By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog
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Here is a lesson plan for BCC readers who need a Sunday School or Relief Society/Elder’s Quorum lesson to address white nationalism. I welcome constructive feedback and will update this lesson plan periodically to incorporate it, so that it can be a living resource for the future.
Opening Hymn: “I’m Trying to be Like Jesus“
Objective: Teach members how to use the peaceable doctrine of Christ to confront concrete examples of racism in their everyday lives.
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Scripture is replete with warnings about placing faith in political leaders above God.
God repeatedly calls the faithful to reject kings and idols, to disperse power away from any singular charismatic personality. “Ye shall have no king nor ruler, for I [God] will be your king and watch over you.” (D&C 38:21).
Why? Because we know from sad experience that as soon as men “get a little authority, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (D&C 121:39). Kings, with their greater authority, wreak greater unrighteousness.
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A decade ago, I sat despondent in Relief Society during a lesson on humility. Law school exams were fast approaching and I felt overwhelmed. An arbitrary system was about to base 100% of my grades on half-day tests. Regardless of my objective mastery of the material, the system was designed to force competition against my smart and talented peers. I would be graded on a strict curve. Those grades would then be aggregated to assign my relative class rank. Without a sufficiently high class rank employers would flick my resume into the recycle bin. My future career was at stake. The legal job market was deep in a recession. I feared failure, and that my student loans would never be repaid.
I sighed and decided to interpret the lesson as a chastisement. I needed to repent and learn humility. I needed to learn “a modest or low view of my own importance.” [Read more…]
I hate statues.
Not just Confederate statues. Not just slave trader statues. All statues. Queens. Presidents. Generals. Prophets. Take them all down.
No person should be a permanent symbol of public adoration. And that’s what statues are: they freeze people in faux-perfect time. If commissioned during a leader’s lifetime, they’re often exaggerated ego trips. If created after death, they’re expensive icons to a fabricated mythology. Statues celebrate wealth, conquest, or other worldly success while implying perfection and eliding flaws. Pedestals are cages. I hate them. [Read more…]
I live outside D.C. I work blocks from the White House. I have protested in Lafayette Square. St. John’s Episcopal Church is a historic establishment. It provides feeding ministries, holiday gift drives, and refugee assistance.
Five blocks away from St. Johns is a sister parish within the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, the Church of the Epiphany. Every Friday it transforms the chapel and multi-purpose room into a Jummah service for Muslims. I have prayed there.
The D.C. Episcopal church embodies true Christianity.
What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours is profanity. It is blasphemy. In the words of Bishop Mariann Budde: it is an “abuse of sacred symbols.” [Read more…]
Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash
Introductory Note: Several years ago during General Conference I started journaling the messages my soul most longed to hear. I posted one of those last Conference. I’m doing so again now. This requires a suspension of disbelief: it contains a mix of true and aspirational content, and is written as if I had been asked to speak during General Conference. I do not purport to actually have any authority to speak on behalf of the Church.
Faith without works is dead.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to cast our spiritual burdens upon the Lord, rely on the grace of his Atonement, and put our faith in him during adversity. But the Gospel also preaches that our spiritual health is intertwined with the physical welfare of our neighbors. Pure religion looks not just to eternity but to now.
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them: ‘Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled’; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:14-17)
Last May I had an extended business trip that took me to the West Coast for twelve days (Los Angeles, then San Francisco, then Anchorage, then Seattle). While on business, I did what I always do: I looked up my friends in each city, individually texted them, and then scheduled every hour of free time as meals and visits to catch up. I shaved two or so hours off of my sleep schedule each day so I could pack in catching up with more friends.
I love people. One of my most persistent complaints is that there is not enough time in life to be best friends with everyone I think is amazing.
For my own curiosity on my flight back to D.C., I counted the number of friends I had “meaningfully” interacted with in that twelve day period. I defined “meaningful” as “engaged in conversation for at least one hour while hanging out in a group of four or fewer.” The answer was forty-seven. [Read more…]
When I think about my lifelong relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it has long felt like obedience to a stern father figure.
That’s how the Church is structured. Our Bishop is where we’re supposed to turn if familial support falls short. The Bishop, in turn, holds keys of the Priesthood which report up in strict hierarchical order to Stakes, Area Seventies, Apostles, and the Prophet. [Read more…]
I just spent the holidays with family. I’ve been married a year. I’m approaching my mid-30s. And due to an unrelenting year at work, I’ve gained some weight. So perhaps unsurprisingly, the last few weeks have featured a conversational dance of hinted “are-you-pregnant” questions.
I’ve ignored the hints and laughed off the passing comments about future grandchildren. What I haven’t responded with is my honest answer: I’m terrified about having kids. [Read more…]
In today’s Deseret News, d Boyd and Chapman then acknowledge:
Of course, it’s fair game to question whether the reserves are adequate or excessive, or whether specific actions with funds are proper, as the Post article and the whistleblower does. Vast assets require controls and nonprofit reserve investments can be controversial.
I agree wholeheartedly: let’s start asking questions about Church finances. But first, we need Church financial disclosures. [Read more…]
“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 9:20)
Note: During the last few General Conferences, I’ve pondered what message my spirit most yearns to hear. Today I’m writing out that message for others, as if I had been asked to speak during General Conference. This writing requires a suspension of disbelief: I do not purport to actually have any authority to speak on behalf of the Church.
I speak today to apologize.
I believe a sincere “I’m sorry” is second only to “I love you” as the most powerful sentence anyone can utter. [Read more…]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced this morning that women can now serve as witnesses for baptisms and temple sealings.
I’m thrilled about this change. As I wrote two years ago, the Church’s longtime refusal to let women serve as witnesses contradicted Jesus Christ’s own example of choosing women to be the first witnesses of his Resurrection. And as co-blogger Jonathan Stapley details, women as witnesses has long precedence in the modern Church as well.
This change matters. It’s not just a technical hand-waving exercise. Women witnessing our saving ordinances matter. [Read more…]
“Did you see your Church just officially banned green tea?”
“And vaping. That’s days-old news.”
“Mormon news isn’t real to me until the Washington Post covers it.”
“Fair enough. The best take I’ve seen so far is Jana Riess’s.”
“The Washington Post agrees: they quote her. The Word of Wisdom is ‘not necessarily a slam-dunk in terms of clarity.’ That seems accurate.”
“The problem is our cultural norms surrounding the Word of Wisdom have strayed so far from its literal text that we’re all left wading through layers of shame and confusion.”
“You know what Jana or you or some other sassy Mormon feminist should do? Write a Rachel Held Evans style book: ‘A Year of Word of Wisdomhood.’ It would be hilarious.” [Read more…]
By Common Consent is thrilled to welcome a new permanent blogger to the team, Richelle Wilson. Richelle is pursuing a Ph.D in Scandanavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. She also works at the Madison radio station WORT FM and serves as a copy editor extraordinaire at Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought.
Richelle is well-beloved in the Mormon Studies community, but I called dibs on her blog nomination text because I’ve known her the longest. Richelle grew up in Michigan and I grew up in Indiana; we met at an Especially for Youth on Indiana University’s campus nearly 20 years ago. As teenage girls we bonded not over spirituality or service, but cute boys. Richelle had an EFY crush-of-the-week on Spencer, a guyfriend from my home ward. She calculated that if she befriended me she could triangulate her way into his social circle.
Richelle’s crushing attempts failed, but our friendship survived! [Read more…]
This afternoon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement opposing the proposed federal “Equality Act.”
BACKGROUND ON THE EQUALITY ACT
I read the entire Equality Act this afternoon. The Equality Act’s principal purpose is to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other federal civil rights provisions, to clarify that sex discrimination includes sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination. This effort is timely. Whether “discrimination on the basis of failure to conform with gender stereotypes” constitutes “sex discrimination” is a question courts have wrestled with for decades. The U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to decide it. Like legislatures often do, Congress is trying to solve any ambiguity surrounding the interpretation with explicit clarification. [Read more…]
A few years ago, I found myself enmeshed in a long afternoon conversation with a linguistics professor. His area of expertise includes analyzing changes to English wrought by internet communications. As he opined on the etymological drift of a verb’s transitive and intransitive forms during the last twenty years, I was fascinated by his approach to grammar and language.
“It must drive you crazy to be so precise with your usage,” I remarked, “and yet be surrounded by people who use words incorrectly all the time. Do you ever feel like Henry Higgins?”
Instead of agreeing, he challenged me. “There is no such thing as incorrect word usage,” he responded. “Rather, when I hear others use a word in a non-standard way, I ask myself: what is the cultural context and experience in which they were raised that led them to that usage? I’ve found asking that question leads to a wealth of productive research.” [Read more…]
Humans are really bad at accurately identifying heretics and prophets. Christ preached as much (“no prophet is accepted in his own country”) — and was executed for it (“by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God”). Christ himself is both the world’s most renowned heretic and its greatest prophet.
It’s easy to confuse the two concepts because the definitions of heresy and prophesy mirror each other. They both hinge on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches that those who testify of Christ have the gift of prophesy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces this testifying definition of prophets.
St. Thomas Aquinas defines heresy as professing faith in Christ, while corrupting His Gospel. William Tyndale similarly explains that heresy springs “out of the blind hearts of hypocrites” who “cannot comprehend the light of scripture.” [Read more…]
I have a fondness for cheesy Christian romance novels. Their plots feature all of the emotional turmoil and external drama of harlequin romance novels – but they add faith crises and subtract sex.
One trope in these novels is to set up a wicked foil to the wholesome protagonist. In-need-of-repentance characters lurk in the subplots, steeped in dark allusions and transgressed boundaries. Think of Mr. Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen evinces plenty of scandal, yet there are zero explicit mentions of sex.
In order to stay “clean,” Christian novelists have learned to invoke religiously-tinged shame by writing proxies for sex. All “sin” happens off-screen. A common scene is the chance encounter after dark. A woman stands in the shadows, heart pounding, face lit by candlelight. A man with a half-unbuttoned shirt leans against a doorframe. After two pages of banter, he steps across the threshold. The door shuts. The chapter ends. At that moment, the reader is cued to assume the characters had sex. [Read more…]
The baptismal covenant in Mosiah 18 is why I call myself a “Mormon.” There, by the Waters of Mormon, a beggarded group of refugees promised to “preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord” and to “knit their hearts together in unity and in love one towards another.”
These original members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Prior-day Saints expressed their desires to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;” to “mourn with those that mourn;” to “comfort those that stand in need of comfort;” and “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things.”
I’ve spent the last day reflecting on how I, and my Mormon community, can live up to those same covenants in order to demonstrate love and unity towards our Muslim brothers and sisters in the wake of the white nationalist terrorist attack on Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. [Read more…]
Readings: Matthew 8-9; Mark 2-5
Whenever I read the Gospels, I’m amazed all over again by the layers of wisdom in each and every 3-verse vignette of Christ’s teachings, parables, and actions. This week the Come Follow Me manual asks us to cover 6 chapters worth of them. That’s difficult to do in a single blog post. But after reading everything repeatedly, I’ve chosen to focus this week’s discussion on two patterns: how Christ heals, and how Christ responds to criticism.
These six chapters cover a core segment of Christ’s miracles and ministry – healing illnesses, forgiving sins, casting out devils, condemning hypocrites, preaching goodness. This is the mission Christ called us, as Christians, to continue. I hope we all can use this lesson to reflect, perhaps somewhat uncomfortably, on how our actions align with Christ’s injunction to believers. [Read more…]
A year and a half ago, I wrote about changes to the weird restrictions on temple ordinance workers. Specifically, I explained that longstanding church policy forbade divorcees within five years, single men over 31, and women with minor children from serving as ordinance workers. (The same individuals were permitted to “volunteer” for temple shifts, just not perform ordinances.)
In August 2017 the Church removed the restrictions on divorcees and single adult men. Today, the Church removed the restrictions on mothers. I am thrilled for the thousands upon thousands of women this blesses.
It’s Valentine’s Day, and I’ve felt inspired to take a moment and write some reflections on my gratitude and love for the Church.
My last few weeks have sparked a renewed joy in the gospel. Two years ago I left my cluster of friends in the one and only true ward (thanks California!). Ever since, I’ve felt a little aloof from the heart of Mormonism. Yet recently, my Sabbath experience has been refreshed as a delight.
The new two-hour block and Come Follow Me curriculum seems to have galvanized my ward — gospel doctrine discussions have increased in thoughtfulness; Relief Society lessons have increased in vulnerability. I’ve heard raw and inspiring commentary from the pulpit during Sacrament Meeting; slightly shorter talks have focused the content on Christ. My family created a listserv to discuss the Book of Mormon; my friend circle Mormon Studies book clubs are going strong. An intimate discussion on the temple overflowed with wisdom and hope. I love the emphasis on ministering and the ways I’ve begun connecting with every individual in my ministering circle. Then last Sunday, I had a conversation with my Bishop that embodied the best of pastoral care.
When the body of Christ is healthy, it is truly divine. [Read more…]
I am horrified. Apparently “religious freedom” is an empty phrase when it comes to Death Row.
Let’s recap the insane saga in the State of Alabama over the last week. Domineque Ray is a Muslim inmate on Death Row, with an execution scheduled for today. Late in January, as the State started walking him through execution procedures, Alabama informed him that a Christian chaplain was required to be in the room with him at death, but his Muslim Imam would be barred.
Ray sued within days, asking for access to an Imam. [Read more…]
Last night I attended a small interfaith dialogue dinner between Muslims and Mormons at Georgetown University. It was lovely. I made new friends.
One anecdote made me laugh. Prior to the event, Georgetown’s imam told Georgetown’s Mormon interfaith coordinator to —not— post the flier to Latter-day Saint groups and listserves in DC. Why? “Because if you do, then too many Mormons will show up.” [Read more…]
Come Follow Me Manual Recommended Readings: Matthew 3 (quoting Isaiah 40); Mark 1; Luke 3; John 1.
Upfront Note: In preparing my BCC Sunday School lesson this week, I realized my content was divided into two major chunks — one whimsical about Godspell, and one academic about the history of baptism. For ease of use and commentary, I’m publishing them as two separate back-to-back posts.
Come Follow Me Manual Recommended Readings: Matthew 3 (quoting Isaiah 40); Mark 1; Luke 3; John 1.
Upfront Note: In preparing my BCC Sunday School lesson this week, I realized my content was divided into two major chunks — one whimsical about Godspell, and one academic about the history of baptism. For ease of use and commentary, I’m publishing them as two separate back-to-back posts. Part 2 is here.
In discussing the advance of women’s rights, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has often remarked that when we set women on a pedestal, we actually lock them in a cage.
I’ve been wondering lately whether the same could be said about God. (And even more so, Heavenly Mother.) When we consign our Heavenly Parents to a throne of glory in the distant heavens, we’re actually locking them behind human constructs of divinity. We’re building a wall of checkpoints and purity standards, then barring all we deem unholy or unclean from approaching their mercy.
Our all-to-common vision of God on a celestial pedestal gets it all backwards. To borrow a phrase from Rachel Held Evans’s latest book Inspired: our God stoops. [Read more…]
Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.
For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. (D&C 18:10)
I learned an important truth this year: the worth of souls bears no relationship to a soul’s “worthiness.”
A year ago I left the corporate world to pursue my civil rights lawyer dream. One aspect of my new work is fighting for Muslims’ right to follow the pillars of Islam in prison. My first visit to prison will forever stand as one of the most spiritual days of my life. I met with humble men who frankly admitted their mistakes, implored God to grant them the mercy to improve, and asked for an opportunity to practice their faith in peace. They sought to better the religious experience not just for themselves, but for all of their brothers and sisters. Sitting with them, I glimpsed the depth of God’s abundant love.
I may have been physically sitting with convicted criminals behind seven layers of lockdown security, but spiritually I stood with angels on hallowed ground. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:38). Prisons that day became my temples. For I was in prison, and ye visited me. (Matthew 25:36). [Read more…]
In 2019, By Common Consent will enter its 15th year of Bloggernaccle existence. The state of our imperfect union of informal bloggers is strong: 2018 clocked in as second only to 2015* in total traffic. As the sun sets on 2018 , I thought I’d compile some highlights. [Read more…]
The Victory-for-Satan Newsroom announced this afternoon that sister missionaries can wear dress pants.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
But as I take a breath between celebrating, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect. [Read more…]
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