Since all collective organizations inevitably generate and exercise power, some inquiry into the basis of LDS power seems germane. More specifically, what is the nature of the Mormon priesthood? Does the Church enjoy a unique authorization to act for God? Beyond the obvious function of the priesthood as a mechanism for Church governance, does it …
Speaker: Michael J. Stevens
INTERNET MORMONS VS. CHAPEL MORMONS
The Internet has exposed many Latter-day Saints to anti-Mormon arguments and claims for the very first time. Consequently, LDS apologists have brought their defenses online in order to counteract or minimize the critics’ influence. Yet in the process of neutralizing such “attacks,” have the apologists inadvertently redefined the role and relevance of the prophets and, …
RACE, RELIGION, AND CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN THE CLASSROOM: STRUGGLING AGAINST RACISM IN A CONSERVATIVE CONTEXT
In this session, Darron Smith shares the ways in which being African-American, progressive, and LDS pose unique challenges in the Mormon-dominated institutions of Utah higher education. Smith spends a lot of time in classrooms directly confronting the notion that blacks were and still are under a divine curse. His paper uses anecdotes about con-fronting religiously-based …
PACIFISM, PRIESTHOOD, AND POWER
In this paper, I examine closely two events in service of creating a strong foundation for Mormon pacifism: (1) Joseph Smith’s writing of a letter from Liberty Jail, in which the Lord rebukes him for praying for vengeance on the Missourians; and (2) Smith’s assassination, toward which he went more like a lion than a …
Author Meets Critics: Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith
SL03091, This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the March on Washington, at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and the thirty-fifth anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. It also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the revelation reversing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ policy of …
How to be an Anti-Racist in a Racist Society
Many well-intentioned people are unaware of how central issues of race are to their lives. This session will try to help facilitate a new understanding of racism, i.e., that racism is not just about committing individual acts of aggression but rather is a consciousness situated in a long history of oppression and discrimination. The presentation’s …
How Many Organizational Psychologists Does it Take to Change a Hierarchy?
How Many Organizational Psychologists Does it Take to Change a Hierarchy? Many of us have direct, first-hand knowledge of the ‘dark side” of hierarchical organizations – they tend to be rigid, controlling, and inflexible. Yet, a full understanding requires us to acknowledge that there are some things they do well. Indeed, some ask whether they …
The Husband and Father as Society’s Ideal Role for Men
The Husband and Father as Society’s Ideal Role for Men In September 1995, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued its Proclamation on the Family. Just a few months earlier, in his book, Fatherless America, David Blankenhorn examined society’s traditional prescription to men to be husbands and fathers. Husband/father as a universal role …