Last week we speculated on where the church would be today if it had not extended the priesthood to blacks thirty years ago, and now the other shoe drops: Where will the church be thirty years from now if it continues classifying monogamous gay sex as a sin and if it rejects any state or federal legislation on gay rights, in whatever form such laws may take? Please, let’s try to keep this discussion focused as much as possible on the actual question and not turn this into another free-for-all on homosexuality or gay marriage in general…
Blog Archives
Mormonism as Spiritual Survival of the Fittest
In earthly nature, the term natural selection refers to the process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups who adjust best to their environment. In Mormonism, we are taught that God said, regarding his children who kept their first estate and got themselves born onto this earth, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; . . . and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:25-26).
A Question, Part 1 of 2
Put on your speculation hat—or, if it works better for you, peer into your hat—and see what you come up with on the following question: Where would the church be today if we hadn’t extended the priesthood to all males 30 years ago? (Part 2 of this exercise will come next week, so please hold off on the obvious until then.)
Is “Unconditional Love” Really Possible?
When I used to work as an editor at the LDS Church’s Ensign magazine, I remember that the correlation committee instructed us not to use the term unconditional love. I know that for some Mormon Matters readers a directive from that infamous committee doesn’t hold much water, but it gave me pause and I’ve been questioning the term ever since, which I still hear people in the church use quite often. In this post, I’d like to analyze the concept of unconditional love by applying Mormon logic as I understand it and believe it. First, I will consider the concept from God’s point of view. Does he love us unconditionally? It…
Mormonism = Paganism + Christianity
When I look at the mortal religious scene here on earth, I think one of the adversary’s masterstrokes has been to split apart two key streams of understanding of God’s full truth. These two streams are 1) humankind’s divine origins and potential and (2) the need for a Savior and his atonement. If you look at most pagan religions, the pagans often have very interesting, true-ish ideas about where humans came from and where we are going, but they totally lack knowledge of the need for a Savior to get us out of our current mortal dilemma.
Mormon Coffee-Table Books?
I work with a publisher in Great Britain who is keen to do some lavish, glossy, full-color coffee-table-type books on Mormon themes (or hot-chocolate table, if that’s how you prefer it). This fine gent has asked me to shake some trees and see what topics Mormons would like to see given this kind of treatment, whether historical, cultural, or whatever. He prints ‘em cheap in China and stacks ‘em deep in places like Costco and Barnes & Noble. So take a moment to sit down on your sofa and stare down at your coffee table and try to picture what…
What Do You Think about Sunstone?
Most of you probably heard that Sunstone recently hired two new employees to carry out the “open forum” Sunstone mission through the magazine and symposia. I applied for the jobs and made it to the final four, which caused me to do some reflecting on Sunstone and what it means to me. Instead of posting my idiosyncratic reflections and opinions here, I will refer you to my essay “Trying Again to Get Sunstoned” at my personal blog, if you’re interested. What I wanted to do here on Mormon Matters is start a conversation on what people think about Sunstone, its…
Birds & Bees in Utah County
Not too long ago I went to “maturation training” in Lehi, Utah, with my 11-year-old fifth grader, who was definitely already showing signs of puberty (pimples and hair, mostly). He’s a big, somewhat chubby guy, so he’s ahead of the curve as far as physical development goes. I grew up in the Los Angeles area, and I remember getting my training at this same age. What a time warp! In 1977 they showed us well-produced films and went into a lot more detail. Thirty years later in Utah, an old guy got up in front of the white board and…
A Latter-Day Tower of Babel?
Here’s something that gives me pause: people making up creative names or nontraditional spellings of traditional names for their children. This seems to be a growing trend, with a sizable minority of new children being subjected to this, perhaps even a majority in some Utah Mormon suburbs. I know that certain black U.S. cultural groups have long done this, but I don’t know if the newer trend is just a white Utah/Idaho Mormon thing or bigger. For example, here is a list of REAL names my wife and I recently collected from a photo site for new-born Utah babies. As…
News from the Mormon Literary World
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to let Mormon Matters readers know about a recent interesting development in Mormon literature that I’m involved in as a publisher (definitely on a nonprofit basis): “The news that Coke Newell’s novel On the Road to Heaven won Best Novel at the new Whitney Awards could have interesting implications for the LDS market,” writes literary reporter Kent Larsen at Mormon culture blog A Motley Vision. “Since the novel also won the Association for Mormon Letters Best Novel award earlier this year, Newell’s work is clearly the consensus novel of the year.”
Too Quick to Pry and Judge?
I don’t necessarily disagree with the points made by BYU law professor Lynn D. Wardle in his Salt Lake Tribune editorial regarding the Elliott Spitzer affair (“Infidelity by elected officials rightfully is a public issue,” March 21). However, I think it’s important to step back and acknowledge that it is within the realm of possibility for a political leader to be both a good leader and an immoral person in his private life.
Thoughts on President Monson
I was recently asked by a journalist for my observations on the new Mormon prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and I thought I’d share my responses here and inquire what others would say in answer to the same questions: 1. Have you ever met President Monson and, if so, do you have any lasting impressions from that meeting? What’s he like in person?
My Mormon Midlife Crisis
I always thought the midlife crisis was just a cliché. But now I’m 41, and I’m finding myself in the midst of an all-too-real midlife phase of questioning myself, my identity, and my place in life, with accompanying feelings of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment. Nearly all these feelings focus on my career situation. I’m ten years into a wonderful second marriage, so that’s not affected. But I sense the crisis spilling over somewhat into my religion/faith. For this post, I thought I would do a bit of self-inventory in the spirit of “I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me…
Mormon Family Shrinkage
I’m the oldest of ten kids. I spent my teen years (1979–1986) living across the street in Bountiful, Utah, from a family with eleven kids. Two of my aunts and uncles have nine and ten kids, respectively. Even after living through it myself, I still can’t imagine how this was done! How could these super-parents keep going through all those pregnancies and babies and all those expenses, not to mention the drain on their personal time and energy? You just don’t see families that big anymore, even in Mormonism. For my Generation X and perhaps many younger Baby Boomers too, a gigantic…
“Sorceries, and Witchcrafts, and Magics”
By about 325 A.D. the Nephites had reached this point: “And it came to pass that there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land” (Mormon 1:19). On the scale of depravity, this condition seems to be worse than having the land overrun by robbers and secret combinations, though not as bad as the human sacrifice and cannibalism that later arose among the people. So, what does this mean? Something along the lines of our modern-day astrology, Ouija boards, and Wiccanism, or something deeper and darker?…
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