In a campus environment known for its marked homogeneity, some students at BYU struggle to find a home within the ranks of Mormon orthodoxy. Four students and former students talk about their experiences of carving out space for nuanced belief. With an array of experiences with and beliefs about the LDS Church, they will discuss …
Category: Podcasts
The Beatles, Rock and Roll, and Mormonism
In this panel, Mormons who have written about the Beatles will discuss their “Mormon” experience with the band. For Compton, Paul McCartney’s emphasis on love, family, and home after the Beatle breakup led him to see Mormonism a little more sympathetically. More broadly, he sees great art, music, and literature as part of the gospel, …
“What the Second Coming Means to People Like Me”
In September of this year, after “much anxious prayer,” a bishopric member decided I would be the right person to speak on the theme of the Second Coming. There are 100 things I’d rather speak on, and 200 reasons I didn’t really like this theme. But I decided I could find new ways to think …
How Counterfeiting, Anti-Masonic Sentiment, and the Second Great Awakening Affected Joseph Smith’s Religion
Evidence suggests that the Joseph Smith family was involved in counterfeiting long before the Book of Mormon emerged. Therefore, what was Joseph Smith’s relationship to the Christian society around him? Since the Christian Second Awakening and the Anti-Masonic movement were both in full swing, what might be Joseph’s reasons for creating the Christian/Masonic syncretism that …
Grace, Works, Devotion…and Video Games?
Each year, the population of “nones,” disenfranchised from conventional religion, increases. But the decline in traditional religions does not result in a lack of appreciation for religious concepts like works, devotion, and self-improvement. The rise of video gaming represents a new interactive model for myth-making, the practice of works, and devotion. By looking at age-old …
The Mesa Easter Pageant and the Future of the LDS Church
The Mesa Easter Pageant is an annual passion play of the life of Christ on the grounds of the Mesa Arizona Temple with a distinctive LDS flavor. During its two-week run up to Easter, the pageant attracts up to fifteen thousand people every night. It features a live cast of 500 local people and is …
What the LDS Church Can Learn From the Catholic Response to Fundamentalism
From 1970 to 1995, Veronica Luekin reported ecstatic visions of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. As the visions become more widely reported, Luekin developed a following that culminated in the building of a shrine in Bayside, New York. Her visions reported that the end was near and that a Vatican infiltration caused the Second Vatican …
Sunstone Hymn Sing Along
This session honors the tradition of music and singing at Sunstone. The Eastmans are a beloved part of the Sunstone community and will lead the Symposium congregation in singing some of the hymns of the restoration, with Alan Eastman at the piano and Vickie Eastman leading. Alan Eastman, Vickie Eastman
Bisexuality and Mormonism
This session will explore the experience of bisexual people in Mormonism. Where in the framework of Mormonism do bisexual people fit? What additional challenges exist within Mormonism (versus outside of Mormonism) for bisexual people? How does being bisexual impact ones faith/belief? Nicholas R. Stewart, Blaire Ostler, Blair M. White
Paradisiacal Glory: Our Future Lives in the Mormon Millennium
When Joseph Smith wrote the 10th Article of Faith in 1842, what did our Mormon ancestors imagine the future of the faith to look like? Mormonism, born from Millennialism, has its own unique take on the great and dreadful day, but has less to say about the particulars of the 1000-year personal reign of Jesus …