Proud to be Mormon

A new study coming out of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., indicates that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are predominantly Republican, overwhelmingly white, well-educated, prosperous and have larger-than-average families. The study also found that Mormon women are less likely to work outside the home than other American women.

Surprised?

Probably not.

Read the rest of the article at Deseret News. "New study confirms many LDS stereotypes. Research does not offer startling new info about Mormons."

Despite all the distractions around them, Latter-day Saints can see to it that Christ is at the center of their Christmas celebration, said President Thomas S. Monson on Dec. 4.

"I, with you, have witnessed during the past few days and weeks what has become over the years the annual commercialization of Christmas," said President Monson during the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional. "I am saddened to see Christmas becoming less and less about Christ and more and more about marketing and sales, parties and presents. And yet, Christmas is what we make of it."

Read the rest at LDS Church News

They gather twice each year — once on the Provo, Utah, campus of Brigham Young University and once at the Fuller Theological Seminary main campus in Pasadena, Calif.

Evangelical Christians and Mormons.

Together.

In the same room.

Talking about religion.

And — believe it or not — getting along famously.

"Our meetings are extremely cordial," said Dr. Robert L. Millet, former dean of Religious Education at BYU, who has been participating in the meetings since their inception. "We have great fellowship with one another, and there's a real feeling of brotherhood and affection even though we spend hours discussing our differences."

Dr. Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, wrote about the semiannual meetings recently in one of his articles on the Washington Post's On Faith blog site.

"We have talked for many hours about key theological issues," Mouw wrote. "We evangelicals and our Mormon counterparts disagree about some important questions. But we have also found that on some matters we are not as far apart as we thought we were."

This cooperative effort between evangelical Christian scholars and their LDS counterparts is especially noteworthy since the last two months have seen a number of highly placed evangelical Christians making comments about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In early October, Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress of Dallas, called Mormonism a "cult," and another evangelical leader, Bryan Fischer, claimed that Latter-day Saints are not Christian and are therefore not entitled to First Amendment protections of religious freedom. Since those comments were made in public forums and were directed at presidential candidate Mitt Romney, they generated a media firestorm that has has generated through the ensuing weeks a good deal of public discussion on the LDS Church and whether or not it is truly Christian.

"To a Mormon, the claim that they are not Christian is confusing," said Dr. David Campbell, an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and a leading researcher on faith in American life. "They point to the name of Jesus Christ in the church's official name and wonder how they can be considered anything other than Christian."

Without going too deeply into the theological differences, Campbell, who is LDS, suggests there is a semantic difference at work here.

Read the rest at the Deseret News.

How can we know that during these times we are not abandoned or forsaken, but that Heavenly Father is there?

Even setting aside its doctrinal richness and its vital importance as a second witness for the Savior Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon is a strikingly complex document — far more so, probably, than most of its readers realize.

It features hundreds of individual characters, many of them bearing quite uncommon names, who belong to a multitude of groups, subgroups and small factions. It describes three migrations from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere. It employs at least three distinct dating systems.

Yet, amazingly — and particularly so for a book that was dictated within a remarkably short time, at high speed (roughly nine to 11 pages of the English printed edition per day) — it's internally consistent. It doesn't contradict itself.

It both presupposes and reflects a complicated geographical backdrop to its stories, involving scores of place names and topographical indicators. Yet places maintain their proper relationships to each other even when they're mentioned only a few times over hundreds of pages.

Read the rest at the Deseret News.

Here is a list of Mormons currently playing in the NFL:

John Beck, QB, Redskins, BYU

Austin Collie, WR, Colts, BYU

Chris Cooley, TE, Redskins, Utah State

*Christian Cox, LB, Patriots, Utah

*Kevin Curtis, WR, Titans, Utah State

Stewart Bradley, LB, Cardinals, Nebraska

John Denney, LS, Dolphins, BYU

Jonathan Fanene, DL, Bengals, Utah

*Max Hall, QB, Cardinals, BYU

Todd Heap, TE, Cardinals, Arizona State

Chris Hoke, DL, Steelers, BYU

Bryan Kehl, LB, Rams, BYU

Brett Keisel, DL, Steelers, BYU

Paul Kruger, DL, Ravens, Utah

Spencer Larsen, FB, Broncos, Arizona

Deuce Lutui, OL, Cardinals, Southern California

Fili Moala, DL, Colts, Southern California

*Tony Moeaki, TE, Chiefs, Iowa

Haloti Ngata, DL, Ravens, Oregon

Dennis Pitta, TE, Ravens, BYU

Brady Poppinga, LB, Rams, BYU

Sione Pouha, DT, Jets, Utah

Samson Satele, C, Raiders, Hawaii

Vic So’oto, LB, Packers, BYU

#Harvey Unga, RB, Bears, BYU

Eric Weddle, DB, Chargers, Utah

Manase Tonga, RB, Raiders, BYU

Fui Vakapuna, RB, Bengals, BYU
Practice squad players

Matt Asiata, RB, Vikings, Utah

Garrett Mills, TE, Patriots, Tulsa

*Injured reserve

#Exempt status

Source

Horace Greeley

“I do not believe there was ever a religion whereof the great mass of the adherents were not honest and sincere.”

Sir Richard F. Burton, translator of Arabian Nights and agent for the East India Company

Of his visit to Salt Lake and his conversation with Brigham Young, he said, “When conversation began to flag, we rose up, shook hands, as is the custom here, all round, and took leave. The first impression left upon my mind by this short seance, and it was subsequently confirmed, was, that the prophet is no common man, and that he has none of the weakness and vanity which characterize the common uncommon man.”

Mark Twain, on his visit to Salt Lake City

“There was fascination in surreptitiously staring at every creature we took to be a Mormon. This was fairyland to us, to all intents and purposes — a land of enchantment, and goblins, and awful mystery. We felt a curiosity to ask every child how many mothers it had, and if it could tell them apart; and we experienced a thrill every time a dwelling-house door opened and shut as we passed, disclosing a glimpse of human heads and backs and shoulders — for we so longed to have a good satisfying look at a Mormon family in all its comprehensive ampleness, disposed in the customary concentric rings of its home circle.”

Abraham Lincoln

“You go back and tell Brigham Young that if he will let me alone I will let him alone.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Good out of evil. One must thank the genius of Brigham Young for the creation of Salt Lake City — an inestimable hospitality to the Overland Emigrants, and an efficient example to all men in the vast desert, teaching how to subdue and turn it to a habitable garden.”

Charles Dickens talking about the Liverpool emigrants going to Utah

“It is surprising to me that these people are all so cheery, and make so little of the immense distance before them.”

P. T. Barnum, in speaking with Brigham Young in Salt Lake City

“Barnum,” said Brigham Young, “what will you give to exhibit me in New York and the eastern cities?”

“Well, Mr. President,” I replied, “I’ll give you half the receipts, which I will guarantee shall be $200,000 per year, for I consider you the best show in America.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to Winston Churchill about the Deseret News article noting that Clementine Churchill was related to a Mormon line and that Churchill was too.

“Hitherto I had not observed any outstanding Mormon characteristics in either of you — but I shall be looking for them from now on. I have a very high opinion of the Mormons — for they are excellent citizens.”

Filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille (in commencement address at BYU)

“I have known many members of your church — and I have never known one who was not a good citizen and a fine, wholesome person — but David O. McKay embodies, more than anyone that I have ever known, the virtues and the drawing-power of your church.

"David McKay, almost thou persuadest me to be a Mormon! And knowing what family life means to the Latter-day Saints, I cannot speak or think of President McKay without thinking too of that gracious and spirited young lady who is his wife.”

President Herbert Hoover

“I have witnessed their devotion to public service and their support of charitable efforts over our country and in foreign lands during all these years. I have witnessed the growth of the church’s communities over the world where self-reliance, devotion, resolution and integrity are a light to all mankind. Surely a great message of Christian faith has been given by the church — and it must continue.”

John F. Kennedy quoted the 11th Article of Faith in his Tabernacle Address. Also, “Tonight I speak for all Americans in expressing our gratitude to the Mormon people — for their pioneer spirit, their devotion to culture and learning, their example of industry and self-reliance. But I am particularly in their debt tonight for their successful battle to make religious liberty a living reality — for having proven to the world that different faiths of different views could flourish harmoniously in our midst.”

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

“Yours is a most remarkable story of faith in action, and it changed the world.”

President of Taiwan Ma Ying-Jeou about the Mormon missionaries

“Their clean image elicits good feelings.”

Angela Lansbury about singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

“The spirit of this place is so evident. It is all enveloping. It’s all around me. I feel buoyed up by it. This has been one of the things I felt very strongly about being here. I didn’t realize that I was going to be hit by this extraordinary spirit. I haven’t experienced this before. It’s quite unique, people doing something for the love of it.”

Walter Cronkite about performing with the Tabernacle Choir

“I hope that somewhere, Mom and Dad are proud that little Walter is performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I have never been a religious person in the conventional sense, but I have felt nearer to my God the past couple of days than ever before.”

Taken from the book "Much Ado About Mormons," available at Deseret Book and Seagull Book. Source