Free Republic

By HELEN RADKEY Tuesday, February 21, 2012 SALT LAKE CITY - Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank, (June 12, 1929 – March 1945), one of the most renowned Jewish victims of the Holocaust, was posthumously baptized in a Mormon temple, on Saturday, February 18, 2012, under her full name, "Annelies Marie Frank." Mormons have submitted versions of Anne Frank's name at least a dozen times for proxy rites. She has been posthumously baptized in Mormon temples, at least nine times from 1989-1999, and now again in 2012. Anne Frank's latest baptism was performed in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic (LDS) Temple. Frank...

No one has any idea how common this attitude toward Mormons is on the right or how it will play out in the primary process and, if it works out that way, the general election. It will be partly offset by the enthusiasm of Mormons who make up a sizable voting bloc in some western states. But it will hurt Romney's chances in several southern primary states and could affect a close general election contest. Most mainstream protestant religions recognize the LDS as a Christian sect. That doesn't seem to matter to Keller who is wont to see Satan in...

VISALIA, Calif., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A California man who died in a gun battle with police after fatally shooting a Mormon Church bishop felt wronged by another church bishop, his brother said. Police identified Kenneth James Ward, 47, of Modesto, Calif., as the man who shot to death Bishop Clay Sannar, 42, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Visalia Sunday before dying in a shootout with police less than 2 miles away, the Visalia Times-Delta reported. Mike Ward of Bakersfield told the newspaper his older brother Kenneth took their grandfather's handgun and shot Sannar, a...

I can't post the article due to copywrite. But here is the link. http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100830/NEWS01/100830004/Man+accused+of+killing+church+leader+was+former+member+of+LDS+church++felt+wronged++brother+says

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The safety of Utah's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is the topic of a Tuesday night town hall meeting at the Salt Lake City Library. The Utah Pride Center says a panel will hold a discussion with police officers, prosecutors and community representatives. Pride spokesman Michael Westley says the group will release the results of a survey of 500 people on safety questions. Westley says nearly 70 percent of the respondents say they feel an increased sense of safety related to housing and employment discrimination issues. Only 26 percent of respondents said they feel...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Mormon church leaders have sent a letter reaffirming the faith's position on gay marriage to its members in Argentina, where the government is debating whether to legalize gay unions. Spokeswoman Kim Farah on Monday confirmed it was sent to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders in Argentina. It says marriage is between one man and one woman......

SALT LAKE CITY — Thanks to Mitt Romney, the head of the site selection team for the 2012 GOP National Convention said Tuesday she knows more about Salt Lake City than the other two cities competing to host the event: Tampa, Fla., and Phoenix. (SNIP) Hughes dismissed concerns that Utah, headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, might be seen as alienating some Republicans. Romney, a Mormon, faced a backlash from conservatives in his party who did not believe he was a Christian. "I heard that question when he was running for president, and I'm like, 'What...

Francis Eugene George is not just a cardinal. He is also president of the United States conference of catholic bishops and sets the tone and direction for church policy and position in the country. His comments, therefore, on the positive attributes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), more commonly known as Mormons, seem surprising given the enormous theological and demographic differences between the two groups. Or do his words herald a spirit of co-operation among disparate religious movements in the fight against secularism?

REXBURG -- A top LDS religious leader gave a rare unscripted fireside to Brigham Young University-Idaho students Saturday. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, focused much of his remarks on how the LDS Church is viewed by nonmembers and the media. He taught students about conveying the message of the LDS faith. Ballard spoke candidly about experiences with the national news media, specifically touching on his experiences during former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Romney is LDS. The apostle talked about the challenge...

After becoming the highest-ranking elected Mormon in church history in 2007, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) has drawn an immense amount of attention from the media in recent days for his comments about President Obama. But even despite the controversial comments published in a new book referring to Obama as a “light-skinned African-American” with “no Negro dialect,” a popular LDS blog announced on Monday it had chosen Reid as the 2009 Mormon of the Year. In recent years Reid has helped The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with many critical political issues. One of these issues includes...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, are the most conservative major religious group in the country, with 59% identifying as conservative, 31% as moderate, and 8% as liberal.

IDAHO FALLS -- Rex Rammell has had a change of heart regarding who is invited to his "elders of Israel only" meetings. At a press conference Thursday, the Idaho gubernatorial candidate issued a formal apology with regards to his exclusion of non-Mormons from his upcoming meetings dealing with the so-called "White Horse Prophecy." Reading from a prepared statement, Rammell said he was wrong to assume that nonmembers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wouldn't be interested in hearing his message. "To all those citizens who are not members of the LDS faith, who have expressed a sincere...

"...G. Vance Smith, a committed Mormon, now leads the Society. Vance Smith is systematically removing people from leadership positions within the John Birch Society and replacing them with Mormons. One gathers that Smith does not feel that he is accountable to the membership concerning his reasons for the replacement of longtime leadership. There seems to be no accountability factor. Longtime Birchers are leaving the Society en masse. There seems to be a major concern that the Society is fast becoming a puppet for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One document that I received suggests that Smith's course...

It's a call to the Elders of Israel. Idaho's gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell exclusively invites Mormon men to a meeting where he'll discuss Joseph Smith's prophecies regarding the constitution. Critics say it's merely a way to use his faith to further his campaign. Rammell believes it's his duty to rally the troops, his fellow LDS elders who he claims responsible for saving the nation's constitution. But some say his Mormons-only invitation may end up hurting him when it's time to go to the polls. Blurring the lines between politics and religion, that's what some call Rex Rammell's exclusive Elders of...

SALT LAKE CITY -- A gay rights group says it is securing Republican support in the Utah state Legislature for anti-discrimination laws. The Deseret News reports members of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans, a gay and lesbian political group, say two bills granting gays extra rights in Utah will have GOP sponsors when they go before the Legislature in the 2010 session. The group is not saying who those sponsors are. One of the measures is similar to an ordinance approved in Salt Lake City that states gay workers can't be fired because of their sexuality. The Deseret News reports...

Below is an informative piece by my friend Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan about the awful decision by the LDS Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to support legislation granting legal protections based on homosexuality. Gary of AFA-Michigan writes: A Shocker from Salt Lake City: The LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Church now officially endorses so-called “gay rights” laws, specifically a Salt Lake City law prohibiting “discrimination” on the basis of “sexual orientation” (homosexual behavior) and “gender identity” (cross-dressing). From the official LDS Church website: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-supports-nondiscrimination-ordinances ASSOCIATED PRESS: “Mormons throw support...

Gay rights legislation in Salt Lake City receives its first ever endorsement by the Mormon church. Salt Lake City, Utah (WiredPRNews.com) - The passage of gay rights legislation in Salt Lake City, Utah was supported for the first time by the Mormon church. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), the church announced its support of laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing and employment prior to a vote on the legislation Tuesday. Michael Otterson, the director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is quoted by the AP...

Salt Lake OKs Gay Rights Ordinances Mormon church — which opposes same-sex marriage — backs laws SALT LAKE CITY - With a historic endorsement from the Mormon church, the Salt Lake City Council unanimously passed a pair of ordinances making it illegal to discriminate against gays. Tuesday's action was the first time the Utah-based church — which has been steadfast in its opposition to gay marriage — has publicly supported gay rights legislation. "The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage," Michael Otterson, the director of public...

For the first time in 105 years, non-Mormons mounted the pulpit at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City on Nov. 14. The event, dubbed an "Evening of Friendship," was organized by Standing Together, a network of 100 evangelical churches trying to improve relations with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historical animosity dating back to the founding of the LDS Church has heightened in recent years between the two groups, particularly in the 1990s, when high-profile evangelical leaders said that Mormons are not Christians and the Southern Baptist Convention held one of its annual meetings...

In a meeting with gay-rights activists last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized the LDS Church for backing a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in California, saying the leaders of his faith should have stayed out of the contentious political fight. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, is the highest ranking elected official who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.-SNIP-Marchers in Sunday's equality rally, which drew tens of thousands to the U.S. Capitol, repeatedly referenced the Prop 8 defeat in signs, statements and even face paint. But when organizers sat down with Reid,...