I’ve already posted Part 1 of the Mormon Matters episode 80: How Can we Confront Racism within Mormon Thought and Culture? Here is part 2. I have previously posted excerpts from this panel discussion when I asked if 1978 was the right year, and whether the Church should apologize. The transcript below continues after Part 1. Continue Reading »
Should the Church Apologize for the Temple/Priesthood Ban?
Following up with the conversation on whether the timing of the 1978 revelation was correct, Brad Kramer and Marguerite Driessen disagreed on the necessity of whether the LDS Church should repent for the previous restrictions on black church members. Â You might be surprised at their stances. Â Here’s more of their conversation on whether an institution needs to repent, and whether an apology would undermine members’ faith in the LDS prophet. Â If you’re interested in previous conversations, see what they said about Misunderstanding Racism.) Â Here’s the transcript; let me know what you think.
Dan Wotherspoon, Host of Mormon Matters
Dan Wotherspoon, “Gina, again from your list, you asked the question that I think a lot of us talk about, but let’s give it voice here again. Is the reluctance of the Church to respond in a more robust way, this worry that it’s going to undermine the members’ faith in prophetic revelation?  Continue Reading »
Was 1978 the Right Year?
The priesthood and temple ban was lifted in a 1978 revelation given to President Spencer W. Kimball and the Twelve Apostles. With Civil Rights being a big issue in the 1960’s, there are many who criticize the church for taking so long in lifting the priesthood ban on black men, and the temple ban on black men and women, or people who married black men and women. Marguerite Driessen gave an interesting perspective in a panel discussion at Mormon Matters. The following transcript comes from Part 2 of the discussion. There is also an interesting speculation by Brad Kramer on why President McKay, who had prayed to have the ban lifted, did not receive inspiration to lift the ban during his lifetime. I wanted to post the part of the conversation, and get your thoughts.
Marguerite Driessen, Adjunct Professor at BYU in Law and Communications
Marguerite, “I do think there are many issues that relate to why this is such a tender issue for some, and such an abrasive issue for others, and yet even a non-issue for some others, and people in those groups probably would surprise you. I’ve known white people much more offended and hurt by the ban–that they’ve come to call the Priesthood ban, but now after talking to Brad, I will call it a Temple Ban, I will just call it ‘The Ban’ or whatever, to make sure that we know it was more than just priesthood–much more hurt and offended by it than say I am, having joined the church in 1981 when it was over. Continue Reading »
Confronting Racism with the Church-Part 1
I’ve previously posted part of this transcript when I talked about Misunderstanding Racism.  Here is the entire transcript of Mormon Matters episode 79:  See How can we Truly Confront Racism Within Mormon Thought and Culture—Part 1 at Mormon Matters.  I plan to post Part 2 as well when I complete it.  (These transcripts take quite a bit of time.)
Gender for Intersexuals
Mormonism is a unique religion in it’s belief about gender. Â The Proclamation on the Family states that “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” Â But what happens when gender isn’t so clear cut?
MSNBC has an interesting article about Intersexuals: people in which the “exact gender of the child cannot be determined”. Â The story says that
“It is estimated that in Germany alone approximately 80,000 people are intersexual, so-called hermaphrodites, who have physical features – such as chromosomes, hormones, gonads and outer sexual organs – which cannot be unambiguously attributed to just one gender.”
Bill Russell: Pillars of my Faith
John Dehlin of Mormon Stories has a recording of a 1993 Sunstone Symposium. Bill Russell gave a very interesting presentation. I transcribed the entire talk, and wanted to share it with everyone. Bill certainly has an interesting perspective on things. Â He is a past president of the Mormon History Association. The topic was titled Pillars of my Faith. I don’t know who the first person was that gave his introduction, but after the first paragraph, everything was said by Bill.
Routine Prophecy in a Church
In the lifetime of Joseph Smith, there were more than 100 revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. Â In the past 120 years, we’ve had only the vision of Joseph F. Smith (section 138), and 2 Official Declarations added–the Manifesto, and the elimination of the ban on black members to receive the priesthood. Â There are many on the bloggernacle that complain that we don’t have enough revelation.
On the other hand, the RLDS has continued to add to their version of the Doctrine and Covenants. Â Most recently, they added section 164–a revelation on gay marriage and recognition of non-RLDS baptisms into their church. Â The 164 Sections of the Community of Christ’s Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows: Continue Reading »
Bill Russell: Nephi is Dangerous
The following comments were recorded at the 1993 Sunstone Symposium. Bill Russell spoke on the recurring theme as Sunstone called “The Pillars of my Faith”. He is a past president of the Mormon History Association. I don’t know who introduced him, but this is what the person said when he introduced Bill Russell.
Introduction, “William D. Russell is a professor of American History and Government at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa. He received his B.A. in Religion from Graceland College. He has his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, and he says he has about 70 hours of graduate study in history in St. Paul in the University of Iowa. He has published a book, Treasures in Earthen Vessels, an Introduction to the New Testament and he tells me that he was given the True Believer Comeback of the Year Award by the John Whitmer Historical Association in 1985 for affirming the Book of Mormon as legitimate scripture shortly after advocating that the RLDS Church quit publishing the Doctrine and Covenants. He is also a runner and has run 25 marathons including the LA and the Boston Marathon.”
Misunderstanding Racism
With Randy Bott’s comments in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, the subject of the Priesthood Ban has become a hot topic of late. Â Jeff Spector at Wheat and Tares feels that racism is the wrong word to describe the Priesthood Ban. Â He says, “To me, there is a difference between been a racist and being prejudiced.” Â I think the problem comes down to one of definitions.
Dan Wotherspoon of Mormon Matters recently interviewed Brad Kramer, Marguerite Dreissen, and Gina Colvin about the priesthood ban, and discussed why racism seems to be misunderstood. Â Brad is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan in socio-cultural anthropology, and permablogger at By Common Consent. Â Marguerite is an Adjunct Professor at BYU in Law and Communications. Â Gina Colvin is a professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Â They were part of a fascinating panel discussion on this topic, and I wanted to highlight the points relative to Jeff’s recent post. Â Here is a transcript of part of their interview.
Continue Reading »
New Theories on the Crucifixion
With Easter upon us, I wanted to talk a bit about the death of Christ. Â Traditional images of the Crucifixion look similar to this one (pictured on the left.) Â National Geographic has put together 10 videos in a 3-DVD set called Science of the Bible that looks into various aspects of the life of Jesus. Â Episode 7 called “The Crucifixion” explores the death of Christ, and comes to some different conclusions than are traditional.
Most paintings (such as this one) depict Jesus with nails in his palms, but some have questioned whether these nails would have been strong enough to hold the body of Jesus. Â Many Mormons believe that another nail was added to Jesus’ wrists because of the fear that the weight of Jesus would tear through the hands. Â Experts on the video discuss this traditional theory. Continue Reading »
Mormon Heretic 