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“I'm sure I'm a pain to the Mormon Church“

• Christian Fundamentalism

It's not easy work. Kurt Van Gorden's attempts to convert members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to his kind of Christianity in the shadow of its holiest site is met with stony silence and glares. He is often photographed by church security guards. And last spring, his efforts in Main Street Plaza -- owned by the church but with public walkways running through it -- even landed him in jail for an afternoon, though no charges were filed.

From an LA Times story about a Baptist pest in Salt Lake City: Do Mormon Rules Have a Place in Plaza?

Richard Evans Lee
November 23, 2002 •
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In your brief snip of the Los Angeles Times article, an important item was omitted, like the fact that I was arrested by Mormon Security guards while I was on a public easement. The Mormon Church violated the United States Constitution with their action, which was proven by the ruling in the 10th Circuit Federal Court. See http://www.ck10.uscourts.gov/circuit/01-4111.wpd for the decision, where every paragrpah of the Mormon judge, Ted Stewart, in Utah was overturned by the 10th Circit. The Mormon Church security guards violated my civil rights, which the 10th Circuit proved. When the LA Times reporter asked me, "Don't you think you are a pain in the butt to the Mormon Church?" I answered, "I am sure that they see it that way. I'm sure I am a pain to them. But don't they see how they are a pain to the United States Constitution?" As with most reporters I've met, they snip the question that led to the answer and print the answer as if it was pulled out of thin air, when in reality, it was only one part of an answer to a specific quesiton. I happen to be the civil rights chairman for our local chapter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s organization, Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Civil rights, whether racial, religious, or the free press, needs to be upheld by each of us. I was merely standing for my civil rights on the day of my arrest. I invite you to stand for the First Amendment in Salt Lake City with me. If you don't, then the Mormon Church will claim power to arrest you on a public sidewalk as they did me.

Posted by: Kurt Van Gorden | January 7, 2003 09:10 PM

"Mormon Security" guards have no authority to arrest. They are not police officers. If you were arrested, it was by a police officer. If you were arrested wrongfully, lets put blame where it belongs, with the police department. The most the guards could do is either escort you off the proprety or detain you for the police.

Posted by: Tristus | January 5, 2004 01:38 AM

Rev. Kurt Van Gorden is more than a pest. He is a fanatic. He believes he is the only way to God. Talk about a religious nut case. Seems the Baptists have become more like the KKK that they created years ago.

Posted by: Jim | January 30, 2004 11:38 PM

Now, here is another one I was listening to. From the Q&A session following Kurt Van Gorden's lecture on Mormonism at Calvary Chapel in Chino, California, on the first of June this year, I learned of John F. Kennedy's appearance in the St. George Temple. I'd never heard about that one before. I always thought it was some other presidents. I also discovered that Latter-day Saints view the words procreation and creation as synonyms. Among other things, this explains (he explained) how Mormon women in Utah introduce their families. These, they say, pointing to their children, are the children I created. Have you ever heard that? I have never in my life heard anything like that. I also learned that Latter-day Saint men have the option of resurrecting their wives--or not. Naturally, as Rev. Van Gorden explained, this puts LDS women in a "precarious position," for if a wife does not treat her husband well enough, he may be inclined to simply let her "lay in her grave and rot." Now, I really liked this. I immediately announced to my wife that I was never going to eat cooked carrots again. I don't like them, I'm tired of them, and she had better not put them on my plate. I learned of one case where a woman's father-in-law helped her in a certain point in the temple and, thus, without her agreement or prior knowledge, he acquired her as a plural wife in the life to come. The sealing ceremony that immediately followed didn't count because it was overruled by that. It's amazing doctrine. These are things I never learned in all my years of going to Church. So it's fun. You get a different perspective on things and get a deeper understanding of the gospel. I want to get up to that level where, as Ed Decker was once telling, you drink human blood out of human skull mugs in the Holy of Holies. I've never been introduced to that level, but I'm looking forward to it. ref: http://www.fair-lds.org/

Posted by: Ezek | January 30, 2004 11:54 PM

to Ezek: do you believe EVERYTHING you hear?

Posted by: sandy | April 21, 2004 04:51 PM

Hey Ezek, I got a good one for you too, did you know that we keep virgins hostage in the mormon temple too? the only way they know this is that one of them got away by jumping out of the window into the great salt lake and swimming away. she must have been quite an athlete.

Posted by: Squirm | April 22, 2004 10:48 PM

Tristus, we've seen Mormon guards use "citizen's arrest" on the homeless when they get too close to Temple Square's holy ground many times. You stand corrected, Mormon security guards have "authority to arrest" through the Utah's citizen's arrest code, which is what they use on the homeless and evangelicals, like Gordon. Mormon Security recently removed the Director of the ACLU by "force" and "threatened arrest" (see newspapers) when she was lecturing a class of school students on freedom at Temple Square. These Fundy Mormons hate the ACLU. You should search the Deseret News archives on "ACLU" and see how they pour their hatred out against anyone who stands up to them. I'm quite happy to see the ACLU stand up to them under the threat of arrest (or even Gordon), because it lets them know that Americans don't sleep while they do their freedom-crushing deeds.

Posted by: Salt Lake Atheist | June 3, 2004 07:36 PM

How do you feel?

Feel free to share your feelings about “I'm sure I'm a pain to the Mormon Church“. Please stick to the theme of the entry. Disagreement is fine. Homophobia, racism, and kindred expressions of hatred will be deleted. This site is one of my hobbies. I genuinely enjoy hearing from people and hate moderating or killing comments. Forthright disagreement is fine as long as it is civil.
My thanks,
Richard

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