Mosiah MacDonald had expected to be at the national basketball championships in Wellington this week.

Instead his Manawatu basketball teammates are playing without him.

The 15-year-old says his team dropped him because he would attend only one of the two Sunday training sessions, due to his religious beliefs.

Now he's training alone at a Foxton school.

The MacDonalds are Mormons who believe that Sunday should be a holy day. Hence it says it's a day reserved for Sabbath practices.

The family will do other activities on Sundays after worship. They'll even miss the odd service.

But the prospect of a full two months of basketball without church was too much for Mosiah.

Consequently he knows he needs to resolve the conflict between church and sport if he wants to develop his basketball dreams.

He's been playing basketball since he was 2. He says Steven Adams is one of his heroes.

MacDonald is a potential member of the 25-strong squad national under-16s basketball team.

His dropping from the Wellington tournament may affect his chances.

Beginning of problems

In May the Manawatu's basketball team coach changed practice times from later on Sunday afternoons to mid-morning and early afternoons.

MacDonald would have attended the afternoon sessions but not the mornings until a couple of weeks before the tournament.

Because he wouldn't attend all sessions, he says the coach dropped him.

Rather than lose a place, MacDonald tried unsuccessfully to join the Hawkes Bay squad.

Manawatu basketball chairwoman Tess Petley says she's surprised the MacDonalds and the coach hadn't found a compromise.

"The decision was not based on the fact he was Mormon. I feel a bit sad if that's what they are thinking," she says.

Petley says she and the coach agree that Mosiah is an amazing kid, and they want him to play.

She says she'll try to work out a way that MacDonald can regain his place.

Sources:

• Stuff

A Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints "Discovery Centre" at in Utah, in the United States, allows visitors to learn about different cultures around the world.

However, Colvin says an exhibition which encourages people to superimpose their face on a Samoan warrior exploits a culture for amusement.

She says the depiction of a shirtless Samoan perpetuates "barbarian" and "savage" stereotypes for white people's entertainment.

By comparison, other cultures were fully dressed, with European cultures displayed as "dapper" and "civilised", she said.

"I was appalled," said Colvin.

"The Pacific Islands, for Mormon people has always been a place of spectacle, all they want to know is the music and the dance and they empty us of any other kind of identity."

She said Pacific Islanders were being exploited for the amusement of white Americans.

The exhibit also comes with commentary which states "traditionally, obesity is considered a status symbol in Samoa".

Church spokeswoman Irene Caso said the church's intention was one of education and its message was one of unity and love.

She said the response from both members and nonmembers had been "extremely positive".

Colvin is a New Zealander of Maori, English, Irish, Welsh, German and French descent. She says she is a multi-generation life long Mormon."

"I'm an outspoken and sometimes noisy critic of the LDS Church. But I also love the church; it still has my heart."

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• patheos.com
• twitter
• sltrib.com
• Image: resources.stuff.co.nz

Young women make up to almost 30 percent of all Mormon missionaries. Mormon leaders are giving their women missionaries permission to wear pants to protect their legs from mosquitoes while missioning in hotter climates to protect them from mosquito-born diseases such as Zika, chikungunya, and dengue.

Women are still expected to wear dresses and skirts to church services and to the Mormon temple. Continue reading

Only members of the LDS temple with valid passes are permitted to go in.

The Suva Fiji Temple — which serves more than 35,000 Latter Day Saints in Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands — was originally dedicated in June 2000.

It was closed in October 2014 for renovation.

Members of the public have been invited to have a look inside the temple before it is rededicated.

The public open house began Jan 25 and will continue through Feb 6.

Tours include a 10-minute presentation and a 30-minute walk-through.

The Prime Minister of Fiji, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, toured the temple on Jan 20.

He was accompanied by other senior governmental leaders and hosted by members of the Pacific Area Presidency and other Church leaders.

A number of Cabinet ministers and other senior leaders attended the special temple open house tour along with the Prime Minister.

The colours and design motifs of the renovated temple were inspired by the flowers, beaches and jungles of Fiji.

The interior of the temple features original art glass and a hand-painted mural depicting the landscape and flora of the islands.

The temple will be rededicated on Feb. 21.

Source

• deseretnews.com
• ksl.com
• Image: desertnews.com

The church's Tonga Service Centre Manager Howard Niu says they have signed with local contractor Oregon Pacific International to carry out the construction.

Mr Niu says the houses will be provided to members of the church.

He says the church will provide the core of a house.

"We're talking about a 4.8 metres by 3.6 metres to start with. The government and the World Bank donating the other half of it."

"Especially for the most vulnerable group, if you're 65 and above, and or whether handicapped or have more than eight in the family."

The money to support this project comes from the Latter-day Saints' humanitarian fund, to which Church members and others from around the world, including Tonga, donate.

The joint Church and Government humanitarian project will also focus on training locals on Ha'apai in building and other trade skills, as well as support families as they create and maintain family and community vegetable gardens.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• mormonnewsroon.org.nz
• Image: mormonnewsroom.org.nz

Mormons now outnumber Catholics and the number of followers is continuing to grow Listen to interview on Radio Australia

Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been ordered to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London next month to defend the church's doctrines including beliefs about Adam and Eve and Native Americans.

A formal summons signed by District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe warns Mr Monson, who is recognised by Mormons as God's prophet on Earth, that a warrant for his arrest could be issued if he fails to make the journey from Salt Lake City, Utah, for a hearing on March 14.

In one of the most unusual documents ever issued by a British court, it lists seven teachings of the church, including that Native Americans are descended from a family of ancient Israelites as possible evidence of fraud.

It also cites the belief that the Book of Mormon was translated from ancient gold plates revealed to the church's founder Joseph Smith by angels and that Adam and Eve lived around 6,000 years ago.

The document suggests that asking members of the church to make contributions while promoting theological doctrines which "might be untrue or misleading" could be a breach of the Fraud Act 2006. Continue reading

They highlighted the threat to conscience posed by the mandate requiring almost all employers to cover contraception, sterilisation and abortifacient drugs and devices in their health insurance plans.

The 100-plus leaders included representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Orthodox Christian and Jewish leaders

Continue reading

Missionary Gina Colvin, in a blog on a major Mormon website, also took shots at her own Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints and the way Americans see the world.

She said New Zealand was a secular and morally liberal nation.

This didn't mean we were "going to hell in a hand-basket", she said.

"Few people will bat an eye-lid at gay marriage, many will swear like troopers, wine-drinking is an important cultural institution, and pre-marital cohabitation is the norm," she said.

Colvin, who is a Kiwi but is in Utah teaching missionaries, said they shouldn't freak out because she would rather be with a "group of cursing, wine-swilling, gay-loving, cohabiting New Zealanders than any other people in the world - because, in my decades of experience, New Zealand has a habit of producing the real deal".

She said American missionaries should get used to the fact that New Zealanders did not live in "McMansions".

"On the contrary, that modest bungalow that doesn't sport a 'rest-room' for every bedroom in the house and a basement the size of a football field probably cost more than your McMansion - even with the exchange rate," she said.

"New Zealand is an expensive place to live - period!"

Colvin said missionaries should eat the food they are served in homes and be grateful.

"Food doesn't come in bucket-sized portions for the price of small change."

"It's expensive - so eat that meal that has been prepared for you by that large humble Mormon family in their three-bedroom bungalow - because it represents more than food, it also represents sacrifice."

And after the meal help clean up.

Learn some Maori, she added. Continue reading

Sources

• Stuff
• Image: LDS Church Temples

Of the 100,000 Scout units across the nation, 37,882 are Mormon, 11,078 are Methodist and 8570 are Catholic. And the organisation still includes "my duty to God" in its oath.

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting has expressed its objections to the proposed change and urged Catholics who participate in Scouting to voice their opposition to local Scout councils.

According to Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee, the Scouts are "wilting under pressure from some of their corporate sponsors".

The Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy organisation, has warned corporate sponsors it would downgrade their "non-discrimination ratings" if they continued to give money to the Scouts.

Already some of the largest donors — Intel, Merck and UPS — have stopped giving.

The proposal, to be voted on in late May, would allow membership to openly gay youth, but retain the current national prohibition of openly gay men serving as adult troop leaders. Local units could set their own rules, but could face legal challenges.

In 2000 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Scouts could ban active homosexuals because their lifestyle conflicted with the core mission of the Scouts, which was imparting values.

Numerous pro-family groups, including Concerned Women for America, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute and Family Research Council, have urged the Scouts to continue their current policy. They argue that it helps to protect scouts from sexual abuse and aligns with the group's founding morals.

Last year, the Scouts were roiled by a sexual-abuse scandal following the revelation of secret files documenting the abuse of boys by their leaders between 1965 and 1985.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

National Catholic Register

Christian Post

Image: Patheos

But with no other houses vacant in the largely Mormon suburb, they'll be forced to live elsewhere in Hamilton.

It's heartbreaking news for the families living in about 10 homes on Tuhikaramea Rd, between the old college grounds and the Mormon temple, who were last week asked to vacate by January 31 next year.

Developers Envision NZ, who represent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, did not provide details about their plans for the homes, or the land, but residents yesterday told the Waikato Times the houses would be demolished to allow construction of a new facility, similar to a church or chapel

Continue reading

Britain's most prominent atheist attacked the core tenets of Mr Romney's religion, saying that the Church of Latter Day Saints' founding prophet was "a fraud" and that the presidential contender was "too stupid to see it".

"No matter how much you agree with Romney's economic policy, can you really vote for such a massively gullible fool?" asked Prof Dawkins during an outburst on Twitter that lasted several hours. Continue reading

With Mitt Romney's recent choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as running mate, this campaign is the first in which Catholics are on both major party tickets. Vice President Joe Biden and Ryan are lifelong Catholics who attend Mass regularly and credit the church with shaping their views.

At the same time, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan plans a prime-time appearance next week by giving the benediction at the Republican National Convention after Romney becomes the first Mormon presidential nominee from a major political party. Read more

Sources

• Rachel Zoll in The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Image: NY Daily News

Rachel Zoll writes about religion for Associated Press.