Site Navigation
Home
About Me
Acting Resumé
Blog
Contact
Mailing List
Photos (Old)
Photos (New)
Recipes
Videos
Web Resumé
About
This is my collection of links to news about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and its members, doctrines, influences and quirks.
Articles are sorted by date of publication (and optionally by category).
Selection is biased. Instead of linking to every news item out there, I aim to include just the most interesting articles in the major press. I usually don't link to articles published by LDS and Utah institutions.
Browse by Category
The Newsweek article you’ve already seen. Even more interesting are the follow-up letters to the editor in this week’s issue.
Just before the end of February, something “truly exceptional” pops up in the Salt Lake Tribune, causing me to come out of hiatus. The article begins with this lovely sentence.
LDS music is more than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Janice Kapp Perry and Jon Schmidt.
So true! I’ve never heard of that last guy, but based on the context I have a feeling I don’t like his music. The context, in this case, is an article about a new collection of piano music called Mormoniana. (Emphasis on the 2nd syllable, pronounced with a closed O, as in ‘know.’)
This music, from many different LDS composers inspired by many different LDS visual artists, is high art, so it may not always be easy to listen to, but I have owned it and valued it for several months now, and am glad to see it get more coverage. It is one of too-few things that are good, musical and of current Mormon origin.
My goals for 2005 do not include updating this store of Latter-day Saint news articles. Maybe for the truly exceptional or important stuff I’ll post something, but otherwise, I’m bowing out for this year.
Meanwhile, here’s a place where you can see all the Mormon news: LDS Today. The site has too many links of trivial matters, but it is usually quite comprehensive.
Hasta luego.
Grant Palmer wrote a book about Mormonism that is viewed as somewhat anti-Mormon by most faithful Mormons. Even though he is active in the Church and loves his faith, he believes in things that go against LDS teachings, mostly regarding claims and experiences of Joseph Smith. Now his book has put him up for excommunication.
This story is all over the internet, but be sure to read what Jan Shipps says about it in this L.A. Times article. Also see the S.L. Tribune’s article for comments from Richard Bushman. Any story garnering even brief comments from these two is worth knowing about.
I don’t see how his beliefs allow him to truly believe in the Church, as he claims, but I also don’t see how writing his beliefs makes him a candidate for excommunication. This topic fascinates me, in other words, because I just don’t get it.
Reference links
The book in question
FARMS reviews one, two, three
FAIR review one
LDS blog sites one, two, three
On Sunday morning, the excellent Tim Russert interviewed Harry Reid on Meet the Press.
RUSSERT: You are a Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had a statement on marriage: “The Church favors a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as the lawful union of a man and a women.”
Do you accept that message, the statement from your church?
REID: Tim, we have in America today many, many states, I don’t know the exact number, I think 11 or 13 in this last election cycle, said, “In our state, you have to have marriage between a man and a woman.” That’s a law in the state of Nevada. And within a couple years, even Massachusetts, that will be the law.
...
I do not think it’s necessary at this time to have a constitutional amendment in that regard.
RUSSERT: Will that upset your church leaders?
REID: You’ll have to ask them.
Somebody ask them! I want to know what they think. You go, Harry.
Some obsessive anti-Mormon in London has been harrassing missionaries because of “clandestine beliefs.” I imagine it’s been lots of fun. The church took him to court and got an injunction against him so he “cannot go within 30 metres of all but one of the church’s properties.” Hilarious!
I’ve never been to Hawaii, but the New York Times makes the LDS area of it sound rather nice—the Church having spent a few million to freshly spruce up the temple and environs. Who’m I kidding? I like all the old steeple-less temples, but when am I ever going to go there?
Harry Reid (D-NV) is the new Senate minority leader. I don’t know if he’s the most powerful Mormon now, in terms of national politics, but it’s possibly true. Whether it’s true or not, read a couple of good articles about Bro. Reid from the Washington Post (“believes that legislation is the art of compromise”) and Time (“son of a hard-drinking gold miner who eventually shot and killed himself”).
Here’s an article you can’t really appreciate unless you’ve lived in New York or some other large city. It’s full of apartment-hunting details, but despite being in the Real Estate section it deals interestingly with a handful of gay Mormons and/or ex-Mormons finding a great bargain on a place together in Manhattan. Read it and weep. For the bargain that could have been yours, that is.
Dallen Oaks spoke at BYU this week using as his theme “Where will it lead?” Many personal points of advice, as you might imagine, but also some interesting social and political comments.
More and more people are not reading the news of the world around them or the important issues of the day. They apparently rely on what others tell them or on the sound bites of television news, where even the most significant subjects rarely get more than 60 seconds.
Where will this lead? It is leading us to a less concerned, less thoughtful, and less informed citizenry, and that results in less responsible and less responsive government.
To paraphrase other concerns badly: Avoid ads that attack candidates instead of discussing the issues, ensure increased responsibility comes with increased rights, and care about values at more than just the polling place. Give it a listen. It’s only 30 minutes long.