LDS Mothers of Gay Children anti-prop-8 vigil

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Mormon mothers of gay children will hold a candlelight vigil opposing proposition-8 at the Salt Lake public library this Sunday evening.  The article can be read here.

Protest Petition nearly delivered to L.A. Temple

Rick Jacobs, Chair of the Courage Campaign, accompanied by Reverend Eric Lee, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Council of California, held a press conference outside the Los Angeles Mormon Temple this week. They attempted to peacefully deliver a petition with nearly 17,000 names of Californians opposed to the Mormon Church's funding and tactics in support of Proposition 8.

Read  more  here.
 

Poll numbers for Prop 8

Excerpts of a San Francisco Chronicle article by John Wildermuth titled Prop. 8 still trails, but margin narrows

The struggle over Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California, has tightened dramatically in the past month, with opponents holding a slim 49 to 44 percent edge among likely voters, according to a new Field Poll.

"The 'Yes' campaign has raised some doubts and moved people over to their side," said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director. "A relatively large segment of voters are in conflict over this measure."

Opponents of Prop. 8 saw their 17-point lead in the September Field Poll melt away in the face of a multimillion-dollar onslaught of TV ads, leaving them hanging on desperately to their lead.

The poll showed just how divided voters are over same-sex marriage. Sixty-five percent of likely voters agreed that traditional marriage is "one of the cornerstones of the country's Judeo-Christian heritage" and 50 percent agreed that Prop. 8 restores the institution of traditional marriage without taking domestic partnership rights from gay or lesbian couples.

But 61 percent also agreed that Prop. 8 would deny one class of citizens "the dignity and responsibility of marriage" and 58 percent believe that domestic partnership laws don't give same-sex couples "the same certainty and security that marriage laws provide."

Voters 65 and older is the only age group that supports Prop. 8, while people in California's populous coastal region oppose the measure, 54 to 39 percent.

The entire article can be read here.

Word Perfect prop 8 wars

Apparently  Alan Aston, founder of Word Perfect,  is donating up to 1 million dollars for prop-8, effectively canceling out his Word Perfect partner Bruce Bastion's 1 million dollars against prop-8.

Mormon donations now exceed $20 million , causing proposition 8 to be the most expensive social issue in American history.

http://au.sys-con.com/node/730623

The NO on Prop 8 campaign today announced that the secret $1 million donor to Prop 8 has been revealed: Alan Ashton, of Lindon, Utah.

According to the Deseret News, Ashton is a Mormon and grandson of David O. McKay, President of the Mormon Church from 1951-1970. Ashton made his fortune in software.

The donation was reported by the Prop 8 campaign on October 28.

The funds were in the form of matching funds to air a TV commercial that includes images of children who are being aired over the objection of their parents.

Mormon Myth-ellaneous: Amazing True Mormon Stories -- and Some That Should Be

 
 
 
 
________________________________
Amazing True Mormon Stories -and Some That Should Be! Take a comical jaunt to unlock the hidden mysteries of Mormon urban legends, faithpromoting rumors, and alluring facts and fallacies. Scores of researchers and experts weigh in on issues not exactly critical to your salvation, but that you've always wondered about. Did Elvis read the Book of Mormon? Why are the Three Nephites always hitchhiking? Was Yoda modeled after an LDS Church president? Was a Jaredite barge really found in Lake Michigan? Hang on tight as you discover what these pass-along tales say about "the Mormons" as a people, why we gravitate to these stories, and how to best challenge less-than-credible accounts. Enjoy a fast-paced, fun ride with Mormon Myth-ellaneous: Amazing True Mormon Stories-and Some That Should Be! Who knows? You may even learn a little something.

Depression, Mormons and Church Attendance

The The Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences reports that  Mormons have double the risk of depression as non-Mormons, but those Mormons who attend church regularly have their risk for depression returned to normal levels.

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Church Attendance and New Episodes of Major Depression in a Community Study of Older Adults: The Cache County Study

Maria C. Norton, Archana Singh, Ingmar Skoog, Christopher Corcoran, JoAnn T. Tschanz, Peter P. Zandi, John C. S. Breitner, Kathleen A. Welsh-Bohmer, David C. Steffens and for the Cache County Investigators

Departments of ¹ Family, Consumer and Human Development, ² Psychology, ³ Mathematics and Statistics
⁴ Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Utah State University, Logan.
⁵ Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Göteborg University, Sweden.
⁶ Department of Mental Hygiene, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
⁷ VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and ⁹ The Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Address correspondence to Maria C. Norton, PhD, Department of Family, Consumer and Human Development, Cache County Study on Memory Health and Aging, Utah State University, 4440 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4440. E-mail: maria.norton@usu.edu

We examined the relation between church attendance, membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), and major depressive episode, in a population-based study of aging and dementia in Cache County, Utah. Participants included 2,989 nondemented individuals aged between 65 and 100 years who were interviewed initially in 1995 to 1996 and again in 1998 to 1999. LDS church members reported twice the rate of major depression that non-LDS members did (odds ratio = 2.56, 95% confidence interval = 1.07–6.08). Individuals attending church weekly or more often had a significantly lower risk for major depression. After controlling for demographic and health variables and the strongest predictor of future episodes of depression, a prior depression history, we found that church attendance more often than weekly remained a significant protectant (odds ratio = 0.51, 95% confidence interval = 0.28–0.92). Results suggest that there may be a threshold of church attendance that is necessary for a person to garner long-term protection from depression. We discuss sociological factors relevant to LDS culture.

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Technology Plans of the Mormon Church

On Grandpa Grumpy's Blog, MaxWeller reports on an all hands meeting for the LDS Church's IT department where they outlined a five year plan for the church.  Below are 5 items he  listed. 

1. One central church web site which will then navigate to all the different aspects of the church, i.e. family history, lessons, Temples, missionary sites (for non members, kind of a Mormon.org)

2. On line interaction for church callings and positions.  For example if you are a Bishop and use your lds account (the same user name and password that you log into your ward web site), the web site knows your calling as a bishop and gives you access to Bishop related material, ward members, information you add, the church handbook, and other things to make the bishops job easier.  If you are a primary teacher, materials for your calling will be available and taylored for you.

3.  You will get web access based on your geographical location around the world.  The web site will know who you are and where you are located and provide News information and helps for you in from the Church based on your location.

4. More tools for help those who are not members understand the church and ask questions.

5. If President Monson wants to communicate with the youth of the church he can send a text message which will be send to the youths cell phones. (or if a Bishop wants to comunicate with a youth that he is working with, say to go on a mission he can do the same thing through his phone and the web site.

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Response: Democrat Mormons and Prop. 8

I am guessing that this member of the stake presidency has not had much sensitive association with gay members of the church. Maybe he should spend some time on websites that talk about the heartache of members with S.S.A. and then he should see what the churches position is on those who don't agree with the prop 8. Here are a couple of statements by church leadership: Elder L. Whitney Clayton: Latter-day Saints are free to disagree with their church on the issue without facing any sanction, said L. Whitney Clayton of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy. "We love them and bear them no ill will." Still, he emphasized that most Mormons in California support the church's efforts on behalf of the initiative. President Monson Regarding another question about whether church members could disagree with the faith's opposition to legalizing same-sex unions and still remain in good standing, he said the answer "depends on what the disagreement is." "If it's an apostasy situation that would not be appropriate. If it's something political, there is room for opinion here and there on either side." Official church Statement: "The Church affirms its neutrality regarding political parties, platforms, and candidates. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues." Official church statement

Democrat Mormons and Prop. 8

Excerpts from a Salt Lake Tribune Op Ed article by Todd Compton, "Church's stand on California's Prop. 8 Marginalizes"

Recently a member of our LDS stake presidency spoke in our sacrament meeting in favor of Proposition 8, which would change the California Constitution so that homosexuals are banned from participating in marriage.
    He did not explain how the church views homosexuals or why same-sex marriage was bad; instead, he simply stated that we needed to "follow the prophet" on this issue. If we had raised our right arms and sustained the prophet in the last General Conference, we needed to obey him now, by voting in the way he has directed, by paying as much money as possible to the cause of Prop. 8 (church leaders are giving many Mormons assessments to donate specific large amounts), and by knocking on doors and encouraging people in our neighborhoods to vote for Prop. 8.
    All of this is reminiscent of the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when leaders instructed members how to vote and Mormons willingly voted as a bloc. The church has not given us general principles, using education or persuasion, then asked us to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider the issue and vote on it. Instead, church leaders have instructed us to simply "follow the prophet" by voting for and supporting Prop. 8. While the church has made some talking points and arguments for Prop. 8 available, this has been almost an afterthought.
    This has not been a problem for Republican Mormons, the great majority in our church, but it is a problem for the minority of Mormons who, like myself, are wholehearted Democrats. Banning gay marriage is an issue strongly associated with the Republican Party.
    Banning homosexual marriage is not just a characteristic Republican issue; it's characteristic of the Republican far right. Karl Rove, who masterminded the technique of getting the Republican base out to vote by using divisive wedge issues, made banning homosexual marriage his preferred polarizing issue. In my view, Rove represents the worst in American politics. And now Mormon Democrats are being commanded to become close allies of Rove in this respect.
    I've never understood the Republican argument that allowing homosexual marriage will prevent heterosexual marriage. However, I do know that typical Democrats conceptualize this as a civil rights issue. Homosexuals are a minority, different from the majority; therefore, there is a tendency for the majority to deny minorities, such as homosexuals, full civil rights. The Republican Party's record on civil rights in this century has been abysmal. There are no black Republicans in Congress, and this is not a problem for many Republicans. On the other hand, civil rights is an issue that Democrats care passionately about. So it is not surprising that most Republicans support Prop. 8, while most Democrats oppose it.
    The LDS Church always states that it is politically neutral; however, in this case it seems to be saying, "It's acceptable for church members to be Democrats, as long as they uphold characteristic Republican positions."

   
Read the entire article here

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Rome Temple Design released

Design of the new temple to be built in Rome is now available. :-)

Mormon Church directly donates to ProtectMarriage.com

The LDS church apparently has now directly donated money to Proposition-8. The money was donated to cover travel costs of church leaders, whom ProtectMarriage.com would not identify.

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=9254046&nav=menu554_2_3

Biblical 'Solomon's mines' confirmed by dating

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn15049-biblical-solomons-mines-confirmed-by-dating.html

Biblical 'Solomon's mines' confirmed by dating

* NewScientist.com news service
* Catherine Brahic

It's not every day that science and the Bible come together to tell a piece of history. Modern dating methods have determined that huge mines in Jordan are 3000 years old, supporting the idea that they were the Biblical mines of Edom ruled by King David and his son Solomon.

"The results are very, very consistent and leave no doubt as to the period [during which the mines were active]," says Tom Higham of the University of Oxford.

Higham and colleagues dated samples of charcoal used to smelt copper ore from the site.

The age of the Khirbat en-Nahas mines in the Faynan district of southern Jordan has been controversial for decades. The new evidence suggests that the site, one of the oldest, largest and best preserved mines in the world, really is the one mentioned in the Bible.

"We can't believe everything ancient writings tell us, but this research represents a confluence between the archaeological and scientific data and the Bible," says Thomas Levy of the University of California San Diego.

With Higham and a team of archaeologists, Levy has been excavating the site since 2002. In their latest study, they sampled charcoal from successive layers through a 6-metre-deep stack of smelting waste and dated them using carbon isotope ratios.

Egyptian invasion

The carbon right at the base of the pit, at the transition point between virgin earth and smelting waste is 3000 years old. "The first main phase of activity began just after 950 BC," explains Higham. "This phase lasted for probably 40 to 50 years, then a large building was constructed and copper production continued until around 840 BC, perhaps a little more recently."

At what would have been floor level of the building, the archaeologists found two ancient Egyptian stone and ceramic artefacts: a scarab and an amulet. Neither is made of local materials and the team believe they were brought in by the military campaign of the Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonq I, known as "Shishak" in the Old Testament.

The artefacts are contemporary with the building's construction and an abrupt change in the rate of copper production 3000 years ago. "This could be evidence of the role Sheshonq I may have played in the disruption of the largest known Iron Age copper factory in the eastern Mediterranean," says Levy.

He now wants to determine who actually controlled the mines – whether David or Solomon, or regional Edomite leaders who do not figure in Biblical texts. He also intends to study how mining on such a large scale would have affected the local environment.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0804950105)

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Prop8 2nd most expensive campaign in U.S., Protests at Oakland Temple

Excerpts from an SFGate article by Matthai Kuruvila entitled "Mormons face flak for backing Prop. 8"

(10-26) 14:40 PDT OAKLAND -- Christine Alonso's body trembled and her lips quivered as she walked up and spoke to a few of the 50 protesters in front of the Mormon Temple in Oakland on Sunday.

"Don't think they're all against you," said Alonso, 27, explaining that she was Mormon and that despite her religious leaders' support of a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage, she was actively opposed.

As she walked away, she said, "I'm afraid that a gay or lesbian friend might hear that I'm Mormon and think that I want to tear their marriage apart."

Alonso's solitary act came as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members are increasingly under fire for their support of Proposition 8, which would take away the right of gays and lesbians to marry. In addition to increased protests, online campaigns seek to identify and embarrass Mormons who support the ballot measure.

The church largely stays out of politics. But in this case, the Salt Lake City-based church has sent letters, held video conferences and in church meetings asked for volunteers to support the campaign. In response, some church members have poured in their savings and undertaken what may be an unprecedented grassroots mobilization for the effort.

Prop. 8 is on pace to be the costliest race in the nation, except for the billion-dollar presidential election. The Yes on 8 campaign estimates that up to 40 percent of its donations come from Mormons. Some others estimate that Mormons account for over 70 percent of donations from individuals.

All of California's Catholic bishops have all come out in favor of the measure. So have many evangelical Christians and Orthodox Jews. Yet it is Mormons, who account for 2 percent of the state population, who are catching the most heat.

"We seem to be the symbol of the Yes on 8 campaign," said Rand King, 60, a Walnut Creek resident who is Mormon and who was watching Sunday's protest from inside the temple's gates.

Prop. 8 opponents are increasingly narrowing their focus on Mormons, harnessing technology and open-records laws in their efforts. One Web site run by a Prop. 8 opponent, Mormonsfor8.com, identifies the name and hometown of every Mormon donor. On the Daily Kos, the nation's most popular liberal blog, there is a campaign to use that information to look into the lives of Mormons who financially support Prop. 8.


Atkins said his goal was to "embarrass the opposition by pointing out and publicizing any contributors they may have." He said focusing on Mormons made sense. "If one religious group is putting close to the majority of the money and the effort into passing this proposition, it is fair to single them out."


Michele Sundstrom .. and her husband gave $30,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign and put a sign on their home. But in response, two women parked an SUV in front of their home, with the words "Bigots live here" painted on the windshield.

Sundstrom believes such responses must come from deep places of pain - and that gays and lesbians are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals, just not the word marriage. Any animosity toward gays or lesbians is wrong, she said.

"There must be such deep, deep, deep hurt; otherwise there couldn't be so much opposition," she said. "They've lived with this. I guess we're getting a taste of where they live."

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Re: Creation and Evolution: A Witness of Prophets

The official position of the church is that it has no position on the
matter. This author is capitalizing on the anti-evolution statements
that came out during the McConkie era under Joseph Fielding Smith,
Bruce R. McConkie and others. Both positions (pro and con) have been
expressed by individual leaders with more contrary to evolution in the
70s. But the current position of the church is neutrality.

Unfortunately, the church doesn't do anything to stop individuals that
take a conservative position that is out of line with current policy
while they are more likely to take issue with those espousing a
liberal position that is out of line with policy.

Young, intelligent church members are set up for a testimony crisis by
anti-evolution teachings. When they are young, and are taught to
believe evolution is false, and then go to college and realize that
evolution is a foundational scientific principal in biology, they find
themselves in a crisis situation. Promoting anti-evolution does a
disservice to members of the church, in my opinion.

Prop 8 fight divides LDS faithful

Excerpts from a Salt Lake Tribune article by Peggy Fletcher Stack, "Prop 8: California gay marriage fight divides LDS faithful"

The church's effort against gay marriage is its most vigorous since 1970s

    The thought of going to church in her southern California LDS ward makes Carol Oldham cry. She can't face one more sermon against same-sex marriage. She can't tolerate the glares at the rainbow pin on her lapel.
    Oldham, a lifelong Mormon, is troubled by her church's zeal in supporting a California ballot initiative that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. She feels the church is bringing politics into her sanctuary.
    "It has tainted everything for me," Oldham said, choking up during a telephone interview. "I am afraid to go there and hear people say mean things about gay people. I am in mourning. I don't know how long I can last."
    The LDS Church's campaign to pass Proposition 8 represents its most vigorous and widespread political involvement since the late 1970s, when it helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. It even departs from earlier efforts on behalf of traditional marriage, in which members felt more free to decide their level of involvement.
    This time, LDS leaders have tapped every resource, including the church's built-in phone trees, e-mail lists and members' willingness to volunteer and donate money. Many California members consider it a directive from God and have pressured others to participate. Some leaders and members see it as a test of faith and loyalty.
    Those who disagree with the campaign say they feel unwelcome in wards that have divided along political lines. Some are avoiding services until after the election; others have reluctantly resigned. Even some who favor the ballot measure are troubled by their church's zeal in the matter.
    "I do expect the church to face a high cost - both externally and internally - for its prominent part in the campaign," said LDS sociologist and Proposition 8 supporter Armand Mauss of Irvine, Calif. He believes church leaders feel a "prophetic imperative" to speak out against gay marriage.
    "The internal cost will consist of ruptured relationships between and among LDS members of opposing positions, sometimes by friends of long standing and equally strong records of church activity," Mauss said. "In some cases, it will result in disaffection and disaffiliation from the church because of the ways in which their dissent has been handled by local leaders."
    Robert Rees, a former LDS bishop in California, says he has not witnessed this much divisiveness in the church over a political issue in the last 50 years.
    Whatever the vote's outcome, Rees says, "it will take considerable humility, charity and forgiveness to heal the wounds caused by this initiative."
 
    Latter-day Saints are free to disagree with their church on the issue without facing any sanction, said L. Whitney Clayton of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy. "We love them and bear them no ill will."
    Still, he emphasized that most Mormons in California support the church's efforts on behalf of the initiative.
 
California LDS leaders have prompted members to sign up volunteers, raise money, pass out brochures produced by outsiders and distribute lawn signs and bumper stickers. Bishops have devoted whole Sunday school classes and the weekly Relief Society and priesthood meetings to outlining arguments against same-sex marriage. Some have pointedly asked members for hefty financial donations, based on tithing. Others have even asked members to stand or raise their hands to publicly indicate their support.
    Gary Lawrence, writing in the online Meridian Magazine, compared opponents of Proposition 8 to those who sided with Lucifer against Jesus in the pre-mortal existence. Others have questioned such members' faith and religious commitment, accusing them of undermining the prophet.
    Literature written by Proposition 8 proponents is freely distributed in Mormon wards, giving the impression the church approves it, but much of it is "misinformation," said Morris Thurston, an LDS attorney in Orange County.
    Thurston has circulated a point-by-point refutation to an anonymously authored document that has been widely disseminated by Mormons, "Six Consequences . . . If Proposition 8 Fails." Thurston argues that most of its arguments are either untrue or misleading.
    He welcomes critiques of his analysis, but some have been hostile and many question his motives.
    "I feel like I am entitled to my opinions, especially when they involve legal matters," Thurston said, "and I don't think I should be compared to Satan's minions."
    Many opponents choose to keep quiet at church, while seeking kindred spirits online. Several Web sites have emerged, including Mormonsformarriage.org, which give participants a chance to tell their stories, share their perspectives on the measure and swap information.
    "We wanted to provide information and fact check the claims, and we wanted it to be provided by people who are still active and involved," said Laura Compton, one of the site's managers. "We get between 400 and 800 hits per day."
    She knows, though, that the conflict has taken its toll on California Latter-day Saints.
    "Our wards are falling apart," Compton said. "But we still have to sit next to each other after the election."
    It's especially painful for Mormon gays.
    "How is the church going to minister to them when such operations are guaranteed to alienate them and their families?" Thurston asked. "Most of the gay members were orthodox Latter-day Saints in their teens and many went on missions. But eventually they found there was no place in the church for them and they went elsewhere."
    pstack@sltrib.com

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Church pulls plug on pro-Prop. 8 calls from Utah

Excerpts from an article by Aurelio Rojas, "Mormon church pulls plug on pro-Prop. 8 calls from Utah"

The Mormon church, whose members have emerged as the leading backers of a ballot measure to end same-sex marriage in California, is scaling back its Utah campaign operation but will continue to support the initiative.

Church members will no longer be making phone calls from Utah to California voters, Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a prepared statement Friday.

At the request of the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign, church members in Utah had been enlisted to make calls on behalf of the measure.

"However, the church has since determined that such phone calls are best handled by those who are registered California voters," Farah said.

Opponents of the measure have criticized the church's involvement in the campaign.

Church members have been the biggest contributors to the Yes on 8 campaign.

Supporters have raised $27.7 million and opponents $29.3 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of campaign filings.

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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RE: Creation and Evolution: A Witness of Prophets

This type of video makes me frustrated…. I don’t think it is representative of the actual thoughts about organic evolution by the majority of leaders in the lds church. Of course this is a knee jerk reaction to something that seems as ridiculous as stating that green people live on the moon…. Ignorance is the root of most of this type of material imho.

Cheers, Derek

Creation and Evolution: A Witness of Prophets

http://www.bookofmormonevidence.org/index.php

Just released DVD titled "Creation and Evolution: A Witness of Prophets" by ZionVison

President Joseph Fielding Smith after 54 years serving as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and seeing the effects of evolution on society taught: "It has been truthfully said that organic evolution is Satan's chief weapon in this dispensation in his attempt to destroy the divine mission of Jesus Christ." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], 184 – 185.)

Of Joseph Fielding Smith's writings on the subject of organic evolution, President Ezra Taft Benson stated: "It is . . . apparent to all who have the Spirit of God in them that Joseph Fielding Smith's writings will stand the test of time." (Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1977], 27.)

Have you have ever wondered about the position of the Prophets and Apostles of the church on the subject of organic evolution? If so, this video is for you!
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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Mormons and Proposition 8: KUER's RadioWest 10/23/08

Mormons and Proposition 8
RadioWest on KUER 90.1

Wednesday, October 23, 2008

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have donated some 9
million dollars to support California's Proposition 8. It's a constitutional
amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The Church
has encouraged the faithful to be active in the campaign - not just by donating
money, but also by making phone calls, walking neighborhoods and finding other
ways speak out. Thursday, we're talking about Proposition 8, and about the LDS
Church's view on homosexuality.

Are you LDS? Have you taken any action regarding Proposition 8? What do you
think the role of a church should be in political campaigns? Join our on-line
discussion board at http://tinyurl.com/ldsprop8

********

Join us for RadioWest weekdays at 11 a.m. Mountain on KUER 90.1 and on XM
Public Radio Channel 133. You can also catch a rebroadcast of the program at 7
p.m. on KUER. Links to books and other resources related to this topic are
available on-line at <http://kuer.org> This program will also be available
on-line for 3 months following its broadcast.

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Re: Patriarchal blessings online

That's very interesting. I have my copy from my mission that I shrunk and lamenated, but I can't find the original letter...

The associated press reports:

Mormons will soon have access to their personal church blessings through an online database.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains a paper file of patriarchal blessings in its history department. Those files will soon be available in a digital, downloadable format through a project called LDS Tech.

The church announced the initiative on its Web site Tuesday. So far, 1.7 million blessings of an estimated 3.6 million have been scanned.

Patriarchal blessings are given by designated male church leaders to individual members in good standing. They are considered revelatory statements intended to provide warnings, comfort and guidance for a person's life.

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Patriarchal blessings online

The associated press reports:

Mormons will soon have access to their personal church blessings through an online database.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains a paper file of patriarchal blessings in its history department. Those files will soon be available in a digital, downloadable format through a project called LDS Tech.
   
The church announced the initiative on its Web site Tuesday. So far, 1.7 million blessings of an estimated 3.6 million have been scanned.
   
Patriarchal blessings are given by designated male church leaders to individual members in good standing. They are considered revelatory statements intended to provide warnings, comfort and guidance for a person's life.

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Morris Thurston on the Family Research Council Video

The Family Research Council Video  
and the Massachusetts Case of Parker v. Hurley 

Several people have asked me to comment on a video currently making the rounds concerning school children in Massachusetts who were exposed to materials promoting tolerance of same-sex marriages.  The video is narrated by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and is apparently being distributed by the ProtectMarriage.com coalition. I have been asked whether the video is factually and legally correct and whether I think it portends any of the "slippery slope" predictions of the proponents of Proposition 8. 

My answer is that I believe the video is accurate in some things and misleading in others.  Obviously it is biased, but that is the nature of political videos such as this.  Whether it portends a "slippery slope" depends on what a person considers that slope to be.  

If one feels that it is bad for society to become more tolerant of committed gay relationships, then I would agree that legalizing gay marriages will gradually tend to bring about that tolerance and hence could be seen by some as a "slippery slope."  Increased tolerance will likely happen in society at large whether or not Proposition 8 passes, but it will probably come about more quickly if it fails.  

Unfortunately, videos like the one being circulated serve to stoke the bigoted feelings of people who already despise gays.  Here is a message about the video that was sent by one man to his mailing list (which happened to include me):  "Listen to this video and please forward to everyone on your list. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and I sure hate seeing millions of dollars wasted trying to stop these morons. Just wait until they get the full impact of the backlash that's inevitable, because of their trying to force their perverted lifestyles on the rest of us." 

Let me provide a little legal background that is missing from the video.  The case that came about as a result of the incidents depicted in the video was titled Parker v. Hurley, but it actually concerned two separate incidents.  The first involved the Parkers' child, a kindergarten boy named Jacob, who brought home a "Diversity Book Bag."  This included (among other things) a picture book titled Who's in a Family? that depicted different sorts of families, including single-parent families, interracial families, animal families, a family with two dads and a family with two moms.  Since the child was in kindergarten, he wouldn't have been able to read it himself, but the parents could read it to him if they wished.  They were not required to read it to him and, of course, they did not do so. 

The second situation involved the Wirthlins.  In that case the teacher actually read aloud a book to her second grade class (including the Wirthlins' child, Joey) titled King and King, which told the story of a prince who fell in love with, and married, another prince.  As I will explain at greater length below, I find this case more troubling than the first. 

The Parkers and the Wirthlins brought suit, contending that these incidents infringed on their constitutionally protected freedom of religion.  The United States First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them on that point.  The court pointed out the school was not "targeting" only those children from families with religious objections to gay marriage and that "exposure to the materials in dispute here will not … prevent the parents from raising Jacob and Joey in the religious belief that gay marriage is immoral."  The court cited previous decisions holding that "exposure to ideas through the required reading of books [does] not constitute a constitutionally significant burden on the plaintiffs' free exercise of religion."  The court suggested if the school system had not been sufficiently sensitive to the plaintiffs' religious beliefs, the issue could be resolved through "the normal political processes for change in the town and state." Recently the United States Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari, permitting the lower court ruling to stand.  

It was pretty easy for the Court of Appeals to reject Jacob Parker's claim, since he was never required to read the books sent home in the diversity book bag and the books did not endorse gay marriage or even address those topics explicitly.  They merely described how other children might come from families that look different from one's own.  I feel the court's ruling was appropriate in the case of Jacob Parker. 

The case of Joey Wirthlin presented a more difficult issue.  He was actually required to sit through a classroom reading of a book that endorsed gay marriage.  The court found, however, that the book was primarily intended to influence the listeners toward tolerance of gay marriage, and that there was no evidence of systemic indoctrination or that Joey was asked to affirm gay marriage.  The court said, "Public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them." 

In my mind, the problem in the case of Joey Wirthlin was not that his freedom of religion was infringed, but that the material read in class was not age appropriate and not appropriate for children of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  I can understand why the Wirthlins were offended that the King and King book was read to a captive audience that included their second-grade son.  It seems to me that the court could have found that the Wirthlins should at least have been notified before the book was read and had the option of exempting their child from that portion of class.  The PTA president contended that all parents were given an opportunity to examine the books during a back-to-school night that had been held early in the school year, but I do not find that a very convincing argument. 

The Family Research Council video begins with this message displayed on the screen and read aloud by a woman with a soothing voice:  "If Prop 8 Fails on Nov 4^th, All Public School Children Will Be Affected."  This same message is echoed at the end of the video.  I do not believe that the Parker and Wirthlin cases support the conclusion that all public school children will be affected.  Because California has different education laws than Massachusetts, we do not know how a ruling on a similar situation would come down in our state.  In general, public schools in California are required to be attuned to the sensibilities of the community.  California Education Code Section 51890 (the one referred to in "Six Consequences") has specific provisions for the community to actively participate in the teaching of family health issues.  Education Code Section 51933 (the one dealing with sex education) specifically requires the instruction and materials to be age appropriate, to be appropriate for use with pupils of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and to encourage pupils to communicate with their parents or guardians about human sexuality. If a Wirthlin-type case did arise in California, I would be happy to be on the side of the plaintiff.  I do not feel it was age-appropriate or appropriate for use with pupils of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. 

However, I don't believe it is likely that the Wirthlin problem will surface in California, at least not on any wide-spread scale.  Existing California law already requires schools to teach respect for "committed relationships" (which include gay ones). Domestic partnerships (including gay partnerships) already enjoy all civil rights that marriages do.  Even though these laws on the books for several years, I have never heard of a teacher trying to read a book promoting gay committed relationships to a grammar school class.  In fact, it is pretty amazing that in all of the United States, we apparently have only one actual instance similar to the one described in the Wirthlin case.  I think we can be sure that if there were others, they would be buzzing all over the Internet by now.  I do not believe, therefore, that the Wirthlin case portends apocalyptic consequences and it certainly does not support the assertion that if Proposition 8 fails, all public school children will be affected in the way that the Parker and Wirthlin children were affected. 

While the underlying story is based on a true incident, I take issue with the video on a few other points.  For example, it never explains that Jacob Parker was not required to read anything.  Persuasive arguments can be made that the book in Jacob's "Diversity Bag" was entirely appropriate.   It is an undeniable fact that there are already many families in California (and Massachusetts) where the children have two moms or two dads.  According to a recent article in the L.A. Times, there are more than 109,000 same-sex couples in California and nearly a quarter of them have children.  More than 50,000 California children are now living in same-sex households and this number will increase in the future, whether or not Prop 8 passes.  Children are going to be aware of this fact and, hopefully, will be taught to show respect and civility toward their classmates who come from such families.  I'm not suggesting parents cannot teach their children that homosexual relationships are sinful if they want to, but would hope they also will teach them to be charitable and kind and polite toward those families that believe otherwise—a message that has been stressed by President Hinckley and, more recently, Elder Ballard.  To use an example we're all familiar with, most evangelical Christians are convinced that Mormons are not Christian and therefore are going to hell, but many of them still manage to treat us with kindness and respect.  Others stand on street corners screaming about our perverted beliefs or spew out their bigotry in online websites.  No matter what our beliefs on this issue, certainly we want to teach our children to be civil and respectful toward our gay brothers and sisters and their families. 

The video is also misleading in the way it treats David Parker's being jailed.  It seeks to give the impression that he was hauled off to jail because of his religious beliefs.  In fact, David Parker went down to the school and refused to move unless the school administrators agreed to his demands.  (Remember, his child was not required to read anything.)  When the police were finally called they tried to talk him into leaving voluntarily.  They waited more than two hours, and when he would not budge, they arrested him for trespass.  When he got to the jail, he refused to post bail, choosing instead to spend the night in jail.  As he put it, he wanted to "prove a point." 

Recently I received an e-mail from a man who attended an Interfaith Council community forum.  The forum featured speakers in favor and opposed to Prop 8.  One of the speakers in favor was an LDS representative.  Here is what this brother (we'll call him "Brother Jones") is reported to have said in this public forum: 

"When the panel received a question from the audience that asked 'How would Proposition 8 would hurt me or my family?' Bro. Jones responded by saying that all we have to do is to look to Massachusetts and see how a father was jailed because he didn't want his kindergarten-aged child to learn about homosexuality marriage.  If Proposition 8 fails, the same thing could happen here in California." 

This suggests the video had misled Brother Jones into thinking that David Parker was jailed because of his religious beliefs, not because of trespass. That is unfortunate. We do not jail people in America because they express religious or political opinions, but it is astonishing how many people are willing to believe we do. 

Perhaps the Family Research Council video is no more misleading than other political propaganda pieces, but I feel it creates a one-sided and, in some respects, inaccurate picture of the legal risks to Californians from same-sex marriage.  

Morris A. Thurston

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Just Released: Innocent Blood, Essential Narratives of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Innocent Blood
Essential Narratives of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Edited by David L. Bigler, Will Bagley

Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier Series Volume 12

Original sources documenting a frontier atrocity and its cover-up.

The slaughter of a wagon train of some 120 people in southern Utah on September 11, 1857, has long been the subject of controversy and debate. Innocent Blood gathers key primary sources describing the tangled story of the Mountain Meadows massacre. This wide array of contrasting perspectives, many never before published, provide a powerful and intimate picture of this "dastardly outrage" and its cover-up.
The documents David L. Bigler and Will Bagley have collected offer a clearer understanding of the victims, the perpetrators, and the reasons a frontier American theocracy sought to justify or conceal the participants' guilt. These narratives make clear that, despite limited Southern Paiute involvement, white men planned the killing and their church's highest leaders encouraged Mormon settlers to undertake the deed.
This compelling documentary record presents the primary evidence that tells the story from its contradictory perspectives. The sources let readers evaluate and track the evolution of such myths as the Paiutes' guilt, the emigrants' provocation of their murderers, Brigham Young's ignorance of what happened, and John D. Lee's sole culpability. Clearly revealed is the part Utah authorities took in blocking the investigation until it became expedient to sacrifice Lee.
Together, these narratives show how the massacre's story has been continually distorted and then revealed over 150 years—and how the obfuscation and cover-up continue. Innocent Blood conveys the encompassing impact the atrocity had on people's lives, then and for generations after. It is a valuable sourcebook sure to prove indispensable to future research.


About the Author

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David L. Bigler, former director of the Utah Board of State History, is an independent historian whose award-winning books on Utah, California, and western American history include Forgotten Kingdom: The Mormon Theocracy in the American West, 1847–1896. Will Bagley, an independent historian of the West, is author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Mountain Meadows Massacre and editor of Pioneer Camp of the Saints: The Mormon Trail Journal of Thomas Bullock, 1846–1847.

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Truth can never be more harmful than denying it

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Mormon Issues / Mormon Chronicles
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Strange Bedfellows

Mormons and the Coalition to Protect Marriage
Robert A. Rees

On a recent trip to Utah, I read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune titled "Minister Insists Romney is a 'Cultist'" about the Reverend Robert Jeffress, pastor of an evangelical mega-church in Dallas. That made me to think about how closely tied Mormons are in the Proposition 8 campaign with groups and organizations that consider us non-Christian at best (and cultist and satanic at worst).

I don't know whether Latter-day Saints involved in the Yes on 8 campaign have bothered to investigate the organizations with which we are in league in this initiative, but my cursory examination reveals that the majority could be classified as fundamentalist, and not a few characterized as extreme right-wing. I believe it is safe to say that many are decidedly anti-Mormon.

The majority of churches listed on the ProtectMarriage.com website as "endorsers" are Evangelical, Pentecostal, or Catholic. Endorsing organizations include the Eagle Forum, Creation Research (anti-evolution), and Traditional Values Coalition (whose website is anti-Obama and anti-homosexual). In other words, we are associated in this campaign with individuals, groups, organizations and churches that tend to represent a right-wing ideology. Many if not most of the churches and religious groups with whom we are aligned tend to be biblical literalist, anti-feminists, dominionists (America should be governed by Christian principles and biblical law), exceptionalists (the United States is chosen above all other nations), and anti-homosexual.

Other groups affiliated with the Coalition tend to fall into the same category. For example the organization providing legal counsel to the Coalition, the Alliance Defense Fund, was founded by James Dobson (Focus on the Family), Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Larry Burkett (Crown Financial Ministries) and D. James Kennedy (Coral Ridge Ministries). A review of their respective websitesreveals their ideological bent. Another organization, the Family Research Council, also formed by James Dobson and affiliated with Focus on the Family, is the producer of a video currenly being destributed by ProtectMarriage.com ("If Prop 8 Fails on November 4th, All Public School Children Will Be Affected"). The Family Research Council, headed by Tony Perkins, is a right-wing political lobbying organization. Still another video, "Homosexuals Brainwashing Our Children in Elementary Schools," produced by Mass Resistance, features on its website an article titled "The Mitt Romney Deception."

A DVD currently being distributed by the Coalition, "Proposition 8 and the Case for Traditional Marriage," is produced by the American Family Association, an anti-homosexual group. It is a slickly-produced, propagandistic video and yet is being distributed vigorously by Latter-day Saints. As the high councilman in one stake spearheading the Proposition 8 campaign wrote to members, "There is an excellent video presentation with Chuck Colsun [sic] (Pastor) on the American Family Association website that should be a must see for all of us." He then encouraged members to buy and distribute copies to their friends, have showings in their homes, etc. He adds, "This is a moral (and mortal) issue and we are in the fight of our lives. This video removes all doubt as to what's happening." One stake president's wife recently purchased a thousand copies of this DVD for members to distribute.
Even Catholics, with whom the Church has joined arms in this battle and with whom it in general has had amicable relations over the past several decades, are not always friendly. The Vatican has recently decreed that the Mormons will no longer be permitted to copy genealogical records of Catholic churches (which means that millions of Catholics worldwide will not be able to access the records of their ancestors on the LDS genealogical database). And, since 2001, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has refused to recognize Mormon baptism as a legitimate Christian baptism (an exception to its established principle of accepting non-Catholic Christian baptism for converts to Catholicism).
By using material that has originated from other sources and that relies on falsehoods, myths, and half-truths, Latter-day Saints in the Yes on 8 campaign are employing tactics similar to those used against the Church in the past (and that currently are being used by some of those with whom we are affiliated in this campaign). From the first days of the Restoration, Mormons have been victims of campaigns based on false, misleading, and manipulative media and inflammatory rhetoric designed to appeal to people's fears and insecurities. A review of anti-Mormon material discussed on such websites as www.mormonapologetics.org and www.fair.org and videos shown on YouTube reveal that much of the anti-Mormon material is produced or influenced by churches and religious organizations with the same ideology as those supporting Proposition 8.

If there are sound reasons for supporting Proposition 8 then Latter-day Saints should put them forth and let them contend in the marketplace of democratic discourse. If we believe that the truth shall make us free, we should never resort to using falsehoods and deceptive arguments to promote our positions. If, as we claim, Proposition 8 is a moral issue, then we should use our highest moral principles in promoting it.

I personally hope that leaders responsible for coordinating the engagement of Latter-day Saints in this campaign will be candid and straightforward about the importance of California members not yielding to the temptation to accept any source of information about gay marriage or its supposed consequences, but to stick to information that comes directly from Church headquarters. As things now stand, it seems that local leaders are immediately and circulating whatever material they receive that purports to support Proposition 8 (some of which is patently false or misleading) without making the least attempt to verify whether or not it is factual. I fear this may result in the Church's winning the battle against Prop 8 but losing its image as an organization dedicated to the highest principles of Christian behavior.

I also hope that the General Authorities will reiterate that how we vote on any matter in a general election is a decision that each member of the Church is free to make based on his or her own conscience and that "as Church members decide their own appropriate level of involvement in protecting marriage between a man and a woman, they should approach this issue with respect for others, understanding, honesty, and civility." (From "The Divine Institution of Marriage"—www.newsroom.lds.org.)

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Truth can never be more harmful than denying it

Church expands battle for proposition 8 to Utah

Excerpts from a Salt Lake Tribune article by Peggy Fletcher Stack: "LDS Church woos Californians in Utah to back gay marriage ban"

[D]uring a special satellite broadcast from Salt Lake City tonight to LDS chapels in Utah County as well as in California, LDS authorities are expected to ask Brigham Young University students and other Californians living in Utah to participate in phone trees in support of Proposition 8, which would define marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.
    The broadcast will feature Apostles M. Russell Ballard and Quentin L. Cook and L. Whitney Clayton, of the Presidency of the Seventy, discussing the LDS Church's doctrine of marriage and describing the church's participation in the Protect Marriage Coalition, which wants voters to approve the initiative.
..
    "We are looking at options to fulfill a request from the coalition to help with phone calls to encourage support of Proposition 8. We're also responding to the many requests we have had from students and others who want to help," Clayton said. "Making phone calls is something they can do."
    Keith Kuder, a Mormon from Southern California who lives in Provo, heard about tonight's meetings from Facebook and from fliers circulating in his neighborhood. He plans to attend.
    "This is going to set a precedent," said Kuder, who is in favor of the initiative. "The church has not been involved with politics in this way for a very long time. The church doesn't want to make a statement in favor of Prop 8 but it wants members to be in favor."
    California Mormons have already contributed heavily to the campaign, according to a report by Mormonsfor8.com, which tracks campaign contributions to ProtectMarriage .com and identifies which donors are LDS. As of Oct. 1, that group had identified individual LDS donors who had given $7.9 million, or 41 percent of all large donations, making LDS members the largest group of ProtectMarriage contributors, said a release from Affirmation, a support group for gay Mormons.
    pstack@sltrib.com

The entire article can be read here.

New Magazine: Mormon Artist

Mormon Artist is a bimonthly magazine dedicated to covering the Latter-day Saint arts community. Published online at mormonartist.net and in print through MagCloud.com, it primarily runs interviews with artists of all sorts.