Will Mormon Church stand by claim that it only objects to marriage?
New York Times Nov 11, 08 11:06 AM CST
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In leading the fight against gay marriage in California, the Mormon Church liked to say that it wasn’t antigay and had no problem with gay legal rights—just marriage. Gay rights activists in Utah have decided to test that claim, reports the New York Times , and gay Utah legislators are proposing an expansion of legal rights. “We are taking the LDS Church at its word,” says an activist leader.
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'Do all you can' to pass ballot measure that would outlaw same-sex marriage
Deseret News (Salt Lake) Jun 24, 08 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The Mormon church is pushing its members to vote for a California ballot measure that would ban gay marriage, the Deseret News reports. As "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God," leaders exhort Mormons to “do all you can” to ensure November passage of an amendment to the state’s constitution
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Decry persecution, say Texas offering no clear way to reclaim kids
Associated Press May 20, 08 5:53 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Hearings for the biggest child custody case in American history began yesterday and members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints weren't happy with proceedings, the AP reports. Parents of the more than 460 children in state custody complained that the court's recommendations were too generalized and showed them no clear way to get their kids back.
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Similar communities in Utah, Ariz., fear they might be next on list
New York Times May 8, 08 10:40 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The raid on the Texas compound of a polygamist sect has similar communities worried, reports the New York Times . Groups of polygamists belonging to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints live along the Utah-Arizona border and many fear that the crackdown on their Texas brethren means they could be next as the federal government leans on states to get tough on illegal practices.
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analysis
Women's uber-modest fashion clearly sets polygamists apart
Washington Post Apr 27, 08 11:19 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The women’s clothes from the Texas polygamist compound call to mind both Little House on the Prairie and prison garb. Yet there’s something elaborate, or even flamboyant, in the carefully crafted styles that set these women so distinctly at odds with modern culture, writes Robin Givhan in the Washington Post. In a sect that uses cell phones and sneakers, why not jeans and zippers?
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Custody hearing told girls believed having babies was their duty
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Apr 18, 08 8:44 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Moms as young as 13 are among the 416 children removed from the Texas ranch of a polygamous sect, a child protection officer told a hearing yesterday. The state, making its case to keep the children away from the ranch, testified that a pregnant 14-year-old and a number of pregnant 15-year-olds are also among those in custody, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
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State plans to relocate sect's 416 children
New York Times Apr 17, 08 5:07 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Lawyers for the state of Texas told a chaotic, objection-filled hearing today they would press for psychiatric evaluations and genetic testing of all members of a polygamist sect, the New York Times reports. On the first day of a custody hearing to determine the fate of the sect's 416 children, the state said it also plans to relocate the youths to another part of Texas for the duration of the trial.
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Child-welfare authorities cite need to break 'code of silence'
Houston Chronicle Apr 15, 08 4:09 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Texas family-services officials today defended their decision to separate the mothers and children removed from a polygamous Mormon sect last week as the only way to get at the truth about alleged child abuse, the Houston Chronicle reports. Fifty-seven of the 139 mothers were forced to leave the group of children staying at the San Angelo Coliseum, and most returned to the sect’s Eldorado ranch.
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Temple used for sex with underage brides, tipster tells cops
CNN Apr 10, 08 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Members of a polygamous cult had sex with underage girls inside the group's temple immediately after "spiritual weddings," according to court documents. Investigators found the bed, described by a tipster, in the temple of the Texas ranch. Men had sex with "brides" as young as 13, reports CNN. Police removed 416 children—including several pregnant girls—after a plea for help last week from a 16-year-old girl who called a hotline.
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Pubescent girls forced to 'marry' older men, say investigators
Associated Press Apr 9, 08 9:34 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Young girls at a polygamous compound were readied for "spiritual marriages" to much older men as soon as they hit puberty, the AP reports. Papers submitted to a Texas court detail a "pattern of abuse" at the ranch, where young boys were forced to marry underage girls and girls in their early teens were required to bear children.
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Cops arrest one for interfering with evacuation
San Angelo Standard-Times Apr 7, 08 6:04 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Texas officials have removed 534 people and arrested one in an ongoing raid of a polygamist ranch near Eldorado, the San Angelo Standard-Times reports. But the man they collared is only charged with obstructing the 4-day raid, not committing the rape that sparked it. Meanwhile, at a nearby historical fort, child protection officers continued to interview the 401 kids and 133 women bussed out of the compound since Friday.
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Long ignored by religious academics, Romney's faith is drawing new attention
Boston Globe Feb 19, 08 3:15 PM CST
(Newser)
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Academics, including those at most theological seminaries, have long ignored the study of Mormonism. But now, possibly because of a certain presidential candidate—or a certain HBO show—it's on the radar in religion departments and scholarly publishing houses, the Boston Globe reports. Harvard Divinity School just added its first course, and whole departments are cropping up at other non-Mormon universities.
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