Not quite. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has several "sacred texts" - or scriptures, as we call them. They include the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Mormon is not based upon the Bible, but is a companion Testament bearing witness of Jesus Christ and detailing more of his ministry on the Earth.
Members go in groups of two to visit each other on the weekends for "Home Teaching" sessions, in which they talk about spirituality and life in general, he said. "Part of it is to see if people need help with anything," he said. "The goal is that nobody feels they don't have someone to call." The visiting is separated by gender, with males visiting males and females visiting females.
Not true. "Home Teachers" are Priesthood holders who monthly visit everyone - from entire families to single members. "Visiting Teachers" are women from the Relief Society who provide monthly visits to the women in the Church.
A typical service starts with the sacrament, a hymn and a prayer. Then, church members who Briscoe has spoken with beforehand give talks of about 10 minutes long on a given subject. Non-Mormons, however, don't often get the chance to witness these services.
Not true. These services are held in our Chapels and Stake Centers (which is a just a larger chapel). Each of those buildings, directly under the name of the Church, are the words "Visitors Welcome". Any visitor is instantly welcomed to attend almost every meeting held in the chapel there - especially Sacrament Meeting. The author of this article has confused regular worship services in our Chapels with the ordinances performed in our Temples.
The LDS past practice of baptizing Jewish Holocaust victims after their death drew fierce opposition from Jewish leaders as well.
We perform proxy baptisms in our Temples for every person who has died, no matter their race, religion, nation of origin, etc. The names are submitted by people who have those names in their ancestry. Proxy baptisms did not target Jewish Holocaust victims. Anyone who does not believe in the Church or the efficacy of the proxy baptisms performed by the Church shouldn't then complain about them being performed since, therefore, in that person's opinion, they are meaningless.
Also, black people were denied membership until 1978, when the president of the church at the time had a revelation that they should be included.
Absolutely untrue. Blacks were not denied membership.
Theologically, Mormonism is viewed suspiciously by some as well. The Southern Baptist Convention, for example, puts the LDS church in the category of "Cults, Sects and New Religious Movements."
The Romans felt the same way about Christ and His Apostles. I seem to recall crucifying was involved at some point.
Mr. Meisler's research could have been performed a little better. This article has more innacuracies than most I read about the Church. Although, he did steer clear of obvious bias and tried to be fair.
The author of this article has confused regular worship services in our Chapels with the ordinances performed in our Temples. No person who has not been deemed worthy by mormon authorities meaning obeying all the rules and paying 10% of their income to the church may enter a temple, even if a family member, including son or daughter, is being married within. They must wait outside on the steps or sidewalk. Left that out.
We perform proxy baptisms in our Temples for every person who has died, no matter their race, religion, nation of origin, etc. The names are submitted by people who have those names in their ancestry. Proxy baptisms did not target Jewish Holocaust victims. Even though Jewish leaders won a court case against the LDS church for these baptisms, and promised to not do it again, members are still baptizing Jews. Mormons renew pledge to end proxy baptism of Jews Left that out
Also, black people were denied membership until 1978, when the president of the church at the time had a revelation that they should be included.
Absolutely untrue. Blacks were not denied membership.
Black men, while allowed to be "members" were denied being ordained in the two priesthoods claimed by the mormons, thus were "second-class members" until a "revelation" in 1978, after the civil rights movement was successful. Left that out.
Otherwise, your post was mostly accurate.