I’ve been watching the reactions among the LDS blogging community, and I’m encouraged a little by the results of the Super Tuesday primaries. I certainly don’t wish Mitt Romney any ill will, nor have I really hoped he would lose. But the momentum took a turn for the worse, and he suspended his campaign today.

From the beginning, as I’ve watched Romney court the religious right for their vote, I’ve hoped that this will result in a wake up call to those in our community who try to identify with the Christian Right, and to those who hold to the belief that to be Mormon means you must identify with the Grand Ole Party.

From some of the reactions, that may just be happening.
Read the rest »

A new Sunstone magazine issue is in the mail, and we’re now working on a special issue about Mormonism and politics to go to press in three weeks. We’ve commissioned several pieces exhibiting a variety of approaches to this theme, and we are excited by what we received.

We’d very much like help with one of our planned sections, though. That proposed section is a sampling of Mormon voices on the key issues animating this year’s national election. In other words, we’re hoping to highlight Latter-day Saint thinking on issues such as the economy, immigration, war, use of torture, the environment, health care, reproductive choice, welfare, or the place of religion in politics.

We’d love you to send us your opinions on any of these or other election issues. But we’d like you to do more than just offer your opinion; we’d like you to reflect on what it is within Mormon theology, scripture, or your own personal spirituality as informed by interactions with Mormonism that has influenced your opinion. In short, we’re hoping to understand what Mormon-influenced lenses you use in forming your opinion on the issue.

If you’re willing to share your thoughts with us, please aim for 400-750 words and either post your reflections here on SunstoneBlog or email them to me at dan at sunstoneonline.com. I’d love to receive these by 8 February—but the sooner the better. We can’t promise that we’ll publish everything we receive, but we hope we can include something from everyone who writes. And if you hold a conservative position on an issue and feel uncertain if it would be welcomed for inclusion in the magazine, please know that we’re looking for a broad spectrum of opinions and reasons for those opinions. Our goal is to show the depth and breadth of Mormon political views and how those views may be informed by our experience with the gospel.

If you’ve already shared your thinking on a blog or in some other forum and want to adapt it for this project, please feel free to do that. Just inform us of that when you submit it here so we can secure permissions, if required.

Much thanks!
Dan Wotherspoon
Editor, Sunstone

In my younger years I was quite strict about not watching R-rated movies. I rarely even watched PG-13. Lately, however, I’ve decided to expand my cinematic horizons and watch films irrespective of their MPAA ratings. So I’m compiling a list of “Must-See” movies for my netflix queue.

Would each of you be willing to list a few of your favorite movies for me, telling me why you recommend them? I’m especially interested in films that have stayed with you long after they ended. But I’d also like to watch well-written campy humor and movies that are pure fun!

Let me just say that I’m not a fan of over-the-top violence and I can’t watch horror flicks because I’m still afraid of the monsters under my bed. But other than that, I’m interested in just about any type of movie (though I do have to admit a partiality to foreign films and anything with Ewan McGregor that doesn’t involve a light saber).

Thanks!

A note from Richard Dutcher:

Dear Friends,

I want to personally invite you to see my latest film, Falling, which opens at the Gateway Megaplex in Salt Lake City on Friday, January 18.

Falling is the story of a Hollywood videographer (and lapsed Mormon) in spiritual freefall. Dan Nailen of Salt Lake Magazine calls it “relentless” and “shocking.” LDS bestselling author Dave Wolverton (A Very Strange Trip) calls Falling “One of the five most powerful films I have ever seen.”

The trailer can be viewed here:

http://www.fallingmovie.com/

While compromises are an inevitable part of the filmmaking process, Falling comes closer than any of my previous films to being the film I had hoped to make. It is certainly the most intensely personal of my films to date.

For those of you who plan to see Falling, please attend if at all possible during its opening weekend (January 18-20), as strong initial box office is our best hope for an extended engagement.

I’ll be visiting the theater now and then during opening weekend. I hope to see you at the Gateway Megaplex!

Best,

Richard Dutcher

I saw Falling prior to the 2007 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium and still think about it a lot. Although it’s not a “fun” movie, it is powerful—with themes that are worth exploring and taking about. I will be attending its premiere this Friday evening, 8:25 p.m. Hope to see you there! And if you can’t come to the premiere, as Richard says in his letter, it is still important that people still see the film on its opening weekend as decisions about the length of its run are based in large part on ticket sales for just those days.

Click here, here, and here to read previous discussions about the film on this blog.

Cheers!
Dan Wotherspoon

Today my family attended a Bat Mitzvah service in a reconstructionist congregation. Before the service began, the rabbi explained that the prayers in the service were amended from the traditional ones to be gender inclusive. Also, when a prayer offered a blessing on the Jewish people, a clause was added to extend the blessings to all people. The feminist in me was satisfied by the desire to be inclusive, even as I was a bit startled by the cantor who played the guitar as she sang and by the musician who added drum accompaniment to the more rousing parts of the service.

For me, what was most memorable about the service was when the girl’s mother approached the dais to present her daughter, Rose, with her first prayer shawl. The mother wore a shawl identical to the one she wrapped over Rose’s shoulders. Both were hand-dyed a vibrant green and purple. As she did this, her mother explained that they had made the shawls together.

It’s embarrassing to me now, but as I saw this I started crying. Big hot tears welling and rolling down my cheeks. I’m not much of a crier–so I was caught completely by surprise. And I was more than a bit embarrassed, too, given that it wasn’t a particularly ‘touching’ part of the service.

But when Rose’s mother stood there on the dais and spoke, I recalled my own desires to participate in my children’s ordinances–particularly my desire to conduct my daughter’s baptismal service. Coming-of-age rituals like Bat Mitzvahs and Baptisms and Priesthood Ordinations offer an important moment for a community to validate the spiritual and physical maturation of its children. For me, being denied a role in the LDS ordinances (other than sitting on the sidelines), hurts deeply. I know the intention is not to make me feel a less important member of God’s Kingdom, but it’s hard to see it any other way.

Buying new underwear is always a good idea. So I bought some underwear last weekend. I found my favorite neck cut (round) and material (cotton-poly ribbed), made sure the bag was blue, and took my basket up to the cash register.

I’ve always derived a mischievous pleasure from purchasing my underwear from nice old ladies who ask me for my temple recommend. Sadly, on this particular day I had forgotten it. But my cashier, bless her heart, was more than willing to look me up in the database.

I gave her my birthday and my last name. She typed around for a few seconds and then told me something that my Sunbeam teacher had pointed out many years before: that I am unique (I believe my teacher made this observation after I had put a particularly creative twist on the hand motions accompanying the Baby Bumble Bee song).

I am proud, and just a little bit humbled, to announce that, in the whole wide world, I am the only endowed Mormon born on my birthday with my last name.

Is that not cool?

The only thing cooler was that my cashier sold me at least a dozen pieces of women’s underwear without batting an eye (fortunately they were all in my wife’s size).

How about you, gentle reader? Is there anything Mormonly unique about you?

Please mark your calendars for the 2008 Sunstone West Symposium! It will be held on 14-15 March on the Claremont Graduate University campus in Claremont, California.

Most of you already know that CGU has recently named Richard L. Bushman to a visiting professorship in Mormon studies to begin fall 2008, with plans for a full-time academic chair as soon as fundraising is complete. We’re excited by the CGU School of Religion’s commitment to Mormon studies and appreciate their co-sponsorship of our Sunstone West symposium once again.

The Call for Proposals is mailing right now. Click here for a printable pdf version.

Here are the instructions:

Sunstone seeks to celebrate and explore Mormon experience, issues, and art through diverse approaches and from many perspectives. From scholarly paper to artistic expression, we strive for excellence in thought and quality in presentation.

We welcome proposals on all Mormon-related topics, but we are planning discussions in future magazine issues on topics such as the Mormon soldier experience, addiction and recovery, Mormons and the body (issues such as body image, fitness, obesity, plastic surgery, theology about the body), how technology affects Mormon life and experience, and LDS theology and practices regarding disability. Hence, we’d especially welcome symposium presentations on any of these topics.

FORMATS. Sessions may be scholarly papers, panel discussions, interviews, personal essays, sermons, films, dramatic performances, literary readings, debates, comic routines, art displays, or musical presentations.

PROPOSALS SHOULD INCLUDE: Session title; a one-hundred-word abstract; presenter name(s), background(s), and contact information; a summary of the topic’s relevance and importance to Mormon studies; description of any audio or visual equipment needs. If possible, please include a complete preliminary draft.

DEADLINE. Please submit proposals by 15 January 2008. Proposals submitted after the deadline will be considered on a time/space-available basis.

SUBMIT PROPOSALS. If submitting by email, direct proposals to symposium coordinator Allen Hill at allen@sunstoneonline.com. If submitting by fax or U. S. mail, direct them to Allen Hill, Sunstone Symposium Coordinator, 343 N. Third West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103; fax (801) 355-4043.

We hope you’ll propose a session or two! If not, we still want to see you there!

I was in charge of the priesthood lesson today. It took me a long time to get it together. In fact, I had to write it down to get it out. So I thought I’d share.

Getting ready for this lesson was very difficult. I couldn’t quite get a grasp on how to present it. After three or four hours of thought, I remembered something I read recently by Carl Rogers, a psychologist who was very famous back in the 1950’s. He said,

I find that one way of learning for me is to state my own uncertainties, to try to clarify my puzzlements, and thus get closer to the meaning that my experience actually seems to have.

So, to state my own uncertainty, I often find myself cut off from people when my goal is to help them join the church. I first started to see this while I was on my mission in Toronto. One of the main ways we had of contacting people was to hang around at the busy bus stops. Read the rest »

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how I have to “play the game” in order to move forward in my profession (to be specific, my current ‘game’ involves writing grant proposals and getting to know the ‘right’ people who can write letters of recommendation on my behalf).

There’s a part of me that just hates the game. I want to stop playing along. Then there’s this other part of me that’s willing to jump through particular hoops if it gets me what I want in the long run.

Similarly, I think there are many ways we “play the game” of Mormonism. Such as wearing the right clothes on Sunday, saying the right things to the Bishop, having the right hairstyle, and following the letter of the law.

So what I’m wondering is this: when is it worth playing along at Church and when is it time to just step out of the game? There are sacrifices involved either way, so how do you decide if/when the game’s over? Or do you think my analogy is flawed and the Church is never about ‘playing along?’

Friends of Sunstone,

Thanks (in part) to those of you who were able to contribute during our midyear fund-raiser, we (the staff plus a few gracious volunteers) have been working very hard over the past several months on 2 major initiatives for your benefit (in addition to the regular delivery of magazines and symposia):

1. Sunstone Magazine Digitization Project: Much like Dialogue and BYU Studies have already done, we are working overtime to digitize all past issues of Sunstone Magazine — to make them accessible for you (and others) via the Internet. We are scheduled to have this project completed within the next few weeks.
2. Sunstone Web Site Renovation: In addition, we have heard your cries, and are working hard to update the look, feel, and functionality of the Sunstone web site.

Why am I sending you this email? For 2 main reasons: Read the rest »