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Why 2012 was 'more than a Mormon moment'

By almost all accounts, 2012 was an extraordinary year for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in terms of media scrutiny and public awareness. For a variety of reasons — most notably the American presidential campaign of lifelong Mormon Mitt Romney — the LDS Church was featured this year in numerous television specials, magazines, newspaper articles and radio programs around the world. Google reports that there have been more Internet searches including the word “Mormon” during 2012 than in any of the previous eight years.

Is Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host' rooted in Mormon beliefs?

Underneath The Host's schmaltzy romance and blinding shine of silver sports cars lies a challenging theme of identity and existence, both Earthly and beyond. The concepts are deepened with a little background information: the movie is based on a book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, best known for penning the Twilight series. Meyer is also one of the most successful authors to come out of the Mormon faith. Viewed through a lens of the uniquely American religion, The Host ends up more of a refraction of those beliefs than anything found in her vampiric romance saga.

Will Mitt Romney's 'Mormon moment' help his campaign?

Perhaps Robert Jeffress did Mitt Romney a favor.When the Dallas pastor called Mr. Romney’s faith – Mormonism – a “cult” at a recent convention of Christian conservatives, he brought into the open a simmering issue: whether a leading Republican presidential candidate should be judged over religious beliefs some Americans see as outside the mainstream.

WSJ: Romney Isn't Planning Another Mormon Speech

Mitt Romney told an Iowa audience on Thursday that he has no plans to deliver another speech about his Mormon faith after a Dallas pastor raised the issue earlier this month. “I think the great majority of American people want to select the person who’s the most capable of getting our country going again, with strong values and a strong economy and a strong military,” the Republican presidential candidate said at a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Thursday afternoon. “Among the things that are unique and exceptional about our country is the fact that, in America, we recognize and appreciate differences in faith.”

From the Church

Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Tom Brokaw to remember 9/11 in special performance

Celebrated news anchor Tom Brokaw joins the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square for a special Music and the Spoken Word which commemorates the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. The special, entitled “9/11: Rising Above,” will air on radio, television, cable networks and Internet channels around the country.Choir music director Mack Wilberg said the program will focus on how Americans have risen above the grief and loss of that September day. “The message of this show is that—as individuals and as a nation—we can find healing and strength in adversity and literally rise above all the negatives.”

ASL seminary classes blossom at site of original seminary class

One hundred years ago, in a building adjacent to Granite High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Thomas J. Yates served as the teacher of the first seminary class in the Church, a revolutionary undertaking for the time. Today, a century later, much has changed—Granite High School has closed, for instance. But seminary classes are still held at the site where seminary was first offered in 1912—and they are as innovative as their early predecessors. Here Nathan Van De Graaff serves as the coordinator for American Sign Language (ASL) seminary. In this role, he teaches standard seminary curriculum in ASL to classes of up to nine students each—students who are participating from their homes across the United States.

The Atlantic: Cheating Death and Being Okay with God

This Spring we learned of 32-year-old Russian multimillionaire Dmitry Itskov's determined 2045 Initiative, which involves "mass production of lifelike, low-cost avatars that can be uploaded with the contents of a human brain, complete with all the particulars of consciousness and personality." The mid-century goal, in which Itskov seems confident, is meant as a step toward immortality. David Segal in The New York Times put to paper the reaction of many: "Are you insane?"

Latter-day Saint Life

LDS Convert Wins Texas 'Mother of the Year' Award

Last summer, Bethany Paterno, a member of the Oak Ridge Ward, Spring Texas Stake, was reading an article in the Church News to her husband, Marcus, about some of the Latter-day Saint women who were being recognized by American Mothers, Inc. as the Mother of the Year for their states. “I told [my husband], ‘Wow, what an amazing honor. That is really cool,’” Sister Paterno recalled. A year later, she cried and jumped up and down when she learned she had been chosen as the 2015 Texas Young Mother of the Year.

Opinion: Are jokes about Mormons a sign of acceptance?

Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department will add Mormons and Sikhs and five other groups to the hate crime statistics. In other words, they will begin keeping numbers on hate crimes committed against members of the LDS Church, just as they do with gays, African-Americans and other groups where strong prejudice exists. The interesting question is, what about prejudicial remarks or conversation or making fun of Mormons? Will it rise to the same level of political incorrectness as homophobic or racial remarks?

Terryl Givens

Terryl L. Givens was born in upstate New York, raised in the American southwest, and did graduate work in Intellectual History (Cornell) and Comparative Literature (Ph.D. UNC Chapel Hill). As Professor of Literature and Religion and the Jabez A. Bostwick Professor of English at the University of Richmond, he taught courses in Romanticism, nineteenth century cultural studies, and the Bible and Literature. Currently, he is a Neal L. Maxwell Senior Fellow at Brigham Young University. He has published in literary theory, British and European Romanticism, Mormon studies, and intellectual history. In addition to appearances on NPR, CNN, and Frontline's The Mormons, Dr. Givens has authored or edited dozens of books, primarily through Oxford University Press and Deseret Book.