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Why is Huntsman’s Mormonism “Tough to Define”?

By Joanna Brooks

…as evidence of the LDS Church’s evolution from mid-20th century models of “business Mormonism” to a more cosmopolitan 21st century outlook. (Both Romney and Huntsman are baby boomers. Generational? I’m not so sure.) But Time’s profile of Huntsman (also published Thursday morning) made it seem that there might be more profound differences at work in the Romney-Huntsman divide. Time’s Melinda Henneberger wrote: And as for whether or not Huntsman sti…

Seen Andrew Sullivan’s Expose-Style Footage of the LDS Temple? Now Read This.

By Joanna Brooks

…rabbis. The difference in Mormonism is that there is no dedicated priestly class. All observant adult members are eligible to participate and wear the equivalent of priestly vestments. The earliest forms of the LDS endowment were introduced in the 1830s by Joseph Smith. Matthew Bowman, author of The Mormon People: The Making of An American Faith (Random House, 2012), describes the endowment ceremony as instituted in 1842: The men were washed and a…

Electionpocalypse, Part I (Christianity)

By Sarah Posner

…lent.” Could it be because he thinks Caldwell’s from-God’s-will-to-my-lips business was just a sham? Caldwell has an answer, of course, which Gilgoff reports without question: “‘There’s a profound and genuine humility in the presence of Christ himself,’ Caldwell says, describing the president on such calls. ‘I think he recognizes it as a holy moment.’” I’m going to take a holy moment right here, if that’s alright. Caldwell, who is also close to Ge…

A History of the Unaffiliated: How the “Spiritual Not Religious” Gospel Has Spread

By Matthew S. Hedstrom

…io; find inspiration on the web; attend retreats, seminars, workshops, and classes; buy candles and statues, bumper stickers and yoga pants; take spiritually motivated trips; and, perhaps most significantly, buy and read books. Since the 1920s, when the major New York trade presses first started offering nonsectarian religious books in significant numbers, books have been the most important conduit for spreading the “spiritual but not religious”…

Missouri Pastor Goes Viral on Gawker: ‘Separation of Church and Hate’

By Sarah Morice-Brubaker

…ry. Plus, if marriage is viewed as a sacrament, then why is it the state’s business to determine what a sacrament is? I believe not only in the separation of church and hate, but also in the separation of church and state. What were you doing when you found out the speech had gone viral, and what has been the most surprising thing about the reaction? I was having dinner with my family and my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. To be honest—as lame as thi…

Most U.S. Catholics Back Marriage Equality, But Knights of Columbus Pour Millions into Opposition

By Peter Montgomery

…ssets. Its financial power comes from a huge and profitable life insurance business it promotes through local councils and parishes. It funnels millions of dollars to the pope and bishops’ conferences as well as to more service-oriented charities. “The Strong Right Arm of the Bishops: The Knights of Columbus and Anti-Marriage Equality Funding,” documents $6.25 million in direct Knights funding to anti-marriage equality campaigns at the national l…

Did Billy Graham Really Tell Romney He’d ‘Help’?

By Evan Derkacz

…omney, whom I considered a friend. I have followed Mitt Romney’s career in business, the Olympic Games, as governor of Massachusetts and, of course, as a candidate for president of the United States. What impresses me even more than Governor Romney’s successful career are his values and strong moral convictions. I appreciate his faithful commitment to his impressive family, particularly his wife Ann of 43 years and his five married sons. It was a…

Death Without Religion

By Gordon Haber

…h of the profit motive. “The transplant industry is a $20-billion-per-year business,” he reminds us. Well, so is weight loss and self-storage. Teresi does raise some troubling points about the “lowly status of the organ donor.” The District of Columbia, for example, allows doctors to “pre-harvest” organs without donor cards or family consent. Thus tourists who have the misfortune of dying in D.C. can end up as spare parts. Ultimately, though, The…

KS Republican Repeats Obama/PP Conspiracy Theory

By Katie Toth

…y the “family values” crowd, is an ideological posture and not a historical fact, so a selective read of the data is just business as usual….

Is the Episcopal Church a Bain Capital Investor?

By Elizabeth Drescher

…ght many Episcopalians were shocked to hear Mitt Romney said that “The Episcopal Church” was an initial investor in Bain Capital: So we started a new business called Bain Capital. The only problem was, while WE believed in ourselves, nobody else did. We were young and had never done this before and we almost didn’t get off the ground. In those days, sometimes I wondered if I had made a really big mistake. I had thought about asking my church’s pen…