Stephen L. Tanner, Author at Dialogue Journal

Toward a Positive Censorship

The argument over censorship and pornography is necessarily a muddled one. The factors involved are matters of taste and principle which do not lend themselves to simple logical treatment. The matters of taste concern aesthetic…

Obscenity and the Inspired Constitution: A Dilemma for Mormons

Articles/Essays – Volume 02, No. 2

One of the most prominent tenets of Mormonism emphasizes moral purity as essential to the Christian life. Self-mastery over physical appetites and passions is regarded as a fundamental aspect of the doctrine of eternal progression;…

Spiritual Problems in the Teaching of Modern Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 04, No. 4

There are certain problems which a Mormon must cope with in teaching any secular literature. What does he do, for example, with a literary work which expresses ideas and attitudes in opposition to his theology?…

Spiritual Empiricism

Articles/Essays – Volume 09, No. 3

What is the most important ingredient of religious conviction? This question, whether consciously posed or not, is a fundamental one for anyone who has tried to cultivate religious faith. We admire men and women of…

We Are What We Remember | Donald Marshall, Frost in the Orchard

Articles/Essays – Volume 11, No. 2

Wright Morris once said, “The ‘subject’ of Wolfe, Hemingway, and Faulkner, however various the backgrounds, however contrasting the styles, pushed to its extremity, is nostalgia.” He should have included Fitzgerald, and even then the list…

A Rummage Sale with Music | Donald R. Marshall, The Rummage Sale: A Musical in Two Acts

Articles/Essays – Volume 13, No. 2

It is an unusual talent that can write a collection of short stories, transform them into the script of a musical, compose and direct the music (songs and lyrics), and play the accordion, organ, and…