Tag Archives: LDS

The Associated Press reports: An advertising-technology billionaire has formally resigned his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and rebuked the faith over social issues and LGBTQ rights in an unusual public move. Jeff T. Green has pledged to donate 90% of his estimated $5 billion fortune, starting with a $600,000 donation to the LGBTQ-rights group Equality …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: A bill that would effectively decriminalize polygamy and dispel fears of prosecution for plural marriage among consenting adults sailed through the Utah Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Deidre Henderson’s bill would reclassify bigamy as an infraction, codifying the practice of the Utah attorney general’s office not to prosecute otherwise law-abiding polygamists. An infraction, like a traffic …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: A rule banning conversion therapy on LGBTQ children has gone into effect, making Utah the 19th state to ban the practice. Governor Gary Herbert’s office confirmed to FOX 13 that the administrative rule went into effect on Tuesday night. The governor’s office declined to comment any further on it. Last year, …

The Washington Post reports: A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post. The confidential document, received by the IRS on Nov. 21, …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: A year and a half ago, FamilySearch.org projected it would include same-sex parents and same-sex couples in its genealogy website sometime in 2019 — and it has, with three weeks to spare. The site, which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced Tuesday that FamilySearch Family Tree now …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and LGBTQ advocates have coalesced around a proposed ban on “conversion therapy” for minors. Gov. Gary Herbert on Tuesday evening announced that groups involved in the emotional debate have finally agreed on language that would prohibit the discredited practice. The proposed professional licensing rule for therapists and …

The Associated Press reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a warning to members that coffee is prohibited no matter how fancy the name, that vaping is banned despite the alluring flavors and that marijuana is outlawed unless prescribed by “competent” doctors. The new guidance in the August issue of a church youth magazine does not …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really, truly, absolutely wants to be known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not the LDS Church. Not the Mormon church. It made that clear Thursday — even though the last attempt to eradicate those nicknames for the Utah-based faith flopped. The new push …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Three years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court made gay marriage legal in every state, but the LDS Church still hasn’t listed same-sex couples in its massive genealogy databank. Not surprising, perhaps, given the Utah-based faith’s opposition to same-sex marriage. But change is coming to the genealogy resource — and soon. The church’s genealogical …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is ending its relationship with the Boy Scouts of America and will create new youth programs for its members. The church said the move will be effective Dec. 31, 2019, according to a news release. The announcement comes soon after the Boy Scouts of America changed their …

The Associated Press reports: Thomas S. Monson, the 16th president of the Mormon church, has died after overseeing the religion for nine years. He was 90. Monson died Tuesday night at his home in Salt Lake City, according to church spokesman Eric Hawkins. Monson spent more than five decades serving in top church leadership councils — making him a well-known …

Newsweek reports: The Mormon church hates self-love. Masturbation should be strictly banned because it can turn young people into homosexuals and criminals, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes, according to a leaked guidebook issued to members. The 1981 guidebook, released this week by the transparency group MormonLeaks, provides some insights into what many young Mormons have been …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: Nearly all of the Utah State Senate has signed on in support of a Colorado shop who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah [photo], …

Salt Lake City’s CBS affiliate reports: She is a life-long member of the LDS church with the needed ecclesiastical endorsement to hold a current temple recommend — her faith’s standard of being a believer in good standing. Now she has taught her final class at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, after she declined to retract a Facebook statement supporting the LGBT …

Hemant Mehta writes at the Friendly Atheist: While big-name singers are evidently saying no to performing at Donald Trump‘s inauguration, one of the only well-known acts to say yes has been the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They’re on a slate filled with Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, and an apparently divided group of Rockettes. The Church made clear that this isn’t a …

Two real life Mormon missionaries are going viral on YouTube with parody of Adele’s Hello than has hit 200,000 views in its first day. Marcus Joseph and Korey Smith (Joseph Smith, get it?) are Brigham Young students and you might not glom onto the fact that they’re actually pitching Mormonism until the final credit appears for LDS Smile, a group …

For real. He said that. The Huffington Post reports: A top Mormon leader made some eyebrow-raising claims about the gay community during a visit to Chile last week. During a Feb. 23 meeting, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) Elder David A. Bednar claimed that he and his fellow Mormons “do not discriminate” against gay and lesbian …

White Jesus has apparently delivered a personal message to the president of the Mormon Church. The Salt Lake Tribune reports: After same-sex marriage became legal in several countries, including the United States, the LDS Church’s top 15 leaders wrestled with what to do, weighed all the ramifications, fasted, prayed, met in the temple and sought God’s guidance on the issue. Balancing …

The Associated Press reports: Several hundred people with roots in the Mormon faith gathered in Salt Lake City on Saturday to renounce the church’s new policies targeting gays and their children in an event that marked the latest illustration of the fervor the rule changes have caused. Billed as a mass resignation by Mormons, people filled out paperwork and dropped …

From Salt Lake City’s CBS affiliate: The LDS church has clarified to its leaders that being in a same-sex marriage is considered a form of apostasy. The update came to what is known as Handbook #1, which is used as a guide for administering in the church, and is only available to LDS bishops and stake presidents. A screen shot …