Summer 1999
The Summer 1999 Issue explores the development of Mormon identity, history, and public perception through various lenses. Neal and Rebecca Chandler offer reflective monologues on the concept of “sanctimony,” exploring themes of self-righteousness and humility within dialogues among believers. Devery S. Anderson traces the early years of Dialogue (1965–1971), documenting the challenges and achievements of this publication that sought to foster open, intellectual discussions within Mormonism. Mark Koltko-Rivera examines Mormon “psychohistory,” providing psychological insights into the past, present, and potential future of the Latter-day Saint community. Cherie Woodworth’s piece, titled "Coupé," brings personal perspective, while Chiung Hwang Chen and Ethan Yorgason analyze how the media frames Mormons as a “model minority,” investigating both the positive and problematic aspects of this portrayal. And more!
In the unabridged Webster’s, “Dialogue” is listed first as “talking together in conversation.” That seems harmless enough, but the second definition is frankly a nest of thorns: “interchange and discussion of ideas,” it says, “especially…
For nearly thirty-four years, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought has occupied a place, defined by former co-editor Allen Roberts, as the “pa triarch (or matriarch)” of independent Mormon scholarship.[1] And notwithstanding an increase of…
Several years ago, I was speaking with a fellow Saint and convert at the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City. We described ourselves to each other as “Joseph Smith converts.” By that, we meant that…
In winter, you get onto the train to Moscow at dusk or at first dark. From the Tallinn train station, you can almost see the lights of the harbor. The train station, though, smells nothing…
The August 4, 1997, issue of Time featured on its cover a shot of the Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake City Temple, illuminated against a night sky; the cover’s caption read “Mormons, Inc.: The…
Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is expanding rapidly. As the church passes the ten-million member milestone, social science researchers have raised a number of important questions about the rapid growth of Mormonism. Issues include changing Mormon demographics, cultural tensions of church globalization, and the evolution of Mormon identity and assimilation. Another topic of research focuses on mass media use and the role it plays in the ways Mormons accommodate the larger society. What has not been examined, however, are the ways mass media, such as movies, television, newspapers, etc., tend to describe Mormons.
It could have been an impossible day.
And then the wind
helping the Gardener’s Eden keep its promise:
the outdoor ornaments
I’ve heard of horses—mustangs mostly—who run wild across Nevada’s
bleak terrain. (They kind of remind me of Uncle Bill, who ran wild, too, last
summer, until Aunt Shirley caught up with him at the border). Horses know
no borders, don’t allow limits, except those imposed by a weariness of
An adulterous generation after all.
We seek a sign, some old tune or rhyme
Like Grandfather’s Clock, even as we stand
Among the tumbling chaos of death and birth
In thunder at 2 a.m.
I occupy all my lives
my loves hovering holding
rising with me to the wild night
The restaurant juts above the pond,
casting lucent shadows in those moments
that fall still between dinner and dark.
Reflections luminesce against the faces
In the morning’s glissando,
Canadian night wrapped tightly
against opaque windows,
she rises. The brick in her bed
The air above my parents’ roof is cold.
It pushes smoke back down the chimney,
forcing me to turn off the fire alarm
and open both windows.
Recent years have seen a revival of interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) among Latter-day Saints, prompted in part by the appointment of several BYU faculty (Donald W. Parry, David R. Seely, Dana M.…
A number of years ago when I was attending Bowling Green University as a graduate student, I was introduced to the writings of John Muir, the American naturalist. One of the approaches we used in…
Mormons associate Mahonri Young with his LDS sculptures: Seagull Monument and This Is the Place Monument in Salt Lake City, and the Brigham Young statue in Washington, D.C. Yet Young was internationally known for his…
