The recent shakeup at BYU’s Maxwell Institute sent ripples throughout the Bloggernacle and raised questions about what the changes mean to groups such as FARMS, FAIR, and to Mormon apologetics in a larger context. What is the role of apologetics in general—both in and beyond Mormonism? Do Mormon apologists use similar stances or tactics as …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2012
THE FIRST MORMON FEMINIST: MOTHER EVE AND THE POLITICS OF SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
This devotional draws on Eve’s story to explore the hazardous role and vital contribution of women as speakers to power and authority. Michael Vinson
FAMILY VALUES: COPING AS OR WITH A BORDERLAND FAMILY MEMBER
When someone in an active Mormon family enters the Borderlands, resulting stresses can weaken and overwhelm the family. Many react in ways that reduce family love and cohesiveness, sometimes even destroying the family through divorce or estrangement. This session will first provide stories of family-related tensions and difficulties some Borderlanders have encountered. Panel and audience …
RIDING OUR DOUBLE RAINBOWS TO HEAVEN: EXPERIENCES OF LGBT MORMONS OF COLOR IN THE MODERN WORLD
In October 2011, the Affirmation LGBT people of Color (POC) and Allies group was started as a group of self-identified people of color and allies gathered to explore multiple identities and the intersections of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and LDS faith. Now a closed Facebook group (started in February 2012), the group was created …
WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH OUR MOMENT?
The so-called “Mormon Moment” of 2011 and 2012 has involved sojourns into the doctrines, theology, history, everyday practices, sociology, and scandals of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with guides both ignorant and well-informed about Mormonism, both sympathetic and hostile to its people. Like it or not, such a response to phenomena such …
MINORITY REPORT: HOW MORMONS AND OTHER MINORITY RELIGIONS HAVE SHAPED RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE US
Controversies over unpopular religious practices and intolerance toward minority religions are older than the document that protects them. What is and is not protected under the First Amendment? The question has been asked often throughout our nation’s history, each time with the blinding spotlight of public scrutiny shining on a different minority religious group—including, of …
MORMONISM AND THE NEW POLITICAL RESTORATION
Mormonism is often considered a tradition set apart from the rest of american society, but over the past half-century it has become an integral part of the country’s political life. From the equal Rights amendment through California’s Proposition 8, the LDS Church has played a crucial if episodic role in the country’s culture wars. As …
EXERCISING DOMINION: SECTION 121 AND THE ABUSE OF POWER
The feminist slogan, “the personal is political,” calls attention to the profound relationship between power structures and personal life. Personal problems are often rooted in political, economic, cultural, and religious systems. Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants warns us that even divinely ordained power can be abused. This panel will look at power structures …
THE SWORD OF CHRIST: THE HUNGER GAMES AND THE PARABLES OF JUDGMENT
The parable is to human life what the mathematical equation is to the physical world. It abstracts certain features and enables us to see hidden realities. In her popular trilogy, The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins gives us a parable that reveals the hidden face of evil. This paper will compare The Hunger Games to Jesus’ …
TO WHAT AUDIENCE DO I CHOSE TO WRITE? (AND DOES BEING BORN MORMON AFFECT YOUR CHOICE?)
As a writer born into the Mormon culture, how do you define the audience to whom you’ve chosen to write? How has your Mormon background affected your creativity and the sense of your place in the world of writing? What are the political ramifications of being a “Mormon” writer? Do you feel an obligation to …