Chad Hardy created a calendar featuring shirtless Mormon missionaries.

On July 13, he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the LDS church of Mormons), according to Religion News Service.

Hardy had sought to show people that there were many sides to Mormons by showing actual shirtless Mormon missionaries. He himself was once a missionary. But the church felt his actions needed the severest reprimand in order to bring about his repentance.

Though Hardy could appeal the decision, he doesn’t plan to.

Visit Hardy’s Web site to find the calendar that sold 10,000 copies in one year and for news about the upcoming 2009 calendar.

Then find out more about excommunication in the Mormon church.

Knowing what you now know about excommunication and Hardy, do you think the local church’s decision was a good one?

Filed under: Christianity, Mormonism, Religion and Ethics, Sects | 1 Comment »

On January 27, 2008, Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley died at the age of 97.

Yesterday, the Church of Latter-Day Saints (nicknamed the “Mormon Church”) named Thomas S. Monson, 80, as the new president. Monson will be the 16th president and will remain in his office until his death, as is expected of all LDS Church presidents. He takes over at a time when Mormons seem to be getting more press than usual (with Mitt Romney’s candidacy in the presidential race) and when the LDS Church seems to be growing rapidly.

Mormon presidents have a lot of “say” and a lot of power over adherants. They are considered prophets and thus have the ability to change church laws and direct LDS beliefs. In the past, presidents have outlawed polygamy and allowed African Americans into the church. They have also published a number of revelations directing the belief system of followers.

To learn more about Mormons, check out one of my previous posts explaining the religion here, and watch for my upcoming article about the LDS Church in the winter issue of Relate magazine.

(Pictured above: Monson, at the time he was a first counselor to Hinckley; Hinckley, center, during his presidency; James Faust, right, the second counselor to Hinckley)

Filed under: Christianity, Mormonism | No Comments »

Latter-Day Saints will hold their annual Pioneer Day celebration on July 24. For those unfamiliar with the Mormon faith and Pioneer Day, here’s a rundown:

THE MORMON FAITH:
Names: Latter-Day Saints (which includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), Mormon fundamentalism
The major players: Jesus; Joseph Smith, Jr.; Brigham Young. Smith (b. 1805) claimed to have been visited by an angel, Moroni, who asked him to publish writings on gold plates, said to contain messages from God to ancient Babylonians living in the Americas. Smith published these writings, which became The Book of Mormon. He then founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said to be a restoration of the Christian tradition lost at the death of the apostles. After moving the church to Nauvoo, Ill., to escape conflicts, he was murdered there in 1844. Brigham Young became president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1847 and was the first governor of the Utah territory.
The sacred texts: The Book of Mormon (considered the Word of God, text compiled from Mormon’s plates, shown to Smith by Mormon’s resurrected son Moroni, said to contain the most complete Gospel of Christ), Book of Commandments, Doctrine and Covenants (modern scripture said to be a restoration of The Bible’s Old Testament). The Bible is seen as the Word of God only insofar as it has been translated correctly; Joseph Smith provided his own translation of The Bible.
The main tenants: God is the eternal father. Man can be saved through Christ’s atonement by following God’s laws. Mormons also believe in the Holy Spirit – but God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities.
The goal: To be saved by God through observance of His laws; to be resurrected at the second coming of Christ, when Christ will reign on the American continent
Encouraged practices: Building one’s character to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous, and to do good to all men; baptism; repentance
Social connection: Plural marriage (polygamy) was once permitted but renounced in 1890

PIONEER DAY:
In 1847, Mormons were suffering persecution in Nauvoo, Ill. To find relief, the “pioneers” journeyed west along the “pioneer trail” in covered wagons. (July 24 is sometimes referred to as “Covered Wagon Days.”) When they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, Young proclaimed this was the place to stop. And so the Mormons Pioneers made their settlement in what was then called “Deseret,” what we now call Utah. Thus, July 24 marked the founding of what Latter-Day Saints consider their earthly Zion.

Today, Pioneer Day is a Utah state holiday (though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not officially recognize it as a holy day). To learn about the ways in which Mormons have commemorated the event each year, check out Steven L. Olsen’s entry in the Utah History Encyclopedia.

Filed under: Christianity, Holidays, Mormonism | 2 Comments »