half of these applicants were women. Read full article.

 

Youtube Mormon videos getting attention in the last week - 11/8/12:

Tactics of a Mormon Apologist

This excellent 18 minute video by FlackerMan analyzes methods used by typical Mormon apologists who try to devalue claims made by those questioning the LDS religion or expressing doubts. FlackerMan takes apart a presentation that Scott Gordon, president of the Mormon apologetic group FAIR, gave at Utah Valley University in 2012. Gordon presents two lists of references that he claims proves the church is being open and honest about Joseph Smith's polygamy and the translation method of the Book of Mormon. Do these lists show what Gordon claims, or are they simply obfuscation?

 

The Way of the Mister: Mormonism is Racism. Six minute video done professionally by Mr. Deity on racism in the Book of Mormon.

 

Top 10 Mormon Problems Explained

This 1 hr+ video has increased dramatically in the past few weeks. It is an excellent overview of major problems in the LDS faith that most Mormons don't know about. Over 300,000 views.

 

BeliefNet article - Why Are Mormons the Third-Most-Hated Religious Group in America? -11/12/12

 

When Christianity Bites Back - 10/29/12