22: Diverse Mormons Part 1
What comes to your mind when you hear the words “Sunstone Symposium?” It has been 5-6 years that I have been attending Sunstone, and I absolutely love it. At this year’s conference I had the opportunity to interview about 34 individuals, in order to provide a...
Ezra Taft Benson and Politics
Discussions exploded as people learned that the 2015 Relief Society/Priesthood manual will be teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. One lesson is even on the infamous "14 Fundamentals of Following the Prophet." In anticipation of the many discussions which will ensue, we are...
The Authorship of Isaiah and Its Bearing on the Book of Mormon
Scholars today recognize that the full text of Isaiah was not written by a single individual named Isaiah in the latter half of the eighth century BCE, but rather that the text was written by at least two, and more probably three, individual authors spanning a period...
A Life-Saving Paradigm Shift
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with several other Mormon and Mormon-esque friends to talk about the relationship between our LGBT brothers and sisters and the Mormon church. HRC sponsored the meeting in an effort to understand how they can better support...
Scientific Evidence for the Atonement
I've wrestled with many questions about the Atonement: "Does the Atonement work?" "Is it real?" "Can it work for me?" Obviously I cannot prove (or disprove) that the Atonement works in any kind of eternal or "cosmic" way. However, there is an area of research in...
Unlocking Temple Symbolism
Introduction Mormons don’t tend to do symbolism well. This is largely because they grow up in a symbolically arid religious environment where literalism is the order of the day. Scriptures and teachers mean what they say and say what they mean. No...
Jubilee
A few months ago I wrote a post about making a hole in the roof because I felt that that the doors and windows of church have been cemented over and walled off. So imagine my surprise when I was on a tour or the Vatican this summer and the tour guide starts...
21: Dramatic Questions: A Conversation with Playwright Melissa Leilani Larson
Melissa Leilani Larson is an award-winning writer from Provo, Utah. MARTYRS’ CROSSING (IRAM Best New Play) debuted at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe, and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE enjoyed a sold-out run at Brigham Young University last March. Her screenplay FREETOWN, presently...
Thoughts on Mormon Exclusivity
“…even the Book of Mormon leaves out everything beyond baptism, including the priesthood, temples, eternal families, and the pre-existence. Essentially everything that makes Mormonism unique is left out of the book containing the “Fullness of the Gospel.”
Ask Dr. Finlayson-Fife
“We will once more be interviewing the amazing and brilliant Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife. As part of this series, the good Doctor will continue answering any questions our readers/listeners may have, so please feel free to ask!”
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
So... let's be honest. Being a Mormon can be kinda hard at times. Perhaps you differ politically or culturally from most other members of your ward or even your family. Maybe you feel neglected, or worse, abused by your local (or not so local) leaders. Or maybe you're...
Have You Had The Ordain Women Conversation?
On May 15th of this year, Ordain Women launched their Conversations project. Throughout the summer, new segments were released that encouraged discussion about the issue of women’s ordination in the LDS church. For anyone who is interested, these are a great tool...
Atonement Theory
For years I've struggled to understand what the atonement is and how it works. This post is the byproduct of those mental and spiritual struggles. The short length of this post is intentional and took an incredible amount of humility and restraint. What I've written...
20: Wilford Woodruff’s Witness: Author Interview
Wilford Woodruff’s Witness: The Development of Temple Doctrine recounts Wilford’s life and his account/view of the development of the Temple using as frequently as possible his own words. Looking at Woodruff, the temple, and church policy/development as an...
“The Crucible of Doubt” by Fiona and Terryl Givens
I remember being taught as a young public relations student at BYU-Idaho that one of the keys to dealing with reporters and their probing questions – ever searching for a soundbyte they can lead their story with – is to, instead of finding the best answer to the...
Wilford Woodruff’s Witness
3 sentence summary of the review: Wilford Woodruff's Witness: The Development of Temple Doctrine recounts Wilford's life and his account/view of the development of the Temple using as frequently as possible his own words. Looking at Woodruff, the temple, and church...
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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