Author: Sharon Lindbloom
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Polygamy vs Democracy
During the summer, faithful Mormons put on musicals (or pageants) as a way of illustrating their religious history, as well has encouraging the seeker to convert to their uniquely American faith. The early Latter-Day Saints were among the pioneers who trekked into the American West, carving out a place for themselves within the mountains of…
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Ministering Angels of Mormonism
At last April’s General Conference, President James E. Faust (Second Counselor in the First Presidency) talked a bit about ministering angels (see “A Royal Priesthood”). To understand President Faust’s comments, it’s important to first recognize that the LDS view of angels is different from the historic Christian understanding. According to the Bible, angels are created…
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LDS Apostle Accused of Deception in Defense of Marriage
Last April I blogged about the recent temple wedding of LDS Apostle Russell M. Nelson (see Wedding Bells for LDS Apostle). I made note of the fact that Mr. Nelson, whose first wife died in 2005, was on his second temple marriage (for time and all eternity) and asked, So the question is, according to…
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Playing God
On Tuesday I was listening to the Michael Medved Show on conservative talk radio. Because the date was 6/6/06 Mr. Medved was discussing the biblical number 666. One person who called in to the program identified himself as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The caller said he’d researched a…
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LDS in the Weekend News
There are two things I’d like to draw your attention to today. First is a story out of Massachusetts. After a weeklong trial, [LDS member Kevin F.] Curlew, who acted as his own attorney, was convicted by a jury on charges that he sexually assaulted a then-9-year-old boy he befriended while volunteering at The Church…
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Mormons Should Try Walking in Jewish Shoes
It started in 1995. Jewish leaders met with LDS Church representatives in an effort to find a solution to the concern Jews had over posthumous proxy Mormon baptisms of Jewish Holocaust victims. The two groups signed an agreement aimed at preventing the names of Holocaust victims from being added to the Church’s genealogical index and…
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Mormon Pioneers: Average Americans
The Logan, Utah Herald Journal ran a story yesterday about the recent publication of the diaries of Mormon pioneer Charles Ora Card. Mr. Card, great-great grandfather of sci-fi author Orson Scott Card, made detailed daily entries for much of his life. The published diaries are from the years 1871-1886, when Mr. Card lived in northeastern…
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Creeds According to Mormonism
As Gladys Knight performed last weekend, she shared the story of her conversion nine years ago from Baptist to Mormon. Knight led her 100-member [Mormon] choir, Saints Unified Voices, and preached to 3,000 people during two services over the weekend at the Suitland Stake Center, headquarters for 12 Mormon congregations in the District and Southern…
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Mormonism and Myth
Deseret News reports on a collaborative enterprise that has just been completed: Any way you look at it, the story of the Mormon pioneers is one of the great epics of the American West. Over the years it has been looked at in many ways: Words have been written, songs have been sung, dances have…
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LDS Church on the Marriage(s) of Jesus
Today The Da Vinci Code opens in U.S. theatres. There’s a lot of buzzing going on, including some from the LDS Church. Wednesday’s online Deseret News ran a short article titled “LDS do not endorse claims in ‘Da Vinci’” quoted here in part: LDS doctrine does not endorse claims made in a popular book and…
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Take Precaution: Wear Jeans in Utah
On Monday 21-year-old Joseph Patrick Romero pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault. His crime: On January 22nd in Sandy, Utah, Mr. Romero purposefully ran his car into Chris Palomarez, a young man who happened to be wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a name badge. The victim escaped with minor injuries. What’s interesting about…
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After Suicide: Mormon Hope
Last month I blogged about suicide in Utah (see Youth Suicide in Utah). In the May 12th edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack wrote about religious questions raised by suicide. In “Searching for Solace: Suicide raises difficult religious, personal questions” Ms. Stack discusses the eternal fate of suicide victims according…
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Mostly Silent: Victims Must Fend for Themselves
Today’s LA Times ran an in-depth article detailing the horrific abuses associated with modern-day polygamy. “Blind Eye to Culture of Abuse – Children of a polygamist sect have been exploited, molested for years” takes a hard look at what women and children have been forced to endure while living The Principle. A focus of the…
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Twelve Million Mormons
This morning when I checked my email inbox I found a message with a subject line that read, “Millions of customers can’t be wrong!” The message was a spam ad for “alluring pheromones” that promise to attract women of all ages to any man who uses the product. Wow. The ad said the product is…
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Mormon Virtue
Last week I stumbled across an online article at the American Chronicle web site: “A Mormon President?” by David M. Bresnahan. It is written editorial-style and is about what you would expect from a Latter-day Saint hoping for the election of a Mormon president. Mr. Bresnahan wrote 1638 words praising Mormons as the salt of…
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Latter-day Divine Descendants
In two weeks The Da Vinci Code will open in theatres all around the world. It opens in the U.S. on Friday, May 19th. It’s been in the news, of course, for months, and it seems that everyone has an opinion about it whether they’ve read the book or not. The issues at stake in…
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Review: Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration
I’ve spent the last 4 days in Nauvoo, Illinois, the historic town used by the Mormon Church for faith-promotion and proselytizing. On Sunday, at the LDS Visitors Center (pictured at left), a friend and I viewed the movie, Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. Produced as part of last year’s celebration of the 200th…
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LDS and FLDS: Kindred Spirits
The Aspen Times is celebrating its 125th anniversary. In conjunction with the Aspen Historical Society, the newspaper is printing some old stories that have appeared throughout its history. The following story was printed in The Aspen Times in 1885: Pugnacious Mormons Our dispatches this morning announce that the Mormons have determined to test the constitutionality…
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Mormon Church Joins Coalition in Defending Marriage
The LDS Church has joined with 49 religious leaders around the country in calling for a constitutional amendment “to establish a uniform national definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman.” LDS Apostle Russell M. Nelson, as representative for the Mormon Church, has signed the Letter from America’s Religious Leaders…
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Youth Suicide in Utah
Yesterday’s Deseret News carried a very sad and sobering report: “Deadly taboo: Youth suicide an epidemic that many in Utah prefer to ignore.” The report relates the tragic stories of several Utah teens who have taken their own lives in recent months and talks in depth about the widespread problem of youth suicide in Utah.…