190 years ago today - Feb 14, 1835
Wilford Woodruff writes in his journal: "was suddenly Called to a house of mourning which was Mr. Alexander Akeman's. He had walked out of his house and droped dead upon the ground. In a few moments all his Sons and daughters were present." In his later autobiography, Woodruff recalled the event thusly: " I was warned three times by the Lord, to go to Mr. Akeman, and bear testimony unto him of the truth of 'Mormonism,' and the wickedness of his course in opposing it; and the last time I called upon him, he was filled with wrath against me, and when I left his house, he followed me in a rage, apparently with some evil intent. When I had got a few rods from his door, he was nearly treading on my heels, and fell dead at my feet, as though he had been struck with lightning; he swelled, and immediately turned black. This created a great wailing and mourning among his family."
190 years ago today - Feb 14, 1835
The members of Zion's Camp are seated separately from the others. Chapter 15 of John is read. Joseph talks about calling of the Twelve. The three witnesses of the Book of Mormon pray, and choose 12 from the members of Zion's Camp: Lyman E. Johnson, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, David W. Patten, Luke S. Johnson, William E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, Orson Pratt, William Smith, Thomas B. Marsh, and Parley P. Pratt. Lyman E. Johnson, Brigham Young, and Heber C. Kimball are then set apart by the three witnesses, one witness each setting apart one apostle.
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
190 years ago today - Feb 14, 1835.
Smith prophesied that Orson Hyde would go to Jerusalem, and `by thy hands shall the Most High do a great work, which shall prepare the way and greatly facilitate the gathering of that people [i.e., the Jews].'
[Abanes, R., "One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church"]
[Abanes, R., "One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church"]
190 years ago today - 1835 Feb 14
Oliver Cowdery charges the newly ordained apostles: "It is necessary that you receive a testimony from heaven to yourselves; so that you can bear testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and that you have seen the face of God. That is more than the testimony of an angel. When the proper time arrives, you shall be able to bear this testimony to the world. When you bear testimony that you have seen God, this testimony God will never suffer to fall, but will bear you out; although many will not give heed, yet others will. You will therefore see the necessity of getting this testimony from heaven. Never cease striving until you have seen God face to face. Strengthen your faith; cast off your doubts, your sins, and all your unbelief; and nothing can prevent you from coming to God. Your ordination is not full and complete till God has laid his hand upon you. ... You have our best wishes, you have our most fervent prayers, that you may be able to bear this testimony, that you have
seen the face of God."
seen the face of God."
55 years ago today - Feb 13, 1970
CHRISTIANITY TODAY article: "Mormons Stand Pat; Forbid Black Males to Become Priests".
65 years ago today - Feb 13, 1960
[J. Reuben Clark]
President [BYU] Wilkinson called me on February 12, 1960 (in the evening, as I recall) and brought up several matters, as follows (this is not the order in which he brought them up, but the order in which I jotted them down afterwards): ...
2. Junior Colleges. I said that we were much interested in that, but I was tremendously interested in it personally because of the enormous expense that was involved in the junior college program. I suggested that he go a bit slow on that, thought he is, as I assume, preparing to discuss it with the Presidency. ...
4. " Dope Ring:" We discussed the question, which was the first one brought up, of the "dope ring" in the school down there and the information which had come to us. I told him that in talking to him I was not pretending to say how the Brethren felt nor what might be done, but that personally I was extremely anxious that we should not put ourselves where we could be accused, however unjustly, of sanctioning or failing to go forward where criminal conduct was involved, and therefore I felt that we should, as soon as the facts justified it, call in the Federal authorities.
I repeatedly said in this conclusion I was only representing myself and certainly not Brother Moyle because he was looking at it from the standpoint of the public prosecutor, to which Brother Ernest immediately replied, that as a public prosecutor, he could determine whether or not we could prosecute, but that we were not in that position. In this connection he referred to the stealing in the Temple which he knew we had been soft-pedalling, and I said, personally, my feeling was much the same there. I said that all soft pedalling seemed to me to be entirely out of place and seemed to me unwise where we had called in civil authorities to make an investigation where they wished to prosecute.
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
President [BYU] Wilkinson called me on February 12, 1960 (in the evening, as I recall) and brought up several matters, as follows (this is not the order in which he brought them up, but the order in which I jotted them down afterwards): ...
2. Junior Colleges. I said that we were much interested in that, but I was tremendously interested in it personally because of the enormous expense that was involved in the junior college program. I suggested that he go a bit slow on that, thought he is, as I assume, preparing to discuss it with the Presidency. ...
4. " Dope Ring:" We discussed the question, which was the first one brought up, of the "dope ring" in the school down there and the information which had come to us. I told him that in talking to him I was not pretending to say how the Brethren felt nor what might be done, but that personally I was extremely anxious that we should not put ourselves where we could be accused, however unjustly, of sanctioning or failing to go forward where criminal conduct was involved, and therefore I felt that we should, as soon as the facts justified it, call in the Federal authorities.
I repeatedly said in this conclusion I was only representing myself and certainly not Brother Moyle because he was looking at it from the standpoint of the public prosecutor, to which Brother Ernest immediately replied, that as a public prosecutor, he could determine whether or not we could prosecute, but that we were not in that position. In this connection he referred to the stealing in the Temple which he knew we had been soft-pedalling, and I said, personally, my feeling was much the same there. I said that all soft pedalling seemed to me to be entirely out of place and seemed to me unwise where we had called in civil authorities to make an investigation where they wished to prosecute.
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
80 years ago today - Feb 13, 1945
"Saturation-bombing" of Dresden, Germany, a non-military cultural target with no heavy industry and no bomb shelters, but with a P.O.W. camp of Americans. Planned by England in revenge for a similar Nazi raid on Coventry five years earlier, waves of British and U.S. bombers continue pounding Dresden throughout the next day (Ash Wednesday) in order to create hurricane-like "firestorms." The inner city is completely incinerated, including the LDS branch house which is "destroyed right down to the cellar," while the air raid kills 250,000 people. Most are women and children refugees who double Dresden's population due to its being a safe-haven during the years of Allied bombings elsewhere. One survivor is Dorthea Speth, wife of Spencer J. Condie, current general authority.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database ( http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase )]]
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database ( http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase )]]
135 years ago today - Feb 13, 1890
At Manti Temple. I was endowed for my Uncle Thomas Wilson, and Emma for his wife, Aunt Mary Emily Wilson, and [we] were sealed for them. After that ordinance I and my wife Emma had the great privilege of receiving our second anointings at the hands of President Daniel H. Wells and shortly after I and my wife administered to each the ordinance of washing of feet.
[Thomas Memmott journal, Feb. 13, 1890 as quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
[Thomas Memmott journal, Feb. 13, 1890 as quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
145 years ago today - Feb 13, 1880
[John Taylor]
.... In regard to the three couples of young people, who have lately been married and desire their endowments and to be sealed, I would state that these things are not according to the order which has long been established among us. Some time ago when the Endowment House was closed, it was permitted, under the circumstances that then existed, for persons desirous to be married to have the ceremony performed by certain parties appointed in this City for that purpose; and, under instructions, the Bishops, in some instances, were permitted to officiate in that ordinance. This was done, however, as a matter of necessity, and is not in accordance with the order of the Holy Priesthood, and it was expected, and the parties were so informed, that as soon as the ordinances could be attended to properly, that all parties, thus married, would have to be sealed, either in the Temple or in the Endowment House. This state of things continued for a short time, when the Council [of the Twelve], on
deliberation upon the subject, concluded that it was proper to re-open the Endowment House that these ordinances might be attended to properly. That House has now been opened for some two years, hence you will perceive that all ordinances performed, since that time, in the manner indicated by you, are out of place and should not be performed and cannot be tolerated, except under peculiar circumstances, and by instructions from the proper authorities; for we must maintain intact those sacred principles which God has committed to us. In the case of one young man, which you refer to, it might be excusable, but still we ought to have been consulted in the matter. However, we will let these things pass on this occasion, but hope there will not be a recurrence of this nature in the future; and if you will inform those brethren, and they come properly recommended, the matter can be attended to as per your request.
[John Taylor to Leonard E. Harrington, Feb. 13, 1880 as quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
.... In regard to the three couples of young people, who have lately been married and desire their endowments and to be sealed, I would state that these things are not according to the order which has long been established among us. Some time ago when the Endowment House was closed, it was permitted, under the circumstances that then existed, for persons desirous to be married to have the ceremony performed by certain parties appointed in this City for that purpose; and, under instructions, the Bishops, in some instances, were permitted to officiate in that ordinance. This was done, however, as a matter of necessity, and is not in accordance with the order of the Holy Priesthood, and it was expected, and the parties were so informed, that as soon as the ordinances could be attended to properly, that all parties, thus married, would have to be sealed, either in the Temple or in the Endowment House. This state of things continued for a short time, when the Council [of the Twelve], on
deliberation upon the subject, concluded that it was proper to re-open the Endowment House that these ordinances might be attended to properly. That House has now been opened for some two years, hence you will perceive that all ordinances performed, since that time, in the manner indicated by you, are out of place and should not be performed and cannot be tolerated, except under peculiar circumstances, and by instructions from the proper authorities; for we must maintain intact those sacred principles which God has committed to us. In the case of one young man, which you refer to, it might be excusable, but still we ought to have been consulted in the matter. However, we will let these things pass on this occasion, but hope there will not be a recurrence of this nature in the future; and if you will inform those brethren, and they come properly recommended, the matter can be attended to as per your request.
[John Taylor to Leonard E. Harrington, Feb. 13, 1880 as quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
70 years ago today - Feb 12, 1955
President David O. McKay broke ground for Church College of Hawaii.
[Ludlow, Daniel H. editor, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Macmillan Publishing, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 4, Appendix 2: A Chronology of Church History, http://amzn.to/eG0DIp]
[Ludlow, Daniel H. editor, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Macmillan Publishing, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 4, Appendix 2: A Chronology of Church History, http://amzn.to/eG0DIp]
120 years ago today - Feb 12, 1905
Carl A. Badger, secretary to Apostle and U.S. Senator Reed Smoot writes in his diary that Theodore Roosevelt-"told Senator Smoot to have the temple ceremonies abolished, they were 'foolishness.' Being a mason," Badger adds, "He most likely knows something about them." Badger also writes, "from all I can learn, if anything is done with Cowley and Taylor, by the leaders of the Church, it will be because they are forced to do something." The government had learned that Apostles Matthias F. Cowley and John W. Taylor have performed and contracted plural marriages well after the manifesto. They are later dropped from the quorum amid government pressure. That same day Badger writes to his wife, Rose, concerning government accusations of post-manifesto polygamy "This is a contemptible attitude for us to be in, we have said that certain things do not exist, they are proved to exist; we say that if they are proved to exist that the guilty will be punished, and now they are going to wait to
see if we mean what we say.... We are occupying a cowardly, hypocritical attitude in this matter, and cannot but reap a harvest of humiliation and shame. There is no use quibbling about whether we made a 'compact' or a 'covenant,' no one doubts but what the country, which had been fighting us on this issue for a quarter of a century, understood that polygamy had gone, and we allowed them to have such an impression,-encouraged them in it for our own ends, and we are now estopped to say that we made no agreement. Where is our honor on this matter It makes me angry."
see if we mean what we say.... We are occupying a cowardly, hypocritical attitude in this matter, and cannot but reap a harvest of humiliation and shame. There is no use quibbling about whether we made a 'compact' or a 'covenant,' no one doubts but what the country, which had been fighting us on this issue for a quarter of a century, understood that polygamy had gone, and we allowed them to have such an impression,-encouraged them in it for our own ends, and we are now estopped to say that we made no agreement. Where is our honor on this matter It makes me angry."
125 years ago today - Feb 12, 1900 (Monday)
The sectarian ministers of Salt Lake City issued a statement supporting a proposed amendment to the constitution prohibiting polygamy.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
155 years ago today - Feb 12, 1870
Utah's women were given the right to vote by the Utah Territorial Legislature, following the lead of their sister-state Wyoming. Due to timing of election dates women in Utah were the first in the nation to exercise this new power when Sereph Young votes on Feb 14, 1870.
The Church gave to its women the first exclusively women's organization in all the world; and it was representatives of this organization in mass-meeting assembled to enter their vigorous protest against the pending federal legislation which was intended to affect them seriously in their lives. Note that the Relief Society President used to be a life-long office. Not all Mormon women were members of the Relief Society; you had to be admitted by a vote.
Easterners concerned with breaking up the Mormon political control wrongly thought by giving women the right to vote they would throw off the tyrannical shackles of patriarchal polygamy and join with local nonmembers in removing Church influence in politics. Instead, the Church had correctly assessed that giving the women the right to vote, while their husbands were disenfranchised, would keep the church in control of the territory (as opposed to ceding control to the non-members in Utah.)
Utah women had the right to vote, but not the right to hold office. Female suffrage was ended in Utah by the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887.
[Tungate, Mel, Mormon Polygamy, http://www.tungate.com/polygamy.htm]
The Church gave to its women the first exclusively women's organization in all the world; and it was representatives of this organization in mass-meeting assembled to enter their vigorous protest against the pending federal legislation which was intended to affect them seriously in their lives. Note that the Relief Society President used to be a life-long office. Not all Mormon women were members of the Relief Society; you had to be admitted by a vote.
Easterners concerned with breaking up the Mormon political control wrongly thought by giving women the right to vote they would throw off the tyrannical shackles of patriarchal polygamy and join with local nonmembers in removing Church influence in politics. Instead, the Church had correctly assessed that giving the women the right to vote, while their husbands were disenfranchised, would keep the church in control of the territory (as opposed to ceding control to the non-members in Utah.)
Utah women had the right to vote, but not the right to hold office. Female suffrage was ended in Utah by the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887.
[Tungate, Mel, Mormon Polygamy, http://www.tungate.com/polygamy.htm]
165 years ago today - Feb 12, 1860
[Orson Pratt] spoke of the great acheivments of Sir Isaac Newton upon this principle and many others had accomplished great things by the great Concentration of the mind which Could not be accomplished upon any other Principle. This principle should be applyled in all our spiritual devotions. Mathimatics was an excellent subject to disipline the mind upon.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
185 years ago today - Feb 12, 1840. Wednesday.
[William Clayton]
Went to see Brother Romney and prayed for him. Was troubled with temptation about the gift of tongues &c.
[George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://amzn.to/william-clayton]
Went to see Brother Romney and prayed for him. Was troubled with temptation about the gift of tongues &c.
[George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://amzn.to/william-clayton]
195 years ago today - Feb 12, 1830
[Lucius Fenn]
"... there has been a bible found by 3 men but a short distance from us which is som[e]thing remarkable we think. there was it is said an an angel appeared to these 3 men and told them that there was a bible concealed in such a place and if one of them would go to that place he would find it[.] he went and found as the angel said[.] it was a stone chest[.] what is most to be wondered at is this that the man that found it could not read at all in the english language but he read this bible and nobody else cannot[.] it has been concealed there for fourteen hundred years[.] it is written on a kind of gold leaf[.] it is the same that ours is only there is an addition to it[.] they are a printing it in Palmyra[.] it is expected that it <<will>> come out soon so that we can see it[.] it speaks of the Millenniam day and tells when it is a going to take plais [place] and it tells that the man that is to find this bible his name as [is] Joseph and his fathers name is Joseph. some people
think that it is all a speculation and some think that som[e]thing is a going to take place different from what has been[.] for my part I do not know how it will be but it is som[e]thing singular to me. as it respects religion there has been considerable of an attention paid to it this winter between these lakes and there has been considerable many as we humbly hope have been renewed by the grace of God[.] there is a general solemnity apon the people generally in these parts and we hope that there will be a gre[a]ter outpouring of the spirit than ever[.] so now you see I have given you short account of what is a doing here. ... "
[Lucius Fenn to Birdseye Bronson, 12 February 1830, William Robertson Coe Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Lucius Fenn To Birdseye Bronson]
"... there has been a bible found by 3 men but a short distance from us which is som[e]thing remarkable we think. there was it is said an an angel appeared to these 3 men and told them that there was a bible concealed in such a place and if one of them would go to that place he would find it[.] he went and found as the angel said[.] it was a stone chest[.] what is most to be wondered at is this that the man that found it could not read at all in the english language but he read this bible and nobody else cannot[.] it has been concealed there for fourteen hundred years[.] it is written on a kind of gold leaf[.] it is the same that ours is only there is an addition to it[.] they are a printing it in Palmyra[.] it is expected that it <<will>> come out soon so that we can see it[.] it speaks of the Millenniam day and tells when it is a going to take plais [place] and it tells that the man that is to find this bible his name as [is] Joseph and his fathers name is Joseph. some people
think that it is all a speculation and some think that som[e]thing is a going to take place different from what has been[.] for my part I do not know how it will be but it is som[e]thing singular to me. as it respects religion there has been considerable of an attention paid to it this winter between these lakes and there has been considerable many as we humbly hope have been renewed by the grace of God[.] there is a general solemnity apon the people generally in these parts and we hope that there will be a gre[a]ter outpouring of the spirit than ever[.] so now you see I have given you short account of what is a doing here. ... "
[Lucius Fenn to Birdseye Bronson, 12 February 1830, William Robertson Coe Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Lucius Fenn To Birdseye Bronson]
15 years ago today - Jan 11, 2010
Two gay and lesbian couples are at the center of a federal trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8 in San Francisco. The trial, the nation's first to examine if a ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution, was a media madhouse.
[Prop 8 Timeline, NBC San Diego, http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/politics/Proposition-8-Timeline-History-California--138796454.html]
[Prop 8 Timeline, NBC San Diego, http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/politics/Proposition-8-Timeline-History-California--138796454.html]
35 years ago today - Feb 11, 1990-Sunday
[Leonard Arrington]
.... next to the last page of the book [David S. Hoopes and Ray Hoopes, The Making of a Mormon Apostle: The Story of Rudger Clawson] are some comments on Mormonism. Here is one: "Mormonism as a belief system does not foster the questioning mind. In most of the world's religions, there is a realm of mysticism or avenues of thought where religious beliefs can be adapted to individual needs. Mormonism has few if any such avenues."
This has not been my experience. I would say that my spirit of questioning arose from my Mormonism. Questions in Sunday School, in MIA [Mutual Improvement Association], in Priesthood quorums. Far more questioning than in school, where we were supposed to accept what the teacher said. And I have possessed a questioning spirit all my life and have never found it to conflict with my Mormonism. On the contrary, it led to my writing books and articles that, if they did not betray a questioning spirit, at least were the result of the pursuit of facts and meaning. The very first book I read on Mormon history, when I was 15, was Joseph Smith, An American Prophet, by John Henry Evans, which was given to me as a birthday present by Bertha Mae Thurgood Hansen, a neighbor. The book portrays Joseph Smith as a person with an open mind, a questioning mind, a person in pursuit of education and knowledge. I accepted this as representing the spirit of Mormonism, and still hold to it. This is
the way I have always looked at Joseph Smith in a favorable light and still do. The authors of the biography of Clawson then go on to quote [paraphrase] J. Reuben Clark that religious faith cannot be rationalized. Well, I have come to the entirely opposite conclusion. Not only can religious faith be rationalized, but it ought to be; every attempt should be made to rationalize it. It can be, without damage to the faith, and it ought to be to keep one's faith from degenerating into fanaticism, mental unbalance, incoherence, and unsoundness. Well, that's my testimony for the day. I react against those who see Mormonism as discouraging thought, reason, and intellectuality. I don't see it that way, although there are certainly some Mormons-those of little faith from my point of view-who join in that. Most of them, I think, are in the College of Religious Studies at BYU, though even most of them are not in the anti-intellectual camp.
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
.... next to the last page of the book [David S. Hoopes and Ray Hoopes, The Making of a Mormon Apostle: The Story of Rudger Clawson] are some comments on Mormonism. Here is one: "Mormonism as a belief system does not foster the questioning mind. In most of the world's religions, there is a realm of mysticism or avenues of thought where religious beliefs can be adapted to individual needs. Mormonism has few if any such avenues."
This has not been my experience. I would say that my spirit of questioning arose from my Mormonism. Questions in Sunday School, in MIA [Mutual Improvement Association], in Priesthood quorums. Far more questioning than in school, where we were supposed to accept what the teacher said. And I have possessed a questioning spirit all my life and have never found it to conflict with my Mormonism. On the contrary, it led to my writing books and articles that, if they did not betray a questioning spirit, at least were the result of the pursuit of facts and meaning. The very first book I read on Mormon history, when I was 15, was Joseph Smith, An American Prophet, by John Henry Evans, which was given to me as a birthday present by Bertha Mae Thurgood Hansen, a neighbor. The book portrays Joseph Smith as a person with an open mind, a questioning mind, a person in pursuit of education and knowledge. I accepted this as representing the spirit of Mormonism, and still hold to it. This is
the way I have always looked at Joseph Smith in a favorable light and still do. The authors of the biography of Clawson then go on to quote [paraphrase] J. Reuben Clark that religious faith cannot be rationalized. Well, I have come to the entirely opposite conclusion. Not only can religious faith be rationalized, but it ought to be; every attempt should be made to rationalize it. It can be, without damage to the faith, and it ought to be to keep one's faith from degenerating into fanaticism, mental unbalance, incoherence, and unsoundness. Well, that's my testimony for the day. I react against those who see Mormonism as discouraging thought, reason, and intellectuality. I don't see it that way, although there are certainly some Mormons-those of little faith from my point of view-who join in that. Most of them, I think, are in the College of Religious Studies at BYU, though even most of them are not in the anti-intellectual camp.
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
40 years ago today - Feb 11, 1985
In a vote taken by residents of Carriage Cove Apartments in Provo, Utah, 221 tenants said "yes" to MTV. Only 167 voted "no," 188 didn't vote, and 4 said they didn't care. Four bishops had banded together to stop MTV availability in various off-campus BYU-approved housing complexes. Before the vote Bishop Leo Wiedner (also Carriage Cove's part-owner and manager), confident that BYU students will vote MTV down, says, "I think I pretty well know how it's going to turn out." At nearby Raintree Apartments a non-secret poll is taken at the bishop's request by manager Hyde Taylor. 27% return the polling letter with 13% against MTV and 14% in favor. Taylor concludes this is insufficient to restore MTV. The story is picked up by the national media and Weidner and Raintree Apartment bishop Jack Christensen appear on "Take Two" TV program from Salt Lake City to defend their actions. Christianson is the author of MUSIC: APPLES OR ONIONS?, a book that defends the LDS church position that hard
or "acid" rock music is harmful. Part of the research for this book involved listening to such rock groups as "Black Sabbath," and, he claims, such listening adversely affected him. "I was not as happy as I used to be," he recalls. "I was ornery and disagreeable." However, he adds, "Just because people don't have the same high standards I'm trying to uphold, I don't think less of them."
or "acid" rock music is harmful. Part of the research for this book involved listening to such rock groups as "Black Sabbath," and, he claims, such listening adversely affected him. "I was not as happy as I used to be," he recalls. "I was ornery and disagreeable." However, he adds, "Just because people don't have the same high standards I'm trying to uphold, I don't think less of them."
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