Perhaps our feelings about tomorrow’s letter were abreacted in last week’s multifarious and sporadically acerbic discussion. My purpose here is to highlight some of the feelings and perspective of one who is connected to many aspects of the Church’s political action regarding gay marriage. My sister Emily is a lawyer in California, and gay (also kind, witty, and sagacious, but that is beside the point). Her journey through life has had a positive and profound impact on my family and I. I have learned a lot from her, but this issue specifically has inspired me to be more thoughtful and considerate of those who are different from my straight white male middle-class American self (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
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baptism,
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death,
history,
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race,
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restoration and
temple .
In 1999 a church news paper surveyed its Latter Day Saint subscribers to glean what single event they thought shaped the last 100 years in Latter Day Saint history. The number one event, rated by its subscribers was the 1978 Priesthood Revelation. Percentage wise the second event didn’t even come close. Continue reading…
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There are BYU professors, and there are BYU professors. Brother Keller is in a class by himself. His life story alone fascinates me. Converted to the church as a young adult, Continue reading…
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questioning,
religion,
restoration,
surviving,
testimony and
thought .
Before John Dehlin, there was Jeff Burton. Continue reading…
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The raid in Texas is interesting (and differs from AZ and UT prosecutorial efforts) in that polygamy is being attacked directly. So, will this shift in approach result in the end of polygamy (again)? Continue reading…
If you spend any time here in the Bloggernacle, or leafing through the pages of any number of “alternate voices,” you are bound to encounter Eugene England. A founder of Dialogue, England — a former Bishop, LDS missionary, and BYU Professor — is a patron saint of the Mormon intellectual community, oft-revered as “our greatest essayist.” But for all of our lip service, we — as a Church and as an Internet community — could still learn a thing or two by actually putting his more challenging philosophies into practice.
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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?
[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.’ “
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Outside of my own library and the virtual community I’m connected to through the internet, Mormondom has very little impact on my immediate environment in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The LDS Institute has a prominent place next to the university, but the LDS chapel is across the river in a part of town we rarely visit. The Community of Christ chapel is in the Old West Side historic district across the street from the home of our closest friends and there’s a Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) branch out past Target. Once every six months or so we have a missionary sighting. And that’s it. 
