Mormon News Archive
When Mitt Romney released his taxes, it showed large donations to charity, including to his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of this church are sometimes called Mormons. Three million dollars was donated to charity, with about 1.5 million dollars going to his church.
Mormons follow the Biblical commandment to tithe, so Romney, as a practicing and believing Mormon, pays at least ten percent of his income in tithing. The word tithe means a tenth, and so, to be fully practicing the law of tithing, a person who believes in and follows the Bible must pay a full tenth of his or her income. In addition, the Bible requires believers to pay offerings.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of... Read the rest of this entry »
Of all the numbers in the Pew Research Center’s recently released survey of “Mormons in America,” the highest, most overwhelming numbers are these: 98 percent of respondents said they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 97 percent say their church is a Christian religion.
This comes on the heels of earlier surveys indicating that 32 percent of non-LDS U.S. adults say the LDS Church is not a Christian religion, and an additional 17 percent are unsure of LDS Christianity. The theological and semantic reasons for this can be complex, but for the 1,019 self-identified Mormons who participated in the Pew survey, their theological position is clear: Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, and they consider themselves to be Christian.
“Certainly in Latter-day Saint theology is this idea that if you understand who you are, you understand that there’s a purpose in life, you understand your connection to God, that certainly has an impact on how you live your life... Read the rest of this entry »
By Amy Choate-Nielsen
Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 7:00 p.m. MST
David Letterman knows how to get a laugh.Like most comics, he riffs on the day’s news, deadpans the camera and revels in audacity.”Oh, did you hear about this?” the host of CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman asked his audience recently. “A campaign staffer on the Newt Gingrich campaign was fired because he was making negative comments about Mormons. I thought, now, wait a minute — isn’t Newt in favor of multiple wives?”
Laughter rumbled from the audience followed by applause. The polygamy punch line is a familiar one when it comes to poking fun at Mormons — as though Mormons and polygamy are synonymous in mainstream media. Ironically, the practice that’s most linked to Mormons is a practice most Mormons oppose, according to a groundbreaking new study of Mormons in America released Thursday by the Pew Research Center‘s Forum on Religion and... Read the rest of this entry »
The Pew Foundation survey of Mormons released this past week confirms that U.S. Mormons are more conservative (66 percent) compared to the general public (37 percent), and on most issues, they closely track white evangelicals. But immigration is one issue that sets Mormons apart from their evangelical counterparts.
Asked whether immigrants are a strength or a burden, 59 percent of white evangelicals said they were a burden, while only 41 percent of Mormons felt the same, compared to 44 percent of the general public. The result is surprising given how staunchly conservative Mormons are on nearly every measure. Interestingly, 50 percent of white mainline Protestants and 49 percent of white Catholics also tilt against immigration, though neither group is as uniformly conservative as evangelicals or Mormons on other measures.
Dan Cox, Research Director at the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C. sees several reasons for the surprising result. He points first to demographics... Read the rest of this entry »
As the “Mormon moment” extends into 2012, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life today released a groundbreaking new survey, the first ever published by a non-LDS research organization to focus exclusively on members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their beliefs, values, perceptions and political preferences.
Entitled “Mormons in America: Certain in Their Beliefs, Uncertain of Their Place in Society,” the survey was conducted between Oct. 25 and Nov. 16, 2011 among a national sample of 1,019 respondents who identified themselves as Mormons. The results validate a number of long-held stereotypes (most American Mormons are white, well-educated, politically conservative and religiously observant) while providing a few interesting surprises (care for the poor and needy is high on the list of LDS priorities, while drinking coffee and watching R-rated movies aren’t as taboo among the rank and file as you might think).
“While this survey... Read the rest of this entry »
On December 5,2011, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons, announced a new website devoted to free online videos about Jesus Christ. The first videos are now available and teach the Christmas story in the exact words of the King James Bible.
The project is the first of many films to be produced on a film set near Goshen, Utah. 830 acres have been turned into a replica of ancient Jerusalem and other New Testament locations. It is not a re-creation of the city of Jerusalem. It is a collection of settings that can be used and re-used for the needed scenes. Digital imaging will create some aspects of the city, such as the temple, that are not being built. Researchers went to Jerusalem, studied it, and photographed it. They also studied the scriptures to understand how things needed to look. The goal was to create as authentic a set as possible. Months of searching finally led them to a large piece of land that included sand dunes, desert,... Read the rest of this entry »
In preparation for the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers, the Washington Post asked a number of the world’s greatest religion leaders and thinkers to comment on what we’ve learned from those tragic events. Thomas S. Monson was one of the people asked to blog. He is the prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes nicknamed Mormons. He is possibly the first Mormon prophet to do a blog post. Excerpts of his blog post can be found on LDS News.
President Monson reminded us of the power reactions that followed the attacks. People came together, putting aside petty differences. They prayed and turned back to God, remembering the faith they had forgotten or taken for granted. They instinctively understood they, and their nation, needed God’s help to get through it all.
But then something changed.
“Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed. Healing has... Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been 150 years since the Civil War and many who have ancestors who lived in that era are especially interested this year to find them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are often referred to as Mormons, offer a variety of free resources and training on the internet to help with that work. The material is also of interest to writers, historians, and students studying that time period.
FamilySearch.org is a free website for genealogists of any faith or none at all. The website has a special anniversary site on the Civil War. Sixteen collections help genealogists locate their Civil War era ancestors. Some of the collections include: Read the rest of this entry »
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are informally called Mormons, have just opened their second environmentally-friendly meeting house. It is the second of three prototype buildings and is expected to earn sivler LEED certification, as did the first building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is earned by creating an environmentally-friendly building according to strict guidelines. It measures performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality and is difficult to attain.
Mesa, Arizona
“For decades we have looked for innovative ways to use natural resources in our meetinghouses that reflect our commitment as wise stewards of God’s creations,” explained H. David Burton, the presiding bishop of the Mormon Church.
The second prototype building is in Mesa, Arizona. It is solar-powered and is designed to produce the same amount of energy over the... Read the rest of this entry »
The media has spent a lot of time on the Book of Mormon Musical, a Broadway production people either love or hate. The reviews have often demonstrated the biases of the reviewers. One rejoiced that the musical showed that religion believes in a lot of silly things (not just Mormonism, but all religion). Another suggested the message was that blind faith is a sin, with his unspoken message being that religious faith is always blind. A Jewish writer argued that Jewish people, with their great knowledge of the dangers of religious persecution, should speak out loudly against the musical. Other writers have noted that the musical attacks all religions, even though it focused on only one. Some have noticed it is an inherently vicious portrayal of Africans, mocking their poverty and suffering.
The official statement of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a single sentence:
“The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of... Read the rest of this entry »
