Oh noes, those gay newlyweds are causing Biblical rainstorms!! An ominous new TV ad by the National Organization for Marriage -- who helped pass Prop. 8 in California -- features a "rainbow coalition" of folks to warn America that marriage equality advocates want to "take away" your "freedom" by pushing the issue "far beyond same-sex couples." Unfortunately for NOM, the profound seriousness of this threat has been undermined by a leak of audition reels for the ad.
posted by digaman on Apr 8, 2009 - 204 comments

MORMON JESUS (SLYT) Here are the originals.
posted by skjønn on Mar 28, 2009 - 30 comments

LDS Sparkledammerung IS HERE! The crypto-mormonism of Stephanie Myers' Twilight series. (Spoilers, image heavy, extreme derisiveness)
posted by Artw on Sep 12, 2008 - 48 comments

When the publicity hit that a South Korean cloning lab duplicated 5 copies of Californian Bernann McKinney's late pitbull Booger from a piece of the dog's ear tissue, people all over the UK said Bernann McKinney looks very similar [slightly NSFW] to the infamous fugitive Joyce McKinney who has been on the lam for 30 years for kidnapping and raping a Mormon.
posted by MythMaker on Aug 8, 2008 - 71 comments

For decades, the LDS church microfilmed old records of genealogical interest and stashed them in the Granite Mountain Record Vault for safekeeping. Copies could be ordered and viewed at local Family History Centers. Now, through massive digitization and volunteer indexing efforts, those records are starting to come online. [more inside]
posted by Knappster on Jul 27, 2008 - 38 comments

Being Black in Utah. The Washington Post chronicles some amusing stories (and some not) of racial interactions in the Beehive State. Yet despite their small numbers black people have been in Utah from the beginning.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on May 31, 2008 - 28 comments

Postum, 1895 - 2008, RIP [more inside]
posted by rtha on Feb 18, 2008 - 38 comments

"Over the last six years, hundreds of teenage boys have been expelled or felt compelled to leave the polygamous settlement that straddles Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah..... 'So the parents kick him out because otherwise the father could have his wives and whole family taken away.'"
posted by orthogonality on Sep 8, 2007 - 168 comments

The Mormons Got Game!
"Mortality!" Finally, a truly fun, uplifting gospel game!

Mortality is built around gospel principles as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, no LDS background is necessary in order to play, enjoy, or win the game, which makes it a wonderful missionary activity. It's great for parties and mixers. Get a game going with your friends, and you'll find yourselves laughing over the troubles each player meets: Your children come home from school with lice; a hailstorm wipes out your tomato plants; you break your arm on the kids' jungle gym; mice invade your teenage son's stash of Twinkies. If you have enough inner strength, you'll grow from each of these challenges. Otherwise, they may do you in!
posted by miss lynnster on Jan 4, 2005 - 33 comments

" Fifty years ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormon Church, began a foster care program for American Indian children. Between twenty and fifty thousand children, mostly Navajo, participated in what was called the Indian Student Placement Program....Through Placement, children had the opportunity to grow up in families – white Mormon families – while attending day schools in Utah and across the West. Placement also had a theological motivation. Championed in the ‘50s by an LDS Church leader named Spencer W. Kimball, Placement grew from a sense of commitment to the Indians – then regarded as descendants of the original people of the Book of Mormon. Listen to the amazing story, full of first hand accounts from both sides here
posted by BrodieShadeTree on Dec 21, 2004 - 18 comments

Mike Allred, maverick comic book auteur, has plied his pen on such notable series as Madman, The Atomics, Red Rocket 7, and *ahem* X-Force. Now, Allred, a long time member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, has turned his attention to The Golden Plates, a 12 volume adaptation of the Book of Mormon (earlier discussion waaaay back here), God's revelation to Joseph Smith. Pick up a copy at your local comic book store or Mormon book store, crank up Low's Secret Name, and geek out, Mormon-style.
posted by mikrophon on Nov 11, 2004 - 13 comments

Interactive Church Music Player The LDS Church has created a cool new tool for exploring its hymnbooks: a Flash application that not only shows the sheet music, but allows transposition, tempo changes, part selection, and all kinds of other nifty things.
posted by oissubke on May 16, 2004 - 13 comments

Guillermo, it was really nada. Back in my day, Morrissey's fans were closeted gay boys, the girls who loved them, and oddly, Mormons. Now, he's the idol of Latinos, especially in LA. Is it a cultural connection with melodramatic poetry or artistic narcissism? Is it identification with Morrissey's lyrics of disenfranchisement, or a rebellion against traditional Latin machismo? Is it the hair?
posted by padraigin on Mar 18, 2003 - 47 comments

Not all the pioneers who pushed west across the U.S. could afford a covered wagon. Between 1846 and 1869, some 300,000 people - mostly Mormons - pulled their belongings in handcarts over 1,000 miles over the Mormon Trail from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City (and not everyone made it). Reenacting the trek has become popular – very popular.
posted by gottabefunky on Feb 12, 2003 - 9 comments

Mormon Heaven, Mormon Hell, Mormon Underwear?
posted by interrobang on Jul 24, 2002 - 74 comments

Update on earlier thread where two men were arrested for handing out anti-Mormon literature in a Salt Lake City plaza.
posted by aaronshaf on Apr 20, 2002 - 8 comments

Two men arrested for handing out anti-Mormon literature. "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' and Salt Lake City's restrictions on behavior they deem "offensive" on the plaza are now the subject of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver." ... "The deed made it clear it [the plaza] was not a First Amendment forum..." Does the ACLU have a good case?
posted by aaronshaf on Apr 9, 2002 - 45 comments

Utah Leads Nation in Rate of Anti-Depressant Use. It is interesting (to me) in that the people doing the study credit a "Mother of Zion" syndrome of married Mormon women putting on the happy face regardless of how happy they truly are. My state is up at the top also. Could be all the rain I guess. . .*sigh*
posted by Danf on Feb 20, 2002 - 45 comments

Make way for the Mormons :) Reports of religions' demise have been greatly exaggerated. The Economist reports, "[w]ithin four decades, one in 20 Americans may be a Mormon and there may be 50m or more worldwide. How will outsiders react to the next world religion?" Minivans, trampolines and canned food, hooray!
posted by kliuless on Feb 13, 2002 - 29 comments

The new Mormon Temple in Snowflake Arizona is temporarily open to the public before its dedication next month, however the Masonic-like rituals that take place inside are still top secret. Shhh, don't tell.
posted by johnnyace on Feb 7, 2002 - 24 comments

For the Mormons here at MeFi -- and, of course, anyone else -- the Church is broadcasting a Memorial Service nationwide, that is also being streamed (requires Windows Media Player). I'm sure other national religious organizations are doing the same... so if you know of others, post them here.
posted by silusGROK on Sep 14, 2001 - 0 comments

Utah polygynist found guilty... (a follow-up to an earlier thread) the pre-appeals spin from his defense team is that he was "singled out" -- not that he was innocent, just "singled out". No pun intended.
posted by silusGROK on May 21, 2001 - 7 comments

Gendex: A Family History Database For some time, I have been casually researching ways to store and query complex kin relations. I may have found just the model I want, developed by none other than the CJC-LDS (Mormons!) Specifically by the family history department.
The FAMily record is used to record ... family unions caused by two people becoming the parents of a child. There can be no more than one HUSB/father and one WIFE/mother listed in each FAM_RECORD. If, for example, a man participated in more than one family union, then he would appear in more than one FAM_RECORD.
And thank God they thought of a bigamy data model! Now, will it export XML?
posted by rschram on Apr 25, 2001 - 6 comments

Theocracy in America? Specifically, in Utah, according to the writer of this Washington Monthly piece, who grew up there. Is the article too harsh, though, given the author's apparent lingering bitterness regarding her upbringing?
posted by raysmj on Apr 17, 2001 - 22 comments

A prophet speaks online... A link for the religiously inclined: General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). I'll give a little background in the thread.
posted by silusGROK on Mar 31, 2001 - 30 comments

The truth is out there -- way, way out there. Masons, Mormons, and William Shatner all play a role in this secret history of the millennia-old struggle between three alien factions for control of Earth. The battleground: a vast subterranean complex known as Dreamland.
posted by jjg on Feb 13, 2001 - 3 comments

A modern Dr Bowdler... (yeah, I know it's Salon, but...) A video-rental store in Utah offers "cleaned up" versions of modern films. First thought: is it legal? Post-DeCSS, one would think not: after all, the MPAA has done its best to protect its right to control the manner of reproduction. But are the studios not jumping to litigate, because they're happier to alienate Linux users with DVD drives than the LDS contingent in UT?
posted by holgate on Jan 11, 2001 - 31 comments