Mormons and Mormonism in the news

For the first time in a long, long time I have decided to do a trawl for Mormon-related news items. Here they are!

Mormons ignore Mary, mother of Jesus!
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4757591

“ For most of the year, though, Mary is largely tucked away - respected for her submissiveness, admired for her faithfulness, but largely invisible. She does not adorn their chapel walls, nor stare down from stained-glass windows. She is not part of their weekly worship or routinely mentioned in prayers. And she barely merits a mention in LDS books. True to the Faith, a recent compendium of Mormon teachings, moves from "marriage" to "Melchizedek Priesthood" without a line about Mary. Ditto for Preach My Gospel, the handbook of doctrine used by LDS missionaries worldwide, even in the section on Jesus' earthly ministry. She's nowhere to be found in Mormonism for Dummies, either. "There is next to nothing official about Mary from the modern LDS perspective, so we wanted to err on the side of caution rather than offering our own speculations that may not have been doctrinal," says Jana Riess, Dummies co-author with Christopher Bigelow. "When it does offer teaching about Mary, the church tends to emphasize her role in the fulfillment of prophecy, and particularly her being of the Davidic line."



Mormon temple to get rates (property tax) bill

http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1898273

“Mormons must pay full rates
The Mormon Church has suffered defeat in its legal campaign to stop rates bills being slapped on its massive temple in Chorley.
Top judges ruled against the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, saying the temple did not qualify for a rates exemption – because it can only be used by selected Mormon believers and is not "a place of public religious worship."The Appeal Court decision is a bitter blow to the Church whose 6,300 square metre temple is just one of a number of very large buildings set amidst 15 acres at Temple Way, adjacent to the M61 motorway.”


Mormon necrodunking satirised by UK publication
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i11826
“WASHINGTON, DC -- Rabbi Jacob Baer stood before his congregation at Temple Sinai on Military Road yesterday morning, poised to perform a ritual that he had perfected just hours before. On a long table before him were a silver bowl, a small dark blue bottle, a lighted candle, a lockbox, and a blow dryer.”

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/11/30/231605.shtml?s=lh
The Rev. Jerry Falwell quickly distanced himself from a published report that claims he has endorsed Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president in 2008….
"It has come to my attention that a statement attributed to Governor Mitt Romney suggests that I have endorsed his candidacy for president... I have not endorsed or offered support for Governor Romney or any other candidate…”

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4747901
Man charged in library bombing said he was studying Mormon faith, not blowing up library.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/19/CMGTTLVBEJ1.DTL
Jeffs described as: "...pope of Mormon polygamy"

Monson attacks BYU football coach for failing to seperate religion and sport. (That's Gordon Monson, by the way)
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4753437

"Even - no, especially - at an institution owned by a church, there has to be separation between righteous living, earning or invoking God's blessings, and kicking tail on the football field. There is no connection."


Oops! Book burning goes too far! (Don't they ALL?)
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/11/30/book-burnings-potter-tech-media_cz_ds_books06_1201burn.html

In August 2003, two Michigan pastors, T.D. Turner Sr. and son T.D. Turner Jr., took a stand against sorcery by burning a Harry Potter book outside their Jesus Non-Denominational Church. The younger Turner, Tommy, says that while he hadn't read the book... The fire so inflamed parishioners' passions that, according to the Detroit Free Press, some of the 50 spectators proceeded to burn the Book of Mormon..."


http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2006/ae_3_2006-11-23.cfm

"When Brian Evenson began writing The Open Curtain, he was a Mormon. By the time he finished the book, he was not. Leaving the religion one grew up in can be fertile ground for a novelist to explore. "


http://www.ocweekly.com/music/music/purpose-beyond-crap/26259/
"Musician Theo Hirsch has 30 years of frustration to get off his chest. Is it fair to call your songs rants set to music?I rant a lot. Yeah. Did you have stuff to get off your chest after being a Mormon for so long?" (Yes, it IS Theo from RFM)

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4599863
"Pearson's was a searing tale of her husband's battle against his homosexuality, their attempts to create a faithful Mormon family, his leaving to live as a gay man and his eventual death from AIDS. Her story of love, hope, betrayal, forgiveness and reconciliation put a human face on gayness. "

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11222006/news/nationalnews/14_year_olds_polygamy_nightmare_nationalnews_.htm
"November 22, 2006 -- ST. GEORGE, Utah - A 14-year-old girl cried and was clearly troubled in the weeks preceding an arranged marriage to an older cousin, her sister testified yesterday at a hearing that could lead to a criminal trial for the leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect.
"She was 14," said Rebecca Musser, whose sister has a different last name. "It was just shocking and horrific . . . She didn't want to get married." "

As covered in the New York Post