From the article:
Mike Huckabee, the former Baptist minister, caused a stir by asking: “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” He later apologized for a mistake he said was rooted in ignorance.This is where Kurtz is showing his utter ignorance as a writer. Indeed, Mormon theology does teach that Jesus and the devil are spirit-brothers. And the fact that the Mormon church and grassroots Mormons made much "to do" over this in December 2007 and thereafter shows a tremendous lack of candidness on their part.
It's late January 2010. Rexburg Idaho. Home of BYU-Idaho. An Lds apostle, M. Russell Ballard, gives an unscripted fireside "convo" with Mormon students. See: Ballard speaks on Mormons in the media from the Rexburg Standard Journal, which covers the talk.
Ballard lets the "cat out of the bag": From the Rexburg article: "You remember Mr. (Mike) Huckabee (who was also vying to be the Republican candidate for president), who among other things said that Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil were brothers?" Ballard asked students. "Remember that? It went all over the media. "Well they are!" Ballard exclaimed to a laughing student body.
Ah, yes. When Mormons accused Huckabee of lying about this -- or worse. They were all offended. Get them behind closed doors, and they laugh about the reality of having Mormon worldviews pegged in the public square.
So, here, we have an Lds general authority conceding that -- to quote him "Well they are!" in reference to the issue of whether they cite "Jesus and the devil are brothers."
Now in case someone views that this information needs to be suppressed...not let it become aired out...or they think that we are overriding realities in our assessments of Mormonism, Elder Ballard concedes at this fireside chatm adding: "But they (the media and nonmembers) don't understand that, because they don't have the (LDS gospel) restoration. They don't understand the spiritual relationship that ... we are all sons and daughters of God, and that Lucifer was one of those and (that) he chose to use his agency in an unrighteous way."
Pretty much everything you need to know about Mormonism (if you are thinking of joining) can be found in this episode:
And if you are serious about it, there is TONS of info about it. The baptist pastor was absolutely correct. Anyone who has actually STUDIED this religion would agree with him. Heck, I studied it in the late 1970's, thinking about becoming a member. But It's pretty clear to an "unaffiliated" person just how goofy the whole thing is. As with islam, it is completely made up by man, and losely based on the Bible.
It's a cult. And I have a serious problem with voting for a member of that cult for president.