Thought experiment: Imagine Mormonism without any concern for the concept of being “the one and only true church,” without any worries about how this or that doctrine might “play” in the mission field or among those with whom the Church is forging coalitions to cooperate on moral issues. That imaginary position is the starting point …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2004
RACE, RELIGION, AND CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN THE CLASSROOM: STRUGGLING AGAINST RACISM IN A CONSERVATIVE CONTEXT
In this session, Darron Smith shares the ways in which being African-American, progressive, and LDS pose unique challenges in the Mormon-dominated institutions of Utah higher education. Smith spends a lot of time in classrooms directly confronting the notion that blacks were and still are under a divine curse. His paper uses anecdotes about con-fronting religiously-based …
‘THE GODDESS IS ALIVE AND MAGICK IS AFOOT’: MORMON PAGAN WOMEN IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Scholars of religion report that Wicca, Paganism, and other “earth-centered” or “nature” religions are the fastest growing of all new religious movements in America. This discussion will explore why some LDS women have chosen Wiccan and similar practices as either supplements to or replacements for their Mormonism. How and where were these women exposed to …
A CHURCH OBSERVED
We are non-Mormons who have observed that the LDS Church seems to be divided into essentially two camps, loyalists and dissidents, the blindly devoted and the brutally critical. Each seems to champion the Church’s well-being. But if the Church’s effectiveness in serving its members and the community declines, we think, ironically, it will because of …
TELEVISION SHOWS THAT HAVE ENHANCED MY SPIRITUAL LIFE
Is television really the moral and spiritual wasteland it is often accused of being? Does network television offer more than just salacious sleaze and lowest-common-denominator humor? Are there intelligent, well-written shows with a fully functioning moral compass? Are there characters whose example, good, bad, or much more complex, inspire hope and impart transformative wisdom? Panelists …
INTERNET MORMONS VS. CHAPEL MORMONS
The Internet has exposed many Latter-day Saints to anti-Mormon arguments and claims for the very first time. Consequently, LDS apologists have brought their defenses online in order to counteract or minimize the critics’ influence. Yet in the process of neutralizing such “attacks,” have the apologists inadvertently redefined the role and relevance of the prophets and, …
FAITH, DOUBT, AND DISBELIEF: THE PATHS OF RETURNED MISSIONARIES
The panelists, three recently returned Mormon missionaries who grew up as best friends and served missions at the same time, will discuss faith, doubt, and, in some cases, their disbelief. Each will discuss his mission experience, his reaction to tough doctrinal and historical issues, and his reasons for his particular path since returning home. Why …
IN THE SOUP: SCRIPTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF LANGUAGE, HISTORY, AND CULTURE
In our quest for religious knowledge, we are enmeshed in particular, limiting environments that unavoidably impinge on our perception of what is real and true. Thus language, history, and culture are the filters through which our understanding will be screened; they pro-vide the acquired perceptual frameworks through which we organize our spiritual experience. Much of …
A MARVELOUS WORK AND A POSSESSION: BOOK OF MORMON HISTORICITY AS ‘COLON-IALIZATION’
Recent comparative attempts to characterize the DNA challenge to Book of Mormon historicity as a “Galileo Event” are interesting and provocative, but they have led to turf wars over who, exactly, is the “Galileo” figure and whether the revolutionary “events” in sixteenth-century astronomy and Catholic doctrine are an appropriate model for under-standing the debate on …
ANTI-CLAUS LECTURE AND OTHER SANTA-AT-THE-MANGER MYTHS
For more than thirty-five years, Kay Gillespie has been delivering (and causing a stir) with his annual Anti-Claus lecture. His part tongue-in-cheek presentation, part in-your face lecture explores the inconsistency of celebrating the birth of Christ while at the same time presenting the antithesis to Christ in the guise of Santa Claus. Why would those …