TruthBook Religious News Blog

July 24, 2009

In Utah, July 24 is Pioneer Day, a state holiday commemorating the day in 1847 when the first Mormon settlers, led by Brigham Young, entered the Salt Lake Valley. Today, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Mormon groups make up 58% of Utah's population and 1.7% of the total U.S. adult population, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2007. The religious tradition, founded in the United States in 1830, has come under increased public scrutiny in recent years as a result of prominent Mormons in the news, such as Mitt Romney, a 2008 Republican presidential primary candidate and former governor of Massachusetts, and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader in the U.S. Senate, as well as the involvement of the LDS church in political issues, such as the recent debate over gay marriage in California.

A new analysis of the Landscape Survey data reveals that as a group Mormons are among the most devout and conservative religious people in the country. The Mormon community is also internally diverse, with differences according to levels of religious commitment and educational attainment, regions of the country where Mormons live, and between lifelong Mormons and those who have converted to the faith. This report explores Mormons' unique place in the American religious landscape and is divided into three parts: demographic characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, and social and political views.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article, along with breakdowns of the survey.

Labels: Church of Latter Day Saints, demographics. politics, Mormonism, pew Religious Landscape Survey, religion

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Fasting seen as tool for health, spirituality

February 5, 2008

By JANET ST. JAMES

The history of fasting goes back thousands of years to Hippocrates, Socrates, Plato.

Jesus did it for 40 days for spiritual renewal.

Debbie Ragsdale of McKinney does it once a month, for about the same reason.

Far from starving, a growing number of studies show a periodic fast can do as much for the body as it does for religious beliefs.

After years of being told to eat many small meals a day to rev up the metabolism, research shows giving it a one day rest, once a week or once a month -- may also be beneficial.

Research shows depriving the body of food -- for 24 hours, drinking only water -- can give the heart arteries and pancreas a rest.

"If you're able to fast all day long, except for water, and reduce your insulin secretion," says Baylor University Medical Center Dr. Brian Welch. "There may be some metabolic advantage to that as long as it's not followed by binge eating."

Dr. Welch, a practicing endocrinologist, says there's even evidence partial fasting can extend the lifespan, because eating less sends a message to the brain and cells to use energy more efficiently.

Scientists have seen the proof in rat studies and in real life.

A study recently presented to the American Heart Association looked at Mormons. The study showed Mormon's hearts are much healthier than the average American's -- and not just because their religion forbids smoking and drinking.

Gordon Wright, a Dallas attorney who also happens to be Mormon, has fasted regularly his whole life.

"The appetites that we typically have and just set them aside and focus on more spiritual things. It allows us to focus on things other than the body and the things that drive us day to day," he said.

And Wright says when the fast is over, he's suprisingly not ravenous or obsessing about food. That's because research also suggests that supressing insulin may also reduce the taste for sugar.

Reducing sugar cravings can lead to weight loss over time.

Ragsdale also tries to eat healthy. Once a month, she and friends gather to cook and share a light, healthy lunch, as part of that endeavor.

And, she never misses her monthly fast, for body and soul.

Doctors say fasting more than a day at time breaks down muscles, instead of helping the body. And diabetics should talk with their physician before attempting even a one day fast.

Labels: fasting, health, Janet St. James, Mormonism, religiosity, spirituality

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Fear Of Religious Litmus Test Rising

McCain’s ‘Christian nation’ comments spark new concern about growing role of religion in the ’08 campaign.

James D. Besser - Washington Correspondent

The prospects for deep religious polarization in the 2008 election took a quantum leap this week in the wake of comments by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that the Constitution created America as a “Christian” nation — and the rousing defense of his comments by some Christian groups.

McCain’s comments, which produced sharp rebukes from several major Jewish groups, echoed views expressed in a recent survey conducted by the First Amendment Center, in which 65 percent of respondents said the nation’s founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation — and 55 percent said that view was enshrined in the Constitution.

The upping of the religious ante in the 2008 campaign also includes a growing rebellion by prominent Christian conservatives against GOP frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani and their threat to back a third-party candidate who meets their religious standards.

And it comes amid continuing questions about whether former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith will be a deal-breaker with many Evangelical voters, and as questions persist about the “Christian nation” views of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the emerging dark horse in the Republican ranks. It also comes as anxious Democrats ramp up their own religious campaigns, with more detailed discussions of the role of faith in their own lives.

All of that, some Jewish leaders worry, is pushing the nation toward the de facto establishment of a religious test for high office.

Earlier in the interview, he stressed his view that the “No. 1 issue people should make [in selecting a president] is, ‘will this person carry on in the Judeo-Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?’”

But his unambiguous agreement that the Constitution established a Christian nation stirred the most debate.

But some Christian groups praised McCain’s original comments – and said they could help in a presidential campaign that has been met with skepticism by evangelical voters and leaders.

But a leading Jewish Republican and McCain supporter said it was all a matter of interpretation.

The Republican Jewish Coalition offered only the faintest criticism of McCain’s comments.

Political analysts were divided on whether McCain’s comments were a verbal misfire or part of a conscious political strategy meant to revive his once-front running campaign. But many speculated that the upcoming South Carolina primary has a lot to do with it.

The 2008 presidential race took on even more of a religious charge this week with reports that leading Christian conservatives, including Focus on the Family leader James Dobson, met over the weekend and discussed the possibility of supporting a third-party candidacy because of their dissatisfaction with the current GOP field, and Giuliani in particular.

But Giuliani, according to recent polls, is running strongly among Evangelical voters despite his three marriages and his relatively moderate positions on gay rights and abortion — a trend political experts attribute to his strong image on terrorism and security.

The likeliest recipients of support from the angry Evangelical leaders, he said, is Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher, or Romney, who continues to work to combat the view among many Evangelicals that his Mormonism is a dangerous sect.

Labels: Christian, First Amendment Center, James D. Besser, Jewish, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mormonism, religion, Rudolph Giuliani

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Knowledge of Islam, Mormonism lacking

Most Americans know little about the faiths but say their own beliefs have little in common with them, a poll shows.

By Theo Milonopoulos, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 26, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans say they know little to nothing about the practices of Islam and Mormonism but say their own religious beliefs have little in common with either of these faiths, according to a national survey released Tuesday.

Forty-five percent of those polled said Islam was more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers. Nearly 1 in 3 respondents say Mormonism is not a Christian religion, the report said.

The survey of 3,002 Americans was conducted last month by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Although 58% of respondents said they knew little or nothing about Islamic practices, 70% of non-Muslims said Islam was very different from their own religious beliefs.

Pew Forum senior fellow John Green said that respondents' knowledge of Islam might be even lower than the survey results suggested. Respondents "tend to overestimate their own knowledge, so these figures may well underestimate their lack of knowledge," he said.

The survey found that public attitudes toward Muslims have grown more negative in recent years, with 35% of respondents expressing an unfavorable view. In 2002, the figure was 29%. Respondents who knew a Muslim or who were college graduates were more likely to express positive views about Islam.

But the belief that Islam encourages violence has increased even among groups that have relatively favorable views of Muslims. According to the survey, college graduates are just as likely as those with no college experience to associate violence with Islam.

The survey said Americans were similarly uninformed about Mormonism. Although 53% of those surveyed expressed a favorable view of Mormons, nearly the same amount, 51%, said they knew very little about the faith.

As in the case of Islam, respondents with higher educational backgrounds and those who knew a Mormon tended to view Mormonism more favorably. But even more important in respondents' assessment of Mormons was whether they believe Mormonism to be a Christian religion, according to the survey.

Of the 31% of respondents who said Mormons are not Christians, 49% view Mormonism unfavorably, and 42% said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon for president.

Green said the results suggested that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon and GOP presidential hopeful, could face difficulty persuading white evangelical Protestants to vote for him because nearly 40% of those surveyed viewed Mormons unfavorably.

The survey also reported that 73% of respondents familiar with Pope Benedict XVI have a favorable opinion of him; 75% reflected favorably on evangelist Billy Graham.

Labels: Americans, Islam, Mormonism, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press