Religious Freedom, Our Founding Fathers and Marriage Equality
We all learned in elementary school that the Pilgrims came to America so that they could practice their religion without persecution. They were willing to put up with hardships as they left their homes and countries in order to live their religion. We take great pride...
Why God Allowed Gays to Marry
It's been a wild and crazy week! Even though states have been legalizing gay marriage throughout the individual states, the Supreme Court just made it legal in all 50 states. For many Mormons and Christians this has been a troubling dark time. How could God allow this...
Back and Forth about Prophets
Here's my response to ldsphilosopher's response to my response to his response to this "how to stay mormon" post. I’m going to do my best to respond to the core point of ldsphilosopher’s response: Person A says, “The prophets are wrong on X, and we need to change...
That Time I Was Solicited By An LDS Swinger
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale A tale of a fateful call That started from this online ad for lessons one and all. The teacher was an engaging woman Who kept the man on the line. She kept asking questions that day For twenty minutes time, for twenty minutes...
Fumbling Through Fowler’s Phases.
I don’t think anyone can avoid searching for spirituality at some point in life. Religion may turn many people off the path and they may spend much of their lives and energy avoiding further contact, but there seems to be something built in that compels the quest. For...
64: Lets Talk About Racism
Since the release of the church essay on Race and the Priesthood and up to the recent Charleston shooting race has been a constant topic of discussion in online Mormonism, and in the wider culture. For many white members there is at least a tinge of collective guilt...
On being chosen
1 Peter 2:9 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: We have been taught that we are a chosen people. What does...
Evolution’s Straight and Narrow
Let me tell you a story of the Gods. They may not quite be the Gods you think of, but hopefully you will see a Mormon God in them. Imagine a universe where Nature rules. Gods have evolved with such understanding, power, and unity that they shape Nature, fostering...
63: Top Ten Books on Mormon History – The Mormon Question
Did the wider world shape Mormonism or did Mormonism shape the wider world? In Gordon's The Mormon Question it is clearly shown the the answer is yes and yes, at least in the United States. As a late comer to studying American history I am finding that many...
Alexander Campbell and Eber D. Howe: Two Early Respondents to the Book of Mormon
Thousands of people have responded to the Book of Mormon (BM) in print, and many thousands more in speech. There were several non-Mormon authors who commented on the book and its use of the King James Bible (KJV) immediately after it was published, and their...
Start a Foyer Sunday School in Your Ward
I love the scriptures as much as anyone, except for maybe Hans. I read the Old Testament in 40 days and 40 nights when I was in Seminary. The girls were so impressed I had three requests for the Sadie Hawkins dance that year. The look in my Seminary teacher’s eyes...
Apostasy Now
More Mormons are leaving the LDS Church than ever in its history. Not content with this, Church leaders are also kicking out Mormons in record numbers. The last two years have racked up a spate of excommunications of Mormons for what is termed “apostasy.” What is...
The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle – Reviewed
A turning point for the LDS church and American religious liberty is recorded and analyzed in Kathleen Flakes' The Politics of American Religious Identity and was the 4 years of public scrutiny of Apostle/Senator Reed Smoot and more importantly the LDS church. This...
Going to See Mad Max is Like Going to the Temple
And I don’t really mean that in a good way. It’s not that the movie was bad. It was a bit absurd for me, but still a great action flick. I’ve decided they just had an excellent PR team. Because they knew that if you say something enough times, and give it enough...
There is a Crack in Everything
There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. [Leonard Cohen, Anthem] Although the stories of women in scripture are relatively few, they are “rays of light, hints, promises, glimpses of a greater reality.” [Julie Smith] Often I think of words as...
Voices Unto the Lord: The Autobiography of Jane Elizabeth Manning James and Spiritual Narratives of African-American Women in the Nineteenth Century
I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have...
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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