- RLD on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Anecdotally, my wife and I had originally planned to get settled into married life and then think about kids, but we got a nudge from a religion class lesson, prayed about it, and decided to start our family sooner rather than later. Given the struggles we then had, that turned out to be a very good thing. I’m grateful we got that nudge. You’re mostly not that far off on me, Stephen: only two kids (for non-ideological reasons), and haven’t voted for a Republican since the 1990s. But while I eventually learned not to judge *other* people for their appearance, if I lost my luggage and had to choose between going to church in something other than a white shirt and tie and not going at all, I’m not sure I could make myself do it. If I lost my razor too, forget it. :)” Sep 18, 15:43
- on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Lily, I don’t think that Stephen C’s views on “our theology” or “the defining characteristic of Godhood” are dispositive — but I understand his perspective as I have read much of the same things he has from church leaders in the old days. I believe the gospel can work and souls can be saved even in the realities of many different societal environments and arrangements, and I cannot endorse a broad-brush thought that persons with more children, generally speaking, are more righteous than those with fewer children. I think our community benefits from conversations on matters such as this, and I wish we had more opportunity for such conversations.” Sep 18, 15:42
- on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Again, we can value all sorts of things in society without it being “pushy” for people who don’t have the opportunity to access those things. Nobody should also be pushed into getting baptized, and it’s also none of my personal business whether somebody goes to church or college, or is successful in their career for that matter. Those are all very personal decisions, but regardless the latter two are now societally affirmed and esteemed. Regardless of personal situations and desires our theology is unabashedly pronatalist for people who has the opportunity (offspring in the next life [“eternal increase”] is literally the defining characteristic of Godhood). Nobody’s going to force anybody to do anything for any reason, but that’s true of every facet of the gospel. ” Sep 18, 15:06
- on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Why is it anyone’s business if someone doesn’t want kids? For any reason? Why the need to push someone into something as serious having children if they don’t want children?” Sep 18, 14:28
- on Richard Bushman Reflects on Rough Stone Rolling: “I agree, RL. Bushman knocked me silly–in a good way–with his Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism. And RSR takes that theme across the finish line.” Sep 18, 12:02
- on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Again, I think it’s both. Yes, a lot of people have smaller or no families because of health, opportunity, finances, what have you. But so too are there people who have no or smaller families because in 2025 the opportunity cost is greater and the culture and its priorities have shifted. The fact is that the decline in fertility has happened across the socioeconomic board, so we should be able to talk about culture and priority shifts without defaulting to the proverbial person who wants the white picket fence but can’t because of infertility. Yes, that is a thing, but some people just don’t want kids anymore, and we should be able to talk about that.” Sep 18, 09:24
- on My Experience Fasting For a Week: “I’ve done three 72-hours water-only fasts in the last eighteen months. Day three was by far the easiest. I’d love to do a whole week if not for the more physical demands of work. As much as I love the idea, I’d find it difficult to take work off for that purpose. I’m surprised you didn’t mention autophagy, which I think has some promising benefits. If I may ask, how long did you ease out of your fast until you were more or less eating how you were before? I’ve read for every day of fasting, you need a day to gradually increment the amount of food you take in, but I’ve generally done it over the course of 24 hours.” Sep 17, 19:24
- on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Latter-day Saints in the 1950s had more children, generally speaking, than Latter-day Saints today. Are their larger families (in the 1950s) attributable to their righteousness and holiness? I think not — I think Latter-day Saints in Utah simply followed societal trends for societal reasons. I understand anecdotally that Latter-day Saint men in Spain marry later than Latter-day Saint men in the United States. Are LDS men less righteous or holy, or more sinful and selfish, than LDS men in the U.S.? I have no way of knowing, but I suspect later marriage age is due more to societal (incl. economic) trends and realities than to their own lack of righteousness. I also understand anecdotally that a 27-y-o U.S. man in the 1950s could afford a wife a three kids and a mortgage on a blue collar wage. That really isn’t possible today, and I don’t think a lack of righteousness or holiness has anything to do with it. I think it is almost entirely a matter of societal trends and economic reality, and that righteousness or holiness has all.osy nothing to do with it. Of course, I am speaking generally. I feel sympathy for young people today. Times are different.” Sep 17, 16:39
- on Richard Bushman Reflects on Rough Stone Rolling: “I’ve been rereading RSR this year and comparing it to Turners book which I read the month it came in. RSR is a treasure because of the contextualization of time period that Turner cannot or chose not to do. RSR just feels more thought out. As an adherent member I also appreciated Bushman’s apologetics and attempts to expand how to think of Joseph. To me Bushman and Brodie are still tops for books on JS. Remini is a good quick one for general interest. Turners was hard to read but found its legs in 1838 and did the Nauvoo period better than more recent attempts by other authors. Thanks for his thoughts 20 years later. Bushman is one of our greats and is irreplaceable.” Sep 17, 15:15
- on Childless Church Members and the LDS Fertility Advantage: “Links https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr74/nvsr74-09.pdf https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/schweizer-guzzo-distribution-age-first-birth-fp-20-11.html” Sep 17, 14:15
