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On this date in 1857, the Utah Territory finished the extrajudicial executions it had botched three days before. As we have detailed, Utah’s Mormon authorities had during these months of near-war against federal authorities taken prisoner a party of Californians crossing their territory — the Aiken (or Aikin) Party. On November 25, four members of that party were murdered by the Mormon guards escorting them out of the territory — killings that were quite extrajudicial, but also quite deliberately orchestrated by the state. Except, they had only killed two of the four. Although outnumbered by their attackers and miles from...

Brigham Young University - owned by the Church of Latter-Day Saints- in Utah has removed fliers advertising resourceful pamphlets for LGBTQ students in welcome bags for news students. The private college's administration said that it removed the pieces of resourceful information so that students could refer to its Office of Belonging, NBC News reported. The brochures had details on regular LGBTQ events being held off campus, as well as local therapeutic resources, scholarship funding and mentorship. They were made by a non-profit called RaYnbow Collection, which is not school-affiliated. Maddison Tenney, a LGBTQ student at BYU, revealed that she was...

GOP Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) revised S.386 Indian-giveaway bill makes a huge change in immigration law to help more than 600,000 Indians. But Mike Lee’s bill also may allow investors to flood the white-collar labor market with at least 100,000 extra foreign college-graduate workers each year. The complex S.386 bill was changed during closed-door negotiations with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). The changes favor India’s huge workforce in the United States by removing the so-called “country caps,” which were designed to encourage immigraiton by a diversity of nationalities. This change means that the resident population of 300,000 Indian workers and their...

Jana Riess, 49, is a popular LDS blogger who has degrees from revered school such as Princeton Theological Seminary and Columbia University, where she earned her Ph.D. in religion. She is a senior columnist for Religion News Service. MRM’s Viewpoint on Mormonism has produced shows on more than a half dozen of her articles, as she has an interesting perspective, even when we disagree.Her newest book is titled The Next Mormons: How Millennials are Changing the LDS Church. It is a scholarly research book published by Oxford University Press in March 2019. While this book is not as “layperson” oriented...

An exploration of the doctrine of the Church of Latter day Saints by Tim Conway.

Complete Headline: President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement Thursday afternoon regarding the name of the church "The Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He has revealed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have work before us to bring ourselves in harmony with his will. In recent weeks, various Church leaders and departments have initiated the necessary steps to do so." [Snip] The term "Mormonism" is inaccurate and should not be used. When describing the combination of doctrine,...

Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney lashed out at the decision to have a controversial evangelical leader give a blessing at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Monday, calling him a "religious bigot." The Senate candidate from Utah criticized the inclusion of the Rev. Robert Jeffress — the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas who is also an an adviser to President Donald Trump. The president recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last year. "Robert Jeffress says, 'You can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell,'" Romney wrote in...

Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney issued a vicious statement condemning Dr. Robert Jeffress, one of the nation’s most prominent evangelical ministers and a spiritual adviser to President Trump. [Snip] "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell,'" Romney wrote on Twitter. "He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem." [Snip] Jeffress, who is a regular guest on my nationally-syndicated radio show, was stunned by Romney's ugly remarks. "Historical Christianity has taught...

A group of Mormon cult leaders is being charged with organizing sexual religious rituals with underage girls and threatening them with damnation if they did not participate, according to court documents filed in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Wednesday.

UPDATE: Civil rights group to file judicial complaint against judge who praised rapist during sentencing (KUTV) — Fourth District Court Judge Thomas Low had glowing praise for a man who was convicted of molesting two female relatives while they stayed at his home three years ago. "The court had no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinarily good man," Low said just moments before sentencing Keith Vallejo to prison for sexually abusing the two females. "But great men, sometimes do bad things," Low continued.

Tucker Carlson and Glenn Beck brawled over his inflammatory rhetoric on Trump, his support of Ted Cruz, what he’s learned from the election, why Clinton lost and why he thinks Trump should be given a chance. The interview starts off with Beck denying he said Cruz was “anointed” by God to be president. Beck said, “I never said he was anointed by God to be president of the United States. I do believe that people are called, all of us are, you’re called for your job, I’m called for my job, all of us are called for a specific time....

For 80 years, the Deseret News has not entered into the troubled waters of presidential endorsement. We are neutral on matters of partisan politics. We do, however, feel a duty to speak clearly on issues that affect the well-being and morals of the nation. Accordingly, today we call on Donald Trump to step down from his pursuit of the American presidency. In democratic elections, ideas have consequences, leadership matters and character counts. The idea that women secretly welcome the unbridled and aggressive sexual advances of powerful men has led to the mistreatment, sorrow and subjugation of countless women for far...

A school has been criticised after punishing a whole cheerleading squad after a male student said he was distracted by their short skirts. The student at Timpview High School had “impure” thoughts after seeing the squad in their uniforms, People reports, and so his mother wrote to the school and complained. After the formal complaint was made, rather than helping the male student to deal with the thoughts, the Utah school’s administrators appear to have punished the whole cheerleading squad. Administrators told the cheerleading coach at the school, who told the 44-strong cheerleading squad that they should not wear their...

About 2 months ago, we presented the story of Roger Bauer, a victim of communism in the state of Rhode Island. The Democrats who control that state and support communism along with his liberal family abused him, denigrated him and forcibly held him captive in Rhode Island. He was unable to find work, be independent or take care of himself because of the bad treatment he received. Roger was accused of having Asperger's syndrome, a very terrible disease of the brain that is believed to exist by liberals and those sympathetic to them and to government. Also they say those...

Is the Jesus of Mormonism the Jesus of the Bible? Aaron Shafovaloff Published on Jul 16, 2016 James White dialogs with Alma Allred. James White is a Christian apologist and founded Alpha and Omega Ministries (http://www.aomin.org/). Alma Allred is a Mormon apologist and an LDS Institute teacher (http://byteline.blogspot.com/). This event took place on July 15, 2016. It was organized by Christ Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City (http://www.gospelutah.org/). A special thanks to Jason Wallace.

Of all the dozens and dozens of signs pointing to the imminent return of Christ, two clearly stand above the rest: 1. In a technical sense the Gospel has now been preached to every nation on earth in fulfillment of Mark 13:10.  Some scholars argue that we must interpret the Greek word for "nation" strictly as an individual ethnic group, but even if that is the correct interpretation, this prophecy was likely fulfilled sometime toward the end of the 20th century or the beginning of this century.  There are certainly still several isolated tribes where the Gospel has not been preached,...

A decade after the arrest of polygamous prophet Warren Jeffs, insiders say his church has literally become a place of feast or famine, of haves and have-nots. Prison has done little to loosen Jeffs' hold on many of his followers, even if he is now a convicted child-sex offender serving a life sentence. They still await his revelations and follow his directives, both difficult and bizarre. But some members are leaving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - and disobeying their prophet's longstanding orders to avoid law enforcement and "answer them nothing." These FLDS outcasts are talking...

Glenn Beck brought a fasting child on stage yesterday during his campaign speech for Ted Cruz in Utah. Beck declared to the Cruz crowd: “This is the priesthood rising.”

Cruz also basked in the praise of two big-name Mormons: former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and conservative talk show host Glenn Beck. […] Beck, a Mormon and conservative radio talk show host, said he always vows to be the worst enemy of politicians who do not keep promises. “I don’t have any friends in Washington except these two,” he said about Cruz and Lee. He added they are the first politicians he has even endorsed. Beck said that he, like many Mormons, believe in a prophecy that the Constitution will hang by a thread in the last days....

“I want to speak to you about something that may be controversial. And it’s not something that I have said when I have been out for Ted [Cruz] and now Mike [Lee]. But it’s something that this crowd needs to hear – that Utah needs to hear. The body of the priesthood is known to stand up when the Constitution hangs by a thread,” Beck said. ... “I joined many times. What held me through was the prophesy that the Constitution will hang by a thread, and this People would remember what our Founders did. It is our responsibility to...