Mormon Media Observer: Top 10 LDS newsmakers of 2009

The Mormon Media Observer looks back at the year filled with LDS newsmakers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tops the list, based on a newsmaker's frequency in the news as well as the significance of their stories.

The Senate Majority Leader led the battle to push through health reform in the Senate. News coverage of Reid made a household name and the divisive debate made him out to be both villain and saint. He may still face a tough battle in his home state of Nevada to save his seat.

"WASHINGTON -- It was the pinnacle moment of his political career. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, on the verge of making history by shepherding through far-reaching health care legislation, was called upon by the clerk to cast his vote. And Mr. Reid, who had fought tirelessly for months to get the health care bill adopted, looked up from his desk and said, "No." ...Mr. Reid's oh-no vote capped one of the more remarkable stretches in what is shaping up to be one of the more remarkable careers in American politics, characterized in no small part by the sheer inscrutability of much of what he says and does. In the end, of course, Congressional leaders are judged on one thing alone: whether they come up with the votes. And Mr. Reid -- the miner's son from Searchlight, Nev., the amateur boxer who worked his way through law school as a Capitol Hill police officer, who has a knack for mumbling and off-the-cuff gaffes -- had the votes."

The release of "New Moon" attracted media attention around the world. Here's a sampling of the some of the worldwide headlines: "New Moon takes biggest bite," "Vatican denounces the 'deviant' Twilight Movie," "Mormon who put new life into vampires."

The Sunday Mail of London wrote: "Her teenage vampire books outsell Harry Potter -- but she's a devout Mormon who lives modestly in Cave Creek, Ariz., and eats at the local burger joint. For a woman who has sold more than 85 million books and has been hailed as the new J. K. Rowling, it is a remarkably modest home. Set down a dusty dirt trail, the four-bedroom property blends seamlessly into the desert landscape -- low and sand-colored with just a few cacti for decoration. Only a high-tech camera and newly installed metal gates give some hint of the occupant's desire for privacy."

The young woman endured brutality and came to court this year to face her abuser, Brian David Mitchell. After attending Brigham Young University, she is preparing to serve a mission in France. She was named Utahn of the Year by the Salt Lake Tribune. The excellent tribute by Trib columnist Peg McEntee reads:

"She had wanted to confront Mitchell with her eyes and words, but, predictably, he sang his hymns and was removed from the courtroom. When it was over, Elizabeth Smart strode, tall and straight, into the rest of her life. For so many of us, her astonishing homecoming restored hope when there seemed to be none, and the knowledge that even terrible times can end, and end well. And she taught us this: Faith, whatever its source, can make amazing things happen."

President Barack Obama named Utah's former governor U.S. Ambassador to China. He took his post in August. Huntsman played host to Obama during a visit to China in November. Chinese media lauded Obama for the choice for Huntsman's understanding of Chinese language and culture. Huntsman previously served a U.S. ambassador to Singapore.

Sen. Orrin Hatch was a key opponent to health care reform and taken on foes like the Bowl Championship Series. He also played a role in honoring the Sen. Edward Kennedy at his death. Over the years, the pair made an interesting senatorial odd couple. Along with speaking at Kennedy's memorial service, Hatch penned this piece in Newsweek. He also penned a Hanukkah song which was both complimented and parodied on "The Tonight Show."

The firebrand talk show host continued to attract attention on his national radio and TV shows, through his books and in the news media. The picture of Beck sticking his tongue out made it on the cover of Time magazine and parodied on several comedy shows. Here was Time's assessment:

"Glenn Beck: the pudgy, buzz-cut, weeping phenomenon of radio, TV and books. Our hot summer of political combat is turning toward an autumn of showdowns over some of the biggest public-policy initiatives in decades. The creamy notions of postpartisan cooperation -- poured abundantly over Obama's presidential campaign a year ago -- have curdled into suspicion and feelings of helplessness. Trust is a toxic asset, sitting valueless on the national books. Good faith is trading at pennies on the dollar. "

Emboldened by conservative supporters, Romney is keeping his eyes on 2012 presidential prize. Romney has been delivering a lot of keynoters and political endorsements around the nation and is getting ready to launch a book-promotion tour. A National Public Radio blog recent said this about who is a GOP frontrunner for 2012:

"Answer: No one so far. Mitt Romney, the venture capitalist and former governor of Massachusetts who ran a pretty good campaign in 2008, remains the class of the field but kept a low profile in 2009. Mike Huckabee led in some polls of Republicans that also found Sarah Palin popular. But Huckabee ended the year uncertain about running (and damaged by a clemency scandal from his days as Arkansas governor). Romney remains too much a general election candidate, a problem for the Democrats to be sure but far from the average Republican activist's cup of tea. His past positions on social issues were too styled to Massachusetts, and his Mormonism still leaves the party's religious base lukewarm at best."

BYU football quarterback Hall got his 15 minutes of national fame after the BYU-Utah football game when he said: "I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them," Hall said. "I hate everything about them. I hate their program. I hate their fans, I hate everything. ... I think the whole university, their fans and their organization, is classless." He later issued an apology and was sanctioned by the Mountain West Conference.

The Missouri man widely noted in international media for his Mormon faith was held for a time in a Burmese prison charged with crime related to a swim across a lake to one of the world's best-known democracy figures, Aung San Suu Kyi. He left Myanmar with a U.S. senator. Despite his good intentions, Yettaw gave an unfortunate impression of Mormons to the world.

He was the spokesman behind the LDS Church statement at the Salt Lake City council meeting in early November that appears to be changing the politics in Utah for gays.

"The Church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage. They are also entirely consistent with the Church's prior position on these matters. The Church remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman. I represent a church that believes in human dignity, in treating others with respect even when we disagree -- in fact, especially when we disagree."

I am curious. What prompted you to leave the LDS religion and become anti Mormon? I am mostly curious about the bitterness aspect.

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You make an interesting assumption. I am not bitter and I am not anti-MORMON, I am anti-MormonISM (and I do make a distinction). I can see how many LDS would think that all “anti’s” are angry, bitter, and or hateful, I thought so as well when I was LDS. Any animosity I may feel is directed at the leadership and those who deliberately mislead the rank and file members about LDS church history and past teachings. Those who know there are issues yet cover them up, say “we never taught that” when the sources say otherwise, and those who deliberately mislead investigators.

I do not know what you are looking for when you say “intelligible answer” and I suspect that my answer will not satisfy you either, however I will be forthright about my leaving the LDS.

Since you were LDS, (I may be wrong, but I suspect LeGrande may have been a reference to LeGrand Richards although spelled differently) and left, it now makes sense you are an atheist. That is very common (over 50%).

I was a convert to the LDS (rather than BIC), and I believe that was a factor in my becoming a Christian rather than an atheist. About 85-90% of the ex-LDS I know who are agnostics/atheists were BIC. I did not grow up having “either the LDS church is true or NO church is” drilled into me and I never seriously doubted the existence of God. I was always a seeker.

I am asked this question so often I really should do a formal one on my profile page.

There were many factors in my leaving. Quick list of some things that were NOT factors.

I did not leave the LDS becuase someone offended me, becuase I wanted to sin, because I never had a testimony, or becuase I couldn’t live up to the standards. I was a great Mormon. But there came a time, when confronted about the truth of the the LDS church history and doctrines and the changes that I could no longer defend them in good conscience.

I set out to be an LDS apologist. I HATED the “anti-Mormons” like Jerald and Sandra Tanner. I LOVED Hugh Nibley. I was TBM and wanted to defend “the Church” and take down the Tanners.

I set out to prove that the “anti’s” were taking things out of context or misusing sources or making things up. I spent almost a year researching both at BYU and the LDS Church History library. I poured over journals, sources, read the full JoD, and old Church manuals. In a way, that experience is what led me into a career as a historian. I also did the same to some of Hugh Nibley’s works and the Brown’s series “They lie in wait to deceive”.

I was shocked to find out that, more often than not, it was the LDS apologists that did not properly cite sources, made up sources, took things out of context and had poor scholarship.

By this point, I already had a background in Latin, Koine Greek and Hebrew and was able to “undo” quite a bit of Nibley’s footnotes.

During this time I also took Egyptian Hieroglyphs classes at UCLA in order to better “prove” the Book of Abraham “true”. You can imagine the failure that turned out to be.

The final straw, in many ways, came about this time while I was preparing for an LDS mission. I was enrolled in a “Mission Preparation” class at BYU. One of our first sessions, we were given a list of doctrines NOT to teach investigators such as: Mother in Heaven, Godhood, Adam/God (which was still widely accepted on campus), Jesus was married and a polygamist, etc.

It bothered me because I believed the LDS was the only true church and we had all truth. I asked the professor, why, if we had the truth, could we not just be honest with investigators. His response was “If we told the truth, no one would ever join”. I was not going to spend my money to go out and not be completely honest.

There are other factors as to why I became an Evangelical Christian, but the above is much of the reason I left.

I have many loved ones in the LDS still and their freedom from deliberate Church deception is what I fight for. I love them, not hate them.

I am sure you will disagree with me, but my hope is that the LDS question their faith and history the way I did and see there is a better way, faith in Jesus alone, not any “church” or denomination.

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