COLUMN: Sunstone Mormons are cool, too
“Sunstone? What are you talking about? Sunstone doesn’t provide an accurate impression of Mormon culture. It’s just a bunch of members who are liberals,” my sister-in-law snapped matter-of-factly.
We were squatting on the porch of my wife’s family home in Bountiful, making small talk on a lazy Monday morning, when the subject came up.
My wife and I had returned to Utah the previous night from Michigan, where we had spent much of our summer. I was watching my sister-in-law’s fiancé leaf through a copy of BYU’s student newspaper, when an advertisement caught my eye. It had to do with a Mormon publication of some sort.
“It’s amazing how important these magazines are to members living elsewhere in the country,” I remarked. “They provide such insight into Utah culture.”
Everyone nodded, and the conversation continued. I was asked to provide an example.
“Take Sunstone,” I began.
This is when my sister-in-law cut me off. I had uttered the abhorrent S-word.
Sunstone, for the uninitiated, is a journal of Mormon thought and experience. Based in Salt Lake City, the magazine originated in 1974 as a forum for members of the LDS Church to exchange ideas and raise questions customarily skirted in standard church fare. It answers a prevailing need for a progressive round-table.
I was introduced to Sunstone by a college professor and lifelong church member in Michigan, when I complained one day about the lack of scholarship in the Mormon church.
“It exists,” my friend said. “But you won’t hear much about it, because it can be much too contentious, and the church does not like contention.”
Especially in Utah – if you consider the fact that I had to travel more than a thousand miles to learn about a magazine that is printed less than two hours away.
It seems as though there is an existing perception that critical reasoning could damage Zion, and wreck its social order, since the church permeates literally every aspect of life in this state.
This perception is faulty, to say the least, and is hindering, rather than helping dialogue between Mormons and those of other Christian faiths.
To take issue with my sister-in-law and others of similar comportment, I must ask, what is wrong with liberalism? What is wrong with not being limited to orthodox or authoritarian attitudes, or favoring proposals for reform? What is wrong with being open to new ideas for progress?
As America’s fastest-growing religion, we’re at the forefront of religious attention. That means, we are now open to public scrutiny, and some of that scrutiny calls for scholarship – well-thought-out, reasoned answers to niggling questions. Not the comfortable but vague responses we’re accustomed to hearing in church circles.
Consider journalist and author Jon Krakauer’s recent book, for example. In “Under the Banner of Heaven,” Krakauer argues that religious faith in general, and the faith of the LDS Church, in particular, often motivates violence in its believers.
To prove his thesis, Krakauer narrates the chilling tale of a double murder committed in 1984 by the brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty. Both Mormon fundamentalists, the brothers insisted they received a revelation from God prompting them to slay their blameless victims. The book has been enveloped in controversy since its release.
The church is at the heart of the storm.
Richard E. Turley Jr., managing director of the church’s Family and Church History department, issued a scathing review of the book, denouncing it as the drivel of an unbeliever.
Yet, when asked on National Public Radio to correct Krakauer’s factual errors, Turley, an invited guest on WHYY-FM’s Fresh Air, chose instead to belittle the author while speaking in fuzzy generalities. No points of doctrine were addressed.
Turley’s tight-lipped approach is a good example of the sort of stuffy conservatism that does our reputation harm. As members of the LDS Church, we have nothing to hide. Ours is a beautiful religion with a tremendous history. We shouldn’t be afraid to debate our beliefs out of fear that some of them might be met with rebuke.
Perhaps some of our viewpoints do merit revision. It wouldn’t hurt to talk about the past – polygamy and all those other troublesome issues – if we do so respectfully, and in the spirit of honest inquiry.
A strong and spirited opposition to Krakauer’s book is coming from what my sister-in-law might label the church’s “left wing.” A group called the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, or FAIR, is striving to provide well-documented answers to questions raised by church critics, in part to retain members who might be having second thoughts.
My point: The church’s liberals, often painted into a corner by the conservative masses, are working hard – even doing a better job – at explaining Mormon precepts to the world.
These members deserve more credit than they’re given. Their willingness to initiate and maintain an open dialogue with people of other faiths is helping us explain ourselves and our beliefs, which in turn aids the missionary work so central to our faith.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling for the church’s conservatives to migrate to the other end of the political spectrum. All I’m saying is, give the liberal voice a chance.
If there’s room for the Ensign, there’s also room for Sunstone. Both voices can coexist.