Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2005

Reading Lolita In Tehran, Reading Pride And Prejudice In Taichung: Literature As Resistance To Spiritual And Political Oppression And As An Aid To Spiritual Growth

Reading Lolita in Tehran explores how reading forbidden works of literature can be a soul-saving act of resistance to spiritual and political oppression. Latter-day Saints are advised to seek knowledge out of the best books and encouraged to believe that the church will one day have its Shakespeare’s and Miltons. Panelists will explore the relationship …

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Leaders Of The Restoration And Their Subsequent Fates: Examples From Scandinavia And Mexico.

Gary Horlacher will present a theoretical model of leadership and illustrate it with examples of key persons who established Mormonism in Scandinavia. Esteban Obregón will focus on Plotino Rhodakanaty, the first member and branch president in central Mexico. The Scandinavian and Mexican examples illustrate the characteristics of charismatic leaders in the establishment of the gospel …

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Depicting The Afterlife: New Evidence That Supports And Challenges LDS Understandings Of Eternal Life

Hypnotherapist Michael Newton has written three books describing the afterlife that have excited many Latter-day Saints who note striking similarities in attitudes toward such things as eternal progression and the purpose of mortality. But Newton’s reports also problemetize other aspects of Mormonism’s detailed description of the afterlife. Tom L. Davies, Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen

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Mormon Mantras

In Eastern spiritual traditions, mantras are practiced to assist persons in overcoming mindless, conditioned behavior and to align themselves with the divine. Do some Mormon cultural “mantras”, repetitive phrases and ideas that organize the internal lives of many Latter-day Saints, serve the same liberating function, or do they, at times, inhibit individual spiritual growth? Are …

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A Church Observed: Chapter II

Are Mormons a self-hating people, just as, arguably, blacks and women once were? We believe they are. Can self-hating people take either compliments or criticisms to heart, and be affected by them? We believe they can’t. David G. Pace, Cheryl Pace

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For The Strength Of Gay Youth, by Aaron Cloward

Aaron Cloward’s 7500-word guide, For the Strength of Gay Youth, includes frank discussions on some of the most serious issues facing young gay Mormons, from how to deal with family and depression to what to do about the Internet, dance clubs, and dating. The guide also includes a lengthy section on sexuality. Panelists will critique …

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