- Mark Ashurst-McGee on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “Stephen, thank you for yet another installment in your “cutting edge research” series. These are much appreciated.” Apr 2, 09:45
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “One of my moms gave birth to a 9-pound baby girl early this morning. And another will be having her twin boys by C-section tomorrow. I am living the high life right now, participating in the most impactful and deeply spiritual work that I have ever been involved in. I have no idea why you would pretend to “feel sorry” for me, nor why you expect me to care at all what you think of me. I do know that if we had not been there for these mons those fateful days last summer, these three little children would be dead today, and their mom’s would have been left carrying the psychological trauma of knowing in their hearts that they had killed their own children. If you want to “feel sorry” for someone, maybe you could think of the million other children and their moms, in the US alone, who weren’t so lucky last year. By the way, Dallin Oaks is very much a living prophet, and not a dead one as you imply. And the passage I quoted about repentance and forgiveness “for the sin of abortion” is from today’s General Handbook, wording that was revised just a couple months ago. (https://bit.ly/4m37Bwe) This is current Church policy, much more authoritative than the summary from a Newsroom press release that you are relying on. And if anyone is curious about how Pro-Life Utah helps these women, here’s a short talk I gave last year, telling some of our stories: https://bit.ly/41MLqB6” Apr 2, 04:40
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “RL: I don’t see where it says that in the article, it looks like the lifers and leavers have a similar racial profile. Maybe I’m missing something? Gary Bergera: Agreed. It’s probably making them miss out on readership. Sometimes the titles are descriptive enough one can kind of tell what they’re about by often not, and in today’s low attention span environment you’d think abstracts would be a no-brainer. Jack: Some of that is a function of that new Journal of Mormon Polygamy. I’ve heard whispering about that Journal but nothing solid enough to repeat here in public, so I’m not sure what’s motivating a whole journal on that subject.” Apr 1, 18:19
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “A lot of stuff on polygamy. That seems to be all the rage right now–especially during the Nauvoo period.” Apr 1, 17:10
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “Thanks again, Stephen. It looks like the Journal of Mormon History may want to consider including abstracts for its articles.” Apr 1, 09:24
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “OK the Demographics article is enjoyable, I love anything sociology of religion. One thing I want to understand is why Whites are overrepresented in exiters? Interesting it can’t be explained generally by SES.” Apr 1, 08:11
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “The Demography article is more interesting to me and is available here: https://www.ryantcragun.com/the-demography-of-exiting-retention-and-conversion-among-members-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-in-utah/amp/” Apr 1, 06:53
- on What Was Revealed to You In Church (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 3/29)?: “Our sacrament meeting was also essentially a musical Easter service. I think it might take us a while to figure out what to do with Palm Sunday, but I think it has a lot of potential as a holiday. We regularly have a Sacrament meeting stream, which is important for ward members who live far away (at least half of them) on Sundays when the weather is bad (most of the winter, which isn’t over yet). The stream is also useful for grandparents in another state who want to see their grandchildren’s musical numbers. I can see organizational advantages to having quorum meetings and Sunday School every week. It will require some additional tinkering with the Come Follow Me and quorum/Relief Society curriculum to make it work. Spread a talk/lesson over two weeks? Focus on one thing?” Mar 31, 19:24
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “Chip, I feel sorry for you. Yes, you quoted one sentence from Elder Oaks from a long-ago 1999 address, but you omitted the very next sentence: “Our members are taught that, subject only to some very rare exceptions, they [meaning our members] must not submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for an abortion.” Can you explain the limiting words “counsels its members” and “possible exceptions for its members” in the church’s current official statement? Please remember the old adage that we listen to living prophets, not dead prophets, or something like that. You are desperately recalling the past, but I invite you to consider the present in the form of the church’s official current statement at https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/official-statement/abortion. You may have the last word, however outdated or uncharitable it might be. I have brought the horse to water, so to speak, but I cannot and wouldn’t want to force you to drink. Best wishes.” Mar 31, 19:18
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “You are using a statement that says “the Church’s position on this matter remains unchanged,” and arguing that it means that the Church position on this matter HAS changed. The Church opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience. To support this statement I will cite Dallin H. Oaks, who said in 2001: “The Church opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience.” (https://bit.ly/3NZW2tb) The Church’s position on this matter remains unchanged. And we should be teaching this doctrine in our Relief Society and Elders Quorum meetings.” Mar 31, 18:57
