The first segment features Rachel, accompanied by podcast host Heather Olson Beal and readers Erin Hill and Stephanie Lauritzen. The second segment features just Heather, Erin, and Stephanie talking about Mormon connections, links, and reactions to Rachel’s book. Please support Mormon Stories by purchasing A Year of Biblical Womanhood through this link.  A small amount of the proceeds go to help support Mormon Stories.

In today’s episode we interview John Hamer, who left Mormonism and religion/belief altogether with no intent to return (after graduating from BYU). We explore how John’s relationship with his partner, Mike, helped him to discover his love for Mormon history, the Mormon historians community, and the John Whitmer Historical Association. This path ultimately led John to become baptized in the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) on April 6, 2010 — the 150th anniversary of the Reorganization and the 180th anniversary of the organization of the church.

How does an ex-Mormon who had left faith altogether rediscover the value of religion within a Joseph Smith tradition church? This is John Hamer’s story.

You can talk to John directly at his facebook group “Latter-day Seekers” or follow the SaintsHerald blog.

A small amount of the proceeds go to help support Mormon Stories.

Craig Harline, a native of California, is a cultural historian and a professor of history at BYU. He teaches courses on the Reformation, the history of civilization, film, and Christianity.  He has also taught seminars on miracles and toleration and persecution.

==============

Title: Conversions: Two Family Stories from the Reformation and Modern America
Author: Craig Harline
Publisher: Yale University Press
Genre: Non-fiction
Year: 2011
Pages: 320
Binding: Hardback, Paperback, Kindle
ISBN-13: 978-0300167016
Price: $20.90 (hardcover); $17.94 (paperback); $15.12 (Kindle)

Book Description from www.amazon.com:

This powerful and innovative work by a gifted cultural historian explores the effects of religious conversion on family relationships, showing how the challenges of the Reformation can offer insight to families facing similarly divisive situations today.

Craig Harline begins with the story of young Jacob Rolandus, the son of a Dutch Reformed preacher, who converted to Catholicism in 1654 and ran away from home, causing his family to disown him. In the companion story, Michael Sunbloom, a young American, leaves his family’s religion in 1973 to convert to Mormonism, similarly upsetting his distraught parents. The modern twist to Michael’s story is his realization that he is gay, causing him to leave his new church, and upsetting his parents again—but this time the family reconciles.

Recounting these stories in short, alternating chapters, Harline underscores the parallel aspects of the two far-flung families. Despite different outcomes and forms, their situations involve nearly identical dynamics and heart-wrenching choices. Through the author’s deeply informed imagination, the experiences of a seventeenth-century European family are transformed into immediately recognizable terms.

Book Club Resources:

1.  Click here[H2]  to listen to the Mormon Stories Podcast with author Craig Harline and readers Heather Olson Beal, Hannah Pritchett, Natasha Helfer Parker, Daniel Rawson, and Kimberly Brinkerhoff.

2.  Reviews of Conversions

http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/reviews.asp?isbn=9780300167016

http://forums.mormonletters.org/yaf_postst1181_Harline-Conversions-Two-Family-Stories-from-the-Reformation-and-Modern-America-reviewed-by-Dallas-Robbins.aspx

http://affirmation.org/books/craig_harline_conversions.shtml

http://ahr.oxfordjournals.org/content/117/5/1549.extract

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8779562

http://yalepress.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/a-novel-narration-of-religious-conversion/

3. New Books in Politics Podcast:  http://newbooksinpolitics.com/2012/10/15/craig-harline-conversions-two-family-stories-from-the-reformation-and-modern-america-yale-up-2011

• Why are people religious?
• Are religious people more educated than nonreligious people?
• Are religious people more moral, more humble, or happier?
• Are religious people more or less prejudiced than nonreligious people?
• Is religion good for your health and happiness?
• Are people becoming more or less religious?
• What are the alternatives to religion?

Please post any additional questions you have for Ryan here.  Thanks!

John

Michael Hicks, a composer, performer, scholar, and poet, has been teaching in the BYU School of Music since 1985.  For more biographical information about Michael, see here  and here.

==============

Title: The Street-Legal Version of Mormon’s Book
Author: Michael Hicks
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Genre: Non-fiction
Year: 2012
Pages: 504
Binding: Paperback, Kindle
ISBN-13: 1477615830
Price: $17.25 (paperback), $6.99 (Kindle)

Book Description from www.amazon.com:

Not a “simplified” version of the Book of Mormon, but a completely rewritten paraphrase, with a contemporary voice hovering somewhere in the realm of J. D. Salinger, Hunter Thompson, and some generic humanist academic/poet, i.e., me. An affectionate, meditational dramatization and commentary. From the Introduction: “Why ‘street-legal’? That’s a term we use for souped-up cars—streamlined and powerfully efficient but also decorative, with decals, pinstriping, and tricked-out doodads—that still can be ridden in normal lanes of traffic. They’re not cars meant for everyday errands, to be sure. Offroad is their normal habitat. But the only thing they usually lack to be ‘normal’ is a better muffler. This paraphrase of the Book of Mormon is like that. I’ve streamlined a lot of passages, put them in terse, up-to-date vernacular, thinking that’s what one would have done if one were scratching the book out on metal plates. I’ve tried to muscle up the prose. But I’ve also added lots of linguistic decals: digressions, snippets of commentary, queries, and even humor, which the original editor, Mormon, apparently cut.”

In March 2013, the Association for Mormon Letters gave the book the “first ever award for adaption from a modern language into a more modern language.”

Book Club Resources:

1. Reviews of The Street-Legal Version of Mormon’s Book
2. http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2013/04/a-street-legal-version-of-the-beatitudes/
3. Video resources:
   1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-3YCdjNz64
   2. http://www.mormonchannel.org/legacy/60
4. Other Bloggernacle resources/writings by and about Hicks
   1. http://bycommonconsent.com/2008/07/01/early-mormon-hymn-singing/
   2. http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/?s=Michael+Hicks
   3. http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=21&num=1&id=635

• The ordainwomen.org April 6 Launch Event Info
• Salt Lake Tribune Article on Kate and the initiative
• The FAIR talk on the LDS church and gender
• They “Why Mormons Question” survey referred to in the interview
• “A gift given, a gift taken away”
• Kate’s Profile at ordainwomen.org
• Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes
• The Gordon B. Hinckley Interview
• All Are Alike Unto God
• Daily Herald poll on women’s ordination

• Part 1: How they fell in love and decided to marry, in spite of both knowing that Josh is gay 

• Part 2: The complexities and risks of living in a mixed-orientation marriage, and

• Part 3: LGBT issues within the LDS church
  

For more content regarding the LGBT/LDS experience, check out Gay Mormon Stories Podcast, No More Strangers blog, and additional LGBT-related interviews on Mormon Stories Podcast.

• Part 1: His early LDS years, his mission service, falling in love with his husband (Jeff), and his decision to leave the LDS church.
• Part 2: His process of coming out as a gay man, and his thoughts on exploring sexuality in healthy ways
• Part 3: His decision to marry Jeff, have a child (Madeline) via surrogacy, and his view on family values
• Part 4: His thoughts on Mormonism, Proposition 8, Post-Mormonism, and social justice.

This episode is a co-production with the fabulous Daniel Parkinson of Gay Mormon Stories Podcast.

Brian’s PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded here.

========

Stephen,

I think my biggest regret in this whole ordeal is that I’ve allowed myself to be become a distraction to the real issue: that there are thousands of sincere LDS church members and former members who are struggling with their faith and/or their church-related experiences.  I believe that they are in desperate need of greater empathy and support, and that they should be our collective focus.

I have no substantive response to Greg Smith’s article, other than to say that as I move forward with Mormon Stories, it will be with a renewed commitment to constructive dialogue centered around helping those in need.

Thanks for inquiring.

John Dehlin

P.S.  For a fabulous review of Greg Smith’s article by “Rollo,” click here.  And for a fabulous response to Greg Smith’s criticisms of Rollo’s review, click here.

1. Joseph Smith had a reputation as a womanizer.
2. The Joseph Smith – Fanny Alger relationship was not a plural marriage.
3. Joseph Smith’s polygamy was all about sex, in other words, “multiply and replenish the earth.”
4. Joseph Smith had no children by his plural wives.
5. Joseph Smith had sexual relations with 14 year olds.
6. John C. Bennett was a polygamy insider in Nauvoo.
7. None of Joseph Smith’s plural marriages were non-sexual “eternity-only” sealings.
8. Joseph Smith’s teachings allow sexual polyandry.
9. Some of Joseph Smith’s marriages included sexual polyandry.
10. Joseph sent men on missions so he could be sealed to their wives.
11. Joseph Smith threatened to destroy the reputation of any woman that turned him down.
12. Emma Smith never supported plural marriage.

• Click here to obtain the PowerPoint presentation for this podcast.
• Click here to purchase Brian’s new books entitled “Joseph Smith’s Polygamy Vols. 1-3″
• Click here to check out Brian’s website called “MormonFundamentalism.com”
• Click here to check out Brian’s website called “JosephSmithsPolygamy.com”

Also, Brian C.Hales will be speaking about his research and signing copies at Benchmark Books (3269 S Main St #250, Salt Lake City) on February 27th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, and at Pioneer Book (858 S State St, Orem) on March 9th at 7:00 pm.

• Click here to obtain the PowerPoint presentation for this podcast.
• Click here to listen to Grant Palmer’s podcast outlining his interpretation of sexual allegations against Joseph Smith.
• Click here to read Grant Palmer’s discussion of these allegations.
• Click here to purchase Brian’s new books entitled “Joseph Smith’s Polygamy Vols. 1-3″
• Click here to check out Brian’s website called “MormonFundamentalism.com”
• Click here to check out Brian’s website called “JosephSmithsPolygamy.com”

Also, Brian C.Hales will be speaking about his research and signing copies at Benchmark Books (3269 S Main St #250, Salt Lake City) on February 27th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, and at Pioneer Book (858 S State St, Orem) on March 9th at 7:00 pm.

As the 5th feature of our

==============

Title: A Short Stay in Hell
Author: Steven Peck
Publisher: Strange Violin Editions
Genre: Fiction
Year: 2012
Pages: 108
Binding: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle
ISBN-13: 978-0983748427
Price: $21.95 (hardcover), $9.56 (paperback), $2.99 (Kindle)

Support Mormon Stories by purchasing A Short Stay in Hell through this link.

Book Description from www.amazon.com:

An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life. In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.

Book Club Resources:

Click here  to listen to the Mormon Stories Podcast with author Steven Peck and readers Heather Olson Beal, Matt Nokleby, and Amanda Nokleby.

Reviews of A Short Stay in Hell

http://www.shortstayinhell.com/reviews.html

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13456414-a-short-stay-in-hell?auto_login_attempted=true

http://benjaminsbrain.blogspot.com/2013/01/book-review-short-stay-in-hell.html

http://bycommonconsent.com/2012/07/10/sameness-chokes-oneness-notes-on-a-short-stay-in-hell-by-steven-l-peck/

http://shroudmagazinebookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-short-stay-in-hell-strange-violin-by.html

Other resources/writings by and about Peck

http://sciencebysteve.net/about/

http://lifesciences.byu.edu/~slp73

Scholar of Moab:  http://www.scholarofmoab.com/author-bio.html

The Quickend Chronicles: The Rifts of Rime:  http://bycommonconsent.com/2012/06/14/review-steven-l-peck-the-quickend-chronicles-the-rifts-of-rime/

1. To dispel any misunderstandings about why people leave the church (and what happens to them when they do) that came about as a result of my recent podcast interview, and
2. I’ve been wanting to update my “Why people leave the LDS church” youtube video for some time to include the results from the “Why Mormons Question” survey.
   

Please watch and provide feedback if you can…and then share w/ family, friends, and church members/leaders who lack understanding or empathy. 

Powerpoint presentation can be found here.

• My ups, downs, and ups with the church
  
• The story behind the “Why Mormons Question” survey, including my interactions with a few church leaders
• A discussion of the Daniel Peterson/Neil A. Maxwell institute incident last year
• The reasons behind the discontinuation of the Mormon Stories conferences and communities
• Interactions w/ my bishop and stake president over the past year
• How and why I’ve returned to full activity in the church

Big thanks to Sarah and Micah for all of their hard work.

To provide a tiny bit of background, about a year and a half ago we (at the Open Stories Foundation) were concerned/saddened by the very large number of struggling and/or disaffected Mormons that we were encountering across the globe, and felt motivated to create a number of Facebook support groups with the intent of seeding the formation of regional, face-to-face support communities for struggling Mormons.  Within a very short amount of time many of these communities started to gel, and uncorrelated Mormon book clubs, dinner groups, play groups, camp outs and other such events began taking place all over the world.  More importantly, hundreds (and maybe even thousands) of struggling Mormons began to receive the face-to-face support, friendship and fellowship that they were previously unable to receive in their LDS wards and stakes.

In addition to forming these communities, we decided to hold conferences in several of these cities including New York City, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Kansas City, Washington D.C., Houston, Boise, Phoenix, Seattle and Sweden — as well as Circling the Wagons conferences in Salt Lake City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco (to provide support for our LGBT friends).

I want to state very publicly and clearly that my personal experiences with these groups and conferences were overwhelmingly positive, beautiful and (to be very frank) somewhat sacred.  The people in these communities remain among my favorite people on the  planet, the conferences had delightful and uplifting presentations and musical performances, and the post-conference events were extremely enjoyable and rewarding.

In the interview referenced above (and online) I have been asked why the OSF discontinued its sponsorship of the conferences and communities.  While I now can see that I completely botched my explanation, allow me to briefly explain what I was trying to say.

While I want to (again) very strongly emphasize that my experiences with these communities and conferences were overwhelmingly positive and (dare I say) wholesome, throughout these interactions I became aware of (in some instances directly, and in some instances indirectly) a small degree of behaviors/activities that were very disturbing to me at the time.  To be specific, these behaviors included alcohol and drug use, adultery, and some experimentation with open marriages.

In relating this, I need to also state that:

• NONE of this behavior was (to my knowledge) ever sponsored by the local Mormon Stories communities or their leaders
• ALL of this behavior can be found both inside and outside of Mormonism (including amongst active LDS church participation), and
• I completely reject and denounce any insinuation that these behaviors should be associated with disaffection from the LDS church. I tried to make this point very clear in my interview, and hopefully have made it very clear with this presentation.

I have been fighting for 8 years to dispel the myths that: 1) people leave the church in order to “sin,” or 2) leaving the church necessarily leads to unhappiness.  Consequently, to know that some have  interpreted my experiences in this way has made me very sad. 

What was difficult/problematic for me about these behaviors had NOTHING to do with my personal judgments of them, nor of the people involved in them.  These are fine, good, loving, moral people, and I do not judge them in any way.  To be honest, my own eye is so full of beams that I have literally no room to judge others.

What was difficult for me was the following:

• I could not help but feel both saddened and at least partly responsible (as the leader of Mormon Stories and the OSF) as I watched some marriages dissolve in association with these conferences and communities.  To put it simply, it broke my heart.  Even though I know (in my logical brain) that divorce happens everywhere — when a spouse comes up to you and says, “My spouse met their lover at a Mormon Stories conference, and that was the beginning of the end of our marriage — so thanks a lot.” or “My spouse started drinking heavily once he started hanging around folks from the Mormon Stories community”….even though this was super rare for me…..it had an impact on me nonetheless.  It felt awful.
• Even though these behaviors were relatively infrequent, I became fearful that Mormon Stories would become associated with some of these behaviors (since in life sometimes perception and/or reputation becomes reality — fair or not) — and the last thing I wanted to do was spoil the mission and impact of Mormon Stories (which is to build empathy for the plight of intellectuals, feminists, LGBT individuals and disaffected members from within the believing LDS community), and to SAVE families.
• Frankly, I worried that some of these behaviors would lead to rumors that would only confirm the stereotypes I was trying to combat.
• Many on the OSF board (myself included) became concerned that the conferences and communities would open the OSF up to potential law suits.
• It was my perception that a number of these communities (especially on Facebook) started to gain the reputation (fair or not) as being post-Mormon communities, wherein believers sometimes felt unwelcome or even mocked.  As many of you know (again), our goal from the beginning has been to engage in projects wherein believers and non-believers both feel comfortable — and I did not feel like it would be good for Mormon Stories to be perceived as an organization that sponsored groups that were perceived to be hostile to belief.

All of these reasons, combined with the fact that…

• Most of the OSF conferences lost money (after factoring in salaried labor)
• My family relationships and personal health were suffering severely from the travel and stress of the conferences.  The conferences, and good relationships with my family, were simply not simultaneously sustainable.
• I was SUPER uncomfortable with all the attention and adoration that I sometimes received from participants (I wasn’t at all interested in creating a personality cult or another church)
• My Ph.D. clinical and research responsibilities increased dramatically during the 2012-2013 timeframe

…led to the decision to “spin off” the communities, and discontinue the conferences.

As I’ve received feedback from my recent interview, I have learned that many within these communities feel deeply hurt that I gave the impression that these communities were full of unsavory activities.  In reality, nothing could be further from the truth, and I feel very, very sad that I have given this impression.  Please accept my sincere apologies for this impression.

To close, I want to communicate that it remains my sincere hope that these beautiful and vibrant support communities continue to thrive.  Even though I felt it best to “spin them off” to local ownership, nothing would please me more than to see them grow, multiply, and continue to serve the large and growing number of struggling or disaffected LDS church members. It has been my position for 8 years (since starting Mormon Stories) that these beautiful, moral, and thoughtful people deserve love, respect and support, and they are certainly not getting it at present in their wards and stakes (for the most part…my ward/stake excluded).  :)

Consequently, I want to offer my sincere support (and gratitude) to any responsible group of individuals who would like to establish and grow an organization committed to nurturing these support communities.  If I can help with such an endeavor (from a bit of a distance…for practical reasons), please do not hesitate to let me know.  Nothing would make me happier than to see this happen.

With sincere love, gratitude, and my deepest apologies,

John Dehlin

• Part 1: Early years and the formation of his philosophical positions
• Part 2: His critique of Mormon liberalism
• Part 3: His critique of Mormon feminism
• Part 4: On Mormon apologetics, LGBT issues and his final testimony

• Episode 1: Depression, Anxiety, Trauma and Masturbation
• Episode 2: Pornography, Addiction, Marriage and Divorce
• Episode 3: Sexual Intimacy, Parenting, Faith Crisis and Coping with same-sex attraction as a Mormon.

From Carol Lynn:

I am so happy to introduce the fourth (and probably final) of my works that focuses on the needs of our gay brothers and sisters. We live in a wonderful day. Science has shown that a homosexual orientation is not a choice. Most people are aware that one or more of their loved ones is gay. Society and religion are moving in the direction of understanding and inclusion.  But for many of our gay family members and friends, the path is still difficult and sometimes life-threatening. I am thrilled to offer what I believe to be a beautiful “gift book” that might serve as a traveling companion providing a new and brighter vision of this journey.  What if, after all, being gay is not a defect, not a lesser life, but a different calling?– an invitation to travel the road of heroes mapped out by mythologist Joseph Campbell and find the life-giving substance that cures all ills.

McKay’s reflections on covering the Romney campaign can be found in this excellent article, “A Mormon Reporter on the Romney Bus.”

• In part 1, we interview Fiona about her life.
• In part 2, we speak with both Terryl and Fiona Givens about their new book.

As the 3rd feature of our

==============

Title: Falling in Love with Joseph Smith Author: Jane Barnes Publisher: Tarcher Genre: Non-fiction Year: 2012 Pages: 304 Binding: Hardcover ISBN-13: 1585429252 Price: $16.85

Support Mormon Stories by purchasing Falling in Love with Joseph Smith through this link.

Book Description from www.amazon.com:

When award-winning documentary film writer Jane Barnes was working on the PBS Frontline/American Experience special series The Mormons, she was surprised to find herself passionately drawn to Joseph Smith. The product of an Episcopalian, “WASPy” family, she couldn’t remember ever having met a Mormon before her work on the series—much less having dallied with the idea of converting to a religion shrouded in controversy. But so it was: She was smitten with a man who claimed to have translated the word of God by peering into the dark of his hat.

In this brilliantly written book, Barnes describes her experiences working on the PBS series as she moved from secular curiosity to the brink of conversion to Mormonism. It all began when she came across Joseph Smith’s early writings. She was delighted to discover how funny and utterly unique he was—and how widely divergent his wild yet profound visions of God were from the Church of Latter-day Saints as we know it today. Her fascination deepened when, much to her surprise, she learned that her eighth cousin Anna Barnes converted to Mormonism in 1833. Through Anna, Barnes follows her family’s close involvement with Smith and the crises caused by his controversial practice of polygamy. Barnes’ unlikely path helps her gain a newfound respect for the innovative American spirit that lies at the heart of Mormonism—and for a religion that is, in many ways, still coming into its own.

An intimate portrait of the man behind one of America’s fastest growing religions, Falling in Love with Joseph Smith offers a surprising and provocative window into the Mormon experience.

Book Club Resources:

1. Click here to listen to the Mormon Stories Podcast with author Jane Barnes, John Dehlin, Erin Hill, Dayna Patterson, and Cheryl Bruno

2. Reviews of Falling in Love with Joseph Smith

 http://www.tarcherbooks.net/qa-with-jane-barnes-author-of-falling-in-love-with-joseph-smith/

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2012/08/06/falling-love-with-joseph-smith-search-for-real-prophet-jane-barnes/msz5jsxiEzq5e3lzoMRI0I/story.html

http://www.salon.com/writer/jane_barnes/

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/entertainment/2012/sep/16/tdbook01-nonfiction-review-falling-in-love-with-jo-ar-2200472/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-barnes/

http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781101597170,00.html?Falling_in_Love_with_Joseph_Smith_Jane_Barnes

http://www.tarcherbooks.net/fun-fact-four-things-you-didnt-know-about-joseph-smith/

3. Podcasts re: the book:

http://wmra.org/post/jane-barnes-fascinated-mormons

http://wamc.org/post/falling-love-joseph-smith-jane-barnes

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2012/aug/21/falling-love-joseph-smith/

http://interfaithradio.org/Archive/2012-October/Faith_and_the_Presidency____Falling_in_Love_with_Joseph_Smith____and_More 

4. Other Mormon-themed resources/writings by and about Barnes

http://www.cultureshocks.com/shows/2012/08/24/jane-barnes/ 

But is this the best way to read the text, and the only real plausible conclusion to draw concerning God’s use of skin color as a marker of either displeasure or favor? Brian Dalton, the creator and star of the videocast series Mr. Deity, thinks so, and it has led him recently to create a new episode of one of his side projects, The Way of the Mister, that he titled “Mormonism is Racism.” In that episode, Dalton spells out the ways in which he believes Latter-day Saints are forced to hold to such contemptible racist beliefs because they can neither jettison the Book of Mormon nor the idea in it about skin color being connected to righteousness. Through this episode and the logic he employs in it—that this conclusion about God and skin color is “so essential to the Book of Mormon story that to get rid of it would be to undermine the entire Book of Mormon and thus the entire Mormon faith,” that Joseph Smith suggested the Book of Mormon could only be read literally, that because of the LDS teaching that its leaders speak directly with and for God, “you’re either all in you’re all out”—Dalton urges people everywhere to confront this vile message by exposing its centrality in Mormonism. He claims that because it’s a religious belief, “Mormons have gotten a pass,” but he is adamant this kind of religious cover for blatant racism should not be allowed to stand any longer. “Mormons have to be held accountable—even those running for high public office.”

In this two-part Mormon Matters episode, Brian Dalton joins Charley Harrell and host Dan Wotherspoon in a lively discussion of the Way of the Mister episode and its claims, whether there are fair readings of the Book of Mormon passages and sensibilities in question that might complicate the straight lines that Dalton draws about the message or its centrality to (or consistency within) the Book of Mormon’s story, as well as quite a bit about the value or harm that religion as a whole adds to this world. Parts of the discussion get a bit feisty, yet even amid some chaos (you’ll discover some “on-air” producing going on in efforts to re-orient and make new plans when the discussion takes unexpected turns) it presents important and clear contrasts in worldviews, especially related to definitions of God, scripture, what “revelation” or something being “inspired” might mean, the promise of science and if secularism is leading to a better world and more fulfilled lives than religion does (or can), and much more.

Part Two presents a continued conversation between Harrell and Wotherspoon that presents looks at two perspectives that the conversation with Dalton left nearly untouched: (1) alternate possible readings of the Book of Mormon if it were to be examined it on its own terms, and from the perspective that it is a thousand-year abridged history of actual, ancient people and what this might yield in terms of a different framing about racism present in the passages in dispute, and also what the implications would be for Mormons today in terms of their being forced by logic to believe in the skin color claim; and (2) how these passages and their centrality to the Mormon faith might look from a perspective that admits nineteenth-century origins for the Book of Mormon, either as the sole creation of Joseph Smith’s imagination or through some kind of “revelation” that involves both divine and human influence on the text that resulted. And, if any of this is admitted, how might this new perspective on prophetic production affect statements such as Smith’s declaration that the Book of Mormon was translated by “the gift and power of God,” and that it is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book”?

Both parts are longer than what we typically aim for at Mormon Matters, but we think you will enjoy these discussions and find them to represent well important currents for how to best frame religion in general, and Mormonism and its holy scriptures and sensibilities about prophets and revelation, in particular. We hope you will listen carefully and then contribute to a lively discussion in the comments section below.

__________

Links to media and articles mentioned in podcast or relevant to the topic:

“Mormonism is Racism,” Way of the Mister videocast, 10 October 2012

Mormon Stories Interview with Brian Dalton, 20 October 2010

Mormon Stories Interview with Charley Harrell, 25 January 2012

Mormon Matters episode, “How Can We Truly Confront Racism within Mormon Thought and Culture?” 9 March 2012

Utah Lighthouse Ministry list: Racial Statements in LDS Scripture

Matthew Roper, “Nephi’s Neighbors: Book of Mormon Peoples and Pre-Columbian Populations,” FARMS Review15, no. 2 (2003)

Blake T. Ostler, “DNA Strands in the Book of Mormon,” Sunstone, May 2005

Blake T. Ostler, “The Book of Mormon As a Modern Expansion of an Ancient Source,” Dialogue 20, no. 1 (Spring 1987)

Scott C. Dunn, “Spirit Writing: Another Look at the Book of Mormon,” Sunstone, June 1985

C. Jess Groesbeck, “The Book of Mormon as a Symbolic History: A New Perspective on Its Place in History and Religion,” Sunstone, March 2004

“White and Delightsome: Racism in the Book of Mormon” by Michael Barker (post at Rational Faiths blog)

If you can, please take the time to listen to the strategy announcement below.  A few important highlights:

1. We are shifting our emphasis back to podcasts for the next few years.  Podcast changes include the following:
   • Mormon Stories will add:
     • A monthly book club discussion with authors (please purchase your books through Mormon Stories if you can)
     • A monthly discussion panel on current events in Mormonism
     • An increased emphasis on practical and transition issues within Mormonism
   • Mormon Matters, Mormon Stories Sunday School and A Thoughtful Faith will continue their respective awesomness — please, please, please support these podcasts financially if you can.
   • A few new podcasts are in development:
     • Mormon Mental Health, led by Natasha Helfer Parker (The Mormon Therapist)
     • Gay Mormon Stories (looking for a leader…we have a fantastic support team already assembled), and
     • Former Mormon Stories, led by Matthew Nokleby.
2. We are looking to do a web site redesign to make our content more easily searchable and usable.  Please donate time/skills or financially if you are able to support.
3. I am considering the creation of a Facebook support group separate from the main Mormon Stories Facebook Support Group specifically designated for people who are committed to making the church work in their lives.  This group could be a home for believing MS listeners, along with Mormon Matters, A Thoughtful Faith, and Mormon Stories Sunday School listeners.  If you are interested in this option, please email me.
4. We will no longer be holding monthly conferences (ran out of time/energy/money), but we are open to holding occasional conferences in the future, depending on interest, resources and support.
5. Communities are free to organize their own conferences, and we are happy to provide ideas, speakers, and advertising as we can.
6. To keep Mormon Stories and the other podcasts alive, please support us financially if you can at our respective web sites.  This is super important.

Thanks!

John Dehlin

==============

Title: Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
Author: John G. Turner
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Genre: Biography
Year: 2012
Pages: 352
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 0674049675
Price: $26.00

Support Mormon Stories by purchasing Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet through this link

Book Description from www.amazon.com:

“Brigham Young was a rough-hewn craftsman from New York whose impoverished and obscure life was electrified by the Mormon faith. He trudged around the United States and England to gain converts for Mormonism, spoke in spiritual tongues, married more than fifty women, and eventually transformed a barren desert into his vision of the Kingdom of God. While previous accounts of his life have been distorted by hagiography or polemical exposé, John Turner provides a fully realized portrait of a colossal figure in American religion, politics, and westward expansion.

After the 1844 murder of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, Young gathered those Latter-day Saints who would follow him and led them over the Rocky Mountains. In Utah, he styled himself after the patriarchs, judges, and prophets of ancient Israel. As charismatic as he was autocratic, he was viewed by his followers as an indispensable protector and by his opponents as a theocratic, treasonous heretic.

Under his fiery tutelage, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints defended plural marriage, restricted the place of African Americans within the church, fought the U.S. Army in 1857, and obstructed federal efforts to prosecute perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. At the same time, Young’s tenacity and faith brought tens of thousands of Mormons to the American West, imbued their everyday lives with sacred purpose, and sustained his church against adversity. Turner reveals the complexity of this spiritual prophet, whose commitment made a deep imprint on his church and the American Mountain West.”

Book Club Resources:

1. Click here to listen to the Mormon Stories Podcast with author John Turner, Morris Thurston, Max Mueller, John Dehlin, and Heather Olson Beal [H1]
2. Reviews of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
   1. Harvard University Press webpage:  http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674049673
   2. HuffPo piece re: Brigham Young and polygamy by John G. Turner:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-g-turner/brigham-young-and-polygamy_b_1792555.html
   3. Times and Seasons review: http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2012/09/book-review-brigham-young-pioneer-prophet-by-john-g-turner/
   4. Association of Mormon Letters review: http://mormon-chronicles.blogspot.ca/2012/06/review-brigham-young-pioneer-prophet-by.html
   5. Improvement Era review:  http://improvementera.com/2012/09/review-and-musings-brigham-young-pioneer-prophet/
3. Podcasts re: the book:
   1. Harvard University Press podcast:  http://soundcloud.com/harvard-press/john-turner-brigham-young
   2. National Review’s Between the Covers with John J. Miller:  http://www.nationalreview.com/media/betweenthecovers/328405
   3. Mormon Expositor:  http://mormonexpositor.com/6-brigham-young-pioneer-prophet-with-john-g-turner/
   4. KCPW podcast:  http://kcpw.org/blog/cityviews/2012-09-10/cityviews-91112-brigham-young-pioneer-prophetwhy-mars-matters/
4. Other Mormon-themed resources/writings by Turner
   1. New York Times piece re: Mormons and racism by John G. Turner: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/racism-and-the-mormon-church.html?_r=0
   2. Turner’s thoughts on “the Mormon moment”:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/books/mormon-studies-attract-more-scholars-and-attention.html?pagewanted=all
   3. Turner’s take on the Hill Cumorah pageant:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444330904577536774199980182.html
   4. Turner’s thoughts on Mormons and the Civil War:  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/the-mormons-sit-out-the-civil-war/
   5. Turner’s review of Book of Mormon Girl:  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2012/09/book-of-mormon-girl/

Syllabus for a research course Turner teaches on Mormonism:

http://www.southalabama.edu/history/faculty/turner/documents/HY441MormonismSyllabus.pdf

Guest host Kylan Rice is a producer for BYU Radio, a poet, and a student of English literature. He also contributes, as a guest writer, to the blog RationalFaiths.com, which seeks to “provide a safe, fair, and balanced space to discuss the complexities, difficulties, and beauty of the Mormon tradition.”

To discuss this podcast, please follow this link to “A Thoughtful Faith.”

Part 3

Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Check out Phil’s brilliant “Why I Stay” Sunstone presentation here.  Also, this podcast is co-produced by the good folks at A Thoughtful Faith Podcast.

A Mormon Stories Conferences Statement of Purpose
can be found at the end of this page.

Friday, October 19th

6:30 – 10:00 p.m. – POTLUCK SOCIAL
Location: 81 Vine Street #500, Seattle, WA 98199

SATURDAY, October 20th

Location: Woodland Park Community of Christ, 5555 Phinney Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98103
Standard Price: 37.00 Registrants may pay less or more, depending on ability to pay. Free admissions available. All are welcome regardless. See registration section below for details.

12:00-1:30 p.m. – FIRST SESSION
Conducting: Erin Phelps
Non-traditional Prayer:
Musical Number: Nate Ihli
Keynote Speaker: Kristine Haglund
Keynote Speaker: Brent Metcalfe
Congregational Hymn: Love is Spoken Here

1:30 – 2:00 p.m. – BREAK MINGLE

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. – SECOND SESSION
Conducting: Blain Nelson
Community Speaker: Jenne Erigero Alderks
Panel Discussion Moderated by  Jenne Alderks : Cheryl Bruno, Natalie Kelly, Garen Thatcher, Jon Anderton

3:30 – 4:00 p.m. – BREAK/MINGLE

4:00 – 5:15 p.m. – STORY SHARING MEETING
Conducting: Natalie Kelly
Musical Number: Erin Phelps
-Story Sharing-
Congregational Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Accompanist: Cathy Barker

Traditional Prayer:

Mormon Stories Story Sharing Meetings are conducted in the tradition of Mormon testimony meetings. The microphone is open for all attendees to share their thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Those who currently identify with the Mormon faith tradition, those who identified with it in the past and all others are encouraged to share regardless of level of belief or activity.

6:00 p.m. – MEET AT A RESTAURANT FOR DINNER

8:45 p.m. – AFFIRMATION DANCE
515 Madison Street, Seattle, Washington 98104
3rd floor of the Seattle Renaissance Hotel

Sunday, October 21st

10:30 a.m. – AFFIRMATION DEVOTIONAL
515 Madison Street, Seattle, Washington 98104
3rd floor of the Seattle Renaissance Hotel

12:00 noon - SEATTLE CENTER SOCIAL – Pacific Science Center

__________________________________________________________________________

Registration:

The standard Saturday conference price is $37. If you cannot pay $37, please select $10, $20 or $25. If you feel you can afford to pay more and would like to help subsidize others’ registrations, you may select $50, $75, or $100. Conference registrations are not tax-deductible. Anyone who cannot pay $10 may email Anne at MormonStories@gmail.com to request free admission. Again, please choose the price that you feel best reflects your own ability to pay. All are welcome regardless.

FREE admissions to ALL Mormon Stories conferences are our thank you to pledge-level members. $500 per annum pledge-level memberships available for as little as $41.67 a month. Click the button below to join. Please see our donate tab for more information. All pledge-level membership donations are tax-deductible.

If you would prefer, instead, to make a one-time tax-deductible donation, please use the one-time donation button. Admission to the conference will be gifted to conference donors. No minimum donation necessary; we look forward to seeing you.

__________________________________________________________________________

Mormon Stories Conferences Statement of Purpose:

Mormon Stories conferences seek to be safe spaces where community members can express themselves authentically regardless of activity level in the Mormon Church or belief in any particular ideology. They do not attempt to persuade attendees to subscribe to any specific belief system or to make any specific life decisions. Rather, they intend to be places where community members of disparate beliefs can gather together to share personal life experiences. Traditional believing members, fundamentalists, apologists, atheists, agnostics, community members who adhere to other religions, women, men and people of all sexual orientations are equally welcome and have an equal standing in the community.

Conferences are convened in the spirit of the Mormon Stories Shared Values:

1. We acknowledge the richness of Mormon heritage, teachings, and community in all of its diversity.
2. We believe that one can self-identify as Mormon based on one’s genealogy, upbringing, beliefs, relationships, and other life experiences, regardless of one’s adherence or non-adherence to the teachings or doctrines of any religious organization.
3. We seek spaces where we as Mormons can live lives of intellectual and spiritual integrity, individual conscience, and personal dignity.
4. We acknowledge and honor different spiritual paths and modes of religious or non-religious truth-seeking. We respect the convictions of those who subscribe to ideas and beliefs that differ from our own.
5. We recognize the confusion, distress, emotional trauma, and social ostracism that people on faith journeys often experience. We seek constructive ways of helping and supporting people, regardless of their ultimate decisions regarding church affiliation or activity.
6. We affirm the inherent and equal worth of all human beings. We seek spaces where Mormons (and all people) can interact as equals regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. In this spirit of egalitarianism, we prefer non-authoritarian and non-hierarchical means of organization and affiliation.

In this interview, Greg and Micah discuss:

• Dialogue, one of Mormondom’s oldest and most controversial publications, and what role it will continue to play in the Internet Age
• The contributions of Chieko Okasaki
• Women and the priesthood
• What practical solutions are available today to affect positive change in Mormon gender equality
• Greg’s role models
• How we should take ownership of the future of Mormonism
• Greg’s admonitions, which range from influencing curriculum, creating better scholarship, and how to navigate the political intrigue of church service
• Greg’s newest project, the Madison House Autism Foundation (MHAF), which he and his wife JaLynn co-founded in 2009

Links:

Greg Prince’s Amazon page

Greg Prince’s Manifesto Speech

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

Madison House Autism Foundation

Madison House YouTube Channel

Joanna is the Board Chairman of Mormon Stories, has keynoted at Mormon Stories Conferences in Salt Lake City, Boston and Boise, is the author of the popular Ask Mormon Girl blog at Feminist Mormon Housewives and AskMormonGirl.com, blogs at ReligionDispatches.org and is a professor at San Diego State University. She will be featured on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart this Thursday.

In conjunction with Joanna’s podcast, we are announcing the new Mormon Stories Book Club allowing Mormon Stories community members to easily find resources to supplement the books featured on our podcast. Use the links below to find a book discussion guide, join a Facebook group where you can discuss The Book of Mormon Girl with Joanna herself, or even to schedule a time to Skype Joanna in to your local book club meeting!

The Book of Mormon Girl is a story about leaving behind the innocence of childhood belief and embracing the complications and heartbreaks that come to every adult life of faith. Joanna’s journey through her faith explores a side of the religion that is rarely put on display: its humanity, its tenderness, its humor, its internal struggles. In Joanna’s hands, the everyday experience of being a Mormon—without polygamy, without fundamentalism—unfolds in fascinating detail. With its revelations about a faith so often misunderstood and characterized by secrecy, The Book of Mormon Girl is a welcome advocate and necessary guide.

Support Mormon Stories by purchasing The Book of Mormon Girl through this link.

Book Club Resources:

Join this Facebook group to discuss The Book of Mormon Girl with Joanna and other readers
Use this guide to discuss Joanna’s book during your local book group
Skype Joanna in to your local book club discussion of The Book of Mormon Girl
Listen to Joanna’s 2010 Mormon Stories Interview
Watch Joanna on the Daily Show: Part 1, Part 2

Part 1

Part 2

To listen to the entire session, click here.

The text for the talk can be found here.

Mormon Stories Sunday School is a new podcast led by Bible scholar Jared Anderson. You can visit the site at www.MormonSundaySchool.org.

In this first episode, Jared outlines the vision, tone, goals, and proposed content of this Sunday School podcast. There will be a weekly Gospel Doctrine podcast entitled “Engaging Gospel Doctrine”, as well as a “ward library” of expanding content under the title “Excavating Scripture”. He also introduces skills for “close reading” of the scriptures as well as suggests resources, to which you can find links below.

This project models Sunday School teaching that is substantive and engaging while remaining faith-friendly, something that would be at home in a ward environment (though the coolest ward ever). Content will be produced in the following order:

• A weekly Sunday School lesson published about two weeks before the Church schedule
• A series of twelve audio-visual presentations that explore the intersection of key disciplines and topics with religion and Mormonism
• Mormon Stories-style interviews that will focus on the Standard Works and related topics
• A podcast commentary of the Standard Works

Here is a link to Dr. Sophia McClennen’s Close Reading Guide

The “Super Quad” list of books:

• A Study Bible, either Harper Collins or Oxford (Harper Collins has more footnotes, Oxford is slightly easier to read because of font size and layout)
• Grant Hardy’s Readers Edition of the Book of Mormon
• Steven Harper’s Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants
• H. Donl Peterson’s Pearl of Great Price: A History and Commentary

Part 2: Andrew Ainsworth and Peter Breinholt

Part 3: Claudia Bushman, Michael Fife and Stephanie Lauritzen

Part 4: Benji Schwimmer and Story Sharing Time

Part 5: Comedian Bengt Washburn

• Part 1: His early years, and his LDS mission experience
• Part 2: His experiences on So You Think You Can Dance
• Part 3: His attempts to come to terms with his sexuality and his LDS faith

Part 1: Early years and LDS mission experience

Part 2: The “So You Think You Can Dance” experience

Part 3: Coming to terms with sexuality and faith

While serving as bishop Simon began studying Native American DNA which he expected to have Middle Eastern origins, given the primary Book of Mormon narrative and longstanding church teachings to this effect.  Discovering instead that Native American DNA was almost 100% of Asiatic origin, this seriously challenged Simon’s belief that the Lamanites are the ancestors of the American Indians, and that the Book of Mormon is a historical document.  Consequently, Simon resigned from his calling as bishop in 1998 and left the church soon thereafter.

• The Ensign Article “The Flood and the Tower of Babel“
• Simon’s exchanges with Vaughn J. Featherston can be found here.
• A review of the apologetic responses to Simon’s book can be found here.
• D&C 77, which places the age of the earth at 6,000 years.
• Ensign Article: The Gospel and the Scientific World View: How Earth Came to Be

• Part 1: Dr. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich discusses the importance and of history and personal narrative within religious traditions and John Dehlin discusses the evolution of Mormon Stories and the role it plays in the lives of listeners and community members.
• Part 2: Joanna Brooks talks about changes in spiritual narrative scripts over time and how telling personal stories affects community development. Conference attendees share their personal stories in an open-mic format.

Dr. Ulrich is a historian of early America and the history of women and a university professor at Harvard University.  Ulrich’s innovative and widely influential approach to history has been described as a tribute to “the silent work of ordinary people”—an approach that, in her words, aims to “show the interconnection between public events and private experience.”  Her books include: Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History (2007), Yards and Gates: Gender in Harvard and Radcliffe History (2004), The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth (2001), All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir, a collection of essays coauthored with the Utah poet Emma Lou Thayne (1995), A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard based on her diary, 1785–1812 (1990), and Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750 (1982).

Joanna Brooks is a national voice on Mormon life and politics and an award-winning scholar of religion and American culture.  The author of The Book of Mormon Girl:  Stories from an American Faith, she is a senior correspondent for the on-line magazineReligionDispatches.org and has been named one of “50 Politicos to Watch” by Politico.com.

John’s “Why Mormons Question” presentation with visuals:

Part 1 – John Dehlin, Scott Gordon, Rosemary Avance:

Part 2 – Panel Discussion:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

• Powerpoint for Part 1
• Powerpoint for Part 2
• Powerpoint for Part 3
• Powerpoint for Part 4
• (No Powerpoint used in Part 5)

Jim also began his own company in the art dealership world, and has worked primarily with Russia for the past 20 years. During that time he also founded the Jim Dabakis Educational Foundation which has helped bright students from all over the world continue their education in the United States. He is also one of the original founders of both Equality Utah and The Utah Pride Center.

Never one to stay uninvolved, before becoming Chair, he had been active in helping many of our Elected Democrats in this state achieve office.  This is his Mormon story.

• 1st General Session: Joseph Broom conducted, psychologist Lee Beckstead discussed his perspective on the Mormon LGBT journey, David Zabriskie shared his original composition called “Pioneers” based on a Carol Lynn Pearson poem of the same name, and Carol Lynn Pearson spoke on the Gay and Lesbian Mormon’s “Hero’s Journey.”
• 2nd General Session: Noted author and LGBT activist Jimmy Creech speaks, and a panel including Bill Bradshaw, Carol Lynn Pearson, and Julia Hunter is moderated by John Dehlin.
• 3rd General Session: Conference attendees share their stories.
• 4th General Session: Allen Miller conducts.  LDS bishop Kevin Kloosterman, Episcopal Reverend Canon Mary June Nestler, and Reverend Jimmy Creech share their perspectives on church and LGBTQ issues.  Julia Hunter performs on the violin.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

We are excited to launch the pilot a new podcast and set of resources located at MormonTransitions.org.  The purpose of this project is to support LDS church members who are navigating difficult Mormon-related transitions.

In today’s episode, Joanna Brooks and Brian Johnston join John Dehlin to provide an overview of navigating a Mormon faith transition.

• Part 1: John Dehlin talks about the costs and benefits of having difficult conversations about Mormonism with family and friends.
• Part 2: Dan Wotherspoon delivers a presentation called: “Make Love AND War!: Maintaining Positive Relationships During Faith Transitions—A Spiritual Framing.”  For an extended version of this presentation, click here.

1. Sexual allegations made against Joseph Smith during his early years
2. The story of William and Jane Law, and
3. An update on Grant’s resignation from the LDS church

Warning: The material on this podcast is very sensitive and will likely be considered offensive by traditional LDS church believers.  Please do not listen if your faith is tender, or if you are seeking to avoid any critical discussion of Joseph Smith or the LDS church.

Finally, to listen to our original interview with Grant Palmer please click here.

Matt’s blog can be found at: LDS Church Growth.

Some of the findings of the report include:

• Mormons were 1.4% of the U.S. adult population in 2008, a proportion unchanged since 1990.
• The Mormons of Utah are the only religious group in the U.S. today that comprises a numerical majority of a state‘s population (57% of Utah).
• Mormons remain the most geographically isolated and uniquely distributed American religious group (only 19% are found east of the Mississippi River).
• The Mormon population increase 1990-2008 was more modest than claimed by the LDS Church.
• ARIS data shows that apostasy rates are rising among young men in Utah. There is a growing gender imbalance and surplus of women as a result.
• There are regional differences among Mormons on several socio-demographic variables. Mormons outside of Utah are different to heritage Mormons in Utah.
• Utah Mormons in 2008 had significantly larger households than Mormons elsewhere (4.2 persons per household in Utah vs. 3.7 persons per household elsewhere), suggesting that the traditional norm of large families endures in Utah.
• Mormon women are more likely to be housewives and less likely to work full-time than other American women.
• The period 1990-2008 saw rising prosperity with above average increases in household income among Mormons in Utah.
• In 2008 Mormons had very high rates of voter registration (90% in Utah). Mormons are more than twice as likely to be Republicans (59%) than non-Mormon Americans (27%).

Dr. Ryan Cragun is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida and Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture, Trinity College. His research interests include: secularization, religious change, Mormonism, and religious independents/seculars. His current research is looking at several ways in which secular society interacts with religious fundamentalism.

“In this first-of-its-kind comprehensive treatment of the development of Mormon theology, Charles Harrell traces the history of Latter-day Saint doctrines from the times of the Old Testament to the present. He describes how Mormonism has carried on the tradition of the biblical authors, early Christians, and later Protestants in reinterpreting scripture to accommodate new theological ideas while attempting to uphold the integrity and authority of the scriptures. In the process, he probes three questions: How did Mormon doctrines develop? What are the scriptural underpinnings of these doctrines? And what do critical scholars make of these same scriptures? In this enlightening study, Harrell systematically peels back the doctrinal accretions of time to provide a fresh new look at Mormon theology.”

Charles R. Harrell (Ph.D., manu­facturing engineering, Unive­rsity of Denmark) is an associate professor in Brigham Young University’s School of Technology, where he is the graduate coordinator for the manufacturing systems program. In addition to teaching and advising students, he oversees student projects aimed at improving business operations. He recently led a humanitarian project to build electricity-generating playground equipment in Ghana. He is also founder and director of ProModel Corporation, which is a leading provider of simulation software and has authored several books on the use of simulation to improve business processes. In addition to his professional activities, Charles is an ardent theological hobbyist and has published articles on Mormon theology in BYU Studies, The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, and Studies in the Scriptures. He also taught seminary and institute for many years. Charles and his wife, Yvonne, are the parents of five children and live in Orem, Utah

Part 1: Growing up in the LDS Church and Serving as an LDS CES Seminary and Institute Teacher

Part 2: Ceasing to Believe in the LDS Church as a CES Seminary and Institute Teacher

Part 3: The Decision to Resign from the LDS Church as a CES Seminary and Institute Teacher

Part 4: How the LDS Church Education System (CES) Harms the Church and Its Members

In this episode John and Zilpha Larsen interview John Dehlin.

For a limited time Greg Kofford Books is offering The Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon at a 20% discount.  To get the discount, type in “MSTORIES” (all in caps) as the discount code.

Brant A. Gardner earned his M.S. in anthropology (specializing in Mesoamerican ethnohistory) from the State University of New York at Albany. He is the author of the six-volume Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon. He has presented papers at the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), the Book of Mormon Archaeological Symposium, and Sunstone. His other published works include chapters in Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl and Symbol and Meaning beyond the Closed Community: Essays in Mesoamerican Ideas, and articles in the FARMS Review, Sunstone, and Meridian Magazine. Brant and his wife, Valerie, have four children and eleven grandchildren.

Friday Evening, January 20th, 2012, 6:00 p.m.
4807 Yorkshire Street, Sugarland, TX, 77479

Dinner and a LIVE! John Dehlin Mormon Stories interview of Houston’s Bill Prince. Bill will tell the story of his family’s experiences when they learned about the connection between Mormonism and Masonry while he was serving in his stake presidency during the 80s. Ice cream sundaes will be served.

Saturday, January 21st, 2012, 11:00 a.m
Grace Lutheran Church
2515 Waugh Drive
Houston, TX

A traditional Mormon Stories conference featuring keynote speakers, TED-like talks, a panel discussion, a Mormon Stories testimony or “Story Sharing” meeting and a light dinner (included in the cost of registration). Plan to hear from Dan Wotherspoon, John Dehlin, Heather Olson Beal, Brent Beal, Jason Moore, Lee Prince, Matthew Nokleby and a few other Texas locals.

11:00 a.m. Meet and Mingle

12:00-1:15 p.m. Opening Session
Conducting: Ashley Merback
Opening Prayer:
Musical Number:
Speaker: John Dehlin
Keynote Speaker: Dan Wotherspoon

1:15-1:45 p.m. Break/Mingle

1:45-3:15 p.m. Mid-afternoon Session
Conducting: Amanda Nokleby
TED-like talk: Lee Prince – I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken
TED-like talk: Matthew Nokleby – It gets better: navigating a mixed-faith Mormon marriage
TED-like talk: Jason Moore
Panel: Heather Olson Beal, Brent Beal, Jacob Brown – Conversations with our children

3:15-3:45 p.m. Break/Mingle

3:45-5:00 p.m. “Story Sharing” Meeting
Conducting:
Musical Number: Amanda Nokleby, Erin Hill, Kim Cooper Johnson
Story Sharing
Musical Number:
Closing Prayer:

5:15 p.m. Barbeque Dinner

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012
A late-morning meet-up at either Discovery Green Park, pending weather.
1500 McKinney St, Houston, TX, 77010

___________________________________________________

Registration:

The standard registration price of $37 will cover the cost of attendance Friday and Saturday as well as Saturday’s dinner.  The price of Friday night’s dinner is not included.  If your budget prevents you from paying $37, please select $10, $20 or $30 from our drop-down menu.  If you feel you can afford to pay more and would like to help subsidize others’ registrations, you may select $50, $75, or $100. Conference registrations are not tax-deductible. Anyone who does not have $10 may email Anne Peffer at MormonStories@gmail.com to request free admission.  Again, please choose the price that you feel best reflects your own ability to pay.  We want to have you there.  Your participation is more important to us than your pocketbook.  Please come.

If you would prefer, instead, to make a tax-deductible donation, please use the button below. Admission to the conference will be gifted to conference donors. No minimum donation necessary.

To request childcare during Saturday’s conference, please contact Jennifer Parrish Livingston at jenniferpl@yahoo.com. All other questions can be directed to Ashley Merback at ashleymerback@gmail.com.

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Mormon Stories Conferences Statement of Purpose:

Mormon Stories conferences seek to be safe spaces where community members can express themselves authentically regardless of activity level in the Mormon Church or belief in any particular ideology. They do not attempt to persuade attendees to subscribe to any specific belief system or to make any specific life decisions. Rather, they intend to be places where community members of disparate beliefs can gather together to share personal life experiences. Traditional believing members, fundamentalists, apologists, atheists, agnostics, community members who adhere to other religions, women, men and people of all sexual orientations are equally welcome and have an equal standing in the community.

Conferences are convened in the spirit of the Mormon Stories Shared Values:

1. We acknowledge the richness of Mormon heritage, teachings, and community in all of its diversity.
2. We believe that one can self-identify as Mormon based on one’s genealogy, upbringing, beliefs, relationships, and other life experiences, regardless of one’s adherence or non-adherence to the teachings or doctrines of any religious organization.
3. We seek spaces where we as Mormons can live lives of intellectual and spiritual integrity, individual conscience, and personal dignity.
4. We acknowledge and honor different spiritual paths and modes of religious or non-religious truth-seeking. We respect the convictions of those who subscribe to ideas and beliefs that differ from our own.
5. We recognize the confusion, distress, emotional trauma, and social ostracism that people on faith journeys often experience. We seek constructive ways of helping and supporting people, regardless of their ultimate decisions regarding church affiliation or activity.
6. We affirm the inherent and equal worth of all human beings. We seek spaces where Mormons (and all people) can interact as equals regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. In this spirit of egalitarianism, we prefer non-authoritarian and non-hierarchical means of organization and affiliation.

In this episode Jana discusses: her early years being raised by secular parents, her conversion to God/Christianity, and her ultimate conversion to Mormonism.  We also discuss with Jana her new book, “Flunking Sainthood.”

A very dear friend (who happens to still value his membership in the LDS Church) is being threatened with a stake disciplinary council for holding a regional Mormon Stories conference, and for his involvement in his regional MS Facebook community. Consequently, we’re gathering testimonials from people who feel like their local Mormon Stories Facebook community and/or regional conferences have helped them stay active in the LDS Church.

If you have a quick “testimony” or story to share with this good brother’s stake president, please comment below.  Also, if you have time and are willing/able to cull this link for past testimonies shared that could be helpful here, please feel free to help out.  In a day or two we’ll compile them all and send them on to his stake president…hopefully in time to prevent an unfortunate decision for our friend.

To be clear — the goal here is to help this good brother and friend retain his membership.

Thanks in advance.

John and the Open Stories Foundation Board

(Note: For the record, Mormon Stores does not have an explicit goal of leading people in or out of the church, but instead to support people in their LDS-reltaed journeys/transitions, wherever they may end up. For more on Mormon Stories’ shared values statement, click here.)

1) the value that this community has played in their lives, and
2) the lessons they have learned about how to successfully run such a community.

If you are interested in joining a Mormon Stories Support Community in your area, please click here. If you are interested in starting a new community, please email Anne at MormonStories@gmail.com.

Joanna Brooks, Brian Johnston and I (along with other Mormon Stories friends) are collaborating on pulling together some content (articles, books, podcasts, etc.) to help people who are struggling in an LDS faith transition.  At this early stage, we just want to know what types of questions or problems you would most value having us try address.

Please use this blog post to list questions/topics that would be most valuable to you.

This is super important, so thanks in advance.

John, Joanna, Brian and Team

Jennifer offers online courses on sexuality as well, which can be found here.

Sources for SLC Women’s Presentation.

Finlayson-Fife, J. (2002).  Sexual Agency in Patriarchal Culture: The Case of Mormon Women.  Boston College.  UMI: Ann Arbor, MI. 

McCarthy, B. & McCarthy, E. (2003).  Rekindling Desire: A Step by Step Guide for No-Sex and Low- Sex Marriages Brunner-Routledge: New York

Perel, E. (2006). Mating In Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence.   Harper Collins Publishers.

Schnarch, D. (2009).  Passionate Marriage:  Keeping Love and Intimacy Alive in Committed Relationships.  W.W.Norton & Co.: New York.

Schnarch, D. (2011).  Intimacy and Desire: A waken the Passion In Your Relationship.    Beaufort Books:  New York

While we understand that nuance and context are sometimes difficult to capture in news articles, we are worried that some of the framing in this SL Tribune article (especially the headline) might give the wrong impression about LDS Bishop Kevin Kloosterman’s talk on homosexuals in the LDS Church, which was given on 11/6/2011 during the Mormon Stories “Circling the Wagons” conference in Salt Lake City, UT in support of our LDS LGBT brothers and sisters.

Consequently, the full audio and transcript of Kevin’s talk have been included below, to give people the chance to read/hear what Kevin was trying to communicate.  In addition, Joanna Brooks has conducted a very thorough (and excellent)  interview with Kevin here.

For the record — (John here) — I did not in any way interpret this talk (including the use of the word “atrocity”) to be an attack specifically on the LDS Church, its leadership, its policies, or on the general general LDS church membership  – but on ALL OF US IN SOCIETY….LDS and non-LDS alike.

Also for the record, I don’t have any reason to believe that Bill Boram (or his editors) intended to mislead anyone….theirs was perhaps a reasonable interpretation.  But to me, the headline doesn’t adequately capture (and potentially miscommunicates) the spirit of what Kevin was saying, and could potentially cause ecclesiastical problems for Kevin, which we think would be a terrible reward for Kevin’s courageous, heartfelt acts this weekend.

We love and support you, Bishop Kloosterman.  You are a man of love and courage.

===============

Good morning, brothers and sisters. My straight brothers and sisters, and my
gay and lesbian, and transgendered brothers and sisters.

You and I know that I can’t speak on behalf of the church tonight, but I can
speak on behalf of myself. I want to tell you, if you leave here not
remembering anything I have to say, remember this: I’m sorry. Deeply, deeply
sorry.

Brother Miller got one thing wrong with me. I have not been a long-time
advocate for the cause. I’m a recent convert. [audience laughter] A lot of
people have asked me why I’m here today, and as I said yesterday, I have not
had a situation where LGBT issues have come to the forefront for me personally
in my marriage, in my family, in my extended family, as a bishop, and of
course one of our good sisters yesterday reminded me to include the word
“yet”.

Over the past year, I have felt promptings from the Spirit that I needed to
learn all I could about these issues. To listen, finally, to many of your
stories. Some of them I’ve read in books. Some of them I’ve read on the
Internet. And as I took the time to listen and as I took the time to learn, I
began to have a mighty change of heart.

But it was not without some pain. As you know very well, the stories that have
been written, your own stories, are extremely painful. Some have called it a
tragedy. I call it an atrocity, what has happened. And as I read these stories
and as I learned more about these issues, I began to see the emotional wounds
and the scars that many of you still have today. And I seem to ask the
question, “Where did you get these wounds?” and unfortunately the answer was,
“In the house of my friends.”

And when I felt that answer, I grieved and wept as any parent would for their
own child. It felt like I could not be comforted. I felt like I was about to
lose everything. I threw Carol Lynn Pearson’s book across the room at one
point, because I couldn’t read it anymore. There was one section that was so
hard that I wept in front of my children and they asked me, “Why are you
crying?” And I couldn’t give them a good answer, except to say that I read
something very sad.

When I read about the three recent attacks here in Utah, I knew that I could
no longer just sit on the fence. I knew I could no longer just shake my head
and pass by on the other side of the road, like a Levite or a priest. I knew I
had to do something. I knew I had to say something. I didn’t know what to do,
and I’m grateful that I was able to contact John Dehlin and Anne, and they told
me about this conference, and I felt that I needed to be here, and that’s why
I’m here.

And I still have a lot to learn. Today as we stood in, uh, prepared to go into
the Tabernacle to hear music and the spoken word, I had the opportunity to
talk with one of my gay brothers who flew in from North Carolina. He asked me
why I came here, and I told him what I’m telling you. I said, the straight
members of the church have a lot of repenting to do. Repenting is not
necessarily a dirty word. It’s Greek, it means to change your thoughts. And
we need to change our thoughts. And he told me, “We all need to. We’ve all got
to do that.” He said, “I’ve got a lot of resentment and bitterness in me.” And
I said, “Well, we as straight members of the church need to repent and we need
to make restitution, and maybe the healing can move along a little quicker for
all of us.”

So where did I turn for peace? I fled to the Savior. I fled to Him who
descended below all things. He has been my source of comfort and strength and
confidence, and without Him I don’t know that I would be standing before you
today.

I have been praying to understand this issue for myself. I went to a sacred
place and I pondered the creation. In my mind I could see the different
creations of God, different animals. A bear, a tiger, a lion, a giraffe, an
eagle. And I thought, or the thought came to me, “Who would want to make an
eagle be a giraffe? Who would want a tiger to be a bear? Who would want a
horse to become a lion?” And at that point, I received the comfort and the
strength that I needed, and I knew that I could come here and I could speak to
you today.

I will do all I can personally to make Zion a real place. Zion is not lost. It
begins with one person at a time. It begins with one relationship at a time.
And the only thing I can say to those of you who have been so patient, and
have gone through so much, is for you to watch and look for any small changes
with your loved ones, with your wards, with your leaders. And encourage them
in this repentance process.

I want to bear my testimony to you that I know that God lives. I know thet
Jesus is the Christ. And I know that we truly are, all of us, straight, gay,
lesbian, transgendered, queer, our Heavenly Father’s children, and that we do
have heavenly parents who love us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

We would like this conference to be open to everyone; it is important that no one be excluded because the cost of the conference exceeds his or her ability to pay.  As Mormon Stories is a small, nonprofit organization with limited funds and is not presently able to cover speaker airfare, facility rentals and administrative costs without charging admission, we have decided to allow registrants to choose the price that best matches their own budgets.  We encourage you pay the registration amount that you feel most accurately reflects the right registration cost for you personally.

The standard registration price for the main Saturday event (session 3) is $38.  If your budget prevents you from paying $38, please select $10, $20 or $30 from our drop-down menu.  If you feel you can afford to pay more and would like to help subsidize others’ registrations, you may select $50 or $75.  Anyone who does not have $10 may email Anne Peffer at MormonStories@gmail.com to request free admission.  Donors interested in sponsoring or subsidizing the conference may also contact Anne Peffer at MormonStories@gmail.com.  Again, please choose the price that you feel best reflects your own ability to pay.  We want to have you there.  Your participation is more important to us than your pocketbook.  Please come.

The conference will be divided into four sessions.  Registration for each session is separate.  The main portion of the conference will take place on Saturday and is listed as session 3 below. Sessions 1 and 2 are seen as supplementary and are scheduled for Friday afternoon and evening respectively.  Session 1 is intended for those who would like a more personal experience.  Session 2 is a potluck social event. Session 4 is an interfaith religious service and will be free of charge.

Those wishing to be filmed for the Mormon Stories It Gets Better Project (footage will be taken by Kendall Wilcox) may contact Julia Hunter for an appointment.  Filming will take place during the conference. All interested in singing with the conference chorus (see below) may contact Mark Packer.  A “Circling the Wagons” Statement of Purpose can be found at the end of this post.

More Details below.  Click here to register:

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Session 1: Workshop with Carol Lynn Pearson and Bill Bradshaw

Carol Lynn Pearson and Bill Bradshaw will share their wisdom on the topic of  How to Navigate the Issues Surrounding Homosexuality and Same-Sex Attraction as a Latter-day Saint. Carol and Bill will each deliver a short presentation then attendees will be given time to share personal experiences and ask specific questions.  Topics such as mixed-orientation marriages, how to support SSA or LGBTQ family members, and ways to personally deal with SSA within Mormonism will be open for discussion.

Date: Friday, November 4, 2011

Time: 3:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Place: The library of The McGillis School located at 668  S 1300 East in Salt Lake City.

Preregistration: $28.

Session 2: Potluck with Jim Dabakis

We’ve got the cultural hall reserved…. so come join us for some good ole socializing and friend-making.  A generous donor has offered to provide us with barbeque pork or beef sandwiches (yummmm).  Attendees should bring a salad, a dessert, a bag of chips or some soda.  Once our stomachs are round and we’ve had our fill of chatting, John Dehlin will interview Jim Dabakis in traditional Mormon Stories style.  Admission fees will go towards the costs of the facility rental and the recording of the Dabakis interview.

Date: Friday, November 4, 2011

Time: 7:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Place: The dining hall of The McGillis School located at 668  S 1300 East in Salt Lake City.

Preregistration: $7. Walk-ins will pay $10.  Please register now so that our donor will know how much food to bring.

Session 3: Main Conference

Get ready for a day full of intellectual stimulation, inspiration, practical advice and community.  We’ll begin with a speech by the Salt Lake City therapist Lee Beckstead to be followed by a keynote from our beloved Carol Lynn Pearson.  Following their addresses, attendees will select a breakout session of choice.  We’ll break for lunch then meet back to hear from Jimmy Creech, a former Methodist minister known for his book Adam’s Gift: A Memoir of a Pastor’s Calling to Defy the Church’s Persecution of Lesbians and Gays, to be followed by a panel moderated by John Dehlin featuring Carol Lynn Pearson, Bill Bradshaw, Jim Dabakis and Renee Galliher on the topic of Where then shall we go: what does the future hold for LGBTQ Mormons? We’ll finish off the day with a Mormon Stories open mic “testimony meeting.”  If there’s money left over once the costs of the conference have been covered, we’ll have pizza delivered so that we can spend our last few minutes together chowing down.

A full tentative schedule can be found below.

Date: Saturday, November 5, 2011

Time: 8:00 a.m to 7:30 p.m.  (Registration and gathering begins at 8:00 a.m. The first session will begin at 9:00.)

Place: The First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City located at 777 S 1300 East in Salt Lake City.  Ample parking available.

Registration: The standard registration price is $38.  If your budget prevents you from paying $38, please select $10, $20 or $30 from our drop-down menu.  If you feel you can afford to pay more and would like to help subsidize others’ registrations, you may select $50 or $75.  Anyone who does not have $10 may email Anne Peffer at MormonStories@gmail.com to request free admission.  Donors interested in sponsoring or subsidizing the conference may also contact Anne Peffer at MormonStories@gmail.com.  Again, please choose the price that you feel best reflects your own ability to pay.  We want to have you there.  Your participation is more important to us than your pocketbook.  Please come. Walk-ins will pay a minimum of $20.  Please register now.

Session 4: Interfaith Services with The Reverend Jimmy Creech, The Reverend Mary June Nestler, and Bishop Kevin Kloosterman.

Date: Sunday, November 6, 2011

Time: 11:30 a.m.

Place: The First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City located at 777 S 1300 East in Salt Lake City; Skaggs Chapel

There will be no cost to attend services.  All who are interested in attending Music and the Spoken Word before the interfaith services may meet just east of the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square at 8:15 a.m. Sunday morning.

*****************************************************************************

Main Conference Schedule – SESSION 3 – Saturday, 5 November 2011

8:00–9:00 a.m. REGISTRATION AND GATHERING, First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City located at 777 S 1300 East

9:00-10:30 a.m.  FIRST GENERAL SESSION

• Presentation of the Statement of Purpose: Joseph Broom
• Speaker: Lee Beckstead
• Original Composition by David Zabriskie and the Conference Chorus: Pioneers
• Keynote Address: Carol Lynn Pearson
• Musical Number: Be Still My Soul performed by David Zabriskie and the Conference Chorus
  

10:30–11:00 a.m.  MORNING BREAK

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.  BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

1. * Kendall Wilcox with Brent Kerby: Panel with Affirmation, Family Fellowship, and North Star representatives, along with someone who identifies with Evergreen’s historical approach to LGBTQ issues.
2. Julia Hunter, Elise Mortensen West, Kelly Hill: To Be or not to Be: The Power of Authenticity as a Mormon Lesbian
3. Stephen Cohen: A Father’s Journey Toward Understanding Homosexuality
4. Lee Beckstead: What Helps (and Hurts) in Resolving Sexual, Religious, and Social Conflicts
5. Jimmy Creech: A National Perspective on the Church and LBGTQ Issues
6. Jim Dabakis: It HAS Gotten Better: An Overview of LGBTQ History in Utah over the Past 30 Years

* This panel will only happen if representatives from each organization agree to participate.

12:00–1:30 p.m. MID-DAY BREAK

• 4 local restaurants will be prepared for conference attendees who choose to meet for lunch: Litza’s Pizzas (716 E 400 South), Hires Big H (425 S 700 East), Mazza Middle Eastern Cuisine (912 E 900 South), and Olive Garden (2272 S 1300 East).
• Booths will be available for perusal in the cultural hall.
• Attendees will have the opportunity to be filmed for the Mormon It Gets Better video project with Kendall Wilcox and Julia Hunter.  Please contact Julia Hunter if you are interested in participating.

1:30–3:30 p.m. SECOND GENERAL SESSION

• Keynote Address: Jimmy Creech
• Musical Number: For Good performed by Mark Packer and Tyler Kofoed
• Panel Discussion: Moderated by John Dehlin featuring Renee Galliher presenting her research findings to be discussed by Bill Bradshaw, Carol Lynn Pearson and Jim Dabakis.  Where Then Shall We Go – What Does the Future Hold for LGTBQ Mormons?

3:30-4:00 p.m. AFTERNOON BREAK

4:00-5:15 p.m.   CONCLUDING SESSION

• Conducting: Bishop Kevin Kloosterman
• Musical Number: Blessing performed by Devin O’Donnell
• Open Mike Story Sharing (“Testimonies”)

5:15 p.m.  If there’s money left over, we’ll end our day with pizza.

_____________________________________________

“Circling the Wagons” Statement of Purpose

The goal of the Mormon Stories “Circling the Wagons” conference is to create a space where LGBTQ or SSA individuals and their families and allies can gather to acknowledge, explore and honor shared experiences.  No issues strike more deeply than who we love and how we understand and honor God.  These issues carry an especially profound weight in Mormon communities and have been the source of a great deal of misunderstanding, judgment and hurt.  Consequently, gay Mormons are deeply divided over how to address same-sex attraction and negotiate the choices they face.

In convening this conference, we are inviting LGBTQ Mormons and their families and allies to step beyond historic divisions to establish a shared space where all who have ever self-identified as Mormon and have experienced same-sex attraction can speak truthfully and respectfully.  Mormon Stories and the Open Stories Foundation are hosting this conference as an expression of our longstanding commitment to LGBTQ issues and in the spirit of our “Shared Values”:

1. We acknowledge the richness of Mormon heritage, teachings, and community in all of its diversity.
2. We believe that one can self-identify as Mormon based on one’s genealogy, upbringing, beliefs, relationships, and other life experiences, regardless of one’s adherence or non-adherence to the teachings or doctrines of any religious organization.
3. We seek spaces where we as Mormons can live lives of intellectual and spiritual integrity, individual conscience, and personal dignity.
4. We acknowledge and honor different spiritual paths and modes of religious or non-religious truth-seeking.  We respect the convictions of those who subscribe to ideas and beliefs that differ from our own.
5. We recognize the confusion, distress, emotional trauma, and social ostracism that people on faith journeys often experience.  We seek constructive ways of helping and supporting people, regardless of their ultimate decisions regarding church affiliation or activity.
6. We affirm the inherent and equal worth of all human beings.  We seek spaces where Mormons (and all people) can interact as equals regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.  In this spirit of egalitarianism, we prefer non-authoritarian and non-hierarchical means of organization and affiliation.

We welcome all who wish to participate in a spirit of fellowship and openness, with condemnation for none and compassion for all, in the hopes that all will experience personal renewal and discover a basis for common ground in our shared heritage.

Registration fees will pay for speaker airfare, facility rentals, administrative costs and food.  Donors interested in sponsoring or subsidizing the conference may contact Anne Peffer at MormonStories@gmail.com.

Over the past several months, in spite of the quality interviews/presentations we’ve delivered (Terryl Givens, Michael Quinn, Michael Coe, Joanna Brooks, Daniel Peterson, Greg Prince, etc.), and in spite of the many regional conferences and Facebook communities we’ve helped to organize (for which we lose money) — we’ve had a high percentage of our original financial subscribers (from 2 years ago) drop out due to either:

1) financial cost-cutting (tough financial times for many) or

2) they have lost interest in Mormonism generally (so far none have dropped due to concerns about content….thankfully).

So, this is a plea for those of you who benefit from either: 1) Mormon Stories podcast, 2) the Mormon Stories Facebook Support Communities, or 3) the Mormon Stories Conferences — to please, please, please become a monthly subscriber/donor today.   You can do this above (top right).

For the record — the donations you send to Mormon Stories go for the very basics: web hosting fees, domain names, audio equipment, conference costs, food and health insurance for my family, etc.  The total amount of revenue is very small (especially compared to what I/we could make doing other things)….so when it starts dwindling, it literally threatens our ability to continue.

We have a TON of super high quality content, projects and conferences on the way….but we literally can’t keep doing all this without your support.  With your support, we can do much, much more.

Thanks so much (in advance).

John Dehlin

The first international Mormon Stories Regional Conference will take place this weekend in Stockholm, Sweden. To register, visit MS Sweden Facebook page or email Christina at elsiechristina@hotmail.com. And if you can’t make the event (and have ties to Sweden), please join our group of dynamic Mormon Stories Swedes online at http://www.facebook.com/groups/swedenmormonstories/

PLACE

Sleipnervägen 111 in Handen (at Vallakyrkan)

WHO

· Members of the Sweden Mormon Stories Support Community.

· Active Latter-day Saints who wish to better understand fellow members who struggle in their faith.

· Less-active or non LDS who have familial ties to the LDS Church (and who wish to participate.)

· Anyone else who’s interested at examining the LDS Church in a transparent and respectful manner.

PROGRAM

Friday 11/4

· 6pm, Mingle and dinner

· 7pm, LDS Book discussion

· 8pm, Navigating a Personal Faith Crisis (presentation and discussion)

Saturday 11/5

· 9.30am, Hans Mattsson on Why People Leave the LDS Church (and what we can do about it).

· 10.30am, ‘Coffee’ break

· 11.00am – 12pm, Our Own Mormon Stories (participants share their own stories)

· 12pm, Evaluation and Discussion of Future Needs

Thanks to all who participated!!!

• John Dehlin discussed the motives behind Mormon Stories
• Steve Kovalenko delivered a presentation on why he left the LDS Church,
• Chelsea Shields Strayer who explained why she stays in the LDS Church

• The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy
• By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion
• People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture
• When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal Existence in Western Thought
• Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism.

• Michael Quinn has a Ph.D. in history from Yale University and worked as an LDS church historian (under Davis Bitton and Leonard Arrington) and as a BYU history professor for many years.
• Several of his books, including The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, and Early Mormonism and the Magical World View have literally changed the face of Mormon history (and Mormonism) forever.
• Michael was excommunicated in September 1993 for his historical endeavors as one of the famous “September 6.”
• In spite of his hard hitting history, excommunication and sexuality (as a gay man), Michael remains a literal believer in the divinity of the LDS church.

More than any of these or many other accomplishments we didn’t name, however, Eugene England was a person of faith and incredible spiritual depth who, along with Leonard Arrington and Lowell Bennion, stands as an example of a committed, faithful life of intellectual and spiritual integrity, maturity, and grace even as he was often misunderstood and under-appreciated. He is important to get to know, and that is the process that this podcast hopes to help start.

Led by guest host Dan Wotherspoon, this four-segment podcast features interviews with Gene’s daughter Jody England Hansen, granddaughter Charlotte Hansen Terry, Dialogue co-founder Frances Lee Menlove, longtime friend and fellow writer Levi Peterson, friend and student assistant (and now Sunstone editor) Stephen Carter, and UVSC colleague Brian Birch.

• The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy (Religion in America)
• By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion
• People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture
• When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal Existence in Western Thought
• And a new, yet-to-be released book on Parley P. Pratt. called: Parley P. Pratt: The Saint Paul of Mormonism.
• You can also read the transcript of his interview for the PBS series “The Mormons” here.

Reference was also made to the following:

• Dr. Finlayson-Fife will be having a 2-day workshop on sexuality and desire in Salt Lake City on September 23rd and 24th, 2011.  For more information click here.
• Passionate Marriage: a book by Dr. David Schnarch
• Our previous podcast interview on LDS Female Sexuality with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife.
• Our previous interview on Pornography, Masturbation, Sex and Marriage in Mormonism.

Peterson is known for his work as an apologist and scholar on subjects dealing with claims of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), of which he is a member. He has served as the editor of the FARMS Review, a periodical produced by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. Peterson is a regular participant in online fora about Mormonism where he discusses the LDS faith and its apologetics. One of his most recent projects has been the development of a website featuring the testimonies of LDS scholars.

A few resources from the interview include:

• Dr. Coe’s 1973 Dialogue article on Book of Mormon Archaeology
• Transcript of Dr. Coe’s PBS Interview from the documentary “The Mormons.”
• Dr. Coe’s Autobiography: Final Report: An Archaeologist Excavates his Past.
• The IMDB entry, a Spanish version of, and a reference to the movie/film strip ”Ancient America Speaks” mentioned in the podcast, published by the LDS church and shown for well over a decade in LDS missionary efforts worldwide.  (If you can find an online version in English, please provide a link either here or in email).

On June 11, 2011, members of the Mormon Stories community held their 2nd regional conference in Salt Lake City. After the conference, Comedian Bengt Washburn performed a short routine on Mormonism.

On June 11, 2011, members of the Mormon Stories community held their 2nd regional conference in Salt Lake City. At the close of this conference, attendees were invited to share their “testimonies” of truth, whether traditional or non-traditional from an LDS perspective.

On June 11, 2011, members of the Mormon Stories community held their 2nd regional conference in Salt Lake City.  In this panel presentation entitled “Navigating an Open Approach to Mormonism”, professors Margaret Toscano and Joanna Brooks, along with Carol Lynn Pearson, Jared Anderson and John Dehlin discuss inclusivity, openness, and an expended approach to Mormon identity, while also fielding practical questions from the audience.

On June 11, 2011, members of the Mormon Stories community held their 2nd regional conference in Salt Lake City.  In this keynote address entitled “Mormon Identity in the 21st Century: Claiming and Belonging”, professor and author Joanna Brooks explores a more expansive vision for Mormon identity.

Introduction by Anne McMullin Peffer.

Music by Holly Anderson Robbins.

On June 11, 2011, members of the Mormon Stories community held their 2nd regional conference in Salt Lake City.  In this welcoming address, Anne McMullin Peffer explains the purposes of the Mormon Stories conferences and reads a preliminary draft of a “shared values statement” that attempts to specify the values uncorrelated Mormons hold in common.   Then,  in a keynote address entitled “No More US and THEM”, author, poet and playwright Carol Lynn Pearson discusses her vision for a more inclusive Mormonism.

At the time of Dustin’s birth in 1972, the LDS Church’s teachings on blacks, including their lack of valiancy in the pre-existence, the seed of Cain, the mark and curse, interracial marriage, opposition to civil rights/public accommodations, etc., were well established doctrines promoted by many of the leaders of the Church and propagated by its faithful membership. Growing up bi-racial presented issues for Dustin, for on the one hand, he was taught to celebrate his proud Mormon pioneer heritage; but on the other hand, he was forced to faithfully reconcile this with the inferiority complex engendered by the teachings of the “negro doctrine.” Reconciling these two heritages has been his life-long desire and burden.

This “negro doctrine” was further reinforced by Dustin’s own patriarchal blessing, which specifically omits any reference to belonging to any tribe of Israel but offers him blessings “by reason of adoption into the House of Israel.” Perplexed by not belonging to any specific tribe of Israel, Dustin pressed the patriarch who in 1991 explained that Dustin’s “lineage” was that of Cain and that he would be entitled to the blessings of Israel only by way of adoption into the House of Israel. Dustin lived believing he was truly a descendant of Cain, attempting to prove himself worthy of the fulness of the Lord’s blessings.

Dustin attended the University of Arizona and earned a degree in Latin American Studies and Political Science before attending law school. He is currently a lobbyist and real estate development attorney in private practice in Phoenix, and occasionally takes on a compelling civil rights and immigration rights case. While serving as a partner at the regional law firm of Snell & Wilmer, LLP, he was appointed to two terms on Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s African-American Advisory Council. He served in the New York New York Mission from 1991-1993 and has served as a seminary teacher, institute instructor, stake young men president, and counselor in a bishopric. Dustin most recently served as a stake High Councilor and Public Affairs Director.

Dustin is married. His wife also has an interracial background (Chinese and Mexican). They are the proud parents of four kids (3 girls, 1 boy).

Greg Prince is the author of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism.  He is currently working on biographies of both LDS Church Historian Leonard Arrington and deceased LDS General Authority Paul H. Dunn.

• Your situation/thoughts/feelings with regard to the church.
• What you feel you are needing/lacking that the church has not yet been able to provide.
• How Mormon Stories has helped in that journey (if it has).

Also, please direct your comments (if you can) to your own situation/thoughts/feelings/needs regarding the church…vs. on compliments (or criticisms) to any one person involved in Mormon Stories, Mormon Matters, etc.

My hope is that this information will adequately convey what needs are “out there” within the church, and what we’re trying to do to support those needs.

Finally, please keep this as constructive as you can, so that it will be heard…and prove useful.

Thanks in advance.

John Dehlin

The music for this episode was generously provided by the Sabre Rattlers.

• Monthly local meet-ups
• Book clubs/study groups
• Weekly play groups for children
• Annual youth conferences for teens
• College groups for Mormon university students (BYU/UVU and USU already created!)
• A dating service
• Service projects
• Annual conferences/retreats
• Etc.

If you are interested in any of this, please check out our existing groups for a group near you.

If you would like to start your own local support group, please email us at: mormonstories@gmail.com

• Part 1: Phil McLemore’s conversion to Mormonism & spiritual transformation through meditation
• Part 2: How to meditate and why you should; Mantras in Mormon culture
• Part 3: Mormon Mantras & The Yoga of Christ
• Part 4: The Yoga of Christ continued

A big thanks to Richard Holdman for his audio production support in this podcast.

Today we discuss pornography, masturbation, sex and marriage within Mormonism.

• Sex
  • Nicole Hardy’s NY Times piece entitled: Single, Female, Mormon, Alone
  • The SL Tribune’s response, entitled: Sex and the Single Mormon
  • The father of the 5 Browns, Keith Brown, admits to sexually abusing 3 of his daughters.
• Immigration
  • Activist delivers petition urging Mexico to curb LDS missionary visas
  • LDS on illegal immigration: Don’t split families
  • Doctrinal divide confronts Mormons on immigration
  • Have compassion for immigrants, lawmakers urged

Jared and his wife Katrina live in Salt Lake City with their five children: Olivia (11), Isaac (9), Grace (7), Asher (2) and Miriam (8 months). Jared is an active member and currently serves in the ward Sunday School Presidency.

This interview is broken into five parts:

• Part 1: Introduction.  Jared discusses the meaning of New Testament scholarship and an academic viewpoint of scripture, how we know what we know including what happened in the past, and the difference between academic and faith perspectives.  Jared begins an overview of the New Testament books from a scholarly perspective in chronological order — 1 Thessalonians through Galatians.
• Part 2:  Scholarly overview of the New Testament – Philemon through the Gospel of Mark
• Part 3:  Scholarly overview of the New Testament – Gospel of Matthew through Titus
• Part 4:  Scholarly overview of the New Testament books – Gospel of John through 2 Peter.  Jared also discusses who Jesus was as a historical figure, the evidence for his existence, and how we can determine what he likely said and did.  Jared also gives an overview of the formation, transmission and translation of the Bible we read today.
• Part 5:  Discussion of Jared’s personal journey, relationship to Mormonism and academia, and he explains how he integrates his academic views with his faith.

Dan is now making his living as a free-lance writer, editor, and manager whose most recent projects include the creation of the website for the Eugene England Foundation (http://www.eugeneengland.org) and serving as director of communications for the Foundation for InterReligious Diplomacy (http://fidweb.org/), including co-writing with its president, Charles Randall Paul, a book titled Fighting about God: Why We Do It and How to Do It Better. From its inception, Dan has also been an active participant in the work and development of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, currently serving on its board, as a secretary for its executive committee, and as an associate editor of Element, the society’s journal.

Dan’s doctoral dissertation deals with theological resources within Mormonism for affirming a robust environmental sensibility. He also has an M.A. in religious studies from Arizona State University, where he focused on world religions and ritual studies, ultimately writing his thesis on theories of ritual empowerment. He also has a B.A. in philosophy with a minor in classical civilizations from Brigham Young University.

Dan and his wife, Lorri, are about to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. They have two children, Alex (23) and Hope (17), and live in Tooele, Utah. Dan is currently soliciting additional writing, editing, and project management clients. He welcomes you to “friend” and contact him through Facebook.

In this episode, Natasha Helfer Parker (The Mormon Therapist) interviews “Sarah,” an LDS mother of four who has a history of depression starting in adolescence followed by a serious bout of postpartum depression after the birth of her second child.  She also interviews Jamie Bodily, mother of five and certified doula through toLABOR regarding her experience and knowledge regarding postpartum depression.  Jamie has a Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling, a Masters Degree in Human Services from Capella University and her undergraduate degree in Family Science from Brigham Young University.  She initiated, co-wrote, and coordinated a doula program for women in recovery from susbtance addiction and runs a website called parentscount.com.  Other resources discussed in these interviews include: postpartum.net, doulamatch.net, dona.org, and tolabor.com.

Part1 – Sarah’s history with depression as an adolescent and single adult and then dealing with postpartum depression after the birth of her second child.

I must begin by thanking all of you for an amazing  2010.   We started this year at episode #112, and after only 12 months are now up to #231.  And while the numbers are good…..I feel even better about  the quality of the interviews that we were able to land (Joanna Brooks, Peter and Mary Danzig, Shawn McCraney, Richard Packham, Daymon Smith, Bruce Bastian, Mr. Diety, Tresa Edmunds, Lisa Butterworth, Ed Kimball, Richard Dutcher, Carol Lynn Pearson, Bill Bradshaw, all of my personal friends who came on the show like Jacquie and the Gallaghers, etc.)…the list goes on and on.  I am also super grateful for the help of friends like Natasha Parker, Dan Wotherspoon, Andrew Ainsworth, and the mysterious “Richard Allen”  for their podcast  support last year.   We literally could not have done it without them, or without you.

Looking into 2011, there is much to be excited about, and one major concern.  I’ll start w/ the concern first.

• Financial Support: Back in the summer of 2010 I made a deal w/ the listeners.  If enough of you would sign up for monthly financial donations to Mormon Stories , I would promise to release a quality episode each week.  The way that I was able to make this happen as a super busy Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student was to turn down other paid assistantships and do Mormon Stories as my part time job while in school.  While the money in no way covers my family’s annual expenses, it does help us pay for things like health insurance, groceries, etc.  Well — the good news is that many of you signed up to help.  The bad news is that many of you have lost jobs or fallen on hard times — and I’ve received a number of cancellations over the past few months and donations have fallen substantially.  So as donations begin to drop — I need to ask those of you who listen to Mormon Stories but do not support us financially to please consider going up to http://mormonstories.org ( right corner) and either make a one time donation, or sign up for monthly donations.  Without this support, I will not be able to continue with Mormon Stories.  With it, we can continue to provide more cool things for Mormonism over the coming years.

What’s on tap for 2011 and beyond (with your support)?  I don’t have time to write about these ideas in detail, but I’ll summarize them here.  For the record, this is our new 40 year plan.  :)

• More Mormon Stories Interviews: Based on your feedback, we have some fantastic interviews lined up for 2011.  I won’t ruin the surprise — but the future looks very, very bright for Mormon Stories interviews.
• Mormon Matters Revamp: We have been working on a revamp of the very popular Mormon Matterswebsite.  There are 2 things we’re hoping to do w/ Mormon Matters:
  • Turn it into the “Huffington Post” of Mormon news and information.  Today, sites like “The Mormon Times” are the only places to get Mormon news and information in a centralized place.  We hope to re-purpose Mormon Matters into a “one stop shop” for Mormon news, including: Sports, Business, Politics, Entertainment, Advice Columns, etc.
  • Bring back the Mormon Matters Panel Podcast.  We feel like there is a need for a “This Week in Mormonism”-type podcast to discuss the latest news and information in Mormonism (think Mormonism plus ”Meet the Press”…think weekly discussions about the latest antics of Mitt Romney, Harry Reid, Glenn Beck, David Archuleta, the Southpark guys, the Bloggernacle AND the DAMU, etc.), so we hope to bring that discussion panel format podcast back with a vengeance.
• MormonPublicRadio: We feel like there is a strong need for additional Mormon-themed podcasts, and so we are looking to form an NPR-like network thereof.  Some of the podcasts we hope to help produce include:
  • A Mormon Women Podcast: A podcast dedicated to Mormon women’s issues.
  • A StayLDS Podcast: A podcast dedicated to helping struggling Mormons stay in the church, sponsored by http://staylds.com
  • An ExMormon Stories Podcast: A podcast dedicated to building understand for Mormons who have left the church
  • An LDS Homosexuality Podcast: A podcast dedicated to building greater understanding around the issues of Homosexuality within Mormonism
  • An LDS Apologist Podcast: For credible LDS apologetics.
  • A Mormon Entertainment Podcast: Focusing on Mormon music, film and entertainment
  • A “This Week in Mormonism” Podcast: See above.
• A Global Community for “uncorrelated”Mormons: All over the world there are people who are struggling to navigate Mormonism “outside of the box,” so to speak…from liberal Mormons, to gay Mormons, to feminist Mormons, to single Mormons, to ex-Mormons, etc.  One thing we’ve realized is that if we can create an integrated, global community of “Mormons like us” — we can do all sorts of really exciting things as a community, including:
  • Local Meet-Ups: Helping to facilitate local or regional meet-ups for non-traditional Mormons who need additional support (support groups, book clubs, play groups, dinner dates, etc.)
  • “EFY’s” for Children of Liberal or Post-Mormons
  • A Liberal/Post-Mormon Dating Service for Single Mormons
  • Online Content: To support non-traditional or post-Mormon families in navigating alternative or post-Mormonism in a healthy way.
  • Annual Conferences: To bring Mormons of all types together to support and inspire each other, with presentations, workshops, retreats, etc.

This is the vision — and this is what we hope to accomplish over the coming years.  It’s a definitely a long-term vision….but we believe that with your support, we can totally make this happen.  More importantly, we feel like initiatives like this could really help bring a lot of joy, and lessen the pain, for people who are trying to more successfully navigate their non-traditional Mormon experience.

Thanks for your support, and please let us know if you’re interested in helping out.

In this 2-part interview we learn, in detail, about this man’s struggle with Scrupulosity which developed during his teen years, and peaked while serving his LDS mission. We also discuss how he was able to get help for the disorder, and finally get better.

• To contact Eric: ericlangford75@gmail.com
• Beneficial books from the podcast:
  • The Doubting Disease
  • Brain Lock
• Brain Lock Cognitive Biobehavioral Self-treatment Steps:
  1. Relabel — Recognize that the intrusive obsessive thoughts and urges are the RESULT OF OCD.
  2. Reattribute — Realize that the intensity and intrusiveness of the thought or urge is CAUSED BY OCD; it is probably related to a biochemical imbalance in the brain.
  3. Refocus — Work around the OCD thoughts by focusing your attention on something else, at least for a few minutes: DO ANOTHER BEHAVIOR.
  4. Revalue — Do not take the OCD thought at face value.  It is not significant in itself.

“At present women are not allowed to be priests in your Church…Is it possible that the rules could change in the future..?” He responded, “Yes. But there’s no agitation for that. We don’t find it.”

Agitating Faithfully  isn’t a place for airing grievances. It isn’t a place to bash the church, its leaders, or its members. It’s not a protest or activist movement in the traditional sense. It’s just a place for people to stand up and be counted in the continuing conversation about gender equality in the church. According to Dane,

“”We have no scriptures or revelations prohibiting women from the priesthood. In fact, we believe in a God who “denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female…and all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33). I hope my daughters have the opportunity to receive the same blessings, privileges, and responsibilities as my son. This site is my attempt to work toward that hope in a way that is consonant with both the gospel and the church.”

• Feminist Mormon Housewives under the name Reese Dixon
• Her own blog called Reese Dixon (dedicated mostly to arts and crafts)
• Guardian.co.uk (a leading British news source)
• Beginnings New (a progressive resource for LDS Young Women’s leaders)
• Recently penned an article for Patheos entitled, “The Next Generation of Mormon Feminism“
• Is a co-founder of W.A.V.E. or Women Advocating for Voice and Equality — which was established “To advance the cause of gender equality within the LDS church, and
• Is now collaborating with tharce-gulu.org, which seeks to assist women and children in healing from the traumatic events of war, sexual enslavement, extreme poverty and lost opportunities.

In this 5-part interview Tresa discusses her story, along with a number of topics related to feminism including abuse, infertility, raising a disabled child, maintaining belief in the LDS Church, the LDS YW program, and LDS feminism in the 21st century.

In this far-ranging discussion, Dr. Bradshaw takes us through the arc of his life, including his mission, experiences at Harvard, the circumstances of his career choice, and the surprise call he and his wife Marge received to serve as very young mission presidents in Hong Kong, during which service they had to wrestle with opening and closing missionary work in Vietnam. Dr. Bradshaw relates stories from his career at BYU, talks about science and religion issues, and reveals the way he faces challenges to his faith from Mormon history and scriptural studies.

Many Mormon Stories podcast listeners will already be familiar with one aspect of Dr. Bradshaw’s life from Episode 191, which featured a recording of the most recent lecture he gave at BYU on the biological origins of homosexuality–a lecture he has arranged and given every year for the past several years. Dr. Bradshaw first became prompted to study the research on this subject when his son Brett came out about his homosexuality. Since that time, the Bradshaws have been active members in various LDS groups for families working to support their GLBT children. They are currently serving as the presidents of LDS Family Fellowship. Brett and his partner are married and living in California, where they are raising their daughter.

Part 1 – My Early Years, Harvard and the Hong Kong Mission
Part 2 – Opening Vietnam to LDS Missionary Work
Part 3 – Reflections on My Career as a BYU Professor
Part 4 – Homosexuality and the LDS Church
Part 5 – Reconciling Thought and Faith as a Believing Mormon

Part 1 – My Early Years, Harvard and the Hong Kong Mission:

Part 2 – Opening Vietnam to LDS Missionary Work:

Part 3 – Reflections on My Career as a BYU Professor:

Part 4 – Homosexuality and the LDS Church:

Part 5 – Reconciling Thought and Faith as a Believing Mormon:

Note:

• Part 1: Janelle discusses their respective church upbringings, courtship, and finding out about his disaffection.

• Part 2: Janelle discusses her own coping strategies, how she currently manages the LDS lifestyle within the context of her marriage, and her advice/thoughts for others.

• In part 1, we discuss Brian’s early years, his experience with the LDS church, his disaffection from the church, his views on religion, and the making of Mr. Deity.  Towards the end, we are very blessed to spend a few minutes with Mr. Deity Himself.

• In part 2, we captured Brian’s plenary address from the 2010 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium, where Brian tells more of his story, and also acts out a few Mr. Deity scenes with his wife, Amy (Lucy/Lucifer).

Warning: Both the Mr. Deity show and this interview approach religion from a satirical perspective.  Those who are sensitive to religious satire will likely be offended.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Exactly twenty-five years ago, on the morning of 15 October 1985, Salt Lake City was rattled—both literally and psychologically—by the explosion of two bombs which each killed a person. The next day brought a third explosion, nearly killing Mark Hofmann, a well-known dealer in Mormon documents. Because of clues at that scene, investigators soon realized that perhaps Hofmann was not so much a third victim but the person actually responsible for all three bombs. In the course of the investigation, the tale of Mark Hofmann as a master forger and con artist began to unfold.

In this podcast, we examine the long and complex legacy of these murders and forgeries, as well as their continued reverberations even today. Although it is still unclear if Hofmann’s intent was to bring down Mormonism through creating documents that challenged traditional presentations of early Church origins, he definitely was a serious student of Mormon history and knew where various controversies lay—which he then exploited through the forged letters and documents he produced. This case has also presented challenges to some Latter-day Saints because of Hofmann’s various meetings with Mormon general authorities who failed to detect that he was deceiving them, as well as because of the Church’s practice of sometimes obtaining controversial documents and then suppressing them.

Joining Mormon Stories host Dan Wotherspoon to tell the story of these tragic murders and complex issues are two terrific guests: Allen Roberts, who co-authored with Linda Sillitoe the book Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders, which is widely regarded as the most thorough account of the Hofmann saga, and Curt Bench, who at the time of the bombings managed the Fine and Rare Books department of Deseret Book’s flagship store in downtown Salt Lake City in which he dealt regularly with Mark Hofmann and even considered him a friend. Linda, Allen, and Curt all ended up playing important roles in helping investigators ultimately make their case against Hofmann and untangle the threads that had led him to murder.

In this 3-part series Natasha Helfer Parker, LCMFT (The Mormon Therapist & MormonMatters.org), interviews one of her earliest clients: a married, Mormon homosexual man, coming out to his wife.  Names have been withheld to protect anonymity to the family.

Note: The purpose of this interview is not to encourage people to stay or leave the church, to stay or leave a marriage, nor to participate or not participate in reparative therapy.  These are all delicate personal decisions and different circumstances will necessitate different solutions.  The purpose of this interview is to share a story.  It is also meant to increase empathy and to reach out to those who may find themselves in similar situations.

Richard Dutcher burst into Mormon cultural consciousness ten years ago with the release of his independent film hit, God’s Army. During the ensuing decade, he has remained an intriguing figure to many Latter-day Saints, not only because of the high quality of the films he has continued to make, but also because of his public distancing himself from “Mormon cinema,” a film genre launched primarily because of his successes, as well as his more private (yet also public) distancing himself from the LDS Church and its teachings.

In this five-part interview conducted by Mormon Stories correspondent Dan Wotherspoon, Richard Dutcher speaks with remarkable candor about his upbringing and marriage, his career as a filmmaker, including extensive comments about each of his completed films (as well as ones, such as his planned film on Joseph Smith, that have not yet been made), the rise and decline of Mormon cinema, and his own faith journey.

This interview is available in both audio and high-quality video formats. The video version includes scenes from Dutcher’s films that play over the interview audio.

Episodes: (available below, on Youtube via HD video, and on iTunes):

• Part 1 – Growing up Mormon, Serving a Mission, and Getting Married
• Part 2 – Getting Started in Filmmaking and God’s Army
• Part 3 – Brigham City, the Joseph Smith Movie, and Mormon Cinema
• Part 4 – States of Grace, Falling, and Evil Angel
• Part 5 – Spiritual Journey and Final Thoughts

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

She has edited numerous books, including Dance With Them: 30 Stumbling Mothers Catch Glimpses of Grace and The Mother in Me—anthologies of personal essays and poetry written by mothers about the challenges and joys of mothering.  She is the editor of Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children With Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives and Gifts 2: How People with Down Syndrome Enrich the World.   Kathy is also the editor-in-chief of Segullah: Writings by Latter-day Saint Women, which is a print journal dedicated to encouraging literary talent and promoting greater faith and understanding among Latter-day Saint women as well as a blog.

Kathy’s most recent book, The Year My Son and I Were Born, is a memoir of the transformations Kathy underwent the year after her son Thomas was born with Down Syndrome.  Kathy’s website says that it’s a story about coming to terms with being human and learning how to deal with hard surprises.

Visit Kathy’s website to purchase the book, watch a video montage of pictures of Thomas and Kathy’s other children, and get Thomas updates.

Kathy maintains a personal blog and also blogs at www.segullah.org.

Dr. Bradshaw is a former mission president, former member of a stake presidency, has written about the biology of homosexuality elsewhere, and was covered by BYU’s Daily Universe here.  He is also the host on a short video entitled, “Embracing our Homosexual Children.”

We will soon be releasing a full Mormon Stories interview w/ Dr. Bradshaw.

(This presentation was recorded and is provided with full permission of Dr. Bradshaw).

In this live-streamed interview, we had a few special guests…

• Cary Crall — The BYU student who wrote this letter to BYU’s Daily Universe which was later pulled from the web site, with this explanation.  You can read more about Cary’s story here.
• Morris Thurston — Harvard law graduate, and author of, “A Commentary on the Document, “Six Consequences…if Proposition 8 Fails“.
• Laura Compton, co-founder of Mormons for Marriage.

We also hosted a live, simultaneous Internet-based chat (which you can watch while listening to the entire interview below).

Thanks to all of you who tuned in!

A few weeks back we live-streamed an interview with John Larsen of Mormon Expression podcast, allowing folks to call in.  John and I began by interviewing each other about our experiences as Mormon podcasters….and then we will opened the lines to listener questions.

It was a blast.  Thanks, John!  And thanks to all who called in.

John Dehlin

Supporting the workshop were:

• Natasha Parker LCMFT — also known as The Mormon Therapist, and
• Laurie and Dan Gallagher — a mixed-faith couple previously featured on Mormon Stories.

You can access Natasha’s handout from the workshop here.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

• Part 1: Growing up Mormon, and the WordPerfect years
• Part 2: Coming out as a Gay Mormon Father
• Part 3: The Case for Supporting Gay Rights

(Note: Segment 3 of this interview has been removed from the podcast feed — out of respect for the family members involved, and due to legal and other concerns).

In this 4-part series, we interview Richard Packham — co-founder of the Ex-Mormon foundation.  Throughout the interview and via Richard’s own personal story, we explore 3 ways in which the LDS Church creates unnecessary enemies:

1. Episode 1: By not being honest about its own history (e.g. teaching accurate history)
2. Episode 2: By breaking up families (when one no longer believes)
3. Episode 3: By  harming the loved ones of those who have left the church (removed from the feed)
4. Episode 4: To conclude, Richard discusses the benefits of religious belief and the LDS church, the mission of the ExMormon foundation, and bears a final testimony regarding the joy/happiness he has experienced since leaving the church.

NOTE: The purpose of this interview is NOT to encourage people to stay or leave the LDS church.  It is simply to:

1. Seek to understand and to validate the path of those who have felt compelled to leave the church, and
2. Explore ways in which the church can seek to no longer create unnecessary enemies.

….and he is also an active, believing member of the LDS Church.  Dr. Bailey is also the founder of the “Science Meets Religion” web site, which seeks to bridge the gap between science and religion.

In this three-part series, we discuss:

• Part 1: A Brief History of the LDS Church and Science, including the B.H. Roberts/Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie controversies regarding evolution in the 20th century.
• Part 2: The state of science in the LDS Church today.
• Part 3: How science has actually strengthened his faith in the God and the LDS Church.

P.S. The Duane Jeffery/Dialogue article referenced in the podcast can be found here.

Janet Bennion is an associate professor of anthropology at Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont, specializing in alternative sexuality in nontraditional religious movements in the Intermountain West, specifically among Mormon fundamentalist polygynists. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of Utah and a Masters in Social Organization from Portland State University. Her doctoral expertise lies in cross-cultural perspectives of sexuality, gender and society, and women of the fundamentalist world.

Her scientific publications include two major ethnographic works and two comparative analyses of Mormon polygynous women, as well as many peer-review journal articles. Women of Principle: Female Networking in Contemporary Mormon Polygyny (Oxford University Press 1998) offers an in-depth study of gender roles and sexual norms in the Apostolic United Brethren sect in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, cataloging women’s conversion stories. This ethnography shows that while abuses do exist, some women achieve ironic ascendance and satisfaction in fundamentalism. Desert Patriarchy (University of Arizona Press 2004) presents her theory explaining the role of the desert environment (Chihuahua, Mexico) in the development and maintenance of a patriarchal gender ideology. Her model identifies several factors — male supremacy, female network, non-secular education, imbalanced sex ratios, alternative sexuality, and circumscription — which work to facilitate the longevity of desert patriarchal communities.

Janet Bennion is an associate professor of anthropology, specializing in alternative sexuality in nontraditional religious movements in the Intermountain West, specifically among Mormon fundamentalist polygynists. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of Utah and a Masters in Social Organization from Portland State University.

Her doctoral expertise lies in cross-cultural perspectives of sexuality, gender and society, and women of the fundamentalist world.

Her scientific publications include two major ethnographic works and two comparative analyses of Mormon polygynous women, as well as many peer-review journal articles. Women of Principle: Female Networking in Contemporary Mormon Polygyny (Oxford University Press 1998) offers an in-depth study of gender roles and sexual norms in the Apostolic United Brethren sect in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, cataloging women’s conversion stories. This ethnography shows that while abuses do exist, some women achieve ironic ascendance and satisfaction in fundamentalism. Desert Patriarchy (University of Arizona Press 2004) presents her theory explaining the role of the desert environment (Chihuahua, Mexico) in the development and maintenance of a patriarchal gender ideology. Her model identifies several factors — male supremacy, female network, non-secular education, imbalanced sex ratios, alternative sexuality, and circumscription — which work to facilitate the longevity of desert patriarchal communities.

• Episode 1: Federal Prosecution, Post-Manifesto Polygamy and the Rise of Mormon Fundamentalism
• Episode 2: The Life and Death of the Mormon Speculative Tradition, and the Rise and Costs of Correlation
• Episode 3: The LDS Church as a Corporation and the Corporation as a Church
• Episode 4: Is the LDS Church Serving God, Mammon, or Both?

Daymon’s fascinating dissertation can be purchased here.

I have five very important announcements that I’d like to make to you…my listeners….so I’ll try to make it brief.

1. Potential Workshops and Reception at Sunstone Symposium:On August 4th, as part of the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City, I am considering hosting an all-day, 2 part workshop:
   • Part 1 (in the morning) will deal with “How to navigate an LDS crisis of faith”, and
   • Part 2 (in the afternoon) will deal with “What to do in a marriage when one of the partners loses their testimony.” What I need to know from all of you, is if there is any interest out there in something like this.  It will likely cost around $25 for a single session, and $40 for the full session.  I also planning on going to dinner with folks after the workshops, so it could be a fun way to meet some of you.  Anyway, Please email me at mormonstories@gmail.com if you or someone you know would be interested in attending.
   • In addition, I am looking into the possibility of hosting a Mormon Stories listener reception, likely to be held on Thursday evening, August 5th.  If any of you would be interested in spending an hour or two with me, former interviewees, and fellow Mormon Stories listeners, please let me know via email at mormonstories@gmail.com.
     
2. Mormon Stories Forum: I have recently created a private Internet forum for listeners to Mormon Stories.  The formula is pretty straightforward:
   • Membership in the forum is by invitation only.
   • Everyone in the forum uses their real name.  This helps to make the forum conversations more constructive and healthy, and to build a sense of community within the forum.  That said, the membership list and conversations within the forum are copyrighted, and will not be shared outside the forum.  Also, if you are unable to use your real name for job or family reasons, I will need you to identify yourself to me, and we can make arrangements to protect your anonymity on the forum.
   • The purpose of the forum is to provide people with a safe place to speak with other like-minded people about their Mormon experience.  We have Mormons of all types on the forum — from true believers to former Mormons.  The only requirement, other than maintaining the confidentiality of the group, is to always treat forum members with respect — regardless of their status in the church.  Violators of this will be removed.
   • To join the community, please friend me on Facebook (both as John Dehlin and as Mormon Stories), and then send me an email telling me your story, and indicating that you are willing to comply with these rules.  From there, I will add you to the community if your story indicates a good fit.
3. Mormon Stories is now an official Non-Profit: Thanks to Ryan Millecam, a corporate attorney at Gammage and Burnham in Phoenix AZ and a long-time fan – Mormon Stories is now an official 501c3 Non-Profit, which means that all donations we receive are tax deductible.  We did this in hopes that it would encourage you, our listeners, to better support Mormon Stories.Also, As a 501c3, I’m very interested in creating a formal board of directors to help shape the future of Mormon Stories — and maybe even grow it into a radio and/or TV program someday.  If any of you are interested in sitting on the Mormon Stories board of directors and helping to shape and grow our future, please join the MS Community forum (as indicated above), and let me know in your introduction letter of your interest.
4. A 3 Month Experiment (Donor Drive): Over the past few months I have worked very, very hard to bring you some very high quality interviews.  A few of you have been very supportive in terms of contributions, and I am very, very grateful for that support — but a new situation has arisen where I will need your help.  Many of you know that I just finished up my first year in a 6 year psychology Ph.D. program.  It was kind of crazy for me to leave a six figure job with MIT, with 4 young children at home, to go back to school — but my work with Mormon Stories has really led me to feel like I need to become a counselor – specifically to work with folks who struggle within the LDS church.  Anyway — I was recently offered a $15,000 Assistantship to cover some of my expenses for next year as a grad student — but if I had taken it, I would have not been able to continue with Mormon Stories.  So I took a bit of a crazy gamble.  I turned down the assistantship, with the hope/faith that I could recruit enough monthly support from my listeners to at least make up for the assistantship that I turned down.So here is what I’m going to do.  Over the next 3 months I have planned some of the most interesting and exciting guest and projects to date for Mormon Stories.  In exchange, I am going to see how many listeners I can get to sign up for an automatic monthly subscription to Mormon Stories (which will help get me through grad school).  If I can get enough people to sign up for monthly subscriptions, I will definitely keep Mormon Stories going at the rate of one, multi-part interview per week.  If I can’t get enough listeners to support me in that way, I will probably keep Mormon Stories going, but will likely have to get a part time job in the Fall/Winter to support my family while in school — and will only release episodes as I’m able.  Currently my web stats tell me that each episode of Mormon Stories is being downloaded by thousands of listeners — so I guess I’m asking for those of you who have enjoyed Mormon Stories to please consider signing up for a monthly donation….it can be for as little as $5/month. If I can get only 200 or 300 people (of the several thousand) to make a monthly contribution, I promise to make Mormon Stories even better than it has been to date.  And again — I can also promise you that the people and projects that I have in the works are as exciting and interesting, if not more so than many of my past interviews — so if you do your part, I promise to do mine.  To donate — please click on one of the donation buttons at the top right of http://mormonstories.org
5. Looking for Volunteers:  Finally, in addition to monthly contributors, I am urgently looking for volunteers to help donate their time in various ways to keep Mormon Stories going strong.  If any of you are willing to help out with your time, please join the Mormon Stories Forum as indicated above, and  indicate in your letter to me that you are willing to help out.

Anyway, that’s it for now!   Thanks so much for listening, and for your support.  I look forward to making Mormon Stories better than ever…with your support.

In light of the recent Gallop Poll which calculates that 60% of active Mormons self-identify as Conservative or Republican and that over 60% of inactive Mormons who still consider themselves Mormons are self-identified “Liberals or Moderates” suggesting that the more liberal you are the more likely you are to go inactive; in light of Glenn Beck’s recent public comments where the prominent Mormon declared that social justice was a code word for Communism and Nazism; and in light of the recent invitation by a Nevada Stake to Democratic Senator Harry Reid to speak at a fireside which was met by threats of violence and canceled.

As moderate, liberal or radical Mormons, it is time to make our voices heard WITHIN Mormonism. I for one am weary of hearing Republican talking points pass for Gospel truths. The Gospel is for everyone, not just Republicans; guided by the spirit, liberal and radical interpretations of the Gospel and scriptures are just as valid as those made by Conservatives.

• On May 1st 2010, International Workers’ Day, or May Day, we will participate in local May Day festivities and organize ‘Social Justice and the Gospel’ Teach-ins/Firesides all across the country.

• On Sunday May 2nd, we will hold a special fast for those who are working all over the world to advance the causes of the Gospel, social justice, environmental sustainability and fighting the root causes of poverty. Then, we will attend our local Wards and, guided by the spirit, bear strong, sincere and non-confrontational testimonies on these themes.

Please pass the word along and start organizing events. Respond with ideas and comments.

Will you help us make the Mormon Church hospitable for all of God’s Children? Even Liberals and Radicals?

Over this 3.5 hour discussion we cover topics like:

• How to handle difficult primary songs and uncomfortable teachings with small children
• How to deal with baptism and priesthood ordinations as unorthodox members
• How to work through issues surrounding the young women and men programs
• How to “innoculate” your children against unhealthy church teachings and history
• How to handle issues of sexuality, and What to do about missions, marriage and beyond.
  

Our panelists include:

• Lee White: Who (along with his wonderful wife) has successfully raised four children within the church as progressive, non-literalistic, non-dogmatic, NOMish church members.
• Laurie Gallagher: Who no longer considers herself to be a “believer” in the church’s exclusive truth claiMS, but who is finding a way (along w/ her “believer” and totally cool husband) to raise their three children, combining her love for Buddhism and Eastern Spirituality with a progressive approach to LDS activity.
• Heather Olson Beal: Who comes from a devout yet progressive family background, and who (along with her husband) is finding a way to raise their three children amidst their own faith transition.

Program Notes:

• Here is the link to Laurie’s wonderful letter to her son (a must read)
• Here are the words to the poem Laurie discussed on the podcast:

Irish Blessing:
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

This interview was recorded in 2007.

In this interview, we discuss:

• What it’s like to grow up the son of an LDS Prophet
• An intimate look at Edward’s impressions of President Kimball
• The 1978 Blacks and the Priesthood Revelation and the Equal Rights Amendment fight within the church
• Thoughts in reconciling the intellect with faith and the spirit

WARNING: Bengt occasionally uses profane language, and there is some sexually explicit material (I’d give it a PG-13 rating).  Viewer/listener discretion is advised.

• In Part 1, I re-publish Terry Gross’ 2009 Fresh Air interview with Karen Armstrong.  Please listen to this episode, buy and read the book this week, and next week we will:
• In Part 2, John Hamer, J. Nelson Seawright, Joanna Brooks and I lay out Karen Armstrong’s major premises, and analyze them
• In Part 3, we discuss how Karen Armstrong’s book might or might not apply to Mormonism.

Based on your requests, I wanted to let you know that:

1. Mormon Stories is now an official 501c3 non-profit organization, which means that any future donations you make to the podcast will be tax deductible.
2. I have set up the means whereby you can make automatic monthly donations to Mormon Stories.   Just click on the buttons at the top right of the home page to set up monthly, automatic recurring donations.

Thanks so much again for all your support!

John Dehlin

• In Part 1, Lisa discusses her early life, how she became a feminist, and what led to her creation of FeministMormonHousewives.com
• In Part 2, Lisa discusses the importance of open, thoughtful and candid discussions about women’s issues within the church, and on the Internet
• In Part 3, Lisa discusses the costs and benefits of blogging, provides some final insight and advice to LDS women, along w/ her testimony of the LDS gospel.

Music on this episode was provided by http://skyepixton.com and http://claytonpixton.com.

• In part 1, Shawn discusses his born again experience, and makes his best case for why LDS Church members should also seek to become Born Again.

• In part 2, I ask Shawn several questions about his style, doctrine and theology.

• In part 3, I ask Shawn some final questions, and he shares some closing thoughts.

• Episode 1: Jacque discusses her husband’s loss of  testimony, how they first discussed it, and the lessons she learned from dealing with the immediate aftermath.
• Episode 2: Jacque discusses the compromises that both her and her husband had to make to work through his loss of faith, and what eternal marriage has come to mean for her.
• Episode 3: Jacque discusses some of the unexpected blessings that have come to her marriage as a result of her husband’s loss of faith, and some final tips for couples dealing with this dilemma.

The music from this episode was played live during the interview.  For more about the Danzig’s music, check out their web site here.

The music from this episode was played live during the interview.  For more about the Danzig’s music, check out their web site here.

The music from this episode was played live during the interview.  For more about the Danzig’s music, check out their web site here.

The music from this episode was played live during the interview.  For more about the Danzig’s music, check out their web site here.

Shawn is a former LDS Church member who is now an evangelical minister in SLC.  He is the author of the book “Born Again Mormon” and is the host of the TV show “Heart of the Manner.”

Shawn and I talked before agreeing to do the interview.  His purpose (nor mine) will not be to bash the LDS church, but instead to share his journey out of Mormonism and into Evangelical Christianity in a respectful way.  If you have questions for Shawn, please post them here.

Thanks!

• The Past: Why I shut down Mormon Stories podcast, what I learned along the way, and were I am now with the church.
• The Present: Why I brought Mormon Stories back
• The Future: What I promise to each of you w/ the podcast, and what I need from each of you to keep it going.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Community of Christ Apostle Susan D. Skoor and Prophet Stephen M. Veazey ordain Becky L. Savage to be a member of the First Presidency

Community of Christ temple

In part 2 of my interview with John Hamer, we discuss the transformation of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS) towards a more Christ-centered church, including the decision to build a temple in Independence, Missouri, and change its name to “The Community of Christ.”

We also discuss its transition away from prophetic succession based on blood line, and its decision to ordain women to the priesthood.

(Music provided courtesy of Clayton Pixton and Skype Pixton.  If you can, please email them and thank them for the music…better yet…email them and then buy an album!!!!)

This episode is re-published courtesy of John Larsen.

This recording was published on August 11, 2009, and is re-published here courtesy of John Larsen.

(Note: please consider this as a very rough draft.  I am very open to suggestions to make it better.)

===========

Thank you for sharing your story with me.  If there are a few messages I can leave with you…that I hope you will repeat to yourself over and over again in the coming years….it would be these things:

1. You are not alone.  I have personally spoken to over 1,000 people with your basic story…and I am aware of tens of thousands more on the Internet who share your concerns.  Please know up front that this journey you are now traveling is one that more and more LDS people are beginning to travel — and that there will be fellow travelers and tip/tricks provided to you along the way (unlike in generations past).  To restate — You. Are. Not. Alone.  Thousands upon thousands (likely some in your own ward) share your thoughts/feelings, and more are emerging every day.  Don’t feel ashamed or broken. With the advent of the Internet, this phenomenon is becoming very, very common.
2. Go slowly.  Sometimes it’s easy to let things spin out of control — especially if you are angry or feeling isolated.  Try to avoid this if you can.  Try to go as slowly as you can, and think of this as a lifelong quest for meaning, purpose, and enlightenment….not as something that you will resolve in a week, or a month, or a year.  Try to not do anything rash.  Try never to burn bridges.
3. Find some mentors: As you begin this new journey of faith it is unlikely that family, friends, or leaders will understand what you are going through. Those family and friends who you choose to confide in may respond with fear or hostility. Remember that this new journey may be a shock to them and it requires delicate handling for all involved. Be open to different viewpoints and never close the door on ideas while in this state of flux, but remember that ultimately this is YOUR journey of faith. As you seek people who will be able to understand your concerns remember that you are not obligated to follow in the footsteps of those who offer their support. Now there are, many, many LDS folk who have traveled down the path you are now on — you can take solace in the fact that some of them might be able/willing to help you through the journey. Some are still fully active and believing (like Richard Bushman, Kevin Barney, Jeff Lindsay or Mike Ash).  Some are semi-active and/or semi-believing in the church (like the folks at StayLDS.com).  Some are inactive.  Some have joined or started other churches (like Shawn McCraney) and some are no longer members (like Bob McCue). All of those paths are possible for each of us — and each path will have its plusses and minuses for you, individually. Regardless, I strongly suggest over the coming months and years that you find some mentors who will listen and help you see all the options that are unfolding ahead.
4. Some say that there are Stages of Faith: A famous professor of theology and human development named James Fowler once wrote that there are stages of faith.  No stage is better than another…4 is not higher than 3.  They are all just stages…nothing more.  Putting stages 1 and 2 aside for a second (they deal mostly with infants and children), he wrote that there are 3 main stages of faith for adults:
   • Stage 3 — A period characterized by literalistic, orthodox beliefs.  This is the “one true church” mentality — where you likely were in your late teen and early adult years.  Some never leave this stage — and that’s perfectly fine.  Remember — no one stage is better or higher than another.
   • Stage 4 — A period of disillusionment and disenchantment with the literalistic, orthodox, almost dogmatic approach to faith/religion that you once had in Stage 3.  Some have called it “the dark night of the soul.”  This is where you may be at present, if you’re reading this document.
   • Stage 5 — A return to valuing faith/spirituality, where there is: a) less of a concern with literalistic, dogmatic “truth”, b) a greater appreciation for the metaphorical and symbolic value/structure that religions of all types can provide, and c) a more universalistic or inclusive approach to religion and spirituality, that may select a particular religion or church to “practice” within, but finds value in the faith and theology of all religions, and even of enlightened agnostics and atheists.  The following podcast episodes can shed light on this stage, and this overall approach:
     • Mormon Stories’ exploration of the Stages of Faith: Part 1, Parts 2 and 3
     • Mormon Expressions’ exploration of the Stages of Faith: Part 1, Part 2
5. Try to think of this as an opportunity for deeper joy/meaning: It may not seem like it now, but try if you can to view this journey you are now on as one that has the potential for greater joy, and deeper meaning in your life….much more than you ever felt possible in your previous stage of belief.  In other words…..this is not the end of your faith journey.  This is just the beginning. It may sound crazy, but think of yourself as being like Adam/Eve cast out of the garden of Eden, so to speak.  You have an opportunity to create a life with amazing new depths and possibilities that you never before imagined (and I don’t mean out of the church, necessarily. I mean in or out of the church…depending on what you feel is best for you).  I promise you that there is wonderful, joyous light at the other end of this tunnel, if you can hang on, and find meaning/value/depth in this experience.  But it does take a lot of work.  And time.  And patience.
6. Isolation/secrecy can only last so long, and will likely lead to more pain in the end: One thing that I’ve seen repeatedly is the negative effects of being fully “in the closet” about your pain/struggles w/ loved ones and friends.  Just like a lid on a pot of boiling water — eventually the steam will escape…it’s just a matter of how/when….and with how much force.   So I would encourage you to slowly find non-threatening ways to let loved ones know (in general, not necessarily going into specifics) that you are working through some things, and that you are struggling.  You will know when the time is right for this — so I’m not telling you to hurry — but I can tell you from experience that it’s usually better to thoughtfully manage the “coming out” of your thoughts/feelings vs. having them eat away at you, and then explode in ways that damage both you and your loved ones.  I could be wrong here…or this may not be right in your particular situation…but this has been true in my experience, and for many/most of the people I’ve spoken with.
7. Family First: While this might not be true in rare circumstances, especially where abuse is involved, remember that family is more important that anything else you’ll probably ever believe or want or do in this life.  Try your best to always remain supportive and a force for good within your family — even as you struggle w/ your faith.  Don’t let your faith struggles cause you to neglect those you love most.  That said, you must also avoid neglecting your conscience at the expense of keeping the peace.  A proper balance must be struck here, and only you can know what the right balance is.
8. Pray (and/or meditate) and Study: Don’t forget to pray (and/or meditate) and study either the scriptures (even if only for non-literal inspiration and meaning) or other books which encourage wisdom, enlightenment and/or spirituality.  Those things remain a wonderful resource for me.  Even if your religious world falls apart — I strongly believe that there is great strength in prayer, meditation, spirituality and “clean living”.  Don’t let these things go…if you can help it — even if you find only metaphorical value in them, vs. literal value.

Some resources I can recommend:

• Mormon Stories Podcast: Over 100 hours over exploration on issues of faith, history, etc.  Over the next year I am planning on addressing the loss of faith as a central theme w/ tons of new episodes.  The Mormon Expression podcast also has some excellent episodes, although their panel skews slightly towards the disaffected LDS perspective.  Still, I love those guys, and their hearts are in the right place.
• StayLDS.com: A wonderful resource for those looking to stay in the church w/ an alternative, nuanced, non-literalistic faith.  Even though I remain a church member myself, I am no longer in the business of trying to convince others to stay in the church (it just never works, and often backfires — people have to decide this for themselves).  The folks at StayLDS.com are the same way.  They are not looking to convince anyone to stay LDS, but instead are there to support people who, for whatever reason, desire to stay in the church, but don’t quite know how to do it after the crisis of faith.  One resource that many have found value in from this site is this essay, “How to stay in the church after a crisis of faith.”
• LDSBlogs.org or mormonblogs.com: For a WONDERFUL set of thoughtful, yet (mostly) faithful blogs which deal with Mormon issues.
• FAIR/FARMS: For apologetic approaches to the church that seem to work for many.
• New Order Mormon: Similar to StayLDS, but less moderated…and a bit more angry at times within the forum (though I totally acknowledge that for most, anger is often unavoidable, and sometimes even constructive…depending on the situation).
• A New Earth — Eckhart Tolle/Oprah: This may sound cheesy, but this podcast/book by Eckhart Tolle on Oprah has helped me,  my wife, and many of my friends in ways I would never be able to fully describe.  Give it a try if you are open/willing.  It is 100% compatible with both LDS belief and complete atheism.
• Speaking of Faith: An amazing archive exploring “deep” or “thick” religion (vs. thin/shallow religion)
• For Those Who Wonder: A great resource by Jeff Burton
• Faces East: Not sure how good this is, but I love the mission statement: “Devoted to the ideal of eternal marriage, even when a spouse does not accept LDS beliefs.”
• There are many ex-Mormon and Post-Mormon resources out there, but I am always on the look-out for additional sites that are committed to a constructive, enlightened exit from the church (if that becomes your ultimate wish).  For those of you who can help me find a few additional links, please email me or post the links below.

Finally, please consider returning to these points when you are in your darker times.  From speaking w/ many others, I feel like they will guide you well whenever you get stuck.

I hope this helps!  Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.  And God bless you.

John Dehlin

Joanna has recently started an advice-column blog entitled “AskMormonGirl.com“, and cross-blogs on Mormon Matters.

This is part 1 of a 2 part interview.  Please give a hearty Mormon Stories welcome to Dr./Sister/Mommy Joanna Brooks!

What’s even MORE helpful is if you’re able to contact these people in advance and ask them if they’re willing to come on the podcast.  That could save me a TON of time.

Thanks for everything.  More soon.

My focus for 2010 (and beyond?) will be:

• Empathy and Support for Those Struggling w/ a Faith Crisis: First and foremost, I want to help to build greater understanding, empathy and support within the broader LDS culture for those struggling with an LDS-related faith crisis. I envision interviewing many who have struggled with their faith — and to put forward several examples of people who have found joy on the other side of the struggle (regardless of whether they landed in or out of the church). The goal will not be to keep people in the church…nor to nudge them out of the church…but instead to help build broad empathy, and to help the strugglers find positive role models, tips, tricks and ideas to help them in their own religious/spiritual/life journey….regardless of where it leads. I anticipate interviewing folks from all sides including: FAIR/FARMS, StayLDS, New Order Mormon, PostMormon and ExMormon.org — and wherever else it makes sense. This will be about finding joy for those who come from a Mormon paradigm…NOT about nudging people one way or the other.
• Less LDS-related Divorce over Faith Issues: I honestly cannot count the number of couples who have come to me in the past few years seeking help w/ their marriage…as it falls apart due to faith-related issues. Consequently, I desperately want to see less divorce and marital strife because of faith struggles within Mormonism. In my mind/heart….the LDS Church should NEVER be a major cause in the dissolution of a healthy family. To this end, I plan to find couples who have made it through such a struggle with their marriage in tact (in or out of the church), and to discuss things like: 1) how to “get on the same page” (where possible), 2) how to deal with differences (where they exist), 3) how to raise children in a mixed-faith, progressive faith or even an ex-LDS home, and 4) how to deal with the in-laws, etc. I also hope to prepare new materials (like my “Why they leave…” Youtube presentation) to be used as resources to share w/ loved ones (as needed) to support people in these situations.
• Mental Illness: Because of my interest in Psychology, I plan to do an in-depth exploration of mental illness with Mormonism (including Depression, eating disorders, addictions, Autism, abuse, etc.)
• And for some fun (we can’t get too heavy, now, can we?)….an attempt to interview prominent LDS artists, media personalities, celebrities, etc. And of course….you can expect much of the same Mormon Stories that you have enjoyed in the past. Hopefully I can throw in a few surprises along the way.

I will be operating Mormon Stories on an NPR/PBS model (through donations of both time and money).  As financial support comes in, I will use it to fund new episodes. As long as the donations continue to come, I will keep things hopping.

To Donate to Mormon Stories 2010, please click on the donate button at the top right of this blog.

Other ways I could use help:

• Good ideas for really, really good interviews will also be critical.  I have to find a way to keep things super interesting to my diverse audience — which includes both believers and non-believers.  Here’s the direction I’m hoping to go:  http://mormonstories.org/?p=716 .  Helping me actually get the quality interviewees to agree to the interview is also super helpful.
• Awareness/Marketing: The extent to which you can help build awareness about Mormon Stories, either through email, Facebook, Twitter, Internet Forums, Blogs, etc. — the more folks who subscribe to and support Mormon Stories, the easier it will be to keep things going.
• I will likely need some technical support if you’re a wiz w/ web technology (design or dev)…let me know.
• Moral support is best of all, of course.

I will do my best to make you proud.

Sincerely,

John Dehlin

1. Attempts at interviews with prominent LDS church members — Stephanie Nielson (Nie Nie), Shannon Hale, Robin Jensen, Chad Hardy, Stephen Kapp Perry, Dustin Lance Black, Laura Compton, Hawkgrrrl, Kevin Barney, Lisa Butterworth, Philip Barlow, John Hamer, Daniel Peterson, Peter and Mary Danzig, etc.
2. A deep dive/exploration into mental illness within Mormonism.
3. Provide stories to help couples wherein one or both are experiencing a crisis of faith — in a way that might help them to avoid unproductive pain and/or divorce, and
4. Providing stories that will help people through the damaging social, familial and spiritual effects of an LDS-related faith crisis (without any “nudge” or preference as to whether or not they stay in or leave the church).  The overarching goals here would be to
   • Create deeper understanding and empathy within our culture for those in a faith crisis, and
   • Provide healthy “role models” (tips and tricks) from people who have successfully worked through this crisis — from across the spectrum of belief/non-belief (ex-Mormons, post-Mormons, New Order Mormons, StayLDS, Apologists, etc.).  The idea isn’t to point people in a specific direction, but instead to provide stories that will help people find the path that works best for them.
5. And of course, all the Mormon Stories goodness you have come to know and love.  :)

I could not do it alone.  I would need lots of help to make it happen.

If any of you are interested in supporting such a podcast, please contact me at: mormonstories@gmail.com.

Thanks!

John Dehlin

Even so, all are welcome to email John directly at MormonStories@gmail.com.  He will do his best to answer. He is aware, however, that a short note from him will do little to meet your needs.  If you do receive a short answer or no answer at all, please know that he respects your privacy and will not forward personal emails to other members of the Mormon Stories team.  If you would like more support, please let John know that it is okay with you if he shares your needs with others; he will not do so unless you explicitly give him permission.  If you choose to allow him to share, it may be that we can find resources to help you.  Again, please know that John is very sorry that he cannot be there for everyone.

In an effort to respond to the growing need for support, Mormon Stories has created the Mormon Stories Regional Support Communities.  Many have used the communities to find friends in their immediate areas with whom they can authentically share the issues they are struggling with.  We are hopeful that support can be found and lasting friendships can be made.

We also have new projects on the horizon that we hope will assist with the growing demands. A podcast on the subject of dealing with faith crises can be found here. 

You are not alone….. not even close.  Many are walking in your shoes.

Much Love,

The Mormon Stories Team

There are a million things that I love about the church and its members (community, hymns, structure, standards, etc.), and some things that deeply trouble me (e.g. the church’s exclusive truth claims and historical hostility to “gays, feminists and intellectuals“).  I believe in the central teachings of Jesus (love your neighbor and your enemies, forgive people, judge not, have faith, repent (or turn away) from mistakes, etc.), but I have no idea how much of “the gospel” is true/literal, and how much of it is symbolic/metaphorical.

I am a myth-loving (Joseph Campbell), stage-5 aspiring (James Fowler) religionist.  And my goal in life is to help struggling Mormons find peace during tough transitions.

Finally — you should know that my bishop and stake president know all of the above about me, have reviewed what I do with Mormon Stories, and continue to encourage me to remain active, and to feel welcome at church.

• Your study of LDS church history is causing you to question your testimony and/or commitment to the church
• Recent current events (like the FLDS thing in Texas, the Mitt Romney thing, or the Gay Marriage ballot initiative in California) have awakened in you discomfort w/ the church
• You find yourself bored and/or frustrated in church — because you do not feel as though you are able to have honest/candid discussions, or that the conversations/lessons are meaningful/relevant to you
• You have begun to doubt your testimony in the LDS Church, but feel as though you have no one to talk to about it
• You are somewhat uncomfortable saying “I know this church is true” — but you still are comfortable saying “I know this church is good”
• AND….you retain a desire to try to maintain your membership and activity in the church….

….if these bullets describe you, please email me with your story at mormonstories@gmail.com.   I may have some resources that could prove helpful to you.

John Dehlin

• Why do you do this? Hopefully these essays will help explain it.
• About the podcast:
  • What is a podcast? A podcast is like a combination radio/TV show, but better because you can download it to your iPod (or MP3 player) and listen to/watch it whenever and wherever you want — pausing, rewinding, or fast-forwarding (as the need arises). You can enjoy a podcast while driving in your car, doing household chores, or exercising. Mormon Stories has released podcast episodes in both audio and video, as well as via Youtube — to accommodate your situation.
  • How do I listen? The best way to listen to a podcast (by far) is to download iTunes to your machine (if you don’t already have it), and then subscribe to the podcast by clicking here, and then (while in the iTunes store) clicking on the “Subscribe” button for Mormon Stories Podcast.
  • The full list of Mormon Stories Episodes can be found here:
    • Online Video: Mormon Stories Youtube site
    • Audio and Video Podcast: Mormon Stories RSS Podcast Feed
  • Some of the highlights: On Mormon Stories Podcast we have interviewed all sorts of fascinating Mormons about important Mormon issues, including:
    • Richard Bushman, Grant Palmer and Morris Thurston about the life of Joseph Smith
    • Gregory Prince about the life of President David O. McKay
    • Claudia Bushman on women in the LDS church
    • Jim Parkinson on the story of an LDS man’s survival of the Bataan Death March (World War II)
    • The story of a couple who left the church, and then came back again
    • Todd Compton and Anne Wilde about the history of Mormon Polygamy
    • Darius Gray & Margaret Young and Darron Smith about the history of Blacks in the LDS Church
    • Greg Kearney about the connections between Mormonism and Masonry
    • Buckley Jeppson about Homosexuality and Mormonism
    • And many, many more (over 100 episodes in all)

• Essays: We also have created a few other documents and multimedia presentations for your enjoyment, which you can find here.

We hope you enjoy Mormon Stories podcast, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!!!

Our slant would be:

• Practical discussions about Mormonism as a culture….
• Seeking balance from all sides of the faith spectrum (Fundamentalist, Conservative, Moderate, Liberal, RLDS, and Ex)
• We’d have a podcast as well

I’m looking for at least 2 permabloggers in each of these categories. Permabloggers must have a deep and abiding love for Mormons and Mormonism. Those who wish the LDS church church ill in any way need not apply. Anyone who falls into the “Ex” category must be of the John Hamer variety — loves Mormons and Mormonism, and wants Mormonism to succeed…just has decided that membership isn’t for them right now. They must also be intelligent and well-read about Mormonism (which means that I won’t be posting much). Finally, they must always be respectful of other’s points of view — without exception. Screeds will not be tolerated. Speaking meanly about church leadership will not be tolerated.

All discussion must be respectful, and generally in favor of Mormonism as a people/culture/faith.

We’d like each permablogger to commit to at least one post per week — on the subject of their choosing.

Please email me at mormonstories@gmail.com if you think you qualify, and are interested.

Today’s LDS Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:61 reads:

“And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse ^aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.”

This is not defunct scripture, nor has this verse been removed from our canon. Yes we stopped practicing polygamy because of legal/political/governmental adversity, but I’m not sure that we ever renounced the belief. Doesn’t polygamy remain fundamental Mormon doctrine in 2008?

Am I wrong, or is Stephen trying to distance us from the scripture? How should members reconcile the scripture with PR videos like this, which seem to show a detestation for polygamy?

Is this doctrine one of the main reasons that our pioneer ancestors risked life and limb to cross the plains? Don’t we teach that the family is central to Mormon doctrine, and isn’t any scriptural teaching about family worth our respect? Especially if we’re still practicing it (as my mother) in our temples?

Should the scripture be changed, or should we stop speaking out so harshly against polygamy? I struggle with this sometimes.