Time Experience Thoughts

From the Newsroom at LDS.org Religion and Freedom 01 JULY 2011 — POSTED by VAL EDWARDS Freedom of religion has been, and still is, an essential moving force in the grand experiment of American democracy. Planting that principle of religious freedom in early America brought about two profound results—the rejection of a “divine right of kings” doctrine, and breaking the 1,500-year European tradition of upholding a state-established church.[1] And with that, a heritage of self government, not to mention distinctly different congregations, sprang up. Yet no one could take freedom of religion for granted. Baptists, Catholics, Jews, Mormons and others have all faced, at one time or another, overt prejudice and serious attempts to curtail their liberties (sometimes coming from fellow religionists). Yet looking back over the long narrative of American religious history and the experience gained, the principle of religious freedom is prevailing. Respecting freedom of religion has brought a...

Permanent Things: Toward an Understanding of Mormons Editorial from the Newsroom at LDS.org. Religion in America is in a state of flux. The 2008   American Religious Identification Survey   shows that the number of those who claim no religious affiliation nearly doubled from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. In addition, Pew’s 2009   Faith in Flux   survey found that “about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives.” A study published in 2010 entitled   American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us   maintains that in America “it seems perfectly natural to refer to one’s religion as a ‘preference’ instead of as a fixed characteristic.” CAPTION © 2011 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved In this shifting religious environment it is easy to talk of the fleeting and superficial rather than the deeper foundations of spiritual life. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S...