an unseemly mix of politics and Mormonism
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Hey guys, just as Elder Perry was admonsihing us to avoid sloppy appearances, Lifehacker published Top 10 Easy Ways to Look Sharp.
Perhaps my favorite talk from conference was President Uchtdorf’s encouraging us to lift where we stand. He recounted the amazing tale of John Rowe Moyle’s work on the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. Rusty has more background on his inspiring story with photos and a map.
I suppose it’s okay to “prohibit” women from attending, but why, oh why, are we still denied audio and video of the General Conference Priesthood session?
How am I to show my wife President Monson’s ear-wiggling skills? I guess we’ll have to buy the DVDs.
Travis catches the AP reporting that the Church “prohibits attendance by women” at the Priesthood session.
Helpful headline of the day: “Analysis: Tough to predict who Monson will name as new LDS apostle”
Because the apostleship is a lifetime position, choosing someone is as serious as finding the perfect spouse.
Elder Marlin K. Jensen looks to this weekend’s Solemn Assembly.
Until 1986, when Ezra Taft Benson was sustained as president of the church, the priesthood was seated by quorums and groups in various areas of the Tabernacle. The first solemn assembly in which the Relief Society and Young Women of the church voted as separate groups was in 1995.
While church members in earlier solemn assemblies were able to participate only by attendance in the Tabernacle, in recent years congregations around the world have participated via satellite broadcast, with stake presidencies observing the vote of the congregations. Beginning in 1945, church members listening to the proceedings of conference in their homes have been asked to sustain the new president wherever they may be.
Mormonwiki has more on the Solemn Assembly.
Five points (President Monson’s influence has already started!) of excellent advice from The Rains Came Down: “How to Find Insult in General Conference”
4. Blog about it. Do not overlook this essential step! The sooner you get your opinion on cyberpaper, the better. If you are fast enough, you will be the first one to take umbrage. Hopefully, this will add to site traffic. Make sure to title your entry with something catchy. . . The more you blog, the more likely it is someone in the higher Church echelons will notice you and see the error of their uninformed ways.
It’s been interesting this year to watch the Church and Mitt Romney reach out to Christians for their own reasons and in their own ways.
Gov. Romney has been actively courting GOP-influential evangelicals as a key to his nomination. Rather than directly speaking on his religion (as so many pundits are demanding he do), he has continuously emphasized that it has informed his “values” which are similar to the rest of religious conservatives.
“The values of my faith are much like, or are identical to, the values of other faiths that have a Judeo-Christian philosophical background,” he said at a campaign event in New Hampshire this month. “They’re American values, if you will.”
In contrast, the Church has renewed its efforts to define itself as a Christian church while emphasizing its peculiar differences. President Hinckley and Elder Holland’s General Conference talks rejected the creedal beliefs of mainstream Christianity based on what Holland called “post–New Testament Christian history”:
So any criticism that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not hold the contemporary Christian view of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost is not a comment about our commitment to Christ but rather a recognition (accurate, I might add) that our view of the Godhead breaks with post–New Testament Christian history and returns to the doctrine taught by Jesus Himself.
Last week the Church followed up these talks with a press release emphasizing that “As people learn more about Latter-day Saint beliefs, they may see some distinct differences and yet find some unexpected common ground.”
Governor Romney glosses over his religious differences (smartly I think) while the Church unapologetically emphasizes its differences, and yet they are both seeking to establish that Mormonism (or at least a Mormon) has a place in the public square. (Just to keep piling on, Harry Reid’s comments last week were not helpful in this effort)
There will always be evangelical clods who will feel they have a divine mandate to harass the Church and protest General Conference, but politically, I think there has been evidence that progress has been made.
The Church has made it clear we don’t want to agree on everything theologically. Or politically. Just some respect and an acknowledgement that Mormons don’t have horns would be nice. When Bob Jones University can join the 21st century and endorse a Mormon for president, I think there’s reason for hope.
Little known ordinance for joining the First Presidency. Chivalry meets the priesthood.
The Church is testing out audio and video podcasts of General Conference.
Useful link to finding General Conference on TV and radio if you live in the United States, Canada, and . . . Bermuda. And of course, there is the internet as well. (Thanks, Millenial Star)
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