Born in Boise, ID. Raised in Katy, TX. Was good friends with Renee Zellweger in High School (if you can believe that).
BYU Graduate in Political Science ('93, summa). Worked for Bain, Arthur Andersen, LDS Church, and Microsoft.
Currently working for MIT as the Director of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. Just got my M.S. from Utah State University in Instructional Technology. Considering a PhD.
Founder of http://mormonstories.org, http://mormonmatters.org, http://mormonblogs.org. Currently on the Sunstone Board of Directors.
Married. Father of 4. Loving the church. Loving life. Author Profile: John Dehlin
Born in Boise, ID. Raised in Katy, TX. Was good friends with Renee Zellweger in High School (if you can believe that).
BYU Graduate in Political Science ('93, summa). Worked for Bain, Arthur Andersen, LDS Church, and Microsoft.
Currently working for MIT as the Director of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. Just got my M.S. from Utah State University in Instructional Technology. Considering a PhD.
Founder of http://mormonstories.org, http://mormonmatters.org, http://mormonblogs.org. Currently on the Sunstone Board of Directors.
Married. Father of 4. Loving the church. Loving life. Author Archive for John Dehlin
On February 25th, 2000 — in the heat of the LDS Church’s Prop 22 efforts in California to ban same-sex marriage — a young LDS returned missionary named Stuart Matis drove to his local LDS chapel, pinned a “DO NOT RESUCITATE” sign to his shirt, and shot himself in the head. More of Stuart’s story can be read here and here. Also, to read one of Stuart’s last letters on the subject written weeks before his death — click here.
A few years ago I did some research on the topic, and discovered that Utah leads the nation in suicides for men from 18-24 years old, and that an estimated 1/3 of those suicides are tied to homosexuality.
Recently I had the opportunity to interview Bruce Rognan and his son Chris — about the suicide of their son/brother Curtis. I would like to share with you the following 4 clips from this multi-part interview:
First, here are the father and brother discussing how Curtis didn’t “fit into the mold” of Mormon culture, and how Bruce once felt inspired to discuss the issue of homosexuality with his son, but didn’t out of cultural/social fear…..
Second, here are Bruce and Chris talking about “the day” Curtis committed suicide….
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Friends in Utah and in Surrounding States — Seeing Ralph Nader speak (as a Congressional Intern) was a highlight of my life. He remains a hero of mine to this day. Our good friend Ashley Sanders is hosting a house party tonight for Mr. Nader (for those who can still make it), and if ya’ll get the chance, you definitely should consider going to hear him speak when he comes to Utah on July 31st. Information below and attached for both events. Go Nader! Go Ash!!!! And please spread the word!!!
1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
Do tell….what were your experiences today w/ the LDS Church’s anti-gay marriage statement in your local ward?
Feel free to share experiences of friend and family as well.
Clay Whipkey and I are in China — and visited the Great Wall 2 days ago. As we contemplated what to discuss on top of the wall — there was only one real option.
We hope you enjoy. 
All the best to our long lost friends. We miss you.
An open ‘nacle invitation: What were your favorite moments/quotes from General Conference?
How does this apply to Mormonism? Continue reading…
I LOVE it when low-level ecclesiastical leaders are overruled (for the right reasons). And here’s the coverage from the SLTrib.
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
“We may never know the full story since the bishop does not wish to comment and the school is citing privacy to keep things quiet. Regardless, the entire episode may have some stereotypical ramifications on the national level. But at least it has been resolved in a manner that seems more reasonable for every party involved to minimize the damage. “
From the Deseret News:
“Brigham Young University baseball star Kent Walton, who had been dismissed from school after his ecclesiastical endorsement was withdrawn by his bishop, is enrolled at BYU again and has returned to the Cougars’ baseball team, coach Vance Law told the Deseret Morning News Thursday night. “
Thoughts?
As I’m sure you’ve discovered by now — my takeaways from this interview between Krista Tippet and LDS Theologian and BYU Religion Professor Robert Millet say much more about me than they do Brother Millet.
That said — in part 3 of this series, I’m going to make my argument that within this interview, we can see yet further signs that both Robert Millet, and the LDS Church, are becoming more and more open/liberal/progressive/tolerant in their willingness to allow for a “Sunstone” or even a “New Order Mormon“-like perspective when it comes to an LDS belief/testimony.
Here are the signs and tea leaves I’ve identified in my own personal Mormonism Rorscharch test…. Continue reading…
[Updated -- More on the story here.]
Apparently BYU (and the LDS church) have expelled BYU’s best baseball player for (allegedly) not attending church enough. Some questions for discussion….
- What do we NOT know about the story that the church is not able to tell us? (we should always remember that possibility)
- What do you think about this statement, “They said he didn’t participate in the ward enough, hadn’t been to church enough and hadn’t gone in and asked for a calling,”
- What do you think about this statement, “All the stake president would say was, ‘I hope you don’t hurt your son by making a big issue out of this.’ “
The more I listen to this interview — the more I enjoy and respect Dr. Millet. I have even listened to the extended interview now, which I definitely recommend. And while I have at least a few posts planned where I hope to express what I loved about this interview, as part 2 of this series, I want to highlight something that made me a bit uncomfortable.
Let me begin with my disclaimer — as some of you may have realized, I am struggling (as a member of the LDS church) with the way that church leaders (as of late) appear to be publicly distancing themselves from many of the tenets of the “gospel” that I grew up with. This is complicated by the fact that while I am happy to see many of these changes — I also am simultaneously fearful that as we “assimilate” into mainstream U.S. culture by playing up our commonalities with others — and distancing ourselves from the differences — we will ultimately weaken the church I love, by weakening the core beliefs/theology that once made us strong.
Anyway, to illustrate…. Continue reading…
I really, really enjoyed Krista Tippett’s latest interview with (perhaps) the LDS Church’s arch-theologian: Dr. Robert Millet. I have about 4 or 5 posts in me (at least) about this interview — and here is the first.
Towards the beginning of the interview, the following conversation ensues about the nature of God:
Krista: And Elhohim (God the Father) you understand to be a corporeal being, who was once a man? Like us?
I love Krista Tippett’s “Speaking of Faith”, and I love Mormonism — which makes this a must-listen. I hope it’s good. What did you think? Continue reading…
A friend just forwarded to me this letter written by LDS Apostle Delbert Stapley to then Michigan Governor George Romney dealing with Negroes, race, the LDS Church, Joseph Smith, civil rights, etc.
I know that Delbert Stapley was a very good man — so I’m not interested in piling on (now that we all have the benefit of hindsight). My questions are the following:
- Do you find it interesting that so much importance was placed on exact obedience to the teachings of Joseph Smith by Apostle Stapley? It seems like today we’re much more willing to discount a past teaching from Joseph Smith if it doesn’t meet our modern social standards — but check out how serious he was about following Joseph’s teachings to the letter — even teaching that death follows those who dare deviate from Joseph’s teachings.
As an act of obedience to Elder Ballard, I’m looking into the option of turning Mormon Matters into a group blog (like T&S, BCC, the Cultural Hall and FMH).
Our slant would be: Continue reading…
In Part 2 of this series, review the “Mormon angle” of Mitt Romney’s much anticipated religion speech entitled ” Faith in America “, delivered on December 6, 2007.
Panelists include: John Fowles, John Hamer, Tom Grover, Russell Walker and John Dehlin.
All music from my podcasts are provided by Clayton Pixton and Skye Pixton.
In this episode, we review Mitt Romney’s much anticipated religion speech entitled ” Faith in America “, delivered on December 6, 2007.
Panelists include: John Fowles, John Hamer, Tom Grover, Russell Walker and John Dehlin.
All music from my podcasts are provided by Clayton Pixton and Skye Pixton.
This is a replay / podcast of Mitt Romney’s ” Faith in America” Speech.
In this episode J. Nelson-Seawright, John Hamer, David King Landrith and Rosalynde Welch discuss same-sex marriage within Mormonism.
Recently, the LDS Church made a change to the introduction page of the Book of Mormon that has garnered much press. The change seems to be intended to dispel common perceptions among LDS folk (leaders and members) that Native Americans are reliably the descendants of the Lamanites discussed in the Book of Mormon.
Is this change a big deal, or much ado about nothing?
Today we hear from Ronan James Head, John Hamer and John Dehlin on this topic.
Today Ronan James Head, J. Nelson-Seawright and John Fowles discuss issues surrounding the international nature of the LDS Church.
