Hollywood’s Latest Hoodwink
Nationally syndicated radio host and best-selling author Michael Medved wrote up an opinion piece yesterday on USAToday’s website titled “Hollywood’s terrorists: Mormon, not Muslim”. Medved took to task those involved with the upcoming film September Dawn, a portrayal (albeit jaded and misrepresented one) of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Claiming they don’t have an axe to grind, the film’s producers show quite the opposite. Medved explains: These explorations reach no definitive conclusions on Brigham Young’s complicity in the massacre, but the movie leaves no doubt at all...
Read MoreInexcusable error in The Age
The Age, a newspaper based in Victoria, Australia, failed to do its homework in a recent article about the HBO series Big Love. The article’s author, Peter Mattessi, describes the polygamist family depicted in the series as devout Mormons, despite the disclaimers that appeared before many episodes that the Mormon Church banned polygamy in 1890. The article’s description is false, as the characters in the show are specifically not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The article’s title, “Latter-day saints go marching in,” is equally erroneous.Mattessi clearly...
Read MoreThe New York Times Gets It Right
As Mitt Romney continues to campaign for a presidential nomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is featured in the media with increasing frequency. While not all articles about the Church are accurate or well-researched, it is important to note that the overall quality of many of those articles is improving. One example of good journalism is a recent article in the New York Times that surveyed what members of the church though of the recent attention on the Mormon Church. Entitled “Romney’s Run has Mormons Wary of Scrutiny,” the article interviews several Latter-day...
Read MoreTIME Magazine on “The Religion Test”
A recent article in TIME Magazine by Nancy Gibbs (entitled “The Religion Test” in the print magazine and “Romney’s Mormon Question” on the Web site) examines whether a political candidate’s religious beliefs are appropriate criteria to consider in a political contest. While the article focuses mostly on Mitt Romney’s bid for the presidency, it discusses the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and cites a few authorities that warrant some response. Ms. Gibbs’ article was generally accurate with respect to the beliefs of the LDS Church. One small comment that was...
Read MoreMormon church growth statistics
Today the LDS Church issued a press release on membership numbers and trends: Mormon church growth statistics. There are currently 13 million Mormons, with another million added about every three years. While the National Council of Churches lists the Mormon church as the fourth fastest growing church in the U.S., the Church itself does not make “statistical comparisons with other churches and makes no claim to be the fastest-growing Christian denomination.” (Some critics mistakenly believe that the Church asserts itself to be the fastest growing church.) The preoccupation with...
Read MoreNY Times Op-Ed Piece Describes the LDS Church
An op-ed piece in the New York Times today discussed Mitt Romney’s religion in the context of his bid for presidential nomination. While the article focused mainly on political strategy, it did highlight some of the differences between Mormonism and the rest of Christianity. The article, by op-ed contributor Kenneth Woodward, was respectful and accurate. Some of the points Woodward made about the Church include: . . . Mormons speak of God, but they refer to a being who was once a man of “flesh and bone,” like us. They speak of salvation, but to them that means admittance to a...
Read MoreMisleading Statements in Canada’s Largest Newspaper
The Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest national newspaper, published a book review by Alissa York that contained several false or misleading statements regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The article, entitled, “Books of Mormon,” carried the subtitle: “One Latter-Day Saint is being tried for rape; another’s running for president.” While the latter comment, referring to Mitt Romney, is accurate, the former statement is false. The man Ms. York refers to being tried for rape, Warren Jeffs, is not and never has been a member of the Mormon Church. Referring to...
Read MoreChurch press release triple header
This week the LDS Church posted three important press releases: 1. Just in time for shoddy local journalism, the Church invited journalists to include the Church itself among the sources they use when writing. The Church Newsroom site has a variety of resources for learning about Church beliefs and practices. If journalists can’t find what they need on the site, they can contact Church public affairs directly. There is much valuable material and good scholarship available about the Church on the Internet, but there is an enormous amount that ranges from the merely dubious to simple...
Read MoreShoddy Journalism and Controversy Bandwagoneering
The local press has been quite excited lately with the latest Utah Valley controversy: Dick Cheney’s planned commencement speech at the upcoming BYU graduation. Hoping to garner some attention of her own, SLTrib columnist Rebecca Walsh decided to jump on the controversy bandwagon and fling mud. Her article titled “Church shows true color – red” makes a plethora of unfounded accusations and unsubstantiated explanations. In a nutshell, Walsh claims that Cheney’s invite to speak at BYU flies in the face of previous statements of political neutrality. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got...
Read MoreActually, This is What You Believe
This past weekend, Kate Snow of Good Morning America posted a question to George Stephanopoulos about whether or not Mitt Romney’s LDS faith would be a big hurdle for him (politically speaking). George’s demonstrated response and investigative journalism is shoddy to say the least. Romney stated the following in a previous interview: Our belief is just like it says in the Bible, that the Messiah will come to Jerusalem, stand on the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Olives will be a place where there’s a great gathering, and so forth. It’s the same as the other Christian...
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