FAIR

Archives for February 2020

In the News: Chad and Lori Daybell and Gospel Extremism

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In recent news coverage of Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell, such as this article in the East Idaho News, people within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may look at the situation as a warning against looking beyond the mark. However, it is important that those outside of the Church realize that they do not represent faithful members of the Church, and that we have been counselled against such fanaticism.

FairMormon member Cassandra Hedelius spoke at the 2015 FairMormon Conference, warning against this very thing. In fact, some of the people, groups, and sites she was referring to are the very ones mentioned in the East Idaho News article.

In 2016, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles also gave a warning:

While there are many examples of looking beyond the mark, a significant one in our day is extremism. Gospel extremism is when one elevates any gospel principle above other equally important principles and takes a position that is beyond or contrary to the teachings of Church leaders. One example is when one advocates for additions, changes, or primary emphasis to one part of the Word of Wisdom. Another is expensive preparation for end-of-days scenarios. In both examples, others are encouraged to accept private interpretations. “If we turn a health law or any other principle into a form of religious fanaticism, we are looking beyond the mark.”

[Read more…] about In the News: Chad and Lori Daybell and Gospel Extremism

FairMormon Questions: Is the church excessively “hoarding” money that should be given to charities?

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[Editor’s note: Latter-day Saint Charities just released their 2019 Annual Report, available here.]

FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at http://www.fairmormon.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention. The question below has been edited for brevity.

Question:

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal said that Ensign Peak Advisors has amassed about 100 billion dollars for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the years because of prudent investment. I applaud the fact that the Church is fiscally conservative and stays out of debt, however “hoarding” 100 billion dollars seems very excessive given the fact that there is so much poverty in the world. I am concerned that too little (percentage wise compared to the overall revenue) is being given to the poor and needy.

Answer from FairMormon Volunteer Sarah Quan:

Frankly, we don’t know enough about Ensign Peak as a general populace to really say one way or another. The issue is nuanced, and a single whistleblower report is not enough for us to draw a good conclusion about the church’s financial situation or intentions. In response to the WSJ article, Bishop Waddell commented that the budget for humanitarian aid has increased to close to a billion dollars in welfare per year.[1] Here are four doctrinal considerations to help us better understand the church’s position.   [Read more…] about FairMormon Questions: Is the church excessively “hoarding” money that should be given to charities?

Book Review: The Rise of the Latter-day Saints: The Journals and Histories of Newel Knight

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Available from the FairMormon Bookstore

Newel Knight lived from September 13, 1800 to January 11, 1847. He met Joseph Smith in 1826 and remained close friends with him until Joseph’s death. He was directly involved in some of the early events in church history, so his autobiography and journals are valuable to historians. However, these have only been available in manuscript form, in several different versions, which have made them difficult to use. This book amalgamates them in a coherent form and provides a transcription that can be better understood and cited.

The book splits Knight’s writing into five parts, covering different chronological periods of his life. Each section has an introduction with a biographical summary. Editorial remarks are given in footnotes, and spelling and punctuation are generally retained, except in cases where the editors felt clarification was necessary (which to me seemed inconsistent, and in at least one case, possibly incorrect[1]).

There are many things included that are important, such as a letter from Joseph Smith that has not been published in the Joseph Smith Papers Project, Christ’s appearance in the Kirtland Temple[2], many accounts of healings, the aftermath of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and the exodus from Nauvoo. Despite his human imperfections, Knight comes to life as a role model worth emulating with his tremendous faith, even during discouragement, and always remembering to be grateful for the blessings that followed.

I found this particular episode of 1839 in Nauvoo to be very interesting, involving his wife Lydia: [Read more…] about Book Review: The Rise of the Latter-day Saints: The Journals and Histories of Newel Knight

FairMormon Conference Podcast #51 – Scott Hales, “The Exodus and Beyond: A Preview of Saints, Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand”

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Podcast: Download (79.2MB)

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2019 conference. If you would like to watch the presentations from our 2019 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Scott Hales, The Exodus and Beyond: A Preview of Saints, Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand

You may also be interested in FairMormon Conference Podcast #49 – Angela Hallstrom, “Women’s Voices in Saints Volume 2” and FairMormon Conference Podcast #39 – Matthew McBride, “Answering Historical Questions with Church History Topics,” which are mentioned in the presentation.

Scott A. Hales has been a historian/writer for the Church History Department since 2015. He currently works as a writer and story editor for Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, the new four-volume narrative history of the Church. He has a BA in English from Brigham Young University and an MA and PhD in American Literature from the University of Cincinnati. He has published scholarly articles on Mormon and American literature in several academic journals, including Religion and the Arts and The Journal of Transnational American Studies. He currently lives in Eagle Mountain, UT with his wife and five children.

Audio Copyright © 2019 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

How to Build Resilient Faith

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[Cross-posted from Ben Spackman’s blog, where background is given about how this almost became an Ensign article.]

While rereading the Book of Mormon, I discovered something surprising: Captain Moroni took time away from constructing important physical defenses in order to prepare “the minds of the people to be faithful” (Alma 48:7). As a volunteer institute teacher, I’m engaged in a spiritual struggle for hearts and minds,[1] so the idea of “preparing minds to be faithful” stuck out to me. I wondered what Moroni had done, so I began looking for principles and prophetic teachings I could use to prepare “the minds of the people to be faithful.”

Since then, I have identified six broadly applicable principles that can help build resilient faith—whether in our students, our children, or ourselves.

1. Study the Scriptures Deeply

We can miss out on scripture’s full potential when we just skim over the surface or only read that which is familiar or easy. Do we read the scriptures or really study—taking notes, looking for patterns, asking questions, researching contexts, and so on? [Read more…] about How to Build Resilient Faith