LDS HeroesJohn P. Dehlin

Fun LDS HeroesJohn P. Dehlin

Nephi

Nephi’s Arm

Ammon

Ammon’s Chest

Abinadi

Not bad, eh?

Mormon

Holy Cow!!!

LDS Superheroes

Joseph Smith

Obadiah StaneCypher

“I am one of the

three. I am Nephite.”

Traditional LDS Heroes

John P. Dehlin

Joseph Smith

Eliza R. Snow

Mary Fielding Smith

Brigham Young

David O. McKay

Gordon B. Hinckley

Heroes ... all of them

Non-Traditional LDS Heroes

John P. Dehlin

A few disclaimers...

I am not a role model

All of the following represents....

•My limited understanding of LDS history

•My (changing) version of the narrative(s)

Warning: Do not believe ANYTHING I say at face value!!! Study it our for yourselves.

“The Church welcomes inquisitiveness....[but] not every statement made by a Church

leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement

made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal,

though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole.”

Church.”

From “Approaching Mormon Doctrine”LDS Church4 May 2007

“A man’s called a traitor, or liberator.

A rich man’s a thief, or philanthropist.

Is one a crusader, or ruthless invader?

It’s all in what labels are able to persist.

There are precious few at ease with moral ambiguities

So we act as though they don’t exist.”

From “Wicked”

The Musical

“No black hats, no white hats.”

Gregory Prince

Non-Traditional LDS Heroes

John P. Dehlin

Emma Smith

“Joseph and Emma Smith's marriage of 17 years was blessed with 11 children (2 adopted), 6 of whom died in infancy.”

http://JosephSmith.net

In his journal for 1842, Joseph reflected:

"Many were the reverberations of my mind when I contemplated for a moment the many scenes we had been called to pass through. The fatigues, and the toils, the sorrows, and sufferings, and the joys and consolations from time to time [which] had strewed our paths and crowned our board. Oh! What a co-mingling of thought filled my mind for the moment, again she is here . . . undaunted, firm and unwavering, unchangeable, affectionate Emma."

Why didn’t I hear much about Emma

growing up?

"To my certain knowledge, Emma Smith is one of the damnedest liars I know of on this

earth. Not six months before the death of Joseph, he called [her] into a secret council.... He told her of the time she

undertook to poison him, and he told her that she was a child of hell, and literally the most wicked woman on this earth, that there

was not one more wicked than she.”

Brigham Young -- Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 48, Winter 1980, 82From http://fairlds.org

Emma’s Main Issue:

Polygamy

The History of Polygamy Is Messy

• Joseph received revelation in 1831, but apparently others were not informed (Emma & 1st presidency members, etc.)

• Emma found out about it by finding Joseph with other women

• The 1835 version of the D&C openly renounces polygamy, and denies its practice by the church

• In 1838 Oliver Cowdery was excommunicated for accusing Joseph of “adultery” -- not knowing about the revelation

• Joseph Smith, himself, publicly denied the practice of polygamy until his death.

• The church did not publicly acknowledge it into the 1850s.

• Even after we promised to stop (1890), we kept doing it

“I condemn it, yes, as a

practice, because I

think it is not doctrinal.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley on Larry King Live

Aired September 8, 1998 - 9:00 p.m. ET

Can we understand

Emma’s confusion?

B.H. Roberts

B.H. Roberts’ Issue:

Organic Evolution

In B. H. Roberts' The Truth, The Way, The Life, [t]he hottest issue ... was organic evolution. [H]is assertion that countless plants and animals lived long before the biblical chronology was controversial. “

Richard Sherlock and Jeffrey E. Keller

“The B. H. Roberts/Joseph Fielding Smith/James E. Talmage Affair”

Apostles James E. Talmadge and John A. Widstoe seemed to share B.H. Roberts’ Views on Evolution

How did the LDS church become so “anti-Evolution”?

"The doctrine of organic evolution which pervades the modern day sciences .... is as false as their author who lives in hell."

Joseph Fielding SmithAuthor of “Man: His Origin and Destiny”

“How weak and puerile the intellectuality which ... finds comfort in the theoretical postulates that mortal life began in the scum of the sea, as it were, and has through eons of time evolved to its present varieties and state! Do those with spiritual insight really think that the infinite Creator of worlds without number would operate in this way?

Bruce R. McConkieMormon Doctrine

The answer:

Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie outlived Roberts, Talmadge

and Widstoe

DAVID O. McKAY, PRESIDENTFebruary 15, 1957 Professor William Lee Stokes2970 South 15th EastSalt Lake City, Utah

Dear Brother Stokes: On the subject of organic evolution the Church has officially taken no position. The book "Man, His Origin and Destiny" [by Joseph Fielding Smith] was not published by the Church, and is not approved by the Church. The book contains expressions of the author's views for which he alone is responsible. Sincerely your brother,

[signed] David O. McKay

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12:? (Winter 1979): 90–92 , with commentary..

Fawn Brodie

“No Man Knows My History”

“No Ma’am That’s Not History”

Hugh Nibley

Why Was Fawn Brodie Was So Controversial? Pt. 1

•Niece of David O. McKay

•Lost her testimony of the LDS Church while studying Joseph Smith

•Portrayed Joseph Smith as a charlatan

•Used “psychoanalysis” on her subjects

•Excommunicated 6 months after publication for “Heresy”

Other Reasons that Fawn Brodie Was So Controversial

(John’s Opinion)

• Disrupted our monolithic, almost deific views of Joseph Smith.

• Claimed that Joseph Smith engaged in treasure digging.

• Discussed “Multiple first vision” stories

• Acknowledged problems with the historicity of the Book of Mormon (Native Americans as Asians, etc.)

• Claimed connections between the Masonic Temple ceremony and the LDS temple ceremony.

• Acknowledged the messiness of Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy

In 2006....Rough Stone Rolling

by, Richard Lyman Bushman

• Claimed that Joseph Smith engaged in treasure digging.

• Discussed “Multiple first vision” stories.

• Acknowledged problems with the historicity of the Book of Mormon (Native Americans as Asians, etc.)

• Claimed connections between the Masonic Temple ceremony and the LDS temple ceremony.

• Acknowledged the messiness of Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy.

• Quotes, and compliments Brodie on her work.

Juanita Brooks

Initial Church Reactions to MMM

• George Q. Cannon, then president of the LDS California Mission, responded to initial news reports of involvement by Mormons by charging ... journalists with writing "reckless and malignant slanders", despite knowing that the southern Utah Mormons were "as innocent ... as the child unborn".

• The Deseret News, was initially slow to comment on the massacre. Several months later, the paper disclaimed Mormon involvement, then remained largely silent until 1869, when it again denied involvement by Mormons.

• In 1872, Young excommunicated Lee and Haight for their role in the massacre -- 15 years after the event.

From http://fairlds.org

Initial Church Reactions to MMM

• In 1877, 20 years after the massacre, John D. Lee was the sole person punished (executed) for the massacre.

• President Young was then interviewed by a reporter, and [said] that he considered Lee's fate just. He denied personal involvement, and denied that the doctrine of blood atonement played a role in the massacre, but stated that he believed in the doctrine, "and I believe that Lee has not half atoned for his great crime."

• In the late 1950s, LDS President David O. McKay created a committee, chaired by Delbert L. Stapley to investigate the Mountain Meadows massacre. This committee recommended that McKay restore John D. Lee's church membership, and McKay allowed one of Lee's grandsons to be baptized by proxy for him, and the church restored Lee's priesthood and full fellowship in the church.

http://fairlds.org

“Mountain Meadows Massacre”

by Juanita Brooks

Juanita Brooks on the Mountain Meadow’s

Massacre•Mormons, and local Mormon church

leadership were involved

• It was unfair to blame MMM on the indians

•After the MMM, there was a major coverup for 20 years by the church at all levels to avoid punishment and persecution

• John D. Lee was unfairly scapegoated

•Wanted to publicize the secret, posthumous re-baptism of Lee

Church Reactions....

• Juanita Brooks was...

•...ostracized by local church membership and leadership

•...threatened with excommunication by Elder Delbert Stapley

•David O. McKay ultimately denied the excommunication request, saying “Leave her alone”

2007 Ensign Article“The Mountain Meadows

Massacre”by Richard E. Turley Jr.

•Mormons, and local Mormon church leadership were involved

• It was unfair to blame MMM on the indians

•Only John D. Lee was punished for the crime

2007 Announcement by the LDS Church on the 150th Anniversary

of MMM• "We express profound regret for the massacre carried

out in this valley 150 years ago today, and for the undue and untold suffering experienced by the victims then and by their relatives to the present time."

• "A separate expression of regret is owed the Paiute people who have unjustly borne for too long the principal blame for what occurred during the massacre," he said. "Although the extent of their involvement is disputed, it is believed they would not have participated without the direction and stimulus provided by local church leaders and members."

Elder Henry B. EyringLDS Church ApostleSeptember 11, 1857

“[Juanita Brooks] probably helped the church come to grips

with something that all of us wish had never

happened.”

Jeffrey R. HollandLDS Apostle

Transcript from PBS “The Mormons”March 4, 2006

“In all of this, Juanita became something larger and greater than simply a respectable historian. For the numerous Mormons who,

early or late, have accepted her interpretation of the massacre, she has served as a

tragedian and a shriver. She has confronted us with grisly, disillusioning facts, roused us

to grief and vicarious contrition, then led us to understanding and forgiveness of our errant

ancestors. Equally important, this courageous little housewife inspired and

encouraged non-conformists and protesters of all varieties among the Mormons.

Unquestionably, Juanita Brooks will remain famous as one of the foremost champions of free inquiry and open debate in the history of

Mormonism.”

Levi PetersonSunstone Magazine

Issue 73

Most inspiring of all....

“She always kept the ironing board up and had a basket of

dampened clothes near her desk and when someone came by she’d start ironing so they’d

never know that she was really writing. In addition, Brooks

would travel on overnight buses to do research in Salt Lake or at

the Huntington Library.

Claudia Bushman

Lowell L. Bennion

Contributions to the church

•Founded the University of Utah LDS Institute of religion with T. Edgar Lyon and taught there for 27 years

•Published over 100 manuals and articles for the church

•Founded the Teton Valley Boys Ranch for troubled teens

•Inspired countless LDS thinkers, including many of the founders of Dialogue and Sunstone

“The biggest problem in the world today...is the need of men of all races ... to feel their own worth and dignity

as human beings. [I]t is my belief that white men are not superior to

men of other races.

If we had faith in Christ, we would be anxiously and voluntarily engaged in

seeing that [all races] had equal opportunity for education, culture,

employment, and housing as we who are Caucasian.”

Lowell L. Bennion1965 Instructor

“Withholding the priesthood from the Negro is not a doctrine of the

church; it is a church practice, which needs to be justified by

church doctrine.”

Lowell L. Bennion: Teacher, Counselor, Humanitarian p. 253

Mary Lythgoe Bradford

Why was this a problem?

"There is a reason why one man is born black and with other

disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantage. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less,

to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who

were not faithful received less.... There were no neutrals in the war

in heaven. All took sides either with Christ or with Satan.....The

Negro, evidently, is receiving the reward he merits."

Joseph Fielding Smith writes in Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1,

pages 66-67

"Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Cadillac if they could afford it. I would be

willing that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. But let them

enjoy these things among themselves. I think the Lord

segregated the Negro and who is man to change that

segregation?"

Apostle Mark E. Peterson remarks during a 1954 address

given at BYU entitled, "Race Problems - as They Affect The

Church"

In 1962 was told “change might be good”

• Reasons given:

• “...consistent failure to ‘actively recruit students’”

• “‘quite lax’ in insisting on scholastic requirements, giving only pass/fail grades, with no outside assignments or papers

• had not “fought for recognition of the institute as a certified school whose credits could be transferred”

• “unorthodox position on the ‘Negro Question’”

• “criticism of the pressures put on missionaries to hurriedly baptize people into the Church”

Lowell L. Bennion: Teacher, Counselor, Humanitarian p. 253Mary Lythgoe Bradford

Was he wrong?

“McMurrin then described that part of his March

1954 conversation with [President David O.]

McKay in which [President McKay stated] his own

belief that the priesthood ban was policy, not

doctrine, and therefore susceptible to change.”

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism p.

97Gregory A. Prince

Leonard Arrington

Leonard Arrington

Adventures of a Church Historian

• Sustained during General Conference in 1972 as Church Historian

• Came with the understanding that he would have broad access to church archives, and limited ecclesiastical review of scholarly publications.

• Over time, some of the brethren became uncomfortable with the representation, and candor, of the history.

• Access to archives became increasingly limited. Ecclesiastical reviews became more common.

• After 10 years, the department was dissolved, and Arrington was quietly released in 1982 (not in General Conference)

Some of the policies enforced....

• Eugene England and Lowell Bennion were not permitted to publish with Deseret Book or Bookcraft by direct intervention of 2 members of the Quorum of the 12.

• Carol Lynn Pearson was blacklisted from church publications until she was able “through prayers and tears” to get one of the Twelve to reverse the decision.

• Claudia Bushman and Scott Kenney could not be published or mentioned because of their connection with Exponent II and Sunstone

• Several Mormon intellectuals were publishing under pseudonyms.

Adventures of a Church Historian p. 154Leonard J. Arrington

After 10 years, the LDS Church History department was dissolved in 1982, and Leonard Arrington was quietly released

(not in General Conference)

Other important events within this

chronology.....

Other events....• 1966 -- Dialogue “Journal of Mormon Thought”

founded by Eugene England and G. Wesley Johnson

• 1974 -- Sunstone Magazine founded by Scott Kenney (“Faith seeking understanding”)

• 1974 -- Women’s Exponent II founded by Claudia Bushman and others (Mormon women experiences)

• 1979 -- Sunstone began annual “sumposia”

• 1981-1983 -- Seventh East Press runs at BYU

• 19?? - 19?? -- BYU Student Review runs at BYU

Other events....• 1989 -- Dallin H. Oaks warns of “Alternative Voices” in the

Ensign

• 1991 -- “Statement on Symposia” issued by LDS Church Presidency

• 1992 -- Church cautions against holding “study groups”

• May 1993 -- Boyd K. Packer names “the gay-lesbian movement, the feminist movement ... and so-called scholars or intellectuals” as 3 major dangers to church members

• September 1993 -- Trials of LDS Intellectuals (“September 6”)

• D. Michael Quinn, Avraham Gileadi, Paul Toscano, Lavina Fielding Anderson, and Maxine Hanks excommunicated

• Lynn Whitesides disfellowshipped

BYU Dismissals• 1993 -- BYU denies continuting status to....

• Professor Cecilia Konchar Farr, who had publicly advocated a pro-choice position on abortion, and

• David Knowlton, who had discussed the church's missionary system at an independent Mormon forum.

• 1996 -- BYU dismissed Gail T. Houston, a feminist who advocated prayer to a Heavenly Mother.

• 2006 -- BYU doesn’t renew contracts for...

• Darron Smith, vocal critic racism in the church (and black male)

• Jeffrey Nielsen, who wrote an op-ed piece in the Salt Lake Tribune criticizes the Mormon Church's stance on same-sex marriage.

2007 BYU Alternative Commencement

The balance that must be walked (by church leaders)

"It is the duty of the General Authorities of the Church to safeguard and protect the membership of the Church from the introduction of controversial subjects and false doctrines which tend to create factions and otherwise disturb the faith of the Latter-Day Saints."

Council of the Twelve to Heber J. Grant, 15 May 1930, Clawson Papers

"The gospel embraces all truth. Brigham Young especially emphasized the propriety of seeking all truth. The assumption that because a man understands something about the operation of the Universe, he will necessarily be less faithful is a gratuitous assumption contradicted by numberless examples. God, who understands all about the Universe, is apparently, not troubled by this knowledge. Some people drift when they study, but some people drift when they don't study. If the Church espouses the cause of ignorance, it will alienate more people than if it advises man to seek after truth, even at some risk."

Henry EyringFather of Henry B. Eryring

Backup

Eugene & Charlotte England

Peggy Fletcher Stack

Elbert Peck & Daniel Rector

Darius Gray

Her Main Issue:

Polygamy

“Our prophets have been given clearly to see the road we should follow and can point the path to the Celestial Kingdom, but being human they too must walk and wait and study in order to partly understand many of God's wonderful works. I can understand "Man--His Origin and Destiny" as the work of a great man who is fallible. It contains many serious scientific errors and much ill humor, which mar the many beautiful things in it. Since the Gospel is only that which is true, this book cannot be more than the private opinion of one of our great men to be admired for the many fine things in it. I find it much less satisfactory in scientific matters than the excellent writings of Brother Talmage and Brother Widtsoe with which it is frequently in disagreement. ”

Henry Eyring (Father of Elder Henry B. Eyring)