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Archive for the ‘LDS History’ Category

animated Mormon quotes – Brigham Young on race

02.26.2012 · Posted in LDS History, Mormons, Race

In a caffeine addled state during a long drive I had an idea: Wouldn’t it help people who are interested in Mormonism to “see” what past Mormon leaders have said, rather than just read it?  That thought lead to another: Well, you could animate historic Mormon figures to reenact the quotes.  Thus, I give you ...

“The Rescue”

Many of you have probably already come across this Reuters special report about Mormonism’s membership troubles in this internet age, as reported by outgoing church historian Marlin Jensen. Apparently, President Monson’s signature campaign is called “the Rescue”:  referring to rescuing the church’s membership from “rapidly declining,” as some reports have spun it. I’m assuming the ...

Mormon and Queer at the Crossroads

I’ve been active on this blog since chanson reviewed my gay, Mormon novel Ockham’s Razor last October.  I will be presenting a paper about my novel at this year’s Sunstone Symposium titled “Two Paradigms for ‘Gay.’”  (Half of my presentation will also concern Jonathan Langford’s novel No Going Back–also reviewed by chanson).  Gerald Argetsinger, who ...

The Day I Sang about the “Latter-Day Glory” with the C of C and with the Polygamists

Wherever people talk about Mormonism, you always hear about the fundamentalist Mormons: the polygamists. On the LDS-interest Internet there’s tons of discussion of modern-day polygamy – usually in a hand-wringing “what should be done about them” kind of way. Naturally, I was glad when I finally got the opportunity to meet some real-life fundamentalist Mormons, ...

Oldies but Goodies: Testimony of a Dissident

A while back another blogger asked me to submit an essay about my Mormon experience. Probably, for good reasons he changed his mind and never published it. Since it is already written and might shed some light on my argument at Times and Seasons, I might as well publish it myself. It might help some ...

Sunday in Outer Blogness: History and Research Edition!

05.17.2009 · Posted in LDS History, Sunstone, Utah

Chris Smith reminds us that the due date is fast approaching for presenter proposals at this year’s SLC Sunstone Symposium! The theme this year is Zion’s Sisterhood: Celebrating Mormon Women’s Contributions to Church and Culture. I’m dying to go myself — since for once I’ll actually be in the U.S. at the right time of ...

And now for some real family history!

05.14.2009 · Posted in Genealogy, LDS History, Mission Field

That’s right, you no longer have to settle for silly second and third-hand stories about the Aurora Branch. Now it’s time to hear about it from the horse’s mouth! What do you remember about those days? Climbing the stairs to the second floor of the Odd Fellows Hall where the branch met for about 20 ...

On the church’s uniqueness

…Sometimes, these blog entries just take too much time to set up…anyway, I was reading Mormon Matters and getting into the discussion there, and Bruce had said something that I found intriguing: …John Dehlin suggested that it was a mistake for modern Mormons to down play what he calls “19th century doctrines” (as he interprets ...

Your Sunday School Lesson: The First Vision

According to the philosopher Mircea Eliade, of whose work I learned at BYU, every community, tribe, or nation requires an origin myth. The account of a community’s or practice’s origin has far reaching consequences because it implies how they relate to the cosmos, which is necessary for human beings to imbue their world with shared ...