Latest from Mormon Land: Will General Conference get political? It has happened before.

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General Conference and the general election

A month before the 2020 presidential election, perhaps sensing the tsunami of civic upheaval that would follow the November ballot count, senior apostle Dallin Oaks waded into choppy political waters.

“We will not participate in the violence threatened by those disappointed with the outcome,” Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice and next in line to lead the global faith, said at that October’s General Conference. “In a democratic society, we always have the opportunity and the duty to persist peacefully until the next election.”

Well, that next presidential election looms. And that has Wheat & Tares blogger Dave B. and others wondering whether Oaks — who returned to the subject in an Easter speech about the Constitution in April 2021 — or additional top church leaders will again address U.S. politics at this year’s Oct. 5-6 General Conference?

The blogger is betting that speakers will make some “brief mention” of this November’s showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — without naming them — and simply encourage members to “get out and vote for the candidate of their choice.”

But high-level church leaders have amped up their public voices on the political front in recent years.

The governing First Presidency warned last year against straight-ticket balloting, calling it a “threat to democracy.” Many observers viewed the statement as a reminder to typically Republican-leaning U.S. Latter-day Saints to consider backing Democrats and candidates from other parties.

And earlier this year, the church’s Utah Area Presidency urged members to vote for “those who have demonstrated integrity, ability and service to others, regardless of party affiliation.”

At worldwide conferences, of course, leaders of the global faith generally discuss global issues, so U.S. elections may not even merit lip service.

“The safest course is to say little or nothing,” writes the Wheat & Tares author. “On the other hand, what good are prophets, seers and revelators if they don’t address the big issues of the day? When the Constitution is hanging by a thread, don’t we expect LDS leaders to at least address it in conference?”

Then again, he argues, “liberal/Democratic listeners would hear ‘defend the Constitution by not letting Trump back into the White House,’ while conservative/Republican listeners would hear ‘elect Trump so he can defend the Constitution.’”

We’ll all find out in less than two weeks if any conference sermons tiptoe into this electoral minefield.

The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: High Holy Days

As fighting in the Middle East expands and worries of an all-out regional war rise, what extra meaning might come from the approaching Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). A Utah rabbi explains.

Listen to the podcast.

Helping hand in Haiti

The church donated $8 million to the United Nations’ World Food Program to help boost Haiti’s homegrown school meals project.

In this school year, the project plans to provide school meals to nearly half a million students, a news release notes, with 70% of the food coming from Haitian farms.

“The church continues to serve as an essential collaborator,” Barron Segar, World Food Program USA president and CEO, said in the release, “supporting WFP’s global operations during emergencies, while simultaneously stepping up to build community resilience.”

Kamala Harris targets Arizona Latter-day Saints

You could call it a gathering, albeit a political one.

Vice President Kamala Harris has established an advisory committee, The Associated Press reported, to court Arizona’s more than 440,000 Latter-day Saints as she pursues the White House.

While pundits expect most members, who together make up a reliably Republican voting bloc, to once again back the GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump, peeling away enough Latter-day Saints could shade the Grand Canyon State blue this fall — as happened four years ago.

“The Constitution is a tenet of our faith, and we certainly shouldn’t be voting for people who have shown a disdain for it,” Joel John, a former Republican state lawmaker who will serve as a co-chair of the committee, told the AP. “And we certainly shouldn’t be supporting someone who tried to overthrow it on Jan. 6.”

Church faces opposition in Florida

Florida activists, including a grassroots group called Save Orange County, are fighting the church’s push to have Orlando annex more than 52,000 of the faith’s 300,000 acres of area ranchland into the resort-rich city.

Opponents worry that developing the vast swath under looser city rules could strain taxpayers, damage the environment and threaten water supplies, reports WKMG, an Orlando TV station. Even so, the church’s proposal has cleared an initial hurdle with City Council members.

From The Tribune

• Two federal appellate courts are hearing arguments this week on two separate fraud lawsuits against the church’s tithing and financial practices. In one of the hearings, founder Joseph Smith, his “seer stone” and Book of Mormon translation were discussed.

• Utah has become a dream home for fantasy writers. Has the Book of Mormon, Latter-days Saints’ signature scripture, played a part?

• See what changes under church President Russell Nelson Latter-day Saints like most. (Hint: the most popular is a chip, of sorts, off the old block.)

• Lost in transformation: Preservationists lament the “gutting” of the Salt Lake Temple. For their part, church officials insist the massive, ongoing renovation “honors the past” while safeguarding and enhancing the future.

• Utah’s Deseret Peak Temple, one that the church relocated after running into community pushback, is open for public tours in advance of a Nov. 10 dedication.

The single-spired, three-story, 72,000-square-foot building will be the church’s 200th operating temple worldwide and the 21st in Utah, where seven more are planned or under construction. In addition, the Salt Lake Temple continues to undergo extensive renovations while the Space Age Provo Temple is being rebuilt.