Early Mormon views on marriage, race, and progeny provide a background to consider the church’s new policy banning gay families from church membership. Brigham Young taught that interracial marriage of white Mormon men to black women would bring a curse upon the church, reducing the Mormon people below the descendants of Cain, and recommended execution …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2016
Why Usa Christians In 2016 Should Vote Democratic
Christians, including Mormons, should consider moral and ethical issues when deciding whom to support in an election. The teachings of Jesus in the four gospels should be an important guide in considering the issues raised in a campaign. This paper will argue that in the 2016 preseidential election, the moral issues lean strongly on the …
Polygamy And Religious Freedom
This panel will discuss how the topic of Religious Freedom intersects with polygamy and how the implications of some of the proposed interpretations of the idea would affect those living polygamy. Pam Jenson, Kristyn Decker, Brenda Nicholson, Shelli Mecham
The Mormon Hawaiian Mission And The Smallpox Epidemic Of 1853
In 1851–1852 Utah Mormon missionaries converted hundreds of native Hawaiians on Maui, and during the spring of 1853 hundreds more on Oahu. In 1853 the smallpox virus reached Honolulu and spread among natives who had no natural immunity to it. The Utah elders interfered with efforts of authorities to deal with the disease claiming it …
Mormonism As A Religious Ethnie
Modernist theories of nationalism include an approach called ethnosymbolism which proposes that proto-nations or ‘ethnies’ are seedbeds for the development of nations. While an ethnie may a precursor to a nation, they are not a perfect predictor. To develop into a nation an ethnie would have to master common economy, legal structures and reproduce a …
Black And White The Challenges Of Colonialism In Mormon Art And Scholarship
Depicting ethnic diversity within Mormon art and scholarship often magnifies the religion’s white dominant membership. For example, J. Kirk Richards’ “Eve and the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge,” which depicts a nude black Eve, drew criticism for presenting an “exoticized” black woman “naked and up for auction.” Since depictions of black Mormons in history, …
Evolution Analysis Of The Facts
This presentation approaches the theory of biological evolution not from biological or paleontological perspectives, but from design and engineering perspectives. What do recent discoveries in DNA studies tell us about traditional understandings of evolution? How do they interact with traditional understandings of the fossil record and genetics? Joe Jensen
Mormon Mental Health Leaving Plato S Cave Understanding And Transcending Our Objectification Of Others
Rather than offering a narrow definition of objectification, this presentation explores it as a spectrum of misapprehension running from its mildest form (casual indifference) to its most extreme manifestation, (dehumanization). Gleaning insights from classic philosophy, the world’s five most prominent religious traditions, and current social science research, the presentation examines the best antidotes humankind has …
The Plat Of Zion A Comparison With American Ideal Cities
The Ideal City has its origins in Renaissance ideas which drew upon more ancient ideas. Mormon authors have not generally talked upon the Plat of Zion beyond recognizing it as an example of an ideal city. This study compares the Plat of Zion with other examples of American Ideal Cities, specifically Philadelphia (Penn’s Holy Experiment) …
Was There An Original
Although every splinter since the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith claimed or claims to be the authentic version of Mormonism, the real question is whether there was “an original.” From the First Vision until June 27, 1844 Mormonism constantly changed. It was still a work-in-process at Joseph’s death. Even the design for the Nauvoo …