Mormons in the USA

The PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life just released a study titled A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S. which has some very interesting facts about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Mormons").

Key findings:

• Mormons make up 1.7% of the American adult population, a proportion that is comparable in size to the U.S. Jewish population.


• The Mormon population in the U.S. is heavily concentrated in the West (76%). In fact, roughly one-third of all American Mormons (35%) live in Utah, the state founded by its early leaders. An additional 13% live in California while 7% reside in Idaho, 5% in Nevada and 4% each in Oregon and Arizona.


• Mormons make up 58% of Utah's population.


• As a group, Mormons are among the most devout and conservative religious people in the country.


• Mormons tend to be slightly younger than the general population. Two-thirds (66%) are under age 50, compared with 59% of the public as a whole.


• A majority of Mormons are women (56%), although women make up more than half of other major Christian traditions as well.


• Nearly three-quarters of Mormons (71%) are married, compared with 54% among the general population.


• Mormons (83%) and Hindus (90%) are the most likely of all the major religious traditions to be married to someone of the same faith.


• Nearly nine-in-ten Mormons in the U.S. (86%) are white, compared with 71% of the general population. Just 3% of US Mormons are African-American and 7% are Latino.


• Mormons are significantly more likely than the population overall to have some college education. 61% have at least some college education, compared with half of the overall population. However, the proportion of Mormons who graduate from college (18%) or receive postgraduate education (10%) is similar to the population as a whole (16% and 11%, respectively).


• US converts to the Church tend to be older than lifelong Mormons. 48% are over age 50, compared with 29% lifelong members. Converts also tend to be less educated than nonconverts (16% did not graduate from high school, compared with just 6% of lifelong members) and they earn decidedly lower incomes (40% make less than $30,000 a year, compared with 21% among nonconverts).


• US converts are more likely than lifelong members to come from minority racial and ethnic groups. One-in-ten converts to Mormonism are black. An additional one-in-ten are Hispanic. Just 72% are white; by contrast, 91% of lifelong Mormons are white.


• Converts also are less likely than lifelong members to be married (64% vs. 74%)


• Mormons are remarkably observant in their religious practices, with three-quarters attending church and reading Scripture outside of services at least once a week and more than eight-in-ten praying daily.

A better understanding of ourselves and how others view us can help as we share the gospel with others.

Read more details from the PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life about demographics, Religious Beliefs and Practices, and Social and Political Views.

A Woman and Her Car

This is an unusual love story involving an 89-year-old woman and her beloved Chariot. The two have been together for decades and traveled more than 540,000 miles across this nation's highways and side streets.

Charitable Giving - Knowing What is in Someone's Heart

A representative of the Red Cross knocked on the door of the richest man in town. She said, “Our research shows that you make ten million dollars a year but don’t give a penny to charity. Wouldn’t you like to make a generous donation?”

The rich man replied, “Did you know that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?” Embarrassed, the Red Cross worker mumbled, “Um . . . no.”

The rich man interrupted, “Or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?” The stricken Red Cross worker tearfully tried to express regrets, but the lawyer interrupted again, “Or that my sister’s husband died suddenly in an accident, leaving her penniless with three children?” The humiliated Red Cross worker cried, “I had no idea!”

The rich man continued, adding, “So if I don’t give any money to them, why should I give any to you?”

Covenant Eyes: Freedom from Pornography

I've blogged previously about resources in overcoming pornography. Here's another great program that I think has merit.

Surveys show at least 70% of men and 21% of women struggle with online pornography. Covenant Eyes is a Christian-based program to help your family stay clear of pornography. The strength of the program is that it combines filtering with a system of accountability.

"I have made a covenant with my eyes." Job 31:1

Covenant Eyes Accountability Software

Integrity is who you are and what you do when you are alone.

Escape the temptation by removing the secrecy of the Internet. Accountability software develops integrity by monitoring and reporting all Web activity to an Accountability Partner of your choice. The reports score Web sites to easily identify mature Web addresses, searches, and links.

I think the strength of Covenant Eyes is its accountability system. You identify an Accountability Partner--someone to whom you give permission to help you stand strong. It’s someone you trust because they genuinely care for you. Because the allure of temptation is strongest when no one is looking, an Accountability Partner helps defeat temptation’s pull by looking over your shoulder when you’re on the Internet.

Covenant Eyes Filtering

Their full-featured filter may be used with the accountability service or by itself. You can choose which services are used by each person in your family: accountability, filtering, or both.

I've studied several programs, and for $7.95 a month, I think this is one of the strongest. If you decide you want to try Covenant Eyes, you can use the promocode saints to receive the first 30 days free.

For more information, read this brochure.

Green Toilets

Here's an example of talking conservation perhaps a little too far. [This information courtesy of The Toilet Paper blog.]

This toilet was recently featured on EcoGeek. The idea here is that, after using the toilet, you wash your hands in the little basin that sits on the back of your toilet. The water helps refill the tank for the next time you flush.

Toilets like these are common in Japan because of how they conserve water and space. But even though I like the idea of saving water and reusing, I feel awkward about (1) straddling the toilet seat to wash my hands, and (2) washing my hands in the same place where I just relieved myself. Even though I know that, technically, the water is clean, still my inner sense of hygiene calls for some, if nominal, degree of separation.

Baby Moon Walk

Pioneer Video

Watch a special Mormon Messages video, "Pioneers: Followers of Jesus Christ." In this video, Elder Dallin H. Oaks pays tribute to modern-day pioneers who faithfully follow Jesus Christ.

Wearable Mobile Computers

Earlier this year at the TED conference, Pattie Maes from the MIT Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group showcased a prototype of a next-generation wearable computer interface that allows people to display and interact with the Web on any surface - including the human body. The video below shows the system's main developer taking photographs with his hands, calling up Amazon review data onto the cover of a physical book, displaying information about a person he's just met on the person's t-shirt, and calling someone by inputting a phone number onto the palm of his hand.

In the presentation, Pattie Maes refers to this system as a "sixth sense" because it gives you seamless, easy access to information about objects and people you encounter. It removes several manual steps from the process of receiving relevant, contextual information. It's a MicroSoft Surface Table without the table.



The possibilities are mind-boggling. Read a great review at ReadWriteWeb.

99 Cents Could Buy A House

Your 99 cents could help Alex Boye' buy a home for a refugee family.

Alex just sent me this message:

"I am a member of the Tab choir living in SLC. I am also a musician, and am donating 100% all the proceeds from my first single release to buy a home for a refugee family in my friends branch. (He is the Branch President of the first refugee ward in Utah).

"I am trying to get the word out to as many people as possible to download my single (For just 99 cents) on the 21st July. I have been getting some press in the local area, but would love to get the message out worldwide.

"Getting the word out to as many people as you have may just help this dream of me getting this buying this house for them a reality."

Read more on his Facebook page.

Farmer Builds Model of Biblical Temple

A retired farmer has spent more than 30 years building an enormous scale model of Herod's temple - and it is still not finished.

See the incredible pictures and learn more about why he did it.

Ducks or Eagles?

No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.

It said: Wally's Mission Statement: "To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment."

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.
He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It . Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle.. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy.. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call.. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop
quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Smile, and the whole world smiles with you... The ball is in our hands!

A man/woman reaps what he/she sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.... let us do good to all people.

Ducks Quack (and waddle), Eagles Soar (and glide)

Charitable Giving

It seems that America is moving away from personal charity toward a system of having the government handle it. When we turn individual acts of charity into government programs, it becomes fake charity. It’s much more meaningful when we give food or money directly to a needy person rather than having a set amount deducted from our paychecks for a vague program where the giver never sees the person who receives.

The government shouldn’t decide who is deserving of help; that should be a personal decision.

When government forces you to provide specified "community service" as a condition of a student loan, that's work-for-hire, not community service.

Our government leaders should set the example. Here's how our recent leaders stack up in personal charitable donations:

• President Obama donated $240,000 to charity last year (5.7% of his income).
• Vice-President Biden gave a measly $369 per year (0.2% of his income) over the past 10 years.
• Vice President Al Gore gave only $353 in 1997.
• Vice President Dick Cheney donated $209,832 (1% of his income).
• Candidate John McCain gave $202,000 (25% of his income) in 2006 and 2007.
• President George W. Bush gave $75,560 (12%) in 2005 and about half that much in 1991-3.
• Candidate John Kerry's gave $0 in 1995, $2,039 in 1994, $175 in 1993, $820 in 1992, and $0 in 1991.

Our leaders seem eager to be charitable with tax payers' money, but rather stingy with their own money.

President Obama wants to discourage personal charitable giving by reducing tax deductions for personal charitable donations. That doesn't make sense.

Baby Break Dance

Read the Book Common Sense

I just finished reading Glenn Beck's new book Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, inspired by Thomas Paine's original book.

It makes a lot of sense.

Evian Roller Babies

Damien Walters: Superhero

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

25 Things I Hate About Facebook

Watch this fun video 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

8th Of July

Today is the 8th of July. What is so different about the 8th of July this year?

At five minutes and six seconds after 4:00 AM on the 8th of July this year, the time and date will be

04:05:06 07/08/09

This will never happen again.

Global Warming: Truth vs. Politics

True or false?

1. Scientists have accurate historical temperature data. (Can we really predict future temperatures based on a relatively few years of reliable data?)

2. Temperature trends are meaningful and can be extrapolated. (Depending on the beginning & ending points you pick, you can prove that the earth's temperature has heated up 0.72 °C, 1.05 °C, or 1.87 °C over the last century.)

3. The IPCC (upon which the US government is basing its public policy) is a reliable authority and its reports are both correct and widely endorsed by credible scientists. (Lots of political influence by environmental activists. If you know beforehand what you want to prove, you can find data to back it up. Some scientists don't dare contradict the IPCC because it exerts powerful influence on the direction and funding of scientific research. Also, see video below.)

4. Al Gore asserts that sea levels will soon rise 6 meters. (The IPCC report itself says sea-levels have risen naturally in the past climate up to 7 m (23 ft) above today’s levels, and that would only be likely to happen again after several thousand years. In the next 100 years, sea levels may rise 2.5 inches.)

5. Peer-reviewed papers are true and accurate. (Studies were not replicated, nor did all the authors even reveal all their data for review.)

6. Human emissions of carbon dioxide have a greater effect on global warming than the sun's emissions. (Scientists say that CO2 enrichment would only account for perhaps 1 °F of global temperature increase over 100 years. Mars, Jupiter, Neptune’s largest moon, and Pluto all warmed at the same time as Earth warmed--that wasn't due to humans and CO2. In the past 70 years, the sun has been more active than at almost any other time in the past 11,400 years.)

I could go on, but you can read more for yourself at sites like the Science and Public Policy Web site. You may be interested in reading 35 serious scientific errors or exaggerations in Al Gore's movie.

Are we really sure we should be spending trillions of dollars of public funding to stop global warming? Do really think man's puny efforts can turn around the earth's natural cycles?

Are we sure the earth is really warming?

Many scientists say that global warming halted ten years ago, and surface temperature has been falling for seven years. Not one of the computer models relied upon by the IPCC predicted so long and rapid a cooling.

The article "Another Ice Age?" in the Jun. 24, 1974 issue of Time magazine and the article "The Cooling World" in the April 28, 1975 issue of Newsweek magazine both reflected the common belief at the time that the globe was cooling. Now 35 years later, we say we were wrong and it's warming? How long before we believe again that there is a cooling crisis?

Sources of information on global cooling:

• Man-made Global Cooling
• Blogs about Global Cooling
• Evidence of Global Cooling
• Experts Warn of Global Cooling
• Will Widespread Global Cooling Reports Freeze Al Gore Media Credibility?
• Al Gore sued by over 30,000 Scientists for Global Warming fraud (the suit is lead by the man who founded The Weather Channel)

LDSMediaTalk on Facebook

The LDSMediaTalk blog how has a page on Facebook. See the discussion tab to share ideas on what you'd like to see on LDSMediaTalk. Become a fan to receive periodic updates.

The Senility Prayer

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

What Freedoms Are You Grateful For?

Proud to be an American

Treatments for Flu

The Centers for Disease Control have just issued guidelines on the differences in treatment for the N1H1 (Swine Flu) compared with treatments given previously for the Bird Flu:

• For the Bird Flu, doctors provided a tweetment.
• For Swine Flu, doctors should give you an oinkment.

The Smell of Rain

I love this story about a premature baby who survives against odds, and years later mentions that God smells like rain. This is a true story.