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NEWS ABOUT: Mormonism

Mormons Urge Church to Soften Gay-Marriage Stance

Group of dissenters launch campaign urging church to stop its political advocacy

(Newser) - A group of Mormons is campaigning to get the church to cease its aggressive activism against gay marriage, the Salt Lake Tribune reports, with the so-called Committee for Reconciliation calling for church leaders to soften their uncompromising stance on the issue. They say the church’s attitude has helped take... More »

Utah Drinkers Get in Touch With Bartenders

New law knocks down barriers, hands-off policy in restaurants

(Newser) - Under a new law that went into effect yesterday, restaurants that sell alcohol no longer need to separate patrons from the people serving them drinks, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Not having these barriers is going to save us a lot of time, especially with out-of-state visitors who constantly... More »

Mormon Hunks Have Church Up in Arms

Maker of Mormon calendar excommunicated

(Newser) - An entrepreneur who says his aim was to improve the image of Mormons has been excommunicated by the church for publishing a calendar with photos of shirtless members of the faith. The “Men on a Mission” calendar doesn’t “tear down the beliefs of the church at all,... More »

Polygamists Push to Legalize Marriages

Some 40,000 live in polygamous families in Utah

(Newser) - As many as 40,000 people live in polygamous families in Utah and parents are stepping up efforts to make plural marriages legal, reports the BBC. The lobbying organization Principle Voices is pressing for state law changes. Authorities rarely crack down on polygamous families unless they're linked to child brides... More »

Big Love Temple Scene Riles Mormons

HBO apologizes for upcoming episode highlighting sacred LDS ceremony

(Newser) - HBO will air an episode of the polygamy drama Big Love depicting a sacred Mormon ceremony despite strong objections from the church, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The network apologized to Mormons likely to be offended, while the series' creators defended the temple scene, saying it's depicted with reverence, and... More »

Utah Activists Test Mormon Support for Gay Rights

Will Mormon Church stand by claim that it only objects to marriage?

(Newser) - 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... More »

Church Asks Mormons to Oppose Calif. Gay Unions

'Do all you can' to pass ballot measure that would outlaw same-sex marriage

(Newser) - 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... More »

Sect Parents Slam 'Vague' Custody Plans

Decry persecution, say Texas offering no clear way to reclaim kids

(Newser) - 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... More »

Texas Raid Rocks Other Polygamists

Similar communities in Utah, Ariz., fear they might be next on list

(Newser) - 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... More »

Sect Style: Flamboyant Modesty

Women's uber-modest fashion clearly sets polygamists apart

(Newser) - 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 ... More »

13-Year-Old Moms Among Girls From Polygamist Ranch

Custody hearing told girls believed having babies was their duty

(Newser) - 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... More »

Polygamist Hearing Has Chaotic First Day

State plans to relocate sect's 416 children

(Newser) - 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,... More »

Texas Officials Justify Splitting Sect Families

Child-welfare authorities cite need to break 'code of silence'

(Newser) - 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... More »

'Sex Bed' for Girls Found in Polygamist Temple

Temple used for sex with underage brides, tipster tells cops

(Newser) - 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... More »

Sex Abuse 'Rampant' at Polygamist Ranch

Pubescent girls forced to 'marry' older men, say investigators

(Newser) - 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... More »

534 Taken From Polygamist Ranch

Cops arrest one for interfering with evacuation

(Newser) - 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,... More »

Colleges Explore Mormonism

Long ignored by religious academics, Romney's faith is drawing new attention

(Newser) - 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... More »

Mormons Look to Next Prophet

Hinckley's successor all but certain

(Newser) - The death of longtime president-prophet Gordon Hinckley left the Mormon church with a void but not a leadership gap, Newsweek reports. The most senior leader and all-but-certain successor is Thomas Monson. The 80-year-old's selection, which must be unanimous, would all but guarantee a smooth transition for a thriving church undergoing... More »

Western Towns Rebuild Library Jeffs Destroyed

Books disappeared under reign of jailed Utah polygamist

(Newser) - Two tiny towns on the Utah-Arizona border are pushing to restock the shelves of their library, reports the Deseret Morning News, in a first step toward healing rifts caused by imprisoned polygamist Warren Jeffs. With Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., firmly in the grip of the Mormon splinter group's... More »

Mike to Mitt: So Sorry About Mormon Jab

Candidates make nice; Romney accepts apology

(Newser) - Surging GOP candidate Mike Huckabee apologized to Mitt Romney yesterday for having asked a reporter if Mormons believed that Jesus and the Devil are brothers. Huckabee said he apologized after the Republican debate in Iowa, and Romney "graciously" accepted. Earlier this week Romney had slammed Huckabee, a former Baptist... More »

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