First and foremost, this is not to turn into a religious or political debate, as per 2005 rules. This thread serves merely to inform about the end to a great man. Only warning. Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the LDS church, has passed. He died at 7:00 pm MST on sunday. He was 97 years old. Gordon is one of only a handful of people that I am proud to call hero, a role model for many. This is truly a sad day indeed. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Hinckley/ On 23 June 2004 (Hinckley's 94th birthday), U.S. President George W. Bush awarded Hinckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House. The press release put forth by the White House stated:[21] "Gordon B. Hinckley [...] has inspired millions and has led efforts to improve humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and education funding across the globe." Hinckley received many educational honors, including the Distinguished Citizen Award from Southern Utah University, Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah, and honorary doctorates from Westminster College, Utah State University, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and Southern Utah University. He received the Silver Buffalo Award of the Boy Scouts of America, and was honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world.
Sorry for the loss of your hero... LDS Church Leader? Hmmm, sorry. After having grown up around the LDS church, kids, etc. and being Southern Baptist I don't have much (if any) respect for the church.
I'm sorry for the loss of your hero, though I don't know what a LDS church is but it's always sad to lose someone who has inspired you
Heath Ledger mattered a lot. And if I'd known him in real life, I think we probably might have gotten along pretty well.
Mormons are okay. I respect, as much as it may annoy at times, any person who witnesses their beliefs.
You can respect a guy for his deeds without respecting his beliefs. (And the inverse is also true...dissing guys who do awful things for supposedly good reasons...) LDS may have some unbiblical positions, but they do a lot of social good. On the other hand, a 1992-era US President and a current Presidential candidate are well-known as Southern Baptists... You may not like the bad, but it helps to acknowledge the good. And at someone's death is not the time to mention the bad. (Like the people who protest at soldiers' funerals - for or against the war, just leave their families alone!)
Sorry to bump the thread.... I just thought that just incase anyone was interested, The funeral services for Gordon Hinckley starts in about 45 minutes. A streaming feed will be available at BYU, http://www.byu.tv/
no thanks to my mother, i had been raised to be wary of a lot of religious circles. gave up on being wary after watching a lot of what my mother's circles were doing. all i will say about the man is this: if he led by example, he wasn't above reaching out to the man next to him on the street; if he lived as he was taught, not as he thought he should live, then i cannot deny the man respect or a simple prayer for one more good guy having been here and now headed for better things. oh, i had read about the possible new president- and not to derail the topic, but he too sounds like a decent and noble man. i wish him to only follow this man's example as well. peace and prayers.
His wife (singular) Marjorie died in 2004. Back on topic, this man truly was an example for alot of people and more than deserving of the respect that he has earned. I can say that he did more in his life than most men are able to. So much for education, humanitarianism, and love of his fellow man.
He was mainstream Mormon, not fundamentalist. Although Doctrine & Covenants Section 132 is still on the books, the LDS church officially abandoned the practice of celestial marriage/spiritual wifery/polygyny in 1890.
Sorry, but the multiple wives (polygamy) "myth" is not officially allowed or by any means condoned by the LDS church. Those who follow such practices such as the late Alex Joseph, (who lived right outside of Page, AZ where I was born and my Mom went to school with one of his wives) are not recognized by the church. Such practices such as smoking, drinking, gambling and of course drugs are also not allowed by the church. The funny irony about Utah itself is there are a lot of dry counties around the state, including Salt Lake county where Salt Lake City is (BEAUTIFUL city, BTW). But, right outside some areas of the county there are some not-so-dry counties with PLENTY of bars. There is a lot of good about the LDS (some in the church see Mormon as offensive), with some bad too. One can see it that way with MANY religions. One of the fantastic things about the LDS church is their views on genealogy. They keep records of many peoples genealogy. Despite my own viewpoints about the LDS religion, I still recognize a lot of their positive aspects. The LDS people (especially in some parts of Utah) are some of the kindest, friendlist and most caring people you will find anymore. Yes, some people may be like this under false pretenses but there are many that are not. I've met and known a lot of people out of the Ogden area and I can't recall meeting an a-hole or even a basic jerk that came out of that area. Ogden, UT like Tucson, AZ has a lot of call center jobs and opportunities.
Well now that's not exactly accurate! Spiritual polygamy is practiced within the church all the time. Men can be sealed for time and all eternity to many wives so when they die they can have several wives. As it is the D&C 132 has yet to be removed from their scriptures which would indicate that they do still believe in the practice, but they just don't "practice" it on an earthly form. If yu really get into mormon history then you would know the only reason mormon's stopped practicing polygamy (and polyandry in some cases, like Joseph Smith) was so they could gain statehood in America. They were forced by the government to stop practicing polygamy inorder to gain statehood. Once the Prophet agree to this was when Mormon's denounced polygamy. However historically they didn't just up and stop practicing it. Many, including the Prophet at that time, continued to practice polygamy and even continued to encourage the member's to practice it as well, telling the members to do it secretively and to hide it. Many historians believe (and myself included) Joseph Smith used and manipulated people through scripture and "revelation". In the original D&C there was a passage condemning Polygamy in 1835 Obviously once JS decided on wooing the young teen Fanny Alger behind Emma's back and then marrying her along with a few other women, suddenly the above "revelation" was nill, because suddenly, God told Joseph that polygamy was a key to salvation. Wow lucky for Joseph's Myth that he got that revelation AFTER he already had an affair with the teens around the city. http://wivesofjosephsmith.org/ http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/AF/individual_record.asp?recid=7762167 http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,5511-1,00.html http://i4m.com/think/history/joseph_smith_sex.htm http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8010181
I don't know how much "social" good the church does, LOL Since US doesn't require churches to show financial record to their members (even though LDS members have to show their financial records to the church to make sure their members are paying a full tithe [10% of their income or they can't be granted spiritual salvation as well as temple entrance]) no one knows exactly how much the LDS inc Church gives to charities and social causes. Considering that the LDS church is building a 2 billion dollar mall, and cutting missionary funding, I'd say they probably aren't giving a whole lot to social causes. The UK however mandates that churches reveal their financial records, and according to the UK LDS records it seems that only about 3% of the multi-billion dollar church is given to "charity and social causes" So what do they do with the rest of that money?? Seriously makes one wonder! Any ways sorry you are mourning this loss. But at least you will get to see him again in the CK! BTW: I am a former mormon.
I have a few good friends that are Mormon and are good people IMO. I like some of the values that they strive for (family life, etc) but recognize that and do not agree with some of their more Conservative views on many real things in our society... But these would stand true with views of other Conservative religious groups as well...
