Some links about Mormons in the news in 2012

ABC news did a segments on mormon beliefs, and how they act. This article states that the Mormon church claims to has been the fastest growing church on the planet. Also there is not much the t people in the outside world know about Mormons as a religion. The have secret rituals and handshakes and no one who is not a mormon is allowed inside the temple. So this article is about what is known about the Mormons as a culture and a religion.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mormons-/story?id=17057679

 Business Week did a article on how Mormons make their money. This article is stating how Mormons make a profit being on 1.4 percent of the population they managed to build a 2 billion dollar mall that stands directly across the street from their temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. So this article displays ways these people make a living.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money

Mormons Influence on Mainstream Society

When Mitt Romney began to run for president that’s when the Mormons really began to get attention. Other than that unless they were in the news or on television no one really spoke about them then they are a very secretive religion. People who are not of their religion really look down on them and dislike their religion as a whole. But they also do great things for their community mostly because of the fact that they believe you have to do missionary work to get into heaven. So they do a lot of work in community they build schools, and go to other countries to do work there. They also are big supporters of the LGBT community the help hold rallies and things of that nature.

Language of Mormons

Mormons don't necessarily have a language of their own, but they do have different nationalities of people. So they language of a particular group of Mormons are dependent on the area or region in which they are from. Because Mormons are big believers that you have to do missionary work to make it into heaven, so Mormonism or the church of the latter day saint has spread to more than one region.

Here are some Indian Mormons doing missionary work somewhere in Goa, India

Symbols of Mormonism

Mormons have no set symbol for their religion but here are some common symbols used....

This symbol appears at the top of most Mormon temples, this particular one is at the top of the temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is a statue of Moroni. Moroni is the angel That appeared to Joseph Smith Jr. when he was 17 and told him he had been chosen to translate the book of Mormon.

The inverted pentagram or the morning star is used to represents the five nails driven into christ at his crucification. They use this represent and pay homage to the price that Christ paid for them buy dying on the cross.

Beliefs and Values of Mormons

• ·      They believe in the same things as Christians, they hold the Bible as the holiest book, but they also hold the book of Mormon as its equal.
• ·      They believe god was from another planet and has a goddess wife, such as gods from greek times being from Jupiter or mars.
• ·     Mormons believe in Polytheism which is that there is more than one God.
• ·      If you’re a good Mormon in your lifetime you can become a God in the afterlife such as a God of the sea.
• ·      There are 3 separate gods (The Father, The Son, and Holy Ghost)
• ·      That there are three levels of Heaven (The Terrestrial, Telestial, and Celestial Heavens)
• ·      If it had not been for Joseph Smith Jr. the founder of Mormonism there would be no salvation
• ·      We all were first spirits in heaven then born on earth
• ·      Good works are necessary for salvation such as volunteering and missionary works.
• ·      Jesus sacrifice (Crucification) was not enough to cleanse us all (murders and repeated adulterers are exceptions)
• ·      No caffeine is allowed to be drunken the body is a temple and you should treat it as such, Mormons believe that no one should put any type of harmful nor addictive stuff in their bodies.

History of Mormonism

 The founder of Mormonism was Joseph Smith Jr. he was indecisive about which religion to join, he said he couldn’t figure out which one was teaching the truth. When Joseph was 14, he went into the woods to pray concerning this and allegedly the father and Jesus appeared to him and told him not to join any denominational churches. Three years later, on Sept. 21, 1823, when he was 17 years old, an angel called Moroni, who was supposed to be the son of Mormon, the leader of the people called the Nephites who had lived in the Americas, appeared to him and told him that he had been chosen to translate the book of Mormon which was compiled by Moroni's father around the 4th century. After the Book of Mormon was published the religion began to grow and it grew fast, because the religion was so different from Christianity i.e., plurality of gods, polygamy (Joseph is said to have had 27 wives), etc.

Persecution soon forced them to move from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri, and finally to Nauvoo, Illinois. After being accused of breaking some laws in Nauvoo (for destroying a printing press that was publishing harmful information on Mormonism), Joseph and his brother Hyrum ended up in jail. A mob later broke into the jail and killed Joseph and his brother.

After the shooting, the church divided into two groups: One led by his widow, which went back to Independence Missouri. They are known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They claim to be the true Church and lay claim to the legal succession of the church presidency, which was bestowed upon Joseph's son by Joseph Smith himself.








Brigham Young led the other group and they went to Utah where, in 1847, they ended up in Salt Lake and founded Salt Lake City. Brigham had 25 wives and accumulated much wealth. Mormons are found everywhere not just in america they are all over the world. The religion has spread due to the amount of missionary work they feel they are required to do.