Like all charitable donors, church members – even those who make donations to remain in good standing with their religious institution – give up their legal right to control that money.
Many faiths face conflicts over dissent and institutional control. In Latter-day Saints history, the episode around the ‘September Six’ is particularly memorable.
Joseph Smith encouraged early Latter-day Saints to pool their resources. Two centuries later, one of the results is an investment portfolio estimated at $100 billion.
Latina women hold few top leadership positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but their contributions help keep congregations going.
Many Republicans have wrestled with whether to embrace Donald Trump and his brash political style. Latter-day Saints are an especially telling example.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted for a bill that would federally protect same-sex marriage – and 47 Republicans signed on, too. Same-sex marriage isn’t the partisan issue it once was.
LDS leaders still stress that men should ‘preside’ over their families. But in recent years, messages about marriage have stressed more equal partnership.
Rebecca Tippett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The 2020 census will now count some groups differently than it has in the past. That could make a difference in the final count – affecting which states receive funding and congressional seats.
In 2015, the Mormon Church barred children from same-sex marriage from the church. An expert explains why this policy was tied to a larger conservative battle against gay rights.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah is one of the very few GOP critics of President Trump’s character and leadership. Why has he staked out this lonely position? His Mormon faith.