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It seems that not a week goes by without some twisting of Sacred Scripture by a Pope who, as the past three-and-a-half years have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt, has the singular distinction among all his predecessors of being nothing short of a font of error. This unparalleled development has prompted the emergence of a group of diocesan priests who have compiled a vast assortment of Francis’s errors under the title Denzinger-Bergoglio, declaring as their motivation “We all have responsibility for the Church of the Lord.” Indeed we do. Which is why this newspaper is obliged to follow the example...

The LDS Church is asking for Mormons to weigh in about Temple garments. LDS officials are requesting public comments about the fit, fabric, size and style in an effort to propose changes and improvements. The move comes after last year when the Utah-based faith posted photos and videos of the misunderstood clothing to explain them to so-called gawkers.

In 1517, Martin Luther posted a list of 95 Theses on his church's doors. His actions exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church and started what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. Between the hours of 9 PM Saturday, February 16 and 9 AM Sunday, February 17, 2013, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others will post this list of 95 LDS Theses onto the doors of LDS churches around the world. Join the event here - If you don't use Facebook, you can still participate! The purpose of this event is two-fold:...

We think Sarah Palin hit the nail on the head in "her" State of the Union address: Here is how Tony Lee reported it at www.breitbart.com: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin wrote Wednesday that America is a nation being bankrupt by a federal government led by "venal politicians" in her response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. "What is the true state of our union? Though this may sound harsh, I'll speak the truth here," Palin wrote. "We are a country going bankrupt to fund a bloated, distant, and often corrupt federal government led by venal politicians...

Last Friday I went to the LDS Church sanctioned Joseph Smith web site. The site has a section titled “On This Day…,” reporting daily events from the life of Joseph Smith. On Friday it said, March 24, 1832Hiram, Ohio. A mob violently tarred and feathered Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon.This is interesting to me because on my web site, Questioning Mormonism, I have a similar feature that lists daily events in the history of the LDS Church. And for March 24th both the Joseph Smith site and the Questioning Mormonism site list the same bit of history. But the QM...

The CNN blog just ran a lengthy interview with Tricia Erickson, who makes a variety of arguments that no believing Mormon should ever be elected President. (Link here; note that in her interview she cites language from the endowment ceremony). Erickson’s arguments...repeats the old evangelical anti-Mormon reasoning that Mormons are all basically automatons, and suggests that any Mormon politician would have a secret church-promoting agenda. It’s an argument straight out of The Manchurian Candidate (and reminiscent of the anti-Catholic arguments raised against JFK)...But what are the implications of the article’s prominent publication today — what does it say about the...

A Mormon teenager will stand trial for allegedly helping her lover to kill his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend, a judge has ruled. Toni Fratto, 19, and Kody Patten, 18, are accused of hitting Micaela Costanzo over the head with a shovel, cutting her throat and then burying her body in a shallow grave just outside West Wendover, Nevada. Prosecutors claim the couple, who were planning to get married, murdered Micaela because she had been texting Patten asking to get back together with him. After the killing the pair drove to a nearby swimming pool to 'clean up' - and then went to...

Daren Palmer, the head of an Idaho firm known as the Trigon Group, has agreed to plead guilty to operating a $78 million Ponzi scheme that allegedly scammed fellow Mormons – including friends, neighbors and relatives – in a classic case of affinity fraud, The New York Times reported. According to government prosecutors, the Times said, Palmer raised more than $20 million by promising investors generous double-digit returns and then misappropriated their funds instead. He stands accused of swindling parents of children he coached in football, the newspaper said, and even his own father and brother-in-law along the way. He...

SALT LAKE CITY — His shaggy red hair sticking out in all directions after a night's sleep, Jeremy Johnson tossed a wad of cash on the end of his inflatable mattress in a large tent on the Dominican Republic-Haiti border. The cash — he probably had no idea how much — would cover gas for three helicopters and other expenses for the day's relief mission in earthquake- ravaged Port-au-Prince in January 2010. But before the team, many of whom worked for one of Johnson's lucrative Internet enterprises, headed out to do some good, the boss was in the mood for...

The real question the media needs to ask Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- and even Harry Reid coincides with my new tagline: 'SHOW US YOUR SPIRITUAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM KOLOB' Mormons make bold claims to a pre-existence on Kolob: Having a dad-become-god father and a divine mother...giving "spirit birth" as aliens to this planet. Then being sent here to Planet Earth to inhabit bodies. Well. We wanna see the proof! Actually, I'd even settle for significantly less than "proof!" I'd just like to hear each of them utter: "Yes, I was spirit-born on Kolob to a divine goddess." That's...

ASHEVILLE — Antonio Hernandez Carranza took a wrong turn, and it turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes he’s ever made. The Carson, Calif., man had driven more than 2,000 miles — three days straight — to see his sister in Johnson City, Tenn. But instead of reaching the home of his sister, whom he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade, the 45-year-old carpet cleaner found himself in the Buncombe County jail under a $300,000 bond on charges of driving while intoxicated, failing to heed police lights and sirens and possession of 91 pounds of cocaine. He was...

CHESAPEAKE A former city police officer will be on indeterminate probation for the one-time lapse in judgment of using his cell phone to solicit for sexual purposes someone he believed to be a 16-year-old girl, a Circuit Court judge decided Thursday. Michael S. Boyd, 32 and a father of three, was an eight-year veteran policeman when he resigned in June, about a month after his May 2010 arrest. He apologized today to the police department and the people of Chesapeake.

PORTSMOUTH A Portsmouth police officer has been indicted on a charge of embezzlement following a state police investigation. Robert Anthony Murray, 38, has been with the Portsmouth Police Department for 12 years, according to city records. Detective Jan Westerbeck, a police spokeswoman, referred all questions, including Murray’s employment status, to state police.

(ST. GEORGE) – A St. George man was ordered to spend a year in the Washington County Jail on seven counts of securities fraud. According to court documents, 67-year old William Hammons, was convicted by a jury in February on counts related to his involvement in VesCor, an investment company. Hammons worked with Val Southwick, an Ogden businessman, who is currently serving a prison term for a real estate investment scheme that bilked hundreds of investors out of more than $180 million. VesCor companies took in an estimated $250 million from investors, according to accountants, who examined their books during...

SNIP Rachel and Alexis MacNeill recall their 'loving and affectionate' Mormon childhood with their father Martin, a doctor and lawyer, and their beautiful mother Michele. SNIP Rachel, 31, said: 'We were very much a devout Mormon family. I thought of my parents as having the ultimate love story. SNIP Her death...was initially ascribed to natural causes, but information supplied by the women helped the medical examiner to change the results to suspicious in October last year. An investigator with the Utah County Attorney's Office told People Magazine: 'There is probable cause to believe that Martin MacNeill had the opportunity, the...

Last month (March 2011) Ensign magazine included a challenge titled “How Well Do You Know Our Church Leaders?” It consisted of 15 details from the lives of the 15 current Prophets, Seers and Revelators of the LDS Church. Readers were invited to match the names with the facts. The Ensign challenge included things like figuring out which leader once raised rabbits or worked on an oyster boat. The lives of LDS leaders throughout the history of the Mormon Church reflect much more interesting details than those included in the Ensign article. So I here add my own version of “How...

PARK CITY — Cathy Chamberlain spoke about recognizing and remedying common misperceptions of women in the LDS Church, at the 4th Annual LDS Business Conference. "There are a lot of myths out in the world about who Mormon women really are," Chamberlain said Friday in Park City. "The most common myth outside of the church is that LDS women are second-class citizens in the church. Among our own women, they're not sure their roles are as important as men's roles. "We've got some cultural myths we've got to remove, and it's become a mission of mine to figure out how...

PROVO, Utah (ABC 4 News) - The Provo City Fire Department has released the full report on the December Provo Tabernacle fire. The 135-page report outlines events leading up to the fire from December 17th that destroyed the historic landmark in Provo. Trax Lighting and AV arrived at the Tabernacle a few days before the fire to setup lighting for a concert that was to be taped by BYU Broadcasting. During the setup of a lighting truss, a technician said he set aside two lamps that were part of the in-house lighting system. Fire officials believe these lights were placed...

POCATELLO (AP) - An Idaho state judge has sentenced a convicted bigamist to up to three years in prison and set a restitution hearing for late August. Christopher Cameron was sentenced Monday by 6th District Judge Robert Naftz, who gave him credit for the nine months he has spent in jail. Cameron pleaded guilty to felony bigamy in April. Tonya Gifford Kunz, a former Pocatello woman who was married to Cameron for five weeks before filing for an annulment in February 2009, told authorities that he lied to her about his income, assets, health and last name and left her...

<p>PROVO — The former BYU student accused of attacking a woman with a stun gun pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lessened degree of aggravated assault.</p> <p>Stetson Geo Hallam, 20, had been charged with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, following an April 6 incident that he claimed was an April Fool's joke, according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court.</p>