NEW LEADERSHIP for the Mormon and Greek Orthodox churches.

MORMON CHURCH PRESIDENT Gordon Hinckley has died at age 97.

SHARPTON AT TEMPLE SQUARE

After making 'insensitive' remarks about Mormon Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Al Sharpton is now going through sensitivity training at Salt Lake City:

Sharpton's visit comes about two weeks after he made comments about presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a debate with an atheist author.

Sharpton said: "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation."

Romney later criticized Sharpton saying the comment could be construed as bigoted.

Sharpton, who urged the firing of radio host Don Imus after Imus's racially insensitive remarks, said his words were taken out of context.

Today, he's scheduled to meet with officials at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and tour the grounds of Temple Square.

It's all so surreal it really defies commentary.

MORMONISM MAINSTREAM?

Newsweek & the Washington Post have a joint blog 'On Faith', which explores the Mormonism as mainstream question in light of the PBS Frontline documentary. How does one define mainstream?

I recall Dr. Ed Harrell lecturing on Pentecostalism, his academic specialty, and discussing the reaction he received in grad school decades ago when he began studying it. His fellow students wondered why he would go to a Pentecostal tent revival rather than a 'mainstream' Episcopal service. Even then the handwriting was on the wall about the Episcopal Church.

Count the number of Mormons in the USA and the world, and compare it other religions. Of course, from a historical perspective, Mormonism is not 'mainstream' but rather created from whole cloth by Joseph Smith's imaginings. Still, can we say that when our Senate majority leader and a major Republican Presidential candidate are both Mormon that it is outside the mainstream of American life?

FRONTLINE ON THE MORMON CHURCH

PBS will be airing episodes on American Experience: The Mormons. They air tonight and tomorrow. The New York Times also has a review of the episodes. They appear to be well worth watching.

MORONI AS BARISTA, OR, CAN YOU TRADEMARK AN ANGEL?

Just Add Coffee, a coffee shop in Taylorsville, Utah, has run afoul of the Mormon church because of an ad showing the angel Moroni with coffee pouring into his horn:

T-shirts being sold at the coffee shop feature an image of the angel Moroni, the golden statue of a male figure in a robe blowing a trumpet that sits atop many LDS temples. In the Just Add Coffee version, Moroni's trumpet is angled upward as coffee from a pot is poured into it.
"It was a spoof," Beazer said. "It was meant to be fun."
It apparently didn't amuse the LDS Church, whose members are discouraged from drinking coffee.
In a letter sent to Beazer's home last week, the shop owner was informed that the image of Moroni is a registered trademark of the LDS Church. The letter also requested that Just Add Coffee discontinue use of the image in advertising campaigns.

Ah, well. I guess you can trademark an angel. Apparently the shop is discontinuing the shirts. It sounds like someone missed his morning cup.