- Last Lemming on Ark Steadiers and the Priesthood Ban: “We need to be very careful about labelling people “ark-steadiers”. The original ark-steadier (Uzzah) was stricken dead for his efforts and in the current environment, we cannot lend any support to such extreme outcomes. But consider what Uzzah did compared to what the folks you mention above did. Uzzah actually laid his hands on the ark to steady it. Most people today who are labeled as ark steadiers have done nothing more than point out that the ark is in a precarious position and suggest that it be steadied by somebody with the authority to do so. The only true ark-steadier that I can think of with regard to the priesthood ban (and he was just excommunicated for his efforts, not stricken dead) was Douglas Wallace, who ordained a black man on his own authority in 1976. As for Lowell Bennion, even if he taught that the ban would be lifted “soon”, he was only repeating what the Church taught (i.e., that the ban would be lifted eventually)–adding “soon” should be no more problematic than when that adverb is used to refer to the second coming. Not a message the Church wanted taught, but not objectively undoctrinal either. So I suggest that you abandon the “ark-steadier” language entirely. (To be clear, I make the same suggestion to those who use the term in an accusatory fashion.)” Jan 21, 07:39
- on Mormon Studies Books in 2026: “Seth, not really. The Clayton manuscript has been complete for a while. With the pivot to publishing through Yale (something that feels weird, given that they’ve published so many other books as a press), it’s whenever the university press finishes their reviews, editing, and preparations. My guess would be a release towards the end of the year.” Jan 21, 06:59
- on Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 1/18: “We had Stake Conference this past weekend. While I was really looking forward to “feeling the spirit”, sitting quietly and thinking about more spiritual things – unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way. Our Stake President is a CEO of a rather large (successful) company along the Wasatch Front. His meetings tend to take on the tone of a “Sales Meeting”; with a great deal of Rah, Rah and over the top narrative. Honestly, it was more exhausting than anything else. More and more these days, I wish we’d simply hear about and discuss the basic doctrines of Christ. I get so tired of the never – ending drumbeat of “Covenant Path”, “Gathering of Israel”, “Blessings of the Temple” and “The Last Days are Here”. The spirit becomes a punching bag….and remains unfed.” Jan 20, 16:51
- on Mormon Studies Books in 2026: “Any idea on when the William Clayton Journals will be released?” Jan 20, 13:20
- on Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 1/18: “This year I did something I’ve never done before: I read Genesis without any reference to modern science. (I’m the son of a biology professor who grew up in the waning days of the evolution wars, so that was in my mind from an early age.) I pretended I was an ancient Israelite who thought the world was flat and the sky was a transparent dome with water above it (that’s why it’s blue, duh), and God didn’t have to correct any of that before I could understand his message–any more than he needs me to know what “dark energy” is before I can understand it now. And it was great! The poetry was beautiful, the ordering made sense, and I was able to feel God’s message more strongly than ever: I made this world, I made it for you, and I made it good because I love you. By the end of this week’s reading we’ll know why he made it, what we’re here to accomplish, and that being here won’t be pleasant, so starting with that message of love is important. Fortunately, my Sunday School class supported my approach. Our teacher is a creative writing professor, so we started by talking about origin stories: why we tell them and what we learn from them. Then we applied what we discussed to the world’s origin story, and came to the same kinds of conclusions I had arrived at on my own, including some I hadn’t considered. The question of *how* the world was created never came up. It’s not very important, so God is happy to let us try to figure it out on our own.” Jan 20, 12:40
- on 17 Thoughts About Resistance: “I abandoned the GOP in 2016 when Trump became the nominee, and have been struggling ever since to understand how the well-intentioned Republicans I know don’t see what I do. The mainstream media continues to treat each new outrage as the thing that will divide Trump’s base, and each time they experience some cognitive dissonance until right-wing influencers supply them with an alternative narrative that allows them to assimilate the outrage and continue on even more committed than before. The only thing that ever seems to make a difference is economic pain. (It’s hard to not conclude that they don’t care about democracy or freedom; all they care about is money. But it’s also easy for me to care more about democracy than the immediate state of the economy since I’m doing okay financially.) Is this time different? Am I hearing right that people who voted for Trump in 2016 and even in 2024 are now changing their minds? If so, is it because prices are still high or do they realize things actually are taking an alarmingly fascist turn? And how widespread is this—or is it just a few individuals and not representative of any wider awakening?” Jan 20, 11:44
- on 17 Thoughts About Resistance: ““When 20 million some odd people take to the streets to protest George Floyd’s death and nary a tumbleweed blows by in token of the 70-80% fatherlessness rate in the inner cities–then we’ve got a real problem.” Ah yes, the fantasy world where that rate of fatherlessness has no connection whatsoever with the racialized carceral state and its police killings. To quote Jonathan, “If you can’t see this, you’re not seeing the other side of the screen. You’re staring at a blank wall, not reality.” Thank you once again, Jonathan, for continually making this case. It’s heartening to hear from others seeing the same thing.” Jan 20, 11:37
- on Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 1/18: “In Sunday School, during the lesson on the creation, the teacher had class members read the various versions of it in Genesis, Moses, and Abraham. The discussion was terrific, imo—good-natured, speculative, acknowledging all that we can’t possibly know. We live in an affluent, well-educated stake. When a med student pointed out that “the firmament” includes argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen, another person said, “these descriptions of the world’s creation are not a science lesson” (both statements are true). Someone said they didn’t think there were any differences among the versions (!) and someone else said, those first four “days” are just a blur— how could vegetation be placed on earth before the sun and moon? No one got riled up—those who were paying attention at all nodded, some laughed, because really, how could it? These were questions we all had. Someone said, maybe God put it all together before he sent it into orbit. Again, some laughter, some acknowledgment that we have no idea, that trying to make Genesis correspond to geology is more work than we seniors have energy for. Symbolism and mythmaking were brought up. Some fun discussion in the hall afterward. But nobody was bent out of shape. When I got home I found I’d lost an earring, which my dear friend gave me for Christmas and which I’d only worn one other time, so I was pretty dismayed, and that was about as riled up as I got about church yesterday. My favorite thing might have been learning Shawna Edwards’s rollicking Primary song, “The Creation,” about the hawks and the hippos and the honeybees, oh oh oh. Do we really need to take it any more seriously than that?” Jan 20, 10:57
- on CFM 1/26-2/1: Poetry for “Teach These Things Freely unto Your Children”: “These are timely for me, the Snow poems especially, and I appreciate them much.” Jan 20, 10:53
- on Your Reactions to Church Yesterday, 1/18: “Re: Anon The best answer of course is to ask both of them but its presented as-if you can only choose one.” Jan 20, 10:10
