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Tag: Mormon Church

  • Mormon Women Turned Away From All-Men Priesthood Meeting For The Second Time

    Women who were seeking to be ordained into the Mormon priesthood sought tickets to the all-male priesthood meeting, but were turned away. According to some women, they were there to get the attention of the leaders of The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints.

    Mormons, a religious group is the main branch of the Latter Day Saint movement. They, too, are Christians, but they also have beliefs that are different from Christianity. They also follow the Bible, like Christians. However, they also believe in other scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon.

    Saturday’s session was the 184th Annual General Conference for the Mormons. Over 20,000 men and boys attended the meeting, which was held in a Salt Lake City conference hall.

    Dallin H. Oaks, an LDS apostle, addressed the issue by telling the women that they do have authority of the priesthood. He continued to say that women teachers of the church have the same functions as full-time missionaries. However, he also said that “only men will hold offices in the priesthood,” according to the decreed pattern of the church

    The group of women, known as “Ordain Women,” was already turned down in last year’s conference. Over 500 women showed up last Saturday in hopes of getting access to the meeting.

    Some men who hold the priesthood in the church are fully supportive of the women. Mark Barnes, who is a facilitator of the event, said that their mission is all about equality. He is one of the supporters of the “Ordain Women” and said that treating the women less than the men is not “living up to the full potential of the gospel.”

     

    According to Suzette Smith, an organizer for the “Ordain Women,” they were aiming for their protest to be respectful and peaceful. Their main goal is to be heard by the church and have their concerns and questions addressed.

    With their unsuccessful attempt at getting into the meeting, the “Ordain Women” organizers said that they won’t be trying to get into the meeting at least for the next few years. However, they also said that the unequal treatment of men and women is hurting the faith, and will continue to do so until they are heard by the church.

    Shelly Denison, one of the women who attended the protest said that all she wants is for her voice to be heard. “I had one family member tell me I needed to leave the church because the church would be better off without me,” she said.

    Ordain Women


    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mormon Women Denied Access To Priesthood Session

    Mormon women seeking ecclesiastical equality were denied entrance to the male-only priesthood meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Saturday evening. The women were looking for unfilled seats at the priesthood meeting in the Church’s semi-annual conference.

    The women, clad in purple according to Reuters, marched from a park in Salt Lake City to Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square, the global headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

    Ordain Women, the group that facilitated the march, said in its mission statement on its website that “The fundamental tenets of Mormonism support gender equality: God is male and female, father and mother, and all of us can progress to be like them someday. Priesthood, we are taught, is essential to this process. Ordain Women believes women must be ordained in order for our faith to reflect the equity and expansiveness of these teachings.”

    One by one, the women were turned away from the meeting by a church spokesman.

    In a statement late on Saturday, church officials expressed displeasure with the women’s “refusal to accept ushers’ directions and refusing to leave when asked.”

    The church has been firm about their stance on gender equality. In a quote posted on the Facebook page of one of the church leaders, Dallin H. Oaks, he said, “In the eyes of God, whether in the Church or in the family, women and men are equal, with different responsibilities.”

    This echoes the Church’s Family Proclamation to the World, which was issued in 1995 which states that “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.”

    Men ordained in the priesthood within the Church can perform religious rites, such as baptism, confirmation, among others. Boys are ordained with the priesthood at age twelve and grow in responsibility through the priesthood over time.

    About 200 women participated in the march, though a group spokesman puts the number closer to 500.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mormons Buying Land: Proud Owners of 2 % of Florida

    Many environmental and conservationist groups are not sure about the motives behind the Mormons buying land in Florida. The purchase of approximately 2 percent of the land in Florida that encompasses about 400,000 acres is being purchased by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This purchase makes this branch of the Mormon church one of the largest owners of private land within the state of Florida.

    The land acquired was being sold by The St. Joe Co. This land is within a part of the Florida Panhandle and is not really developed. The land is mainly a rural area that is heavily wooded. A large portion of the land is close to the Gulf of Mexico. The church affiliate named AgReserves, Inc., that bought the Florida land has not been extremely forthcoming about their plans for the land. They did state there were some plans to use the land for its timber and to support agriculture.

    Who owned such a vast stretch of land ? A private company started by the heirs of the famous Dupont family at one time held the most amount of land as a private owner in Florida. This company created was named St. Joe Co. and recently had the portion of land acquired by the Mormon church for sale at $565 million dollars. In the 1990’s St. Joe Co. started buying raw land in the 1930’s. At first the land was used for timber and in the following years a planned housing communities and in leisure resorts were created before the market in real estate market started to decline.

    George Wilson a conservation consultant and prior worker for St. Joe Co. stated “These are historic changes , this is nearly 600 square miles of land in the Panhandle … It’s a lot of great places. They are places where people hunt and fish.”


    The Mormons obviously are not being completely forthcoming about their plans for the land. The Mormon church overall has more than 14 million followers around the world, with 6.1 million residing in the United States. Only time will tell how the church will use the land and what its true purpose is behind the sale.


    Image via Wikipedia

  • Mormon Church Rakes in Billions in Tithes

    An analysis of the finances of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon church, has revealed that the church brings in around $7 billion worth of tithes and donations annually. The analysis, was done using church records in countries around the world that require more financial disclosure by religious institutions than in the U.S., and was conducted by Reuters and University of Tampa sociologist Ryan Cragun.

    According to Reuters, the Mormon church owns about $35 billion worth of real estate, much of it commercial property such as shopping malls and ranches. It also has 14 million members worldwide, all of which are required to tithe. The analysis points out, though, that only the 40% of Mormons who attend services weekly are likely to tithe.

    The reason any of this is relevant is because Mitt Romney is the first Mormon presidential candidate. As a wealthy Mormon, Romney has dutifully given his share to the church over the years. Reuters states in its report that Romney has given $4.1 million to the Mormon church in the past two years. That amount is very close to 10% of Romney’s gross adjusted income, which is a percentage traditionally given by many Christian tithers.

    The Reuters analysis also accused the Mormon church of neglecting charity work with their billions. It states that the organization owns no hospitals and has only a “handful” of primary schools. The church puts most of its considerable resources into profit-making investments. For example, Reuters points out that it is the largest rancher in the U.S.

    (Photo by Bjørn Graabek via Wikimedia Commons)