Is Mormonism Too American? The LDS Church beyond the United States Recent scholarship-some of it written by Latter-day Saints residing in Europe and Asia-suggests that an inappropriate intrusion of American culture into LDS church life inhibits the growth of Mormonism in many other countries. The panelists will evaluate this proposition, relying on their personal experience …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2008
California’s Continuing Battle over Same-Sex Marriage
California’s Continuing Battle over Same-Sex Marriage In May 2008, the California Supreme Court held unconstitutional a state ban on same-sex marriages, making California the second state to officially permit same-sex marriage. The court’s decision has drawn criticism from various quarters, including a 20 June letter from the LDS First Presidency urging California Church members to …
Mormon Heaven: Everything the Prophets Didn’t Tell You
Mormon Heaven: Everything the Prophets Didn’t Tell You Joseph Smith said that if we knew how great heaven is going to be, we’d kill ourselves to get there. Then he cautiously told us almost nothing about it. Later prophets have been even less help, unwilling to venture even so far as an opinion of whether …
A New Faithful History That Is Faithful to History?
A New Faithful History That Is Faithful to History? Over the past century, as more Mormons have acquired professional training, they have applied their skills to Mormonism’s foundational narratives. This experience has left our understanding of Mormon history much enriched, but it has inevitably led to the revision (and even unraveling) of many traditional stories. …
What Makes an Issue ‘Moral’?
What Makes an Issue ‘Moral’? One of the primary roles of religion is to address moral issues and ameliorate social problems. But in a politically and economically globalized world, religion must revisit what counts as moral and expand the scope of its obligations to address contemporary problems. In many ways, Mormonism has restricted its moral …
Author Meets Critics. The Mormon Quest for the Presidency
Author Meets Critics. The Mormon Quest for the Presidency This panel is a critical discussion of a just-published book, The Mormon Quest for the Presidency, co-authored by Newell G. Bringhurst and Craig L. Foster, which examines ten individuals with Mormon connections who ran for president of the United States. The first of these candidates was …
Ethereal Intersection: Mormonism and Spiritualism
Ethereal Intersection: Mormonism and Spiritualism Organized in 1870 by William S. Godbe, the Godbeite church was an early Mormon offshoot that aimed toward embracing all belief systems. Both the Godbeites and mainstream Mormons affirmed the eternal nature of the individual and taught the validity of spiritual experience. Although the Godbeites eventually dissolved as a practicing …
La Vida Online
La Vida Online In this session, online writers will explore how much of their personal stories regarding such things as faith, doubt, disaffection, parenting, feminism, sexual identity, and politics they share on their blogs with friends and far-flung strangers alike. How much information is too much to reveal? Where and how do online writers draw …
Written by the Finger of God?: The Book of Mormon Translation Debate
Written by the Finger of God?: The Book of Mormon Translation Debate A crowd of witnesses to the translation of the Book of Mormon report that Joseph Smith literally read the translation through his seerstone. But a century of scholarship has identified language errors and anachronisms inconsistent with a supernaturally perfect translation. Who is right-the …
Mormon Motherhood: Choice or Destiny?
Mormon Motherhood: Choice or Destiny? General Relief Society president Julie Beck caused a storm of protest among some LDS women who understood her General Conference talk as a call for them to return to, remain in, or prepare for the traditional role of motherhood. In a press conference, new Young Women president Elaine Dalton was …