On Yom Kippur
With today being Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Hebrew calendar, I would like to reflect on a very sacred experience that I had, and one that is very unique within Mormonism, although I was actually not yet a member of the Church when I had this...
Wandering in the Wilderness
It has now been 9 years since I first listened to the Mormon Stories podcast with Darius Gray and Margaret Young on blacks and the priesthood and temple ban. In it they put the priesthood ban into context of the surrounding culture. I learned that in the beginning,...
For the Cause of Righteousness: A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism 1830-2013
by Mike Barker Ah, yes. Race. We’ve all heard the aphorism, “Two things you never want to discuss are religion and politics.” For many whites, we want to add a third thing, “Don’t talk about issues of race.” But to be honest, we...
Does Joseph Smith Pass the Biblical Prophet Test?
I have always enjoyed scripture study. I was attempting to “feast on the words” of the Bible but it had always been difficult for me. There seemed to often be some bit of historical context I was missing, or certain passages that seemed to contradict Mormon doctrine....
We’re gonna need a bigger boat.
A couple of weeks ago when “the letter” was read in our ward, we stood up and walked out. We weren’t grandstanding or trying to cause trouble. But we are LGBT friends and allies, and having already read the letter, we knew it only served the cause of...LGBTQ Mormon Crisis
Two Printable handout for bishops and stake presidents that talks empirically about LGBTQ suicides:
The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide
Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis
The Barker Brothers’ Projects
These videos were created for Latter-day Saint parents and allies to voice their love for their LGBT brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They want to give a message of comfort and support to other parents who are navigating the difficult conflicts that can arise in families around this issue.
“Cogito!” (“I think!”) follows the intellectual adventures of a recovering academic outside the walls of academia.
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