The Mormon Question

CNN's Religion blog has posted a story entitled "Explain it to me: Mormonism." The post is by Dan Gilgoff, CNN's Belief Blog Co-Editor.

The post lists 10 facts about Mormonism, including its official name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the persecution the Church endured in its early years, including the murder of its founder Joseph Smith.

Apparently this persecution continues to some degree even today.

As of this posting, some 12 hours after CNN posted its story, over 1,200 comments have been made to the story. One commenter, drjaz, noted:

The hate and vitrol towards the mormons is nothing short of amazing. I haven't seen anything else compare. You'd think the mormons were jews and this was the inquisition. . . . When Joseph Smith was just a poor young backwoods no name kid with no prospects for the future he said that the angel told him his name would be had for good and evil all across the world. That's one prophecy these mormon haters have ensured has been absolutely and undeniably fulfilled.

Beyond reading the original CNN posting, viewing the reader posts provides a glimpse into public attitudes toward Mormons.

To read the CNN post, click here.

Why Transsexual/Transgender Rights Matter

On June 11th, various news sources announced that Chastity Bono, the only daughter of Sonny and Cher, had begun sex change procedures earlier this year.

Although the transsexual/transgender segment of the population is very small, their fight for rights, and the attention they are receiving in the media, are a significant assault both on the traditional family, and on those religious authorities and denominations that proclaim that gender is divinely assigned.

Read about this issue in the TwoMinuteBriefing - Why Transsexual/Transgender Rights Matter.

To access the PDF file, click here.

Bill Maher’s Movie, Religulous

Yesterday, Fox News reported on “Bill Maher’s Anti-Religion Movie” titled Religulous (think of the word religious combined with the word ridiculous). This movie is apparently Maher’s effort to document the ridiculous nature of religious beliefs, whatever they may be, and to express his concern that all religions are bad and in effect dangerous. Maher is quoted as stating that “Religion is detrimental to the progress of society.” In the movie trailer, Maher says, “It worries me that people are running my country who believe in a talking snake” referring, of course, to the Genesis account of Eve being tempted by the serpent.

Certainly these feelings are not new. Dr. Richard Dawkins, biologist and author of “The God Delusion”, has expressed similar sentiments. However the cynical, and mocking nature of how Maher expresses his opinions are rather startling.

Some time ago, TwoMinuteBriefing expressed concern that as a society we appeared to be moving into an era where the level of animosity against religion was increasing. Bill Maher’s new movie would appear to be another indicator of this trend.

Click HERE to see the movie trailer.

CAUTION: TwoMinuteBriefing cautions its readers NOT to follow the link from the movie's website to disbelief.net. Disbelief.net contains some material that readers of TwoMinuteBriefing may find objectionable.