Theology as Poetry
November 1, 2012Theology as Poetry A review of Adam S. Miller’s Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2012), 132 pp. Robert A. Rees “If I read a book and it…
DiaBLOGue
"The God Who Weeps" blog reviews
October 25, 2012
Various blogs are discussing this new book from Terryl and Fiona Givens: The God Who Weeps has been hailed as one of “most welcome serious theological engagement with some of the more resonant ideas Mormonism has promulgated in its 180 year history.”
Other blog reactions:
“…I will just say that this is the single best book of Mormon Studies that I have ever read” – Julie M. Smith at Times and Seasons
Pragmatism and Progress: An Overview of LDS Sister Missionary Service in the Twentieth Century
October 8, 2012
Professor Andrea Radke-Moss provides a fascinating overview of sister missionary service in the history of the church over at Juvenile Instructor, which proves to spotlight why Saturday’s announcement was truly revolutionary:
“President Thomas S. Monson’s announcement in General Conference on Saturday, October 6, 2012, that young women can now serve missions at age 19 is no less than revolutionary. This move might seem like a pragmatic attempt to boost global missionary efforts. However, a brief historical overview of the last century’s changes for sister missionaries provides some useful context for how remarkable this policy really is.
In Memoriam: Richard H. Cracroft
September 27, 2012
Dialogue author and former Associate Editor Richard H. Cracroft passed away last week and in honor of his life, we bring back his classic review of President Spencer W. Kimball’s The Miracle of Forgiveness wherein he says “Throughout, however, Elder Kimball’s message is clear: he, like the Lord, will not tolerate the sin, but he will love the sinner. This gentle but authoritative tone becomes a pattern in his correspondence (from which he quotes frequently), a pattern of practical advice coupled with spirituality. President Kimball clearly feels comfortable in blending the short and the long range to achieve happiness in human relationships.” Click in his full observations.
And for more on his remarkable life, see the following links:
The Gold Plates in Popular Imagination
September 8, 2012Press “Start” then the arrow keys to proceed through the Saskia Tielen’s presentation: “The Gold Plates in the Contemporary Popular Imagination” that complements her Fall 2012 Dialogue piece of the same name.
Samuel Brown says that in "Mormonism's Abandoned Race Policy: Context Matters"
August 30, 2012
In a blog post for the Huffington Post, Samuel Brown offers up three points that he explains often, and most recently by John G. Turner in a New York Times piece “are commonly misunderstood.” Brown explains
“First, some Mormons are racist.
Second, some Mormons are not racist.
Third, whether Mormon church leaders should issue an institutional apology for the prior policy of racial exclusion is about more than just racism.”
Click in for a fuller examination of these points to which Brown concludes…
Dialogue Digital Premium Articles for $1.99 Each
August 22, 2012*Now Available! The Fall 2012 Issue’s premium digital articles are ready to download! Each is just $1.99. Grab some of the best of the best from Mormon academic conferences including UVU Mormon Studies Conference, the Mormon History Association Conference, the BYU Women’s Studies Conference, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research Conference, the Mormon Scholars Foundation Summer Fellowship Conference, the Association of Mormon Letters Conference, and the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference. Plus more!*
Dialogue is pleased to present a new way to enjoy premium content: Digital Premium Articles. For just $1.99 each, you can download individual articles, poetry compilations, reviews, letters and more from your favorite recent Dialogue Journal. It’s a great way to enjoy sections of Dialogue that interest you if you are not a subscriber, and if you are, it’s a fantastic way of introducing Dialogue articles to your friends and family as gifts!
Click here to peruse all the articles available.
On Racism and the Mormon Church and Response
August 22, 2012
Early this week, scholar John Turner presented an opinion piece in the New York Times on “Why Race Is Still a Problem for Mormons.” Turner, who has a new biography out on Brigham Young, says “The church could begin leaving those problems behind if its leaders explained that their predecessors had confused their own racist views with God’s will and that the priesthood ban resulted from human error and limitations rather than a divine curse. Given the church’s ecclesiology, this step would be difficult. Mormons have no reason to feel unusually ashamed of their church’s past racial restrictions, except maybe for their duration. Their church, like most other white American churches, was entangled in a deeply entrenched national sin. Still, acknowledging serious errors on the part of past prophets inevitably raises questions about the revelatory authority of contemporary leaders….
Kevin Barney reflects on being a blogger
August 21, 2012
Longtime Dialogue friend and board of directors member Kevin Barney provides his “Reflections of a Blogger” after 6.5 years and 402 posts on By Common Consent.
He explains his writing history, including how “While I was in law school I published my first real scholarly article, on the Joseph Smith Translation in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. After I got an actual job as a practicing attorney, I stopped writing for several years, until one night my wife basically kicked me in the butt and told me to write something.
The Mormon Therapist declares her "Official Stance on Masturbation"
August 6, 2012“Masturbation is not sinful behavior in of itself nor is it a transgression. God has created us as emotional, spiritual, intellectual and sexual beings. He has created these capacities in the context of both relational purpose and self-sufficiency. Meaning we are social creatures – meant to thrive in relationship with others. At the same time, we are also individual creatures – and when not able to be in relationship have capacity to meet our own needs for certain periods of time depending on age and developmental stage.” –The Mormon Therapist just declared her “Official Stance on Masturbation.”
Her entire piece is worth a read as she expounds on her reasonings, professional findings and even personal experiences of those who have come to her for advice. For instance, she finds that “unnecessary masturbatory shame and unmet attachment needs are at the core of most compulsive masturbatory behavior – becoming an unhealthy coping skill used in times of stress and discontent.”
To further the discussion, Dialogue invites you to delve into its archives of articles dealing with the history of sexuality and Mormonism:
“‘One Flesh:’ A Historical Overview of Latter-day Saint Sexuality and Psychology” by Eric G. Swedin