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Mormon church to keep affiliation with Boy Scouts despite decision to allow gay leaders.

The president of the upcoming papal event in Philadelphia backed political candidates who support homosexual “marriage” and abortion, including a former Planned Parenthood director, a new report says. World Meeting of Families President Robert Ciaruffoli gave thousands of dollars to several pro-abortion and pro-homosexual candidates over the last 16 years, according to the Lepanto Institute, one that founded a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood facility and opposed restriction of interstate transportation of minors for abortion. While Ciaruffoli did contribute to a number of candidates who uphold life and marriage, the report says, his record of support for those promoting abortion and homosexuality...

The Mormon church will continue to support the Boy Scouts of America despite the group’s decision to allow gay troop leaders, say church leaders. After a month of deliberation, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – which is the nation’s largest sponsor of Boy Scout units and continues to restrict gay and lesbian members from participating fully in church activities and leadership – said in a statement Wednesday that it would maintain its 102-year-old association with Scouting following the BSA’s controversial July decision to let gay men lead Scout units. The announcement, which comes after the BSA assured...

After a month of deliberation following a vote by the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay Scout leaders, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that they will go forward with the faith's 102-year association with Scouting, according to a statement released Wednesday morning. The statement came from the church's Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who said the BSA assured the church it would be able to appoint Scout leaders based on the faith's values. "In the resolution adopted on July 27, 2015, and in...

The Boy Scouts of America may experience a severe backlash from church sponsors following its recent vote to approve openly gay scout leaders. A national organization boasting over 2.6 million members, many of the BSA's more than 37,000 troops come from churches that officially state that homosexuality is a sin. These include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the United Methodist Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Roger S. Oldham, spokesman for the SBC, told The Christian Post that Southern Baptist churches have been cutting ties with the BSA since 2013, when the youth organization voted to allow...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement today after a vote on a policy change by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board to admit openly gay leaders: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement Monday regarding the Boy Scouts of America resolution for adult leader standards: “As a chartering organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always had the right to select Scout leaders who adhere to moral and religious principles that are consistent with our doctrines and beliefs. Any resolution adopted by the Boy Scouts of America regarding leadership in Scouting must continue to affirm that right.”

Mormons and LGBT people historically haven’t gotten along. The church has been active in efforts to end gay marriage, and even the Supreme Court’s most recent opinion hasn’t deterred them from fighting. So that’s why it came as a surprise to almost everyone that the historically anti-gay church just made its first donation to an LGBT cause. While the church still doesn’t approve of homosexuality, that didn’t stop them from making a recent donation to the Utah Pride Center, an organization that helps to serve homeless LGBTQ youth... ...The Mormon Church donated approximately $2,500 to help fund the Pride Center’s...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church issued the following statement Friday: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges that following today's ruling by the Supreme Court, same-sex marriages are now legal in the United States. The Court's decision does not alter the Lord's doctrine that marriage is a union between a man and a woman ordained by God. While showing respect for those who think differently, the Church will continue to teach and promote marriage between a man and a woman as a central part of our doctrine and practice."

There's a Mormon character in one of ABC's new fall series. And viewers will learn this when they see him wearing nothing but his temple garments. That's just one of the reasons that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may not be particularly pleased with that character in the pilot of "Quantico," which is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 9 p.m. on ABC/Ch. 4. The series is about a bunch of new recruits who arrive at the FBI training base in Quantico, Va., for training.

Former two-time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is set to host six declared and potential GOP contenders at a Utah retreat next week. Mr. Romney, who considered a third run for president earlier this year but declined to run, will gather big GOP donors and other party bigwigs in Park City, Utah for his annual “E2 Summit.” The private event at a mountain resort kicks off with a dinner June 11 and wraps up with a luncheon on June 13, according to a copy of the invitation. Declared and potential Republican presidential contenders scheduled to speak include Sens. Marco Rubio...

In 2001, 1 in 7 Americans accepted polygamy as a "family" form (7%); by 2015, it's jumped to 1 in 6 Americans (16%). Source: Shocker: Morality Goes Out the Window, Americans Embrace Social LiberalismAs of last week, three of the dozen "apostles" of the Mormon Church – 1 in 4 -- were well ahead of that cultural curve and indeed, per Mormon doctrine, were headed for eternal polygamy.Allow me to explain: Seven years ago this Spring, the Salt Lake Tribune published an article that mentioned how "Three of the church's current apostles, for example, were widowed and remarried. Each will...

...Latter-day Saint literature to a Mother in Heaven...Since the 1840s, this cherished doctrine has been an important, although relatively obscure, part of the Latter-day Saint understanding of the premortal origins and divine nature of mankind... As Elder Erastus Snow (Quorum of the Twelve, February 12, 1849–May 27, 1888) avowed: “What,” says one, “do you mean we should understand that Deity consists of man and woman?” Most certainly I do. If I believe anything that God has ever said about himself...I must believe that deity consists of man and woman...There can be no God except he is composed of the man...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Nearly 50 years after Mormons opened small churches here converting Buddhists, animists and other Thais, they have now announced plans to construct their first big temple in Thailand, enabling their families to be "sealed" together for eternity, posthumous weddings for dead ancestors and other "highest sacraments."

Chapter 38: Eternal Marriage [SNIP] Eternal Marriage Is Essential for Exaltation• What is the Lord’s doctrine of marriage, and how does it differ from the views of the world? Many people in the world consider marriage to be only a social custom, a legal agreement between a man and a woman to live together. But to Latter-day Saints, marriage is much more. Our exaltation depends on marriage...[SNIP] Heavenly Father has given us the law of eternal marriage so we can become like Him. The Lord has said: “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; “And in order...

Requirements for Exaltation[SNIP] To be exalted, we first must place our faith in Jesus Christ and then endure in that faith to the end of our lives. Our faith in Him must be such that we repent of our sins and obey His commandments. He commands us all to receive certain ordinances: ... 3. Brethren must receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and magnify their callings in the priesthood. 4. We must receive the temple endowment. 5. We must be married for eternity, either in this life or in the next.In addition to receiving the required ordinances, the Lord commands all of...

...let me say just a bit more about...marriage. This may sound a little bit bold to urge marriage for those...past the marriageable age;...we are shocked to know that some men are delaying marriage until their later thirties or into their forties, and they have never talked of marriage. [SNIP] ...I have a letter here from a sister that pinpoints something...these girls are going through...There is a man who has been dating her for years and he comes especially at meal time... Here is another one who says, “I am a 40-year-old single woman.” Another one says, “I am a 30-year-old...

This is the third and final post on B. Carmon Hardy’s Doing the Works of Abraham: Mormon Polygamy: Its Origin, Practice and Demise (Arthur H. Clark Co., 2007). The simple story of the end of LDS polygamy is that it ended in 1890 with the Manifesto. The not-so-simple story involves a Second Manifesto in 1904, which raises the obvious question, “If the First Manifesto ended polygamy, why the need for a Second Manifesto?” The First Manifesto did not end the officially sanctioned LDS practice of polygamy. In fact, it took twenty years to fully execute that momentous institutional change of...

As Mormonism enters its third century, it faces a Goldilocks dilemma: Too much tension with the surrounding culture invites scorn; too little threatens its uniqueness. But finding just the right balance to ensure a thriving — and distinctive — faith won't be easy. {SNIP} So, what are the Baby Bear options in Mormonism's future? Too much conflict with the wider society, say on gay rights or women's roles, premier Mormon sociologist Armand Mauss argues, would bring "not only popular disdain but even repression and persecution." {SNIP} Female elders? • Third, the LDS Church runs into much debate and even clashes...

Perhaps you will find no issue reflecting a greater divide among Utahns that whether LDS Church leaders have too much influence in the Utah Legislature. A new UtahPolicy poll by Dan Jones & Associates finds that three-fourths of the faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say their church has “about the right amount of influence” on state lawmakers’ political decisions. But when you ask the same influence question of non-Mormons, you find super-majorities – 79 percent of Catholics, 84 percent of Protestants – say the Mormon Church has too much influence on Capitol Hill. Now,...