 |
Michael R. Otterson [1] was the managing director of Public Affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 2008 to 2016. In April 2016, the church announced that he would retire at the end of August 2016 and be replaced by Richard E. Turley, Jr. [2] On 1 November 2016, he began a new assignment, along with his wife, as president and matron of the London England Temple. [3] [4]
Otterson is a convert to the LDS Church. Born in Liverpool, England and educated in Britain, he entered journalism in his native city of Liverpool before moving to Australia where he worked as a political reporter and sub-editor in South Australia and Canberra. Following a year's stint as a sub-editor on the Japan Times in Tokyo, he returned to the UK and was appointed Business Editor for the Liverpool Daily Post .
In 1976 he left journalism to manage the London public affairs office of the LDS Church, [5] which was then the only such office outside of the United States. He remained there until 1979 as Public Relations director for the LDS Church in the United Kingdom, [6] when the church invited him to move back to Australia to open a new public affairs office in Sydney. [7] He remained in that post for 12 years before moving to the United States in 1991 to manage the worldwide training program for church public affairs operations. He managed the church's news media relations [8] from 1997 to 2008, when he became managing director of LDS public affairs. Otterson has served twice as a stake president – in Liverpool [9] and in Sydney. [10]
In 2003 Otterson responded to a Newsweek article about the LDS Church, taking issue with its characterisation of the LDS Church as acting on superficial instead of deeply held beliefs. [11] In 2003, Otterson was also the LDS Church's main point man in its response to Jon Krakauer's book on Mormonism, Under the Banner of Heaven . [12]
In 2005 Otterson downplayed John M. Haddow's attempt to make the exclusion of Mormons from the National Prayer Breakfast connected with the National Day of Prayer into an issue of concern. [13]
He was engaged as early as 2006 in positioning the church as politically neutral in relation to Mitt Romney running for president and once wrote an article in which he argued that Romney's religion should be a non-issue. He also was very vocal in stating that the LDS Church would give no institutional support to Romney.
In 2008 Otterson confirmed that Proposition 8 was one of the initiatives the LDS Church had been most heavily involved in. [1]
In late 2009 Otterson gained national attention by making an official statement for the LDS Church in the Salt Lake City Council meeting in favour of city ordinances that included sexual orientation and gender identity among categories covered in fair housing and fair employment regulations. A year later, on 12 October 2010, he delivered an official statement for the church on bullying of gay young men. [14]
Otterson has a regular blog published by The Washington Post on Mormon-related issues. Among topics he has addressed is the 2011 The Book of Mormon musical on Broadway. [15]
Besides periodical columns and various articles, Otterson is the author of Finding Your Family on the Internet: The Ultimate Guide to Online Family History Research ( ISBN 1933317442).
{{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help){{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help){{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help){{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help).{{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help){{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help){{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help){{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help) – article on the Under the Banner of Heaven debate{{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help).{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Ezra Taft Benson was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and as the 13th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death in 1994.
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith is a nonfiction book by author Jon Krakauer, first published in July 2003. He investigated and juxtaposed two histories: the origin and evolution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a modern double murder committed in the name of God by brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who subscribed to a fundamentalist version of Mormonism.
Anti-Mormonism includes people and literature that are critical, or opposed to, the adherents, institutions, or beliefs of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement as a whole. It may include physical attacks, discrimination, persecution, hostility, or prejudice against Mormons and the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Latter Day Saints and Mormons have been portrayed in popular media many times. These portrayals often emphasize controversial subjects from the history and beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Marlin Keith Jensen is an American attorney who has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1989. He served as the official Church Historian and Recorder of the church from 2005 to 2012. He was the 19th man to hold that calling since it was established in 1830. Jensen was made an emeritus general authority in the October 2012 general conference.
The public image of Mitt Romney refers to how Americans view Mitt Romney. Following his 2008 presidential campaign, Romney's personal and political appearance increased. Romney's values and affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are significant factors in his public image and "Faith in America" speech.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been subject to criticism and sometimes discrimination since its inception.
Richard Eyring "Rick" Turley Jr. is an American historian and genealogist. He previously served as both an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as managing director of the church's public affairs department.
By Common Consent (BCC) is a group blog featuring commentary and discussions, especially regarding the culture of and current events within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was founded in 2004 and is one of several blogs in the group known as the Mormon Bloggernacle. According to the blog's mission statement, BCC was founded to "provide a thoughtful, enjoyable, and reasonable place to post and discuss Mormon topics."
Mormon Stories Podcast is a podcast principally hosted by psychologist John Dehlin featuring interviews with individuals and occasionally scholars on Mormon topics. The podcasts are noted as a platform for individuals critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, skeptic and dissident individuals.
Mormon studies is the interdisciplinary academic study of the beliefs, practices, history and culture of individuals and denominations belonging to the Latter Day Saint movement, a religious movement associated with the Book of Mormon, though not all churches and members of the Latter Day Saint movement identify with the terms Mormon or Mormonism. Denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by far the largest, as well as the Community of Christ (CoC) and other smaller groups, include some categorized under the umbrella term Mormon fundamentalism.
Early in its history, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a series of negative encounters with the federal government of the United States. This led to decades of mistrust, armed conflict, and the eventual disincorporation of the church by an act of the United States Congress. The relationship between the church and the government eventually improved, and in recent times LDS Church members have served in leadership positions in Congress and held other important political offices. The LDS Church becomes involved in political matters if it perceives that there is a moral issue at stake and wields considerable influence on a national level with over a dozen members of Congress having membership in the church in the early 2000s, and about 80% of Utah state lawmakers identifying as LDS.
This is a bibliography of works on the Latter Day Saint movement.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the first half of the 20th century, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
H. Michael Marquardt is an independent researcher of the Latter Day Saint movement.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1960s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1970s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1980s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the first decade of the 2000s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
{{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)(article that mentions Otterson)