Clash Between Evangelical and LDS Church's Claim on Main Street

January 5, 2003

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/jan/01052003/utah/utah.asp

On January 5, 2003 The Salt Lake Tribune reported that "Lonnie Pursifull and other evangelicals -- who say they are called to preach to and against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- want to be heard, too. They have placed themselves outside the LDS Temple on the Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City, sharing their faith, but also taking swipes against Mormon doctrine... In the months of sometimes-bitter Main Street Plaza discussions, relatively little has been said about the merits of the First Amendment or its importance in the LDS Church's religious practices and past... And the clash is about a street holy to both camps: Main Street is the historical, somewhat symbolic, birthplace of free-speech rights, and Salt Lake City's Main Street is the literal threshold to what Mormons consider some of their most sacred grounds."