The LDS Church has issued a statement regarding the church's stance on Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell's "elders only" meetings.
Kim Farah, spokeswoman for the LDS church, issued this statement:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is politically neutral and does not endorse or promote any candidate, party or platform. Accordingly, we hope that the campaign practices of political candidates would not suggest that their candidacy is supported by or connected to the church.
"The so-called 'White Horse Prophecy' is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research and is not embraced as Church doctrine."
Undaunted, Rex digs in:
LDS Church issues statement on Rex Rammell
Rex Rammell touts Mormon-only male-only campaign rallies
Rex Redux: OK, you're gonna have to edit that ...
Mormon candidate for Idaho governor: Uncut, Unedited, Unhinged
Good on the SLC LDS leadership for stepping up and calling Rex out on his shenanigans.
And now, just for fun, The Osmonds "Crazy Horses":
Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell will be mixing what he calls doctrines from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into his gubernatorial campaign in a series of meetings slated for LDS elders only.
In January, Rammell will kick off a series of special meetings targeted specifically at "faithful priesthood-holders of the LDS Church" to discuss the so-called "White Horse" prophecy.
Borrowing a line more commonly used by the LDS leadership to explain Mormon temple ceremonies, the candidate described his rallies as sacred, not secret:
"There is nothing secret about the meeting -- it's just the sacred nature of the things we will be talking about," said Rammell. "We are going to talk about (LDS Church founder) Joseph Smith's prophecy that the Constitution will be hanging by a thread and that the Latter-day Saint elders will step forward and save it."
Mormon women are barred from holding the LDS priesthood, but the GOP hopeful provided a further explanation for their exclusion from the campaign meetings:
Rammell said that though LDS women were not invited because of lack of space, he hopes that the men will take the message home to their wives.
And what message might some critics take home from Rammell's announcement? As the Standard Journal notes: "In the past, Rammell has been criticized for using his faith to further his campaign."
Whether the aspiring Republican is guilty of that in this instance will be the subject of in-depth follow-up coverage by the Standard Journal, just as soon as its reporters have obtained the ecclesiastical clearance required to attend Rammell campaign events.
Ben McAdams, a senior adviser for Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker, will become Utah's newest state senator ...
McAdams, who is married and the father of three children, told the delegates he would work for fairness and equality.
"I plan to be a visible ally for gay and transgendered Utahns," he said. "We are agents of change."
More Mormons like Ben McAdams, please.
Update: Rex Rammell describes official LDS church disapproval of his tactics as "ridiculous":
An LDS church spokesman has released this statement:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is politically neutral and does not endorse or promote any candidate party or platform.
Accordingly, we hope that the campaign practices of political candidates would not suggest that their candidacy is supported by or connected to the church."
Rex:
"We are in America's second Revolutionary War to save our freedom, which we paid for with blood. We need God's help and I'm not ashamed to ask for it ... It is time we rise up and defend the Constitution. In order to motivate my fellow LDS Elders, I've invited many to attend meetings to discuss Joseph Smith's prophecies and how we can help save the Constitution.
Some people ... think it is inappropriate for me to hold such meetings. I think that is ridiculous."
The LDS Church has issued a statement regarding the church's stance on Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell's "elders only" meetings.
Kim Farah, spokeswoman for the LDS church, issued this statement:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is politically neutral and does not endorse or promote any candidate, party or platform. Accordingly, we hope that the campaign practices of political candidates would not suggest that their candidacy is supported by or connected to the church.
"The so-called 'White Horse Prophecy' is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research and is not embraced as Church doctrine."
Undaunted, Rex digs in:
LDS Church issues statement on Rex Rammell
Rex Rammell touts Mormon-only male-only campaign rallies
Rex Redux: OK, you're gonna have to edit that ...
Mormon candidate for Idaho governor: Uncut, Unedited, Unhinged
Good on the SLC LDS leadership for stepping up and calling Rex out on his shenanigans.
And now, just for fun, The Osmonds "Crazy Horses":
Months ago, in an interview with THE ADVOCATE magazine, SUNDANCE’s John Cooper said: “I think we’re going to see a lot more hard-hitting political documentaries. Prop. 8 was sort of a wake-up call. I can see that fire in the belly to finish this thing off, to get to the next phase in American life.”
Everyone involved with 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION is honored to be a part of what Mr. Cooper was talking about. 8:TMP is indeed the hardest-hitting political documentary to be released in years. It is to Mormons and their anti-gay allies what Fahrenheit 9-11 was to the Bush Administration.
That’s why our team will have a ground presence in Park City and Salt Lake City the likes of which has never been seen before through our SLC manager Jacob Whipple. For that, we’ll be enlisting the help of thousands of people ... details to come.
This is an important film. Our team believes it strikes at the heart of one of our country’s highest held values — separation of church and state. And mostly, this film is important because it honors in a very respectful and dignified way, those who felt the sting of prop. 8 and other legislation like it. This is their story. And with the invitation from SUNDANCE, it will now be the world’s to experience.
The Hollywood Reporter takes top prize for including this illuminating exchange in their Sundance piece:
Of cheeky note is the inclusion of the Spotlight documentary "8: The Mormon Proposition," from director Reed Cowan. Sundance watchers will remember that last year's festival was threatened with a boycott as a result of the Mormon church's support for the passage of California's Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage in the state.
The festival's "crime" was that it is held in Utah, Mormon ground zero, and one of its theater's CEOs contributed to the campaign for Prop 8. The proposed protest never sat well with Sundance organizers, who pointed to the festival's longtime support of gay-themed films.
Perhaps including "8" is payback?
"I don't know what you're talking about," [festival director] Cooper said with feigned guilelessness. Then he chuckled.
"I think showing '8' is going to have, especially on a local level, some controversy," said Cooper, who remembers hearing about the work in progress from Cowan at last year's fest. "It teaches you a lot, that movie. It's kind of scary. It spells it all out in ways that you can understand."
Maybe. Maybe Not. Who knows? The senator posted this at his Utah Senate blog: Don't believe everything you hear (pls note Rep. Christine Johnson's comments under that post).
Senator, when both ABC4 and KSL get the story wrong, pls don't blame folks for believing what they're hearing from multiple sources.
Politics is once again making some very strange bedfellows. A senator once outspoken against homosexuality is teaming up with an openly gay lawmaker to ban discrimination.
West Jordan Republican Chris Buttars said earlier this fall he would consider sponsoring an anti-discrimination bill after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke out in support of two ordinances to that effect in Salt Lake City.
But now Buttars is in talks to co-sponsor legislation being introduced by Salt Lake Democrat Christine Johnson, an openly gay representative.
Equality Utah sees the news as something of a victory.
"LGBT people are people," says executive director Brandie Balken, "and they deserve the same basic protections and access under the law as the rest of the citizens of Utah deserve."
She says it's a wonderful development to get the backing of a prominent Republican, a positive step toward getting other gay rights legislation introduced if not approved.
"I think that we may get a lot more traction in the legislative session this year if we can actually get a Republican co-sponsor in the Senate, versus someone just running it in the House," she says.
Rep. Johnson's bill would roughly mirror the Salt Lake City anti-discrimination ordinances approved in November. They forbid eviction or firing of someone based on their sexual orientation, extending protections already afforded on the basis of other categories such as religion, gender, ability and color.
Just a week after those ordinances were approved by the Salt Lake City Council, Sen. Buttars said he would consider sponsoring legislation allowing other local governments to follow suit, but going on to say he wasn't interested in going beyond housing and employment rights, nor was he bending on his stance against gay marriage.
The bill that will be introduced by Rep. Johnson will mark the third time the democrat has tried to get such a bill passed, but the first time she's had the support, let alone the co-sponsorship, of any prominent republican.
Sen. Buttars came under fire earlier in 2009 for remarks on a taped interview suggesting that gays lack morals and pose a threat to security.
KSL neglected to mention that Buttars has also been mocked relentlessly for poor word choice later in 2009:
From Rexburg's 
Utah native and Brigham Young University alumnus Matthew S. Petersen 
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