Category: Moral Issues
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Plural Marriage Index
Better to have never known (D&C 137:7)?The Book of Abraham
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Isn’t this America?
Meridian Magazine, billing itself as “The Place Where Latter-day Saints Gather,” recently ran an article written by reader Michelle Worley. Titled “Standing Up for Prop 8: ‘I Hope You Know We’re Not Haters,’” the article recounts Ms. Worley’s experience standing at a busy intersection holding a sign in support of the California marriage amendment. Encountering…
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Prop 8, Hate Speech, and Plural Marriage
Eight years ago, 61 percent of California voters passed Proposition 22, the “California Defense of Marriage Act.” The proposition read very simply: “Only marriage between a man and woman is valid or recognized in California.” No doubt many Californians thought that because the people had spoken, the issue was over. But this was not to…
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The Stories of the Wives of Joseph Smith
Consider the fact that Mormons told the women in the visual illustration that they were lying, since “Joseph Smith only had one wife.” The LDS Church lies by 1) not educating the common Mormon people about the nature of Joseph Smith’s polygyny and polyandry, and 2) allowing gigantic “faith-promoting rumors” concerning polygamy to perpetuate, all…
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If Polygamy Becomes Legal…
It’s the talk of the town, but it’s nothing new. Ever since the idea of legalizing same-gender marriage gained enough momentum to capture headlines people have been warning that such a move could open the door to legalized polygamy. Several years ago San Francisco Chronicle reporter Ron Lutz wrote, “Legalizing gay marriages today means legalizing…
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What is "Celestial Polygamy"?
By Bill McKeever The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seems to be engaged in an uphill battle in its effort to convince the public that they no longer practice polygamy. An LDS Newsroom release posted on September 7, 2007, stated:
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A Look at Fundamentalism Mormonism
By Bill McKeever The practice of plural marriage had been the center of controversy for Joseph Smith and his fledgling church ever since rumors began circulating about an extra marital affair he had while living in Kirtland, Ohio. According to George D. Smith:
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So Why Is Abortion a Sin?
According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 42 million legal abortions have been performed in the U.S. between 1973 and 2002. That averages out to nearly 1.45 million abortions per year. The Mormon Church touts itself as a “pro-life” church although, like many teachings coming out of Salt Lake City, consistency regarding the topic of…
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Testimony of a Former Polygamist: Out of Polygamy, Into Christ
I was born and raised in one of many groups of people who practice polygamy as their way to heaven and to eternal exaltation. All my life I was taught that the "god with whom we have to do" was a tyrant, with a celestial whip, ready and anxious to punish, hurt and humiliate those…
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Did Joseph Smith Have Sex With His Wives? (And Other Questions Answered)
Joseph Smith’s first wife was Emma Hale (1804-79) the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Lewis) Hale. They were married on January 18, 1827 in South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York. Smith’s marriage to Louis Beaman is considered by some to be his first official plural marriage since it is the first for which there is…
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Amorous Advances by the Mormon Prophet
By Bill McKeever Mormon historian Richard Van Wagoner paints anything but a flattering picture of Joseph Smith in his book Sidney Rigdon, Portrait of Religious Excess. In his chapter titled “Between Friends and Family,” he notes that “perhaps the most scandalous manifestation of Smith’s lust for manly achievement was his inclination toward extra-martial romantic liaisons,…
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The Polygamy Dilemma – Is Plural Marriage a Dead Issue in Mormonism?
By Bill McKeever
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Choose Life, Choose Truth
Forty million unborn babies have been legally killed in this nation since that tragic ruling.My father is in favor of legalized abortion, citing the gruesome stories of illegal back-alley abortions he heard about as a young man. I wasn’t there, of course, but I’ve also heard plenty of horror stories about abortions that pre-dated Roe…
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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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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.…
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What Happens When Mormons Reject Core Principles of the LDS Church?
Buckley Jeppson, lifelong member of the LDS Church, has been all over the news this past week. Buckley’s ‘claim to fame’ is his 2004 Toronto wedding to partner Mike Kessler. The Deseret News reports: “A gay man who is a lifetime member of the LDS Church could be facing disciplinary action and excommunication after legally…