December 2004 @ 2:15 pm

http://www.timesandseasons.org/wp/index.php?p=1790

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http://www.wesleyblog.com/wesleyblog/2004/12/how_did_the_mor.html

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http://lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,3881-1-20741,00.html

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Calling Bob and Logan. The Killer’s lead singer is Mormon. Doesn’t make the music sound better, but another factoid to add to Mormon culture arcana.

From Spin’s Q & A:

Spin once described you as an ex-Mormon. Is religion important in your life?
It’s very important. I mean, it’s important in everyone’s life. Basic religion is the reason we have morals. I am actually a Mormon, not an ex-Mormon. I occasionally drink and smoke, but I’m trying—I’m human.

How did you balance your religion with growing up in the epicenter of decadence and then becoming a rock star?
It can be really hard sometimes. The band is pretty used to it. Ronnie [Vannucci], our drummer, went to school with kids who are Mormon. None of us is really a party animal. I think our friendship is the best way I can contain it. It’s what I grew up with, so I know what I need to do.

In what situation would it be hard to resist temptation?
[Stammers] I don’t know. If I see drugs or slutty girls or something, it just might be me who turns away. I don’t know if it’s just the way I am, saying, “I’m going to go to bed now,” or if it’s from being raised Mormon.

http://www.go2thestart.com/2004/12/mormon_temple_a.html

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http://mormanity.blogspot.com/2004/12/larry-king-live-president-gordon-b.html

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First Presidency Christmas Message

The Prince of Peace

We rejoice with you in this glorious season commemorating the birth of our Savior, the Prince of Peace. As His servants, we testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Almighty. He left His Father’s royal courts on high and condescended to come to earth as a babe born in the most humble of circumstances. Angels announced His birth, bringing “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10). After His incomparable mortal ministry and Atonement, angels again declared good tidings: “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6).

We testify that as we follow His divine example and teachings, our lives will be blessed and we will find that peace that “passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

May you and your loved ones experience the true joy of this special season.

Sincerely,

The First Presidency
Gordon B. Hinckley
Thomas S. Monson
James E. Faust

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600099737,00.html

http://makephpbb.com/phpbb/?mforum=lds

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http://wump.info/wumpblog/index.php?p=559

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http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm1781_20041213.htm

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_347162504.html

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2485619

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http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=138161

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=315976

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Or at least that is what an op-ed by Zev Chafets suggests. I don’t think he seriously believes this as I initially dismissed the article when I saw the headline, “Slap at Thomas stinks of racism.” But thanks to Times and Seasons, I came back to the article when I learned of a Mormon dimension to the article. Chafets questions the motivation behind Senator Reid’s insulting comments of Justice Thomas on this Sunday’s Meet The Press:

Reid’s overt disrespect for Thomas is, at first glance, surprising. Reid is, after all, the conservative leader of a liberal Senate faction. He belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a denomination that banned blacks from the priesthood until 1978. And he represents Nevada, a state with a less than sparkling record on civil rights. In other words, Reid is vulnerable to the charge of racial insensitivity. And in this case, guilty.

So a cheap shot is automatically racially motivated? But wait, the very next paragraph (which offers a much better explanation behind Reid’s motives) suggests the very opposite: Reid was just doing the will of the black members of his party:

Reid never would have had the brass to attack Thomas as an incompetent dummy without the encouragement of his party’s black establishment. Black Democrats dislike Thomas not because of his intellect or performance – which fall well within the norm for Supreme Court justices – but because he is 1) a Republican, 2) a conservative, 3) an opponent of affirmative action.

I don’t follow Chafets’ logic, if there is any. I completely disagree with Senator Reid’s remarks. I find it extremely unfortunate that Justice Thomas has long been ridiculed and undermined by many because he is a conservative African-American. But that’s nothing new.

What is new is that Senator Reid and any other prominent Mormon can be subject to being called a racist by sheer virtue of an abandoned practice of their church. It reminds of me a sportwriter’s attempts to justify Dennis Rodman’s atrocious behavior at the Delta Center some years ago for the same reason.

One cheap shot does not deserve another.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595110832,00.html

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Perhaps too tacky for your otherwise aesthetically appealing blog but a reader’s good idea led me to create a web badge for my Mormon and LDS Blog.

Just cut and paste the text in the box to add the web badge and embedded link to the page. Show your pride in belonging to the bloggernacle!

<a href="http://www.asoftanswer.com/mormon-blogs/" ><img border="0" alt="Join the Mormon Blogosphere!"/></a>

(And if any graphics designer has a better design they would be willing to provide, I would be most grateful).

Senate Minority Leader-to be, Harry Reid is not wasting any time in making his fellow Democrats know that he will not be beholden to the Church. Specifically, he does not support the First Presidency’s call for a Federal Marriage Amendment.

Reid, a Mormon, expressed support for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which ensures that states need not recognize same-sex marriages sanctioned by other states. But he said he did not support the call by the Mormon Church and by many Republicans to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Many states are banning such marriages already, he said, adding that “we have to be very, very careful about how we tamper with the Constitution.”

Interestingly, Tim Russert framed his questioning based on the Church’s position.

MR. RUSSERT: You are a Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had a statement on marriage: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints favors a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as the lawful union of a man and a woman.”

Do you accept that message, the statement from your church?

SEN. 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 there can no–in our state, you have to have marriage between a man and a woman. That’s the law in the state of Nevada. And within a couple years, even Massachusetts, that will be the law. And we in Congress recognized there would be some controversy over this, so we passed the Defense of Marriage Act that says you do not have to recognize the marriage laws of another state. That’s the law of the land. And I think that we have to be very, very careful about how we tamper with the Constitution. I have agreed reluctantly on several occasions to agree to constitutional amendments. But frankly, in the history of this country, there’ve been over 11,500 attempts to amend the Constitution, and I want to approach those amendments very, very cautiously. I do not think it’s necessary at this time to have a constitutional amendment in that regard.

MR. RUSSERT: Will that upset your church leaders?

SEN. REID: You’ll have to ask them. (Meet The Press)

If you are like me, a news junkies who follows the Church closely, take the three minutes it takes to fill out the Church’s news survey.