The Week in Mormonism, 9/13/2015
Top Stories
Mormon Julie Rowe published accounts of her 2004 near death experience last year in A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil and The Time Is Now. These sold tens of thousands of copies, and Rowe became a hugely popular speaker at Mormon firesides.
At these talks Rowe predicts imminent catastrophe for the United States, including ballistic missile bombardment, invasion by Russian and Chinese troops, earthquakes and flooding along the Wasatch front, and more. She urges her audience to stockpile food and supplies for the breakdown of civilization, when faithful members will be gathered to “tent cities, places of refuge, and cities of light.”
This is causing real damage as followers liquidate retirement and college savings and go into debt to amass these supplies. This accelerated recently when Rowe predicted that “something is going to happen in September.”
On Thursday, Church leaders issued a memo to the Church Educational System, stating that
Although Sister Rowe is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, her book is not endorsed by the Church and should not be recommended to students or used as a resource in teaching them. The experiences she shares are her own personal experiences and do not necessarily reflect Church doctrine or they may distort Church doctrine.
Middle Aged Mormon Man correctly and humorously notes that the Church already has a hierarchy in place to deliver warnings from God when necessary. So why is Mormonism such fertile ground for this kind of apocalyptic alarmism?
Other Links
- “The problem is that as a Church we’ve become very good at teaching fluff.”
- The Mormon History Conspiracy.
- Why Bruce C. Hafen’s negative depiction of marriage law changes in the USA is wrong. “There was no one in court to represent the best interests of us children… That was the situation for children previous to the changes in legal representation before the 1980s. That is what Hafen argues is the good old days. His beef is that unwed fathers and unmarried adults were destroying the sanctity of two parent, married families. That Is Not What Was Happening.”
- Mormons and Scouting: It’s Complicated.
- DNA and Mormonism.
- “I don’t know that Mormonism is a very hospitable culture for introverts.”
- Cory Crawford reflects on his recent Dialogue article on female priesthood authority in BCC.
- Chelsea Shields is a Mormon Feminist. From that hotbed of Mormon investigative journalism, Tech Insider.
- Black, White and Mormon: A Conference on the Evolving Status of Black Saints within the Mormon Fold.
