To those in a faith crisis and their loved ones
As I browsed several posts from people just entering into the depth of their faith crisis, I felt moved to attempt to address them. There have been so very many posts doing the same thing, but hopefully this will be of some help to some of you struggling.
If garments don’t feel oppressive, are they?
I recently read the fantastic opinion piece by Mette Harrison via The Huffington Post entitled "If We Don't Feel Oppressed, Are We?" and it really hit home with me. When discussing matters that bothered me in the church, in particular the inequality of women and men...
Living on Flipped Mormon Standard Time
We’ve all heard the old American proverb, “The early bird gets the worm.” Well, if given the choice between being the early bird and the worm, I’d be the worm. And I think scripturally speaking; the worm has the upper edge on spirituality. Let me explain….. It doesn’t...
What He Wants.
Central to the worship and devotion of Mormon Church members is the ordinance of the sacrament in which we explicitly renew the covenant implicitly made at baptism. The covenant is implicit, because we do not verbally agree to specifically stated conditions at the...
Religion and Politics: 10 questions for 2016
I believe that we all have an obligation make sure our moral and ethical beliefs inform our politics.
Maybe God IS Racist
By the way, just as an aside, if you are looking for fair and balanced in this article, you have chosen to read one of my rare works where I am as biased as hell!
And if you don’t believe that hell is biased, listen to the product its admission representatives pitch. Those hellish employees never tell you what happens if you choose their product!
70: Spiritual Watering Holes Part 3
Hearing the voice of the Holy Ghost and feeling the spirit often present themselves as elusive experiences that we want to have but just can’t seem to grasp. In fact, when teaching the youth in my ward I asked the priests and laurels to rate their interest in about 20...
Introverts in an Extrovert’s World: A Review of “Quiet”
Sometimes I actually read books that are not Mormon History Books believe it or not and the latest one is about introverts. It is a book about people like me! The fact that Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking has become so...
One Believer’s Reactions to the CES Letter
“If the CES Letter has added value to your life, please pay it forward. Your support will allow us to continue to help the honest in heart seekers.” Such loaded language from the CES letter website gets my hackles up, but I’ll suppress them long enough to respond to...
We can do better (so it can get better)
It has been a little over a year since the murder of Michael Brown and one year exactly of the death of Darrien Hunt at the hands of Utah Police and we have seen the #BlackLivesMatter movement rise from the ashes of the gun smoke. I am ready to never see a hashtag...
Playing Defense
“We’re masters at refashioning emotional moments to build testimony. We dress up our kids in pioneer clothes and send them off on mini-treks so they can experience firsthand the sacrifice of being forced across the plains. Forget that most Mormon pioneers actually sang and danced their way to Zion…” – Greg Nelson discusses intentionally induced trauma bonding in the Mormon experience.
Nephi: Almost a Good Man
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Mark 10:18 Shortly after my mission I was teaching a Sunday School lesson on 1 Ne 17. Our Stake President had asked us all to memorize the Doctrine and Covenants 121:33-46,...
Joseph Smith’s Indictment for Adultery and Fornication
Joseph Smith’s Indictment for Adultery and Fornication: Some Answers but Many Questions On May 20, 1844, Nauvoo Stake President William Marks was subpoenaed and selected to serve on the grand jury of Hancock County. This Circuit Court was held twice a year, for two...
Review: Royal Skousen and Robin Scott Jensen, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 3: Parts 1-2, Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon
Review: Royal Skousen and Robin Scott Jensen, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 3: Parts 1-2, Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2015), Part 1, xxxvi+539 pp.; Part 2, 437 pp....
69: Top Ten Books on Mormon History – Religion of a Different Color
The only book dealing directly and only with the concept of race and racism in the list is a work published this year by Oxford University Press and written by W. Paul Reeve called Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. Elijah Able,...
Rejoicing With Those Who Leave
In the April General Conference, President Rosemary Wixom shared the story of a young mother who had left the Church. The woman did so not “because of bad behavior, spiritual apathy, looking for an excuse not to live the commandments, or searching for an easy out” but...
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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