Stand-Up comedy: Mormon Meets World Bengt has been called “an intellectual with an imp’s perspective.” He is known as an intelligent and prolific comic. The ever-evolving topics of his show are often autobiographical and mostly true. He created many aching sides and great memories as he performed at the 2002 Sunstone symposium, and we’re very …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2006
My Mormon Dream Bible
My Mormon Dream Bible The Mormon Bible I will describe would be produced by Mormons for use by Mormons. It would have helpful features that facilitate the study of the biblical text (best original-language manuscript readings, paragraph layout, versification, poetic form, footnotes, cross-references, textual variants, modern language pronunciation guide). It would also lead to more …
Toward A Comparative Mormon Erotics
Toward A Comparative Mormon Erotics This presentation takes seriously the suggestion that cultures be read closely to see how they understand erotics and their understandings of and practices concerning bodies. As part of an effort to build a comparative erotics, this paper works from a close reading of key Latter-day Saint texts, such as “A …
Faithful to Whom–Art Or The Church? The Dilemma For Mormon Artists And Whether There’s A Way Out
Faithful to Whom–Art Or The Church? The Dilemma For Mormon Artists And Whether There’s A Way Out Why do so many Mormon artists find themselves torn between the Church and their art, feeling that they’re leading two very different lives that are difficult to reconcile? Why do so many of us feel that we have …
May Swenson’s Intelligent Design: Getting Under The Skin Of God, Evolution, And Man As An Animal
May Swenson’s Intelligent Design: Getting Under The Skin Of God, Evolution, And Man As An Animal Firstborn of immigrant Swedish parents in Logan, Utah, who had come to this country as converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, May Swenson early identified herself in ways that would distinguish her life’s path as …
Eternal Families: The Doctrine Joseph Smith Never Taught
Eternal Families: The Doctrine Joseph Smith Never Taught In the new movie, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, Joseph declares to his family: “We can be with the ones we love forever.” Compared to what Joseph actually taught about the sociality of heaven, that statement is anachronistic. In this presentation, I trace the complex, dramatic …
‘Mormon Soldiers Capture Saddam Hussein!’ Mormon Urban Legends
‘Mormon Soldiers Capture Saddam Hussein!’ Mormon Urban Legends Like other groups, Mormons engage in creating and passing on what are termed “urban legends”, stories reported as true but which are either distortions of actual experiences or events, unverifiable reports, or outright fabrications. Such stories reflect the basic anxieties of a culture and provide insight into …
The Flight From Reason: The Dynamics Of Faith And Rationality
The Flight From Reason: The Dynamics Of Faith And Rationality Latter-day Saints often appeal to the mantra, “Seek learning, even by study and also by faith,” to explain the appropriate relationship between faith, reason, and revelation in our tradition. But what about cases where faith and reason conflict? What do these conflicts tells us about …
Scarlet Threads In The Lineage Of Jesus
Scarlet Threads In The Lineage Of Jesus In his list of who fathered whom in the lineage of forty-two generations from Abraham to Jesus, Matthew includes five women. This presentation focuses on four of them, Tamar, Rachab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, who, though chosen as members of the most royal of lineages, are largely ignored today, …
A Testimony Of Motherhood: LDS Response To Changing Women’s Roles, 1940-2006
A Testimony Of Motherhood: LDS Response To Changing Women’s Roles, 1940-2006 Most conservative religions objected to the movement of women out of the household in the 1960s, but doctrines linked to the practice of polygamy made changing gender roles particularly challenging for the LDS Church. To understand Church responses to this crisis, I analyzed all …