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Celebrated birthdate of Jesus Christ: December 25 Celebrated birthdate of Joseph Smith: December 23 Needless to say, some seasonal "competition" has arisen between the two through the centuries! #1: Christmas Carol Joseph Smith Usurpation: O Little Town of Jerusalem? Birthplace of Jesus Christ: BethlehemBook of Mormon recorded birthplace of Jesus Christ: Jerusalem (Alma 7:10) Note: The 1830 Book of Mormon author (Joseph Smith) was apparently so scornful of Bethlehem receiving its Old Testament Micah 5:2 prophecy recognition that Jerusalem negated Bethlehem's place within Biblical history! #2: Christmas Carol Joseph Smith Usurpation Vignette: Only One Angel (Heard) From on High? 1840....

Zelphless NOM Dec 01, 2014 This is kinda funny actually. The Exec Sec of our ward just sent out this announcement for the ward Christmas Party: Quote: As a Bishopric we would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to come to the Ward Christmas Celebration...The theme this year will be "Christmas in Nauvoo" and will feature an 1843 Christmas in Nauvoo with the Joseph and Emma Smith family. Everyone is invited to come as you are, or dress in period clothing. The main dinner will be provided and if you wish you may bring your favorite holiday dessert...

Rain... I've not heard of "smithmas" before, but as soon as I saw this title I knew what the term meant because for years I did see/hear far more about Joseph Smith in church than about Christ in December and it really irked me... Rain #47   In 2005...And then from there it continued throughout 2006. Talk after talk was centered on his life. I could count months when Jesus was only mentioned in the prayers. So much so that when I moved in 7/2006 I very much struggled to be obedient when I was asked to give a talk...

Finally, understanding the sub-culural history of "Smithmas" is making more digital headway! Smithmas Free Republic articles are "bumping up" among top five hits on Google searches! What exactly IS "Smithmas," anyway? Well, Joseph Smith -- THE founder of Mormonism -- was born on December 23. Through the decades, that recognition has often eclipsed a certain Other figure's birthday, Dec. 25. (To be fair to Mormons, who are my beloved extended family members, I would think they could extend a similar critique toward some Christians for allowing a jovial North Pole-based figure to edge out Jesus' birthday!) But if you want...

...mdfxdb Senior Member Posted 16 October 2014... I posted because I had never even heard of it until I moved into my new ward about a year and a half ago. It turns out it is a real thing and there are active members with callings and stuff that celebrate it. They do a cake and everything... Backroads...Posted 20 October 2014 You celebrate the birthday of someone present. Celebrating the birthday of ssomeone not present takes on a different tone that, yes, does cross into "worship" territory for me. I'm trying to understand why people would celebrate this, but in...

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of human life... The Church allows for possible exceptions for its members when: Pregnancy results from rape or incest, or A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy, or A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. The Church teaches its members that even these rare exceptions do not justify abortion automatically. Abortion is a most serious matter and should be considered only after the persons involved have...

When asked whether they felt an issue was immoral, morally acceptable, or “not a moral issue,” here’s a breakdown of how many Mormons declared that certain activities were “morally wrong.” Drinking alcohol: 54% Having an abortion: 74% Sex between unmarried adults: 79% Practicing polygamy: 86% Hold the phone. 86% of Mormons say that polygamy is morally wrong?* It seems that Mormons hate polygamy even more than abortion. Remember that abortion is discussed in the church handbook as a sin that requires serious repentance — and sometimes disciplinary action on the part of the church. Abortion is permissible only in rare...

...When ushered into the master bedroom of the Mormon patriarch Brigham Young at his winter home in St. George, Utah, a few years ago, I felt duty-bound to ask an obvious question: Where did the other women sleep? Other women? The church tour guide blushed, and laser-stared me as if I’d blasphemed the Mormon Moses. I wondered about arrangements and jealousies, the conjugal timing of a man who was married to 55 women, by most accounts. I didn’t ask about the sexual acrobatics of the great pioneer, just the spreadsheet logistics of managing all those spouses. ...The Church of Jesus...

PROVO — Police at Brigham Young University are investigating whether any laws were broken after professors discovered a voice-activated recording device stuck under a chair in a lecture hall on campus. Two professors were working on a PowerPoint presentation in the Joseph Smith Building two weeks ago when they discovered a digital recorder stuck to the bottom of a stool with Velcro, police said. After attempting to play back the recordings, they grew concerned and began searching other classrooms in the building. Upon discovering similar Velcro setups under chairs in other classrooms, the professors called police. The investigation, however, has...

The two sets of inscribed plates that Strang claimed to have found in Wisconsin and Michigan beginning in 1845 almost certainly existed. Milo Quaife's early, standard biography of Strang reflects that, while Strang's angelic visitations "may have had only a subjective existence in the brain of the man who reported them, the metallic plates possessed a very material objective reality." And they were almost certainly forgeries. The first set, the three "Voree" or "Rajah Manchou" plates, were dug up by four "witnesses" whom Strang had taken to the plates' burial place. Illustrated and inscribed on both sides, the Rajah Manchou...

As the new essay unintentionally hits the fan, Mormons are reeling and responding with their classic denials, claim of victim-hood and their typical repertoire of logical fallacies. Soon, their favorite defender, the straw man argument will be in full regalia, culminating in a passive aggressive indirect platitude statement (such as doubt your doubts, you have to go around the BOM, etc.) in the next general conference to which members will cling to for life. Already I have been contacted by members with their "straw man babies". So I have compiled a list of the quorum of the 15 straw men...

On October 22...LDS.ORG posted three essays dealing with the practice of plural marriage by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between the 1830s and 1904... Several major controversies have been generated in conjunction with the introduction of plural marriage in Nauvoo in the early 1840s. All of these are briefly discussed in the introductory essay, Polyandry (paragraphs 20–23, endnotes 29–30). The essay acknowledges that “Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married,” estimating the number of these sealings at 12–14 (endnote 29)... Fanny Alger... Sexuality... Children with plural wives... Number of...

Though done in a lighthearted manner, this 4-minute video is a fairly accurate depiction of standard Mormon doctrine. It would be nice if Mormon missionaries explained Mormonism as clearly as the characters in this video do, but I imagine that would not foster strong LDS Church growth. Mormon Secrets: What the Missionaries Don’t TellBy Saved XMormon

A current LDS apostle and a former Utah governor were honored by Utah Catholics Thursday. Elder L. Tom Perry and his wife, Barbara Perry along with Jon Huntsman and his wife, Mary Kaye Huntsman, were honored at Catholic Community Services’ annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner at Little America Hotel in downtown Salk Lake City. Mary Kaye Huntsman has launched two youth programs called Bag of Hope and Power in You. The Catholic Community Service said that Jon and Mary Kaye have worked tirelessly in pubic service and to help those in need...

A Mormon bishop in Los Angeles is under fire for his assertion that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is unworthy to enter the faith's temples because of his support for Democratic Party positions. Mark Peredes' blog, titled "Good Riddance to Harry Reid, the Mormon Senate Leader," has drawn criticism from the church and Mormon Democrats. [SNIP] Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman on Saturday released a letter from a Mormon Democrat in Las Vegas to Paredes. "Our comment to this is to show you one of many comments Sen. Reid has received from his friends," Orthman said. The letter was written by...

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A Mormon bishop in Los Angeles is under fire for his assertion that Sen. Harry Reid is unworthy to enter the faith’s temples because of his support of Democratic Party positions.

Mia Love in Utah makes history, becomes first African American republican elected to US Congress

For at least half a century, the party of Lincoln has battled charges that it is racist, sexist and anti-immigrant. Today, voters from a conservative state made those arguments a little bit harder to make. In Utah, Mia Love became the first black Republican woman — and first Haitian American — elected to Congress. For the GOP — a house divided that faces significant demographic hurdles to winning the White House in 2016 even as it celebrates President Obama’s shellacking — this was huge. A party threatened with extinction among African Americans and immigrants now has someone to brag about...

Even her name is media friendly. Mia Love instantly became the darling of the Republican Party on Wednesday, after being elected as its first black female member of Congress -- and a Mormon to boot. And she has also rapidly drawn comparisons with Barack Obama, not least since she wowed her party's 2012 national convention with a tale of rags-to-political riches, much like the young Senator Obama did in 2004. "Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect, a black Republican LDS woman to Congress," she said at her victory rally, referring to the Church of...