This week, I have a series of eclectic links for you:
–The LDS Church donated $1.5 million to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. The museum is set to open in 2016 and sounds well worth a visit!
–Remember when the American Bible Society did a survey on American Bible reading habits? Mormons came off less-than-favorably, despite their long-held devotion to the KJV. Stacie Duce of the Deseret News addresses that issue here. (The original report can be downloaded as a pdf here.)
–NPR did an interview with Neon Trees, “the Mormon band who made it big,” on Provo, honesty, being LDS, and the occasional song lyric.
–The Salt Lake Tribune talks about why the increase in missionaries since the age change has not led to an increase in baptisms per se.
–For Utah history buffs, check out the KUED documentary “Courthouse” about Utah law and the Mormon-non-Mormon legal relationship. The Salt Lake Tribune heralds it as engaging and lively, so there you go.
–LDS and Seven Day Adventist leaders met to discuss social media, religious freedom, and the importance of keeping young people in the church.
Anything we missed? Add your links in the comments!
Thanks for the links, Saskia!
Comment by J Stuart — May 4, 2014 @ 10:54 am
Ditto.
Comment by Amanda HK — May 4, 2014 @ 7:41 pm
Chelsea Handler interviewed Neon Trees frontman Tyler Glenn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b0p-lFQA74
Comment by Reed Russell — May 5, 2014 @ 12:49 am
Huh, why is the church donating sacred church money to fund a museum? (Not only that, a museum that seems likely to glorify a war?)
I’m sure this will cause less consternation than the SLC mall project, but at least that one there was an investment with some hope of return, and also it was related to legitimate interests of the church.
Or maybe this is just a fancy way to grease some palms to smooth things for the Philly Temple/development project?
Comment by wondering — May 5, 2014 @ 12:48 pm
Wondering: moral debates over how the Church does/should spend its funds, both sacred funds through tithing as well as the funds they have accumulated rough their revenue arms that have been around for over a century, are perhaps more appropriate at other venues. (The history of these business endeavors of the church, of course, is something we have and will continue to cover.) As it is, given that this is a blog full of historians, you’d probably not be surprised to find many of us applaud the LDS church’s civic commitment to worthwhile historical causes, even if they may be tethered to pragmatic agendas like our smoothing relationship with the city of Philadelphia.
Comment by Ben P — May 5, 2014 @ 3:01 pm
OK sorry for the comment, I won’t trouble you again. Anyway thanks for the links and keep up the good work.
Comment by wondering — May 5, 2014 @ 6:01 pm
Thanks for the notice on “Courthouse”. I was able to watch it on KUED’s website: http://www.kued.org/courthouse
They’ve had some good documentaries on Mormon and Utah history in the past. Anyone know where to find any of this without having to scour libraries? Couldn’t Netflix or Amazon give them more viewers and revenue?
Comment by rich jj — May 12, 2014 @ 5:29 pm