A Thoughtful Faith - Mormon / LDS

Latest Episodes:

258: Taking the Mormons to Court: Defending Sexual Abuse Victims against the LDS Church: Tim Kosnoff Aug 28, 2018

Show notes

Tim Kosnoff is a US attorney who has spent the last two decades representing victims of sexual abuse. His introduction to the LDS Church and their lawyers was when he represented Jeremiah Scott who was sexually abused by a serial paedophile Frank Curtis. His work, in this case, appears in Lisa Davis' legal thriller, 'The Sins of Brother Curtis.'
This case has lead to a practice in which he has come to represent over 150 Mormon sexual abuse victims bringing him face to face with the Mormon law machine time and time again.

Tim joins me to discuss his experiences as a representative and advocate for sexual abuse victims against the LDS Church.

257: The Sins of Brigham: The granddaughters of Brigham's wives speak out: Jacobs, Jensen & Chamberlain Aug 19, 2018

Show notes

While Mormons claim Joseph Smith as the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is still very much Brigham Young's church. Brigham's leadership was formative in shaping the LDS movements as it is today. The husband of 55 wives Brigham's influence was more than organisational. He was also responsible for establishing a patriarchal structure and suite of doctrines and practices that affirmed that loyalty to the highest priesthood office in the church was the church's primary orthodoxy, and the feminine role was to honour that priesthood.

So, what of those who directly inherited Brigham's legacy. What of his female posterity?
Great, great, great granddaughters of Brigham, Kristen Jensen and Crystal Chamberlain along with the great great great granddaughter of Zina Huntington (one of Brigham's wives) join me to discuss what it means to have inherited Brigham's legacy along with the wounds of their grandmothers.

256: Including LGBTI Children of God in the LDS Plan of Salvation: Duane Jennings Aug 11, 2018

Show notes

Duane Jennings is the author of the two-volume series "Stumbling Blocks and Stepping-Stones."

In this conversation, we consider (notwithstanding current LDS policy) an LDS queer theology through the Wesleyan Quadrilateral of scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.

255: Mormon Culture and Sexual Abuse: Tara Workman-Tulley Jul 21, 2018

Show notes

In 1990 the Pace Memorandum reported the findings of General Authority Glenn Pace in which alleged victims described ritual abuse. This was followed by a Utah State Legislature investigation in which hundreds of alleged victims were interviewed. These testimonies were later dismissed as 'false memories.'

Yet, research indicates that the undermining of these testimonies was not best professional practice for the mental health community. Tara Workman-Tulley is a Provo based therapist who specializes in complex trauma. Many of her clients continue to report childhood experiences of ritual abuse that have uncanny similarities.

Tara joins me to discuss sexual abuse and sex trafficking in Mormon communities.

254: When She Leads: Women's Ordination in the USA: Benjamin Knoll & Cammie-Jo Bolin Jul 17, 2018

Show notes

Benjamin Knoll and Cami-Jo Bollin discuss their new book, 'She Preached the Word: Women's Ordination in Modern America.'

Their study uses novel survey data that reveals a surprising relationship between political orientation and an acceptance of women's ordination. This, of course, raises one of America's most pressing questions: How strongly are America's religious sensibilities shaped by their much polarized US political scene?

253b: A Meditation: Stage Three - A Synthetic-Conventional Faith: Sara Hughes- Zabawa Jul 08, 2018

Show notes

A meditation to accompany our thinking and feeling into how we once or are currently living in Fowler's Stage Three: Synthetic-Conventional Faith.

253: Revisiting Fowler's Stages of Faith: Stage Three - A Synthetic-Conventional Faith: Sara Hughes- Zabawa Jul 08, 2018

Show notes

Sarah Hughes-Zabawa rejoins me to discuss Fowler's Stages of Faith: The Synthetic-Conventional Stage.

Stage Three is usually entered into during adolescence. It's that stage in which we imagine that our views represent an accurate and faithful totality of truth. This stage also sees us looking at institutions as the bearers of that truth, and we reward those institutions with our agreement and consent to their authority. During this stage, we come to believe that there are goals to accomplish and in meeting those goals we'll please God and receive blessings. But, as we'll discuss, stage three also has its complications.

252: 'It wasn't God's Will': Reflections on the 4th Anniversary of Kate Kelly's Excommunication Jun 29, 2018

Show notes

In June 2014 Kate Kelly, the vocal spokesperson for Ordain Women, was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for apostasy.
Kate Kelly had led a high profile campaign including two actions on Temple Square in order to ask the President of the LDS Church to pray about whether or not women should be ordained. This public petition that eventually included hundreds of women from around the world was met by a resounding silence and denial by the LDS leadership. But it was Kate's excommunication that either catapulted women out of the church or aroused a new awareness in the faithful that the church they had thought of as benevolent had, in this case, acted vindictively and egregiously to support the supremacy of the patriarchy.
Katie Langston, Nancy Ross and Brittany Mangleson, women who arrived at an impasse after the excommunication and chose to pursue ordination in other faith traditions join me to discuss the impact of Ordain Women on them and the Mormon feminist community.

251: Impasse: When your ward turns on you: Sabine Jun 25, 2018

Show notes

Sabine (name changed) served faithfully in the church for years. Then several incidents involving her children occurred causing her to act swiftly to protect them from bullying and shaming from adult leaders. The result was a fall-out with her local LDS community followed by a request that she no longer enter the church premises.
Sabine's is one of many stories in which solvable interpersonal problems are compounded by poor pastoral practice, difficulties in dealing with interpersonal difficulties, an attachment to affirming the status of leaders and a subtle rejection of parents as the ultimate authority when it comes to their children.

250: Living Honestly with Mormonism's Past and Present: Brian Whitney Jun 22, 2018

Show notes

Brian and Gina discuss the complexity of the experience of Mormonism when confronted with eyes wide open to both its past, its present and its changing contexts.

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