It's Thursday, April 14, 2022.

I'm Albert Molar, and this is the briefing, a daily analysis of news and events

from a Christian worldview.

Theology is often in the headlines, at least a part of what we try to cover on the briefing,

is the fact that theology is basically always there under the headline if not explicitly in the headline.

There are theological worldview issues always at stake.

But sometimes the theology at stake is not the theology of historic biblical Christianity.

Sometimes it's a very different theology and that was the case with recent headlines

about the twice annual conference of the Mormons. That would be the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints by their official designation and this meeting, no

surprise, was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. And the meeting did make headlines. The headline, as was published in a story

from the Associated Press. The edition I saw was in the Orange County Register from California.

The headline is, temperature lowered on the hot button issues.

Very interesting.

As you place Mormonism in the American religious landscape,

just in terms of, say, liberal conservative conservative issues most people would almost immediately

say the Mormons belong on the conservative side of the ledger.

You look at Mormon-dominated states they tend to be red states. You look at Mormon theology, and we'll talk

more about that in just a moment, you're looking at a particular theology of

the family that insinuates or would certainly imply a very conservative

understanding of many issues. You take same-sex marriage, it is not

imaginable in the current Mormon theology. But as you're looking at

...