Word: mormonized
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Mormons believe that God is married and that they can achieve divinity by marrying and having children. So couples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), as the denomination is formally called, often marry young. Their vows, when sealed in a sacred temple ceremony, are pledged not just "until death do us part" but for eternity. Parents and children gather weekly for Family Home Evenings, to study Scripture, pray and bond over other activities. Even wards, or congregations, are organized around familial units. Which is why Michael Mohan, a lifelong Mormon, says, "Sometimes I feel...
...that setup is beginning to pose a challenge for the leaders of the church. Like other Americans, Mormon men and women are marrying later. "This tendency to postpone adult responsibilities ... is surely visible among our LDS young adults," said Dallin Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, one of the highest levels in the LDS hierarchy, in a speech earlier this year. "The average age at marriage has increased in the last few decades, and the number of children born to LDS married couples has decreased." While the church says it does not keep age statistics...
Some family wards sponsor programs for their single members, but those can be small groups filled with older divorced and widowed people, particularly in areas where the Mormon population is low. Marie Wilson, who converted to the LDS faith 10 years ago, is the only never married member of the singles group in her Winston-Salem, N.C., ward and, at 35, the youngest by at least a decade. Her church friends, she says, "can't relate because most of them have been married since they were in their early 20s. I've lived alone my entire life...
Finding a spouse remains the priority. Internet dating sites, like LDSHearts.com are popular. But the church prefers to encourage more traditional courtship. When Oaks, the Mormon leader who fretted about the rise of singles, declared in May, "It's marriage time," imploring young people to lay off group activities and date more, single Saints across the country took heed. Even in Manhattan--with a vast support network of unmarried Mormons--Jeffrey Jackson, 27, says he and friends in his singles ward immediately put "more focus on one-on-one relationships," proposing more dates and trying to consider their female friends...
...instance, is about show business), Big Love is a surprising detour to the reddest of the red states. In the drama, which debuts in summer 2006, characters declare their faith as easily as those on Deadwood swear. Co-creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, neither of whom is Mormon, say they were interested in the conflict within Bill, who came from a polygamist compound but now lives in the mainstream suburbs of Salt Lake City. The fundamentalists, says Olsen, see the LDS Church "as sellouts and apostates." Mainstream Mormons, he adds, "wish the compounds would go away...