At the 2002 Mormon History Association conference, Richard Turley, director of the Church’s Family and Church History division, stunned attendees with the announcement that he and two other Church historians are producing a volume on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Immediately, rumors circulated that the book was a response to several forthcoming publications on the massacre. …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2002
Prospects for a Lasting Peace in the Middle East
Prospects for a Lasting Peace in the Middle East J. Bonner Ritchie has been a longtime teacher and consultant on the Middle East ? with governments, ministers, reporters, and even the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In this guided conversation, he will share his insights into the current crisis in Israel, especially with regard to the West …
America’s War on Terrorism: One Latter-day Saint’s Perspective
America’s War on Terrorism: One Latter-day Saint’s Perspective Since 11 September, support for war, including among Latter-day Saints, has reached levels unknown since the past century’s two great wars. Now that we have “won” the war in Afghanistan and are considering expanding the campaign to other theaters, perhaps it would be wise for us to …
The Work of Death: Hugh Nibley and War
Hugh Nibley knows warfare, ancient and modern, better than most. As a young boy, he overheard long discussions about World War I around the family dinner table. He later served as a non-commissioned intelligence officer in World War II. These experiences and his knowledge of ancient history convinced him that war in general is a …
Wrestling with the Devil: New Evidence on the Mountain Meadows Massacre
When I began investigating the murders at Mountain Meadows seven years ago, I knew a wealth of material had surfaced since Juanita Brooks completed her groundbreaking study in 1950. These included the 1857 diary of Brigham Young’s Indian interpreter, Wilford Woodruff’s journal, and the LDS archives items Don Moormon used to write Camp Floyd and …
A Sunstone Town Meeting
Members of the Sunstone staff and board will report on the current state and future plans for Sunstone including budget and other statistics. Bring your questions. Be prepared to participate.Help shape Sunstone’s future! Unsure if there is audio for this session. Suntone Staff and Board of Trustees, J. Frederick
Book of Mormon Archaeology: North America
This presentation and slide show will discuss parallels between the Hopewell Culture of North America and the Nephite Culture of the Book of Mormon. Fascinating evidence continues to come to light supporting a North American Book of Mormon geography. This evidence includes the discovery of copper mines in Northern Michigan, coins with Hebrew script located …
Self Definition of a Post-Mormon: Leaving it and Leaving it Alone
Since the Church teaches that membership is necessary for salvation, is it possible to see people who leave the Church as anything but lost sheep at one extreme, or enemies of the truth at another? Many who leave the Church consider themselves to be not lost sheep, not enemies of the truth, but seekers who …
The Experiences of LDS Women and How Their Culture Influences Manifestations of Their Sexuality
The Experiences of LDS Women and How Their Culture Influences Manifestations of Their Sexuality At last year’s Sunstone symposium, I presented a preliminary report on qualitative research data I had gathered from interviews of LDS women about their attitudes toward sexuality, their own and in our culture, and ways in which their Mormon upbringing had …
Church Hounds Woman to Madness: The Trials of Cora Birdsall
“Church Hounds Woman to Madness”: The Trials of Cora Birdsall The case of Cora Birdsall, a single Mormon woman, who in 1901 fought the Church over property rights, provides an extraordinary study of the collision between church and federal land law, the differences in ecclesiastical and civil court processes, and the struggle of a faithful …