This Mormon <i>Life</i>: Sunstone

May 25, 2009

In the World: Politics as Usual? in Sunstone

In the latest issue of Sunstone (May 2009) I have contributed my next installment of "In the World" summarizing overlooked scholarship and writing that intersect with Mormon culture, with this month's topic covering Mormons, politics, and gay marriage. The sources covered are:

“Competing Social Movements and Local Political Culture: Voting on Ballot Propositions to Ban Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S. States,” by Arnold Fleischmann (University of Georgia) and Laura Moyer (Louisiana State University). Social Science Quarterly, vol. 90, no. 1, March 2009, 134–149.
“Religious Identification and Legislative Voting: The Mormon Case,” by Damon M. Cann (Utah State University). Political Research Quarterly, vol 62, no. 1, March 2009, 110–119.

Pick up an issue or subscribe.

br . on May 25, 2009 in Sunstone | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 22, 2009

My New Column in the latest Sunstone

In the latest issue of Sunstone (Feb 2009) I have contributed a new column which I call "In The World," which is placed in the Cornucopia section. Here is a the brief intro:

Not many years ago, writings by and about Mormons were an irregular occasion in the popular and academic press. But these days, Mormons are everywhere, from the national media to literary journals to handmade 'zines. This column gathers some interesting and overlooked items, Mormon and otherwise.

The challenge of such a column is to find and write about pieces that haven't been picked up by the bloggernacle, message boards, and the like. But I've been pleasantly surprised that I keep finding items that seem to be overlooked (I gotta love those specialized databases!). I hope I can draw the Sunstone reader's attention to some worthwhile items they may have missed.

The current column centers around the uncertainties of faith, in talking about three pieces by Matthew Bowman, Brian Evenson, and Christian Wiman. Pick up the latest issue of Sunstone to read more. Also the current issue includes a focus on Asian/Eastern culture and issues, including a fun Book of Mormon manga.

br . on March 22, 2009 in Sunstone | Permalink | Comments (2)

'Nacle & Beyond

Can Derrida's deconstruction explain the testimony of a simultaneous believer and doubter? Project Deseret thinks so. more>>>
Tod Linafelt considers literary approaches of the bible, “For professional biblical scholars like myself, who work in a literary vein, it is good to see a critic as accomplished as Wood take seriously the literary art of the Bible in such a public way…more>>>
Jenny Turner at the LRB muses, “It’s Dorian Gray, of course, but it is also a brilliant, terrifying observation about what it is to be mortal and ageing in the world of ‘magazines’ and ‘old masters’, to feel your body judged and found lacking, to know the situation is irremediable. The horror of this may not always be noticed by the teenagers who are Twilight’s designated audience. But the Twilight Moms most likely feel it deeply, and like to make a great big noise, as a way of hiding from the fear of it, the disappointment and the shame…more>>>
New Books: What’s the deal with Yahweh? Is the guy crazy or what? First he’s schmoozing, walking in the garden and whatnot, then he’s so angry he turns into a column of smoke, and here comes the scary voice, and here come the waterworks, the smiting and rivers of blood, and don’t get me started on his weird DeMille-like obsession with the firstborn…more>>>
Anthony Daniels argues, “What is new about the current relativism, it seems to me, is not that it contends the positioning of boundaries . . . rather, the current relativism contests the very need for boundaries itself, or at any rate has the effect, once it filters down from the intelligentsia into the general population, of destroying the appreciation of the need for boundaries…more>>>
So what do we have here? Another example of Christophobia? Was the Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization put on ice because, as George Thomas Kurian charges, it turned out to be “too Christian, too orthodox, too anti-secular and too anti-Muslim and not politically correct enough”?... more>>>
Orson Scott Card believes that “new” Puritans are hiding within those categories of "no religion" and "don't know/refused." A fanatical religion, a religion at war with all others - one that does not proselytize so much as insist that it is already the established church, to which all others must bow and make way, confident of victory, contemptuous of any church that does not fight them, savage against any that shows a sign of resistance…more>>>
Roger Scruton thinks that “by living in a spirit of forgiveness, we not only uphold the core value of citizenship but also find the path to social membership that we need. Happiness does not come from the pursuit of pleasure, nor is it guaranteed by freedom. It comes from sacrifice…more>>>
Kaimi Wenger explains, “So, what is this scary Salamander Letter that the church is hiding from everybody?...more>>>
Are there things that should be off limits in a respectful society, or should art ask us to rethink religion? Kathleen Flake and Robert Kirby weigh in with Doug Fabrizio on RadioWest about that Big Love episode…more>>>
Matt Bowman: “The secrecy that surrounds the temple is one of the last bastions of peculiarity...Maintaining that silence within the church is a way to assure ourselves that we are still possessed of holiness, of that special set-apartness that once characterized our entire lives…more>>>
Kevin Barney comments that “religious leave-taking has received far less attention in the sociology of religion than religious conversion, yet all religions experience this phenomenon, even growing ones like the Mormon church…more>>>
Stephen Carter: "Lack of story craft is the bane of Mormon fiction. In fact, I believe it is the main barrier that keeps Mormon writing from gaining the strength to compete in the national and international markets...more>>>
Jacob Hamblin concluded that the incident was a sign given him from God that he should not kill Indians and that, if he followed this directive, he himself would never be killed by them...more>>>
Neylan McBaine loves being asked if he's Jewish. It's the comfort of knowing that there are others out there who really do practice their religions...more>>>

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