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Keeping Faith in Provo

From the March 2014 Print Edition

Oh say, what is truth? ’Tis the fairest gem / That the riches of worlds can produce, / And priceless the value of truth will be when / The proud monarch’s costliest diadem / Is counted but dross and refuse.” Hearing these words, sung with devotion and considerable musical talent by . . . . Continue Reading »

Progressivism Among the Mormons

From Web Exclusives

I recently argued that the doctrine of “continuing revelation” held by Latter-Day Saints tends to be read through a progressive lens. In response, many asked whether this view really has significant influence and is worth talking about. This question perplexes me, since anyone at all attentive to the “bloggernacle,” that is, the LDS internet, or to press coverage of LDS affairs, either in the Salt Lake Tribune or in national organs, cannot help but notice the persistent progressive narrative surrounding questions of homosexuality and the status or role of women… . Continue Reading »

Our One-Sided “Openness” to Continuing Revelation

From Web Exclusives

The great Jerry Seinfeld once observed that a man doesn’t care what’s on TV. He only cares what else is on TV. (Seinfeld late-night re-runs being displaced by Modern Family, by the way, is a sure sign of decline.) This seems to me to describe a prevalent attitude towards continuing revelation among many who consider themselves “thoughtful” Latter-day Saints. We forever have our thumb on the channel-change button of ultimate moral-religious truth just in case we might have to change our minds, just as we did in 1890 on plural marriage and 1978 on ordination of black members… . Continue Reading »

Ralphism Redivivus

From First Thoughts

Naturally I appreciate the kind and intelligent attention to my ideas from Peter Lawler, Richard Reinsch , and Carl Scott.  (I would not be dismayed in the unlikely event that the term “Ralphism” caught on, though I might have suggested a term more along the lines of “the . . . . Continue Reading »