Archive for May, 2009

San Francisco police arrest 175 anti-Prop 8 protesters

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

From MercuryNews.com:

Though widely anticipated, the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage induced anger, tears and vows to intensify the fight for equal rights for same-sex couples to marry.

Those who supported Proposition 8 at the ballot box hailed the ruling as a defense of traditional values, as did conservative politicians gearing up for next year’s battle to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But the most poignant reaction to the 6-1 ruling was among the gay community, where couples — married and not — saw the high court decision as a retreat from its ruling just a year ago that marriage was a fundamental right of all couples, regardless of sexual orientation.

“I’ve just been told that I have less equal rights than my colleagues,” said West Hollywood Councilman John Duran, who is gay. “Our right to freedom and equality is not up for a vote.”

His voice racked with emotion, Duran said he had expected Proposition 8 to be upheld, but that the reality of it still made him angry.

The justices seemed to signal consternation over the ruling, making it clear that it was a judgment on the narrow question of whether the ballot initiative legally amended the state Constitution and setting aside federal constitutional issues of equality under the law. They ruled that the 18,000 gay marriages conducted in the state last year during the six-month period that they were legal remained valid, but failed to make clear the status of gay couples legally married in other states and countries who make their home in California.

Bill Walker, 52, and Kelly Ziegler, 41, were married last June 17 in Los Angeles and stayed home from work in Hollywood today so they could be together when the ruling was announced.

“We grabbed each other’s hands when they said we were still married,” said Walker, a television writer. “We’re obviously happy that our marriage was upheld and that that can’t be taken away from us, but it’s a very compromised feeling because we have friends who can’t get married now.”

Chris Clarke, 39, of Fountain Valley voted for Proposition 8 in November because it stood for the “ideals of what I think raising a family should be in this country.”

Clarke, a lifeguard who was spending his day off with his wife and son at the Bella Terra mall, said the ruling reaffirmed that belief.

“It’s about raising kids, and ideally it’s about a kid being surrounded by a mom and a dad, and I say that recognizing that there are good gay parents and bad straight parents,” he said while his 1-year-old son played near a fountain.

Schwarzenegger said this morning that he would abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling backing Proposition 8 but that he believes gay couples should have the right to marry and would obtain it someday through an initiative or the courts.

“He voted no on Prop. 8. He supports the idea of giving same-sex couples the right to marry. I think he was hoping it would go the other way,” said spokesman Aaron McLear.

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said he was surprised as well as disappointed, given the state Supreme Court’s ardent defense of equal rights for same-sex couples expressed a year ago.

“They’re saying it’s only a name . . . they said last time, it’s not just a name,” Brown said of the justices’ pronouncement on marriage. “I do think that is a retreat from their strong defense of the right of marriage that they found to exist within the California constitutional framework.”

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom urged Californians to “reach out to those who still disagree with our position” to persuade them to understand the importance of equal treatment.

“Across the nation, states like Iowa, Connecticut and Massachusetts are recognizing that separate can never be equal under the eyes of the law,” Newsom said.

But his Republican opponent in the race for governor next year, retired EBay chief Meg Whitman, hailed the high court ruling as a validation of voters’ rights to decide the law.

“I believe the California State Supreme Court made the right decision. Last November, the people of California passed Proposition 8, and today the court upheld their decision,” Whitman said. “This simple yet powerful fact is the foundation of our democracy. Regardless of one’s position on the measure, this ruling gives people confidence that their vote matters and can make a difference.”

At a news conference in Sacramento, leaders of the Yes on 8 campaign, ProtectMarriage.com, applauded the ruling but said they would continue with multimillion-dollar public education and political action efforts in anticipation of a new campaign by the measure’s opponents to overturn it with another initiative.

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Huntsman to China: Winners and Losers

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

From The Washington Post:

The news that Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman will be the Obama administration’s envoy to China has myriad implications in terms of the re-building of the Republican Party and the positioning of potential candidates for 2012.

Huntsman had already begun to put in place the pieces of a national campaign — bringing on John Weaver, a former senior adviser to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), and recruiting operatives in places like New Hampshire and South Carolina.

What that tells us is that while it may be only 2009, the process of running for president is already well under way on the Republican side. And, that means that the moderate Utah governor’s departure from the race creates opportunities — both ideologically and geographically — that those with national aspirations will move to fill.

Below is our list of the winners and losers from the Huntsman announcement. Have thoughts of your own? The comments section awaits.

WINNERS

Mitt Romney: The 2012 presidential field probably wasn’t big enough for two Mormon candidates. Huntsman’s presence in the race would have split the Mormon donor base on which Romney capitalized so successfully in 2008 and would also have kept the religion issue front and center (Two Mormons! Running for president!), which would not have worked in Romney’s favor. Romney is already at the front of the 2012 pack but Huntsman’s decision strengthens his hand.

Charlie Crist: If you believe the idea that there is a moderate/centrist slot in the 2012 presidential field, then the Florida governor is now the leading voice of that wing of the party. (Worth noting: Rudy Giuliani’s bet that there was a moderate track to the nomination in 2008 proved entirely didn’t pay.) Crist is the favorite to replace Sen. Mel Martinez (R) in the Senate next fall and, if he wins, will be able to point to his recent electoral successes as a validation of his pragmatic conservative approach. Of course, Crist is solely focused on serving in the Senate and isn’t running in this race with an eye on 2012. Riiiiiight.

Jon Huntsman: Yes, he voluntarily took himself out of the running for 2012. But, Huntsman, who is only 49 years old, may well have positioned himself perfectly for 2016 — if Obama wins a second term in three years time. Huntsman will have deepened his resume — several years working with the world’s biggest emerging superpower can’t hurt — and this move will enable him to make the argument that his life’s work has demonstrated the sort of bipartisan cooperation that voters profess to love. Could Huntsman’s work with a Democratic administration raise questions among hard-line conservatives about his Republican bona fides? Maybe. But, after eight years of a Democratic president the base would almost certainly be more focused on winning back the White House than proving an ideological point.

Bob Bennett: The Utah Republican senator seemed to be on a crash course with state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff in 2010. (Shurtleff all but announced his primary candidacy via an accidental tweet last week.) Now, there is a decent chance that Shurtleff decides to make a bid for the governorship in a 2010 special election although to do so would mean he would have to battle through a crowded primary that is almost certain to include Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who would replace Huntsman when he steps down. Utah insiders still believe Shurtleff will run for the Senate but a semi-open governor’s race might be too enticing for him to pass up.

LOSERS

Moderates: There are a small number of influential moderates within the party and their ranks have thinned in recent weeks with former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge’s decision not to run for the Senate and Huntsman’s move to China. With the debate raging in the GOP over whether to re-shape the party’s image in a more centrist light or reaffirm core conservative principles, there aren’t many voices on the moderate side of the argument.

Former McCainiacs: A number of people with close ties to McCain’s two presidential bids — led by Weaver and South Carolina consultant Richard Quinn — had already signed on to help Huntsman in 2012. With their guy now off the presidential playing field indefinitely, they have to find a new rising star for 2012 or run the risk of being left out of the machinations over identity of the party’s next nominee.

Enviros: Huntsman was the most prominent voice among 2012 GOP contenders in support of curbing greenhouse gas emissions to lessen the dangers posed by global warming. With him out of the field, it’s not clear who — if anyone — will pick up that mantle on the Republican side. And, in Utah, Herbert is far less progressive on environmental issues than Huntsman — meaning the gains made by the environmental community in recent years in the state are in danger of being re-examined.

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Mormon Church Goes Up in Flames

Monday, May 18th, 2009

From The Harvard Crimson:

Flames engulfed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints off Brattle Street yesterday morning, evicting at least 500 people and reducing the building to a skeleton of walls, a dusty steeple, and a chasm of seared wood.

Churchgoers safely evacuated after a fire erupted in the attic of the church, which was built in the mid-1950s. The fire eventually collapsed into the interior of the building, issuing plumes of smoke that could be seen from Harvard Square.

“I was baptized here, met my husband here, and had his funeral here,” said service attendant Ruby I. Von Dwornick, her voice breaking as she stood before the remaining walls of the church. “It was heartbreaking to see it be destroyed.”

Fire departments from nearby towns joined the Cambridge Fire Department to fight the flames, which were quelled sometime after noon. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but church members posited faulty wiring, antiquated electrical systems, and even lightning strikes as possibilities.

A structural engineer will inspect the church’s remains today to determine whether the building can be rebuilt or should be destroyed, according to Brad R. MacDonald, assistant to the president of the Cambridge stake, or administrative unit of the Mormon church. Ultimately, the church will likely rebuild in the same location, a process that could take at least a year and a half, MacDonald said.

Mormons from across Cambridge were gathered yesterday at the Cambridge church—one of the first Mormon churches established in Mass.—for a special service broadcast live from Salt Lake City. But at 10:37 a.m., shortly into the second sermon, fire alarms began to ring.

Attendants evacuated the chapel within minutes, though most did not take the alarm very seriously, according to congregation member Sean L. Little, who said he did not smell any smoke in the chapel at the time.

“We just thought someone pulled the alarm,” Little said. “But as we filed out of the doors, we saw the smoke coming out of the roof and realized it was real.”

Once outside, Dwornick said she noticed a gradually spreading “ball of flame creeping out from underneath the roof.” She said a firefighter eventually sawed a hole in the roof of the chapel, instigating an explosion of flame that travelled a third of the way up the steeple and engulfed the chapel in which she had been moments before.

“This is my home church, as far as I’m concerned,” Dwornick said. “I’m very grateful I got to attend church here the last day it stood.”

“It’s a very sad day,” said Gordon K. Low, president of the Cambridge stake, as he stood on the lawn in front of the smoldering building. “There are thousands of members of the church in New England whose experiences are here in this building.”

As firefighters continued to pour water into the charred interior of the church late yesterday afternoon to prevent possible flare-ups, church members lingered outside the building to share hugs and distribute bags of chips.

“It’s a big, robust church community here,” Low said. “We’ll rebuild and get this back to the point where we’re operating efficiently as a chapel.”

In an effort to salvage historical books left inside the destroyed church, some congregation members formed an assembly line to pass down books that survived the flames. A neighboring Quaker church and the repository at the Harvard Divinity School have offered to hold the items until the church finds a space of its own, MacDonald said.

Low expressed his gratitude to the multiple congregations for their gestures of consolation and aid. Members of the destroyed church will likely disperse to different Mormon churches in the area in future weeks.

But leaders of the church are confident that the destruction of the building is only a physical loss.

“It’s certainly devastating but I think the church is always prepared to rebuild and continue its mission,” MacDonald said. “We can always rebuild if we want to—in a metaphorical sense.”

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Majority of Americans are Pro-Life

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

From The LA Times:

At a time when President Obama is trying to convince opponents in the abortion battle that they can find middle ground — in rhetoric, if not reality — a new Gallup Poll shows that more Americans describe themselves as “pro-life” than “pro-choice.”

For the first time since it began asking the question in 1995, Gallup reported Friday, a majority of adults questioned for its annual survey on values and beliefs — 51% — said that when it comes to abortion, they consider themselves “pro-life”; 42% consider themselves “pro-choice.” (The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.)

This represents a significant shift, Gallup noted. As recently as last year, 50% of respondents called themselves “pro-choice” and 44% identified themselves as “pro-life.”

Moderate and conservative Republicans accounted for the change; Democrats’ attitudes toward abortion remained constant. “It is possible,” Gallup said in its analysis, that the president “has pushed the public’s understanding of what it means to be ‘pro-choice’ slightly to the left, politically.”

Regarding abortion restrictions, the largest proportion of Americans supports legal abortion only in certain circumstances — as has been true since 1975 — according to Gallup. This year the figure is 53%.

At the ends of the spectrum, the number of people who think abortion should be illegal in all circumstances has risen, to 22%, and the number who think it should be legal in any circumstances has fallen, to 23% — a virtual tie. In the previous few years, people who opposed all restrictions outnumbered advocates of a total ban by a wider margin.

Still, said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America: “I am pretty confident that Americans really don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned.” The larger number of Americans calling themselves “pro-life,” she said, “doesn’t square with what has happened in the last several elections.” Keenan cited the rejection of abortion bans by voters in politically conservative South Dakota in 2006 and 2008, and the failure of five other antiabortion ballot measures in California, Oregon and Colorado since 2005.

But antiabortion activists think they have more than the new poll on their side. “This isn’t new,” said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life. “It tracks pretty much with what we’ve always known: People generally are pro-life depending on how you ask the question.”

The poll comes at a delicate moment for Obama, who campaigned saying abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.”

During his first three months in office, he took a number of steps that infuriated abortion foes. For example, he lifted abortion restrictions on foreign family-planning groups that receive U.S. funding, and he ended President George W. Bush’s ban on embryonic stem cell research.

But Obama has tried at times to appease opponents of abortion rights.

Last month, he backpedaled on a campaign vow to enact the Freedom of Choice Act, which would guarantee the right to legal abortion even if Roe vs. Wade were overturned. He now says the legislation is not a priority.

But Yoest said abortion foes were not placated. “There has been such an avalanche of pro-abortion activity that it’s jaw-dropping. It’s not just that his rhetoric doesn’t square with reality; the gap is Grand Canyon-size. I think this administration has fundamentally miscalculated how out of step they are with the American people.”

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Overlooking the Mormon Temple, a New Center

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

From The New York Times:

SALT LAKE CITY — While the economic crisis has silenced hundreds of real estate projects around the country, 1,100 construction workers are toiling on a 20-acre development here that is springing up across the street from the Mormon Temple in the center of downtown.

A private development of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, City Creek Center will be the largest mixed-use project in Salt Lake City. When completed in 2012, it will encompass 900,000 square feet of retailing, including an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall capped by 115 apartments; 1.6 million square feet of office space in eight buildings; a grocery store; and five residential towers with about 600 condominiums.

The development, which is within sight of the Mormon Tabernacle, will also feature six acres of public spaces and a retractable glass roof over the retail component. A man-made creek will run through the property.

The Mormon Church, which has its headquarters in the city, is investing “hundreds of millions of dollars” in the project, said Mark Gibbons, president of City Creek Reserve Inc., a real estate arm of the church, while declining to be more specific. The project will reshape downtown, Mr. Gibbons said. “We believe there won’t be anything anywhere that compares with it,” he said.

City Creek is not immune to the recession, Mr. Gibbons conceded. But he said the church has always had a “debt averse” philosophy that is proving especially helpful in the current climate.

“For which of you intending to build a tower does not first count the cost to see if he have money to complete, so he doesn’t look like a fool,” said Mr. Gibbons, paraphrasing Luke 14:28-29. “We set aside reserves to build this project, we counted the cost before we started, and we have the resources to complete.”

Bounded by the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges, Salt Lake City is home to 200,000 people, about 40 percent of them Mormons. It is a center for outdoor recreation, with several ski areas within 30 minutes of the city; a financial services hub, and a film festival mecca.

But the Mormon Church also wields considerable clout as the city’s largest employer and landowner. “We don’t have a Microsoft or Coca-Cola,” said Jason Mathis, executive director of the Downtown Alliance. “In many ways, the L.D.S. church fills that role.”

Now the church is a bringing a high-density, mixed-use project to Salt Lake City, with its own imprint: outsized, environmentally friendly and with a history of controversy. Two other companies have taken relatively small stakes in parts of the project.

Located at the intersection of the city’s primary commercial and ecclesiastical corridors, Main and South Temple Streets, the City Creek site, which is owned by the church, previously housed two poorly performing malls.

When Nordstrom, which anchored one of the shopping centers, threatened to leave seven years ago, Mormon leaders decided it was time for a makeover. The mayor at the time, Rocky Anderson, called enclosed malls “a failed paradigm,” and the church eventually agreed to a design that is much more open than the former malls.

To integrate the project with the surrounding neighborhood, City Creek planners put all parking underground and carved new streets into Salt Lake City’s monolithic 10-acre blocks — a legacy of the church’s founder, Joseph Smith, who developed a plan for the “City of Zion” in 1833.

The project features sweeping promenades and urban plazas “in line with the great plazas in Italy,” said Joe Collins, a project architect with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca. Fountains that include fire and bells — designed by the company responsible for water features at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas — will grace one of the plazas. “It’s going to be marvelous,” Mr. Gibbons said.

City Creek’s two-story 100-store retail center consists of several structures and will be developed by Taubman Centers, a developer based in Michigan, which is investing $75 million.

Its chief operating officer, William S. Taubman, said he had re-signed Macy’s and Nordstrom as anchor tenants, but declined to comment on the number of additional commitments he had secured. The center, which will open in 2012, will provide more upscale shopping than currently found in Salt Lake City, he said.

Nationwide, about 12 other major shopping centers were scheduled to open in the next year, Mr. Taubman said, but almost all of them have been delayed. City Creek is one of the few that has not been hampered by the economic downturn, he said.

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Charlotte N.C. members provide service

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Charlotte area members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints recently held a Day of Service. More than 3,000 volunteers collected 105,000 pounds of food for the Second Harvest food bank, and worked on 20 projects at parks, community centers, homeless shelters and schools. At Gastonia’s Pleasant Ridge Elementary (above), 130 volunteers built benches, painted and did landscaping work. Mormon headquarters in Salt Lake City sent a film crew to shoot footage of all the work. It will be shown on BYUTV at the church’s general conference this fall. COURTESY OF CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Link to article

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Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs: Who is Larry EchoHawk?

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

From AllGov.com:

Larry EchoHawk, President Obama’s choice to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was born August 2, 1948, in Cody, Wyoming. A member of the Pawnee Native American tribe of Oklahoma, he is a leading supporter of Native American rights, a Democrat, and a devout Mormon. EchoHawk is one of six children born to a mother with only an eighth grade education. All of her children attended college, four achieved graduate degrees, and three achieved law degrees.

The EchoHawk name was given to Larry EchoHawk’s great-grandfather who was a Pawnee scout in the 1800s. Due to his bravery he was given the name hawk, which represents bravery in Pawnee culture. Echo was added because many other tribe members spoke of his actions and thus his deeds were said to echo through the tribe.
Although born in Cody, Wyoming, Larry EchoHawk grew up in Farmington, New Mexico. At the age of 14 he met Mormon missionaries by the names of Boyd Camphuysen and Lee Pearson and was baptized into the faith. EchoHawk has provided services to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in numerous ways over his lifetime. He has held the positions of stake president, bishop, high council member, and board of trustees member for LDS Family Services, a private nonprofit organization owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that offers drug and family counseling, adoptive services, and whose main goal is counseling women to avoid abortion.
EchoHawk attended Brigham Young University for his undergraduate studies on a football scholarship, where he played the safety position and received his bachelor degree in Physical Education in 1970. He then attended the University of Utah law school, obtaining his JD in 1973. Upon graduation, EchoHawk pursued some postgraduate studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
In 1975 he began practicing law in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1977 EchoHawk became general legal counsel for the Fort Hall, Idaho-based Shoshone-Bannock Indian tribes. He served in this position, often fighting against states’ jurisdiction over tribes, until 1986.
EchoHawk first entered politics in 1982, winning a seat in the Idaho State House of Representatives from Bannock County. He held this post until 1986, when he was elected Bannock County prosecuting attorney. In 1990 EchoHawk was elected Idaho Attorney General, becoming the first Native American in any state to be elected to a state constitutional elective office. As attorney general he fought for Indian autonomy from state regulation, but also for state freedom from being burdened with any obligations to Indian gaming. EchoHawk took sides on numerous social issues as well. He backed state legislation to exclude gay and lesbian groups from state funding and to restrict classroom discussions, research projects, and library holdings from covering gay or lesbian topics. EchoHawk wrote, “Academic freedom at public universities would be curtailed to ensure public funds were not expended in a manner that could have the ‘effect’ of ‘expressing approval’ of homosexuality.” He also supported a state bill allowing the state to more severely punish pregnant women found to be doing drugs.
While he was state attorney general, EchoHawk also served as national co-chair for Native Americans for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, and was invited with his wife to spend a night in the White House. He was also a principal speaker at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.
In 1994 EchoHawk ran for governor of Idaho when fellow Democrat Cecil B. Andrus retired. He won the primary and led Republican Phil Batt in the throughout most of the general election campaign. Yet EchoHawk ended up losing. Controversy related to his complicated stance on abortion may have had a hand in this. During the campaign, EchoHawk flew to Utah to participate in fundraisers put on by the Mormon Church.  Questions arose over his connection to the church and many voters may have been alienated. EchoHawk also was indecisive on the issue of abortion. He is pro-life, yet he vowed not to change Idaho’s existing abortion laws, which allow abortions, and he supported state abortion funding for low-income pregnant women. Pro-lifers felt he was not fighting for their cause, while pro-choicers did not agree with his personal stance. EchoHawk has not run for elected office since then.
Shortly after his defeat in the gubernatorial race, EchoHawk accepted a faculty position at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1995. He taught courses on criminal law, criminal procedure, and federal Indian law, and published numerous academic papers on Indian land issues, treaty rights, jurisdiction, and justice.
On April 10, 2009, President Obama nominated EchoHawk to become the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior.
Larry EchoHawk and his wife Terry, author of a children’s book, Call Me Little Echo Hawk, have six children and many grandchildren.

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The 5 Browns’ autobiography won’t let fans down

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

From The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram:

While Fort Worth next month will crown concert piano royalty, Dallas this week gets a visit from reigning piano superstars the 5 Browns.

The sibling quintet — Deondra, Desirae, Gregory, Melody and Ryan, one of the hottest tickets in piano performance today — will appear with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson Symphony Center this weekend.

The 5 Browns’ new autobiography, Life Between the Keys: The (Mis)Adventures of the 5 Browns (Dove Books, $24.95), chronicles their meteoric crescendo, if you will, from prodigious tykes (they all started piano lessons at age 3) to Juilliard students (the first family of five to attend simultaneously) to classical-music stars living with rock star-like fame.

Each short chapter is a humorous, sentimental or insightful essay written by each of the pianists, who range in age from 23 to 30. Collectively, they offer a story of a family that’s so normal (guess what — they argue!) and yet so remarkable. Worth picking up the book is the chapter, written by Melody Brown, about life at Juilliard — especially the way students “steal” practice rooms from each other (it involves stinky food).

And while the devout Mormon family now calls Utah home, it has Texas ties: The kids were born in Houston, and in the book, Desirae Brown recalls traveling to Fort Worth at age 10 for the Cliburn finals and feeling a kinship with the lone female finalist. “To my young mind, we were sisters in music,” she writes. “. . . If she could become a professional pianist, I could, too.”

As a bonus, a live CD of one of their concerts is included in the book.

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Mormon baptism of non-Mormons: So what?

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

From Beliefnet:

Big hoo-ha over whether or not the Latter-Day Saints ritually “baptized” Obama’s mother after her death (which is something Mormons do). I say, So what if they did? What is that to me? If the Mormons want to “baptize” me in this way without my consent, I suppose I wish they wouldn’t, but if they do, what’s it to me? No offense to my Mormon friends, but as a non-Mormon, I believe this to be a ritual without any objective spiritual significance (as distinct from, say, a validly ordained Orthodox priest being the vessel through which the Holy Spirit transforms wine and bread into the literal Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, which I firmly believe occurs even if nobody else does).

Anyway, insofar as it affects my eternal destiny or present spiritual condition not one whit, why should I care in the slightest if the Mormons wanted to hold a baptismal ceremony for me after I die? Why should you? Seriously.

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Man follows ancestors’ Mormon journey

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

From The Daily Iowan:

Jesse and Mary Griffen left behind a destitute life in England. Seeking religious and material relief in the West, the train took them, along with 148 other Mormon immigrants, from Boston to Iowa City.

In 1857, this was the end of the railroad. And this is where their great-great-great grandson, Kent Steinke, picked up the journey at 5 a.m. today.

“A knowledge of history — one with value instead of a neutral, objective history — can help us find a place in the world we’re all seeking,” the 35-year-old said.

Steinke is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After the Griffens, most of his family has been Methodist, and Steinke attended seminary school in Dubuque and in Kentucky. But, harboring an intense interest in the Mormons as an ethnic group, the Nebraska native has planned for years to recreate their travels.

“It was just a matter of time,” said his wife, Jackie Steinke. The 42-year-old joined her husband in Iowa City, unable to take a month off work. “He’s so into his family history, especially the Griffens.”
Kent Steinke, a nurse assistant for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, spent thousands of dollars preparing for his trip. He started April 22 in Boston and plans to end in Omaha, where his ancestors settled. Along the way, he has made every stop first by train — as the immigrants did 152 years ago.
He was able to recreate the trip thanks to Jesse Griffen, who kept meticulous notes of their voyage. Steinke inherited the diary from his grandmother.

Arriving in Iowa City April 29, Steinke set up a tent in the Mormon Handcart Park. The UI owns the Hawkeye Apartments just behind the park’s edges and helped preserve the historic and religious site; Steinke said he received university officials’ permission to camp there.

During the day, he went to the Main Library, the Old Capitol Museum and the state Historical Society to learn more about his heritage.

Unlike iconic pioneers, the handcart travelers were too poor to afford oxen or horse-drawn covered wagons. They took the train as far as they could with financial help from other Mormon settlers, who were waiting for them in Utah. From Iowa City, they continued on foot the rest of the way.

Delayed by rain and logistics with the handcarts, they camped in the cold and chill for weeks in the woods now named after them, the Mormon Handcart Park.

On Sunday evening, Steinke was in a similar predicament. His cart had not yet arrived from Cedar Rapids by dinnertime on Sunday, but he said it would arrive early this morning. To experience frontier fare, Steinke ate mostly bread and smoked bacon, cooked in a squat, heavy Dutch oven.
Sunday night saw him to a Mormon family’s home for dinner, however.

“[His journey] is admirable and adventurous,” said Scott Gill, the host. “I’d like to say I would do the same, but I’m not sure I could.”

From Iowa City, Steinke could get to Omaha by car in six hours. But he wanted to experience the grueling handcart trip, which had cost a pregnant Mary Griffen her health and prevented her from reaching their original destination.

The hardships they faced deeply touched Steinke. He discovered an appreciation for tiny, Midwestern towns, the kind he knows most university students dream of escaping.

“They were a wonderful place, a destination at the end of a difficult journey,” he said. “I couldn’t see that until I’d seen all the places, gone on the journey and seen where [the pioneers] were going.”

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Mormon leader has roots in Tampa bay area

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

From The St. Petersburg Times:

Neil Andersen was happy simply being a steadfast church member in Tampa.

But top leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a different idea, so over the years, Andersen found himself increasingly tapped for more important roles.

In a private ceremony in Salt Lake City last month, he was ordained into the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-highest governing body of the Mormon Church.

Andersen, 57, who is visiting the area to speak in Largo and Lutz today, once owned a Tampa advertising agency and was a vice president of the Morton Plant Health System. He discussed his church and new spiritual role as he prepared to visit his former hometown.

What is your role as an apostle in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles?

This is an overwhelming and very humbling assignment. I’m still getting used to the title being attached to me. It’s a privilege, because our chief purpose is to build faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to confirm to all people, in and outside the church, his divinity, his purpose and strength. The role, of course, has its purposes that are worldwide. … I will have responsibility for the countries of Central America.

How are apostles chosen?

The president of our church, President Thomas S. Monson, and the leadership of the church make that decision. … Of course, in the church, we neither seek position nor do we refuse it.

Did you ever envision being named to this top position? Why do you think you were selected?

I have no idea why I was selected. … I went to business school and expected that I would always have a small role in the church. Even after my wife and I were asked to go to France for three years, we expected to return and live happily ever after in Tampa.

What do you consider the most challenging moral issues the church must address?

We, of course, above all else, believe that we must seek to strengthen faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the years ahead, with the challenges that families and individuals will face, that the hope and peace that can come through Christ will be very important. It will also be important to strengthen families. … Children, whenever possible, need a committed father and mother. Beyond that, there are all sorts of issues that we must address with the economic situation. We believe we have a responsibility not just to care for the poor, but to seek them out and help them.

What misconceptions about the Mormon Church would you like to dispel?

We are very well treated, and we are thankful for that. We don’t want to have a persecution complex. We would like to be seen as Christian people who are first and foremost followers of Jesus Christ. We would secondly like to be seen as very good but normal citizens in our communities, that we are doing our best to raise our children, assist in our community and help in our neighborhoods.

Posted in General Authorties, LDS Church | No Comments »

Mexico Church Services Cancelled; Missionaries Not Being Sent

Friday, May 1st, 2009

From LocalNews8.com (Idaho):

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Mormon church officials say they’ve canceled church services in Mexico City until further notice because of the swine flu outbreak.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is also delaying sending new missionaries to that country.

In statements issued Thursday spokeswoman Kim Farah says officials are monitoring news, security and medical reports regarding the swine flu.

More than two dozen cases of the flu have been detected in Mexico.

Farah says the church is following recommendations from the Mexican government to suspend public gatherings in its capital city and other affected areas.

She says new missionaries assigned to Mexico are staying stateside at the training center in Provo for now. Mexico-based church missionaries are reported to be safe.

Posted in LDS Church, Missionary | No Comments »

Twilight de-shelved by Mormon bookstore: beginning of religious backlash?

Friday, May 1st, 2009

From Examiner.com:

Reports say that Stephenie Meyer’s hit book series Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn have been removed from a religious bookstore (The Deseret)’s shelves because it has been “met with mixed review” by the store’s customers. According to the report, the store is owned by the Mormon church, and its primary revenue stems from religious book sales.

While The Host remains on the shelves, says the report, the Twilight series has been taken from this Mormon bookseller’s listing.
As we all know, Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon herself. Says she, “I am . . . a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . and that has a huge influence on who I am and my perspective on the world, and therefore what I write (though I have been asked more than once, ‘What’s a nice Mormon girl like you doing writing about vampires?’).”
Yet, up until this point, the Twilight series has received fairly little backlash from mainstream religious organizations. This event, however, might mark just the beginning.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (which has also spawned a popular major motion picture series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and, now, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) received a similar (though, as of yet, quite worse) dismissal by the church, including bookshelf bans such as this.
The objections to Rowling’s Harry Potter series, says one Christian teen source, are that:
While millions of people around the world read and enjoy the “Harry Potter” books, there are many people that object to the content of the Harry Potter books, stating that they go against the world of God. The objections are based on the bible teaching that practicing witchcraft or other occult acts is a sin.
Objections to “Harry Potter” usually reference Deuteronomy 18:10-12, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.”
These Christians believe that the books promote the modern religions of Wicca, Paganism, and Neopaganism. They point to the terms “witch,” “wizard,” and the variety of spells presented in the books as leading children and Christian teens down the path to the occult.
Other Christians believe that the novels are just pure fantasy, but they object to the dark nature of the books for younger children. As the books go on they become more violent, scary, and people die. Some parents believe that these book’s violent undertones promote violence in children.
Finally, many Christians have an issue with the moral ambiguity presented in the books. J.K. Rowling has presented a world where moral questions do not always have clear answers, and this presents an issue for some parents who feel her characters are not being appropriate role models for their children. There are good characters that commit murder and other good characters that lie and steal. Some characters are considered “evil,” but Rowling presents them as having a psychology that makes them somewhat sympathetic. Also, there are some references to swear words that offend some Christian teens and adults.
A few weeks back, we reported to you the fact that a small minority of Twilight series fans might have been taking things a bit too far as they developed the “Cullenist” “religion,” and devote much more than their spare leisure time to enjoyment of the series (to say the least). And with the release of 2008’s Twilight film (with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Rachelle LeFevre, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Billy Burke, Elizabeth Reaser, Justin Chon, Michael Welch, Anna Kendrick, and Christian Serratos and which will be followed with The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and perhaps The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn), attention has certainly been drawn to the intricacies of the series on a national scale. Not to mention, the release of Breaking Dawn (which occurred in August of 2008) meant that the Twilight book series took a (*spoiler*) sexier turn.
So, with the extremism that might be surfacing as a result of the Twilight series, the attention drawn to the series through the film’s success, and the shifts in age-appropriateness that (arguably) might be seen with the fourth installment, are we facing a potential religious backlash against the series?
While at first, and perhaps still now, the series represented many celebrated qualities of religious persons and groups (and perhaps even organizations), what with Bella’s chastity, the quality of sacrifice displayed constantly through the various characters, the importance of family, and, quite frankly, tolerance that is available in the series, bookstores like The Deseret are taking the books from their shelves (claiming to do so as a result of the “mixed” feelings of its customer base as to its appropriateness in a store such as its own). One has to wonder if this is only the beginning?

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