Word: mormon
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Most Americans don't know about the Utah War of 1857-58. President James Buchanan sent thousands of federal troops into the desert to install his own, non-Mormon Governor. The people of Utah did not respond well. They spooked the federal livestock and burned the federal wagons. They incinerated 368,000 lbs. of military provisions...
...statistical measure, Spencer W. Kimball's reign as President, Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was a triumph. During his twelve-year ministry, the Mormon church nearly doubled its world membership (to 5.8 million) and its force of short-term missionaries (to 30,000). He ordered the addition of 31 temples to the 16 that stood when he took charge. Kimball, who had been an invalid for four years, died in Salt Lake City last week at the age of 90. Certain to succeed him is the senior among the church...
...landmark of Kimball's reign was a 1978 decree that opened the priesthood to blacks. In the Mormon system, which has no clergy, virtually all twelve-year-old males receive the priesthood, a prerequisite for holding any church office. After assiduous prayer, Kimball announced that he had experienced a revelation about the new status for blacks. Mormonism holds that such divine disclosures are unique to the church President. The new policy, as important and radical a departure as the abolition of polygamy in 1890, added legitimacy to proselytizing efforts overseas. In nondoctrinal matters, Kimball also took a strong lead, firmly...
...church that Kimball leaves behind is expansive and rich (rumored annual contributions: nearly $1 billion). But lately, it has been shaken by the mysterious bombing murders of two people connected with the sale of historical documents that cast doubts on official teachings about the origins of the Book of Mormon. Some Mormons are also anxious about the intentions of Benson, the 13th Prophet-President. A wavemaking, pepper-tongued right-winger, Benson acquired some notoriety in the 1960s for praising the John Birch Society and calling the civil rights movement Communist influenced. Other Benson targets: the U.N., the Supreme Court...
...included about 14% of people who called themselves "unaffiliated believers," "seculars," or "atheists, agonistic." Only 6 members of the House of Representatives called their religious beliefs "unspecified" and no Senators did. In addition, the Senate has 11 Jewish members (about 3% of the electorate is Jewish) and 5 Mormons (fewer than 2% of Americans are Mormon...