I let my subscription to Dialogue lapse many years ago, and haven’t paid much attention to it since.
Doing so was partly a (tiny) protest. I’m sure that nobody noticed it, there or anywhere else.
Mostly, though, it was because I’d been finding the journal boring, predictable, and depressing. Every time I found a copy in my mailbox, my heart sank. It was a (more or less regular) downer.
As an active, committed believer, I just wasn’t finding much in it that was of use to me in trying to be a thoughtful Latter-day Saint — or, at least, there was more corrosive negativity and criticism of my church and my faith than I wanted to read on a regular basis, or support with my subscription money.
I remember seeing a survey of Dialogue readers, at one point long ago, and the data suggested, to my surprise, that the large majority of them were, like me, believing and active. Yet the journal didn’t seem to me to be serving them very well, and its articles didn’t seem representative of them.
I wanted serious reflection. I’m not averse to difficult questions, and to the expression of serious concerns. But . . . well, you get the picture.
As I say, I haven’t really looked at Dialogue very much since then. Maybe it’s improved already.
Now, though, Boyd Petersen has been selected as the journal’s new editor:
http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/2177681-155/longtime-scholarly-mormon-publication-names-a
I’ve known him for years. He’s an excellent choice.
Boyd’s (shudder!) a Democrat, of course, and there will probably continue to be things in Dialogue that sadden me and with which I disagree.
But who knows? I may even consider resubscribing.
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