Emma Smith and Ecumenical Miscommunication

Last updated on: July 11, 2012 at 4:58 pm By David Howlett

July 10 was the 208th birthday of Emma Hale Smith Bidamon, wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. In Kirtland, Ohio where I have worked for the past nine summers, the staff at the Community of Christ’s Kirtland Temple organize a July 10th hymn festival in the temple that celebrates Emma’s life. Since the first hymn festival in 2004, three Mormon traditions with a presence in Kirtland participate each year—the relatively conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS); the moderately... Read more

“Sister Wives” as Cultural Work

Last updated on: July 18, 2012 at 12:48 am By Susanna Morrill

I got sucked into watching “Sister Wives,” I’ll admit it. Having deliberately avoided it for the entire first season, I fell prey one cloudy Sunday when TLC was running a marathon in the lead-up to the second season. It’s compelling stuff to watch as the Kody Brown and his four wives, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn deal with dramas ranging from sibling squabbles (inevitable in a family with seventeen children), to adding a fourth wife into the mix, to fleeing... Read more

The Truth About Mormon Stereotypes

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 2:16 am By Taylor Petrey

A decade ago, during the last “Mormon Moment” when the Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, Newsweek ran a cover story about Mormonism that represented it as fundamentally conformist, where men and women of different races all wore identical white shirts and black slacks. The image suggested that beneath the apparent racial diversity of modern Mormonism, there remains a culture of obedience and conformism. The photograph was an image of Mormonism’s enduring symbolic place in American history as... Read more

Mormons, Soldiers, Socialists, and Me

Last updated on: July 18, 2012 at 12:48 am By Heidi Harris

Growing up, I lived in society where housing was assigned to families based, first, on their size and, second, on their seniority within the government. My parents never paid rent or utilities and, when something in the home needed repairing, they would call a central maintenance department that serviced the entire city. When we were sick, we simply went to the hospital where we were treated and handed our prescriptions after showing our identification cards. Both of these services were always... Read more

Transparent Things

Last updated on: July 18, 2012 at 12:49 am By Seth Perry

When we concentrate on a material object, whatever its situation, the very act of attention may lead to our involuntary sinking into the history of that object. Novices must learn to skim over matter if they want matter to stay at the exact level of the moment. Transparent things, through which the past shines! Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things Last Saturday, my wife and my mom and I visited the Kirtland temple, the site of many of Mormonism’s formative events. Among... Read more

Faith Over Family: A Dating Dilemma for Mormon Singles

Last updated on: June 25, 2012 at 4:39 pm By Emily Belanger

After living for eight years in Provo, Utah – first as a student at Brigham Young University and later as faculty – I am moving to Georgia. As with most moves, this decision is at once exciting and heart-breaking, as I will meet new people and encounter wonderful experiences, while also leaving behind friends whom I have come to cherish. But this move has also made me aware of my place in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... Read more

Wildcard Friday Post: Tragedy Part II

Last updated on: July 25, 2012 at 6:11 pm By Rachael

My last post cast a broad net over the dilemma of tragedy in Mormonism, so this Wildcard Friday post is meant to address some of the comments and questions, including the response by Ben Huff, which I received. To briefly recap, I argued that Mormonism is simultaneously deeply committed to a tragic universe, where not all goods can coexist (primarily, agency and insulation from pain [sin], or love and invulnerability) yet also to a universal plan of happiness and an... Read more

Why Mormon Feminism Is True

Last updated on: June 20, 2012 at 6:48 am By Patrick Mason

“By proving contraries,” Joseph Smith once declared, “truth is made manifest.” For many, the very phrase “Mormon feminism” is itself a “contrary.” If so, then perhaps Mormon feminism is precisely the kind of place we should look for truth. (more…) Read more

Mirroring Mormonism

Last updated on: June 16, 2012 at 8:32 pm By Richard Livingston

Negotiations continued this past Sunday evening at the 2012 Tony Awards. The show opens with one Elder Price ringing Ricky Martin’s dressing room “doorbell.” After an awkward pause and a cheesy smile that sparkled as bright as any 1980s toothpaste commercial, the young missionary then says/sings, “Hello, my name is Elder Price, and I would like to share with you the most amazing book.” Unsurprisingly, Martin immediately slams the door shut. The scene then moves down the hall to Elder... Read more

The Divine Doctor

Last updated on: June 12, 2012 at 4:53 pm By Alan Hurst

For the last few years, some of the world’s most interesting Mormon theology has been playing out in front of sci-fi geeks on laptops and television screens. Unbeknownst to nearly everyone, the writers and actors of one of my favorite shows have created a touching and compelling but still critical portrayal of Mormonism’s distinctive understanding of God. I’m referring, of course, to Doctor Who. For those of you who don’t share my love of fantasy, the BBC’s Doctor Who is... Read more