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Mike Parker

Gay Youth Suicides in Utah

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LGBT sign with rainbow backgroundEvery individual lost to suicide is a tragedy, and there should be no room for excluding or ostracizing anyone because of their sexual orientation, including and especially within families. As of 2015, Utah ranks 6th in the nation in suicides of people ages 10 to 24 (at a rate of 16.66 per 100,000), so clearly there is a problem in our state that needs to be addressed. (Full data here in Excel format.)

And yet I’m concerned about statements that continue to push the unproven claim that gay youth commit suicide in Utah at rates higher than other states because of Utah’s religious culture. To the best of my knowledge, there is no data on the reasons for suicides, so claiming that there’s something unique about gay youth in Utah is an assertion without evidence.

If it’s true that Mormonism is driving youth suicides in Utah, then we should see a similar suicide rate among youth in other states dominated by religions that are similarly opposed to gay identity, gay lifestyle, and gay marriage. But we don’t: The suicide rates for ages 10 to 24 in Georgia (9.18, #33), South Carolina (9.91, #29), West Virginia (8.88, #37), Alabama (9.56, #32), and all other Southern states as well, are all lower than Utah’s rate. Religious acceptance of homosexuality is at least as low in those states as it is in Utah; why the dramatic difference in youth suicide?

And the reverse must also be true: States with broad acceptance of gay identity, gay lifestyle, and gay marriage must have lower rates of teenage/young adult suicides than Utah; right? Then why does fairly liberal Colorado (16.69, #5) rank just barely ahead of Utah? And why does South Dakota (25.22, #2) differ so much from North Dakota (7.81, #42), when the two states have nearly identical cultures? And why has Utah seen teen/young adult suicides increase by 66% between 2001 and 2015, but Oregon (+78%) and Washington state (+68%), where gays are supposedly warmly embraced, have had higher rates of increase in youth suicide in the same time period?

And, most telling of all, why has the national suicide rate for teens/young adults gone from 6.95 in 2001 to 9.15 in 2015 (an increase of 32%), when acceptance of the gay identity, gay lifestyle, and gay marriage have increased dramatically throughout the United States during the same period? Wouldn’t we expect to see a decrease in the nationwide suicide rate of youths, including gay youths?

The problem here is that suicide is complex, and rarely boils down to a single issue. The narrative that Utah culture and religion are a significant cause of teen suicides in the state isn’t backed up by the evidence, does a disservice to the people of the State of Utah, and does a disservice to people of faith.

Are you or someone you know struggling with thoughts of suicide? Call 800-273-8255 or text “HELP” to 741-741 to get help immediately.

Stephen H. Webb, 1961–2016

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Stephen WebbDr. Stephen H. Webb, retired Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wabash College, passed away unexpectedly on March 5, 2016. He was a speaker at the 2015 FairMormon Conference in Provo, Utah, where he delivered his remarks on “Why Mormon Materialism Matters.”

Dr. Webb earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and, since 2007, was a practicing Roman Catholic. In recent years he had become interested in the Latter-day Saint faith, and published two books on Mormonism through Oxford University Press: Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn from the Latter-day Saints (2013) and, with Alonzo L. Gaskill, Catholic and Mormon: A Theological Conversation (2015).

FairMormon volunteers are deeply saddened by his passing, and express our sympathy to his family and loved ones.

You may read Dr. Webb’s obituary and sign the online guest register on the Legacy.com website.

Gospel Hobbies and the Danger of “All-Consuming Patriotism”

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Recent developments in rural Oregon have prompted Church leaders to respond to the claims of some Latter-day Saints who have taken up arms to protest the actions of the United States federal government.

For over one hundred years, Church presidents and apostles have warned against “religious hobbies” or “gospel hobbies,” which President Joseph F. Smith described as “dangerous because they give undue prominence to certain [gospel] principles or ideas to the detriment and dwarfing of others just as important, just as binding, just as saving” as the doctrines an individual may personally favor (Gospel Doctrine, p. 143).

In 2003 Elder Quentin L. Cook, then a member of the Seventy, explained:

The Lord said regarding important doctrine, “Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me” (D&C 10:68) and “That which is more or less than this cometh of evil” (D&C 124:120). We are looking beyond the mark when we elevate any one principle, no matter how worthwhile it may be, to a prominence that lessens our commitment to other equally important principles or when we take a position that is contrary to the teachings of the Brethren.

(“Looking beyond the Mark,” Ensign, March 2003.)

Warning specifically against the gospel hobby of “all-consuming patriotism,” Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught in 1992:

Love of country is surely a strength, but carried to excess it can become the cause of spiritual downfall. There are some citizens whose patriotism is so intense and so all-consuming that it seems to override every other responsibility, including family and Church. I caution those patriots who are participating in or provisioning private armies and making private preparations for armed conflict. Their excessive zeal for one aspect of patriotism is causing them to risk spiritual downfall as they withdraw from the society of the Church and from the governance of those civil authorities to whom our twelfth article of faith makes all of us subject.

(“Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall,” Ensign, October 1994.)

Recap of the 2013 FAIR Conference

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The 2013 FAIR Conference came to a close on Friday, August 2nd.

We were very pleased to hear fourteen presentations on a variety of topics, including Book of Mormon geography, the role of women in the Church, and the stories of those who have been challenged by doubt and those who left the Church and have returned.

Blair Hodges of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute at BYU attended most of the sessions and wrote recaps of the presentations. (He types quickly!) Although his comments do not always reflect exactly what was said at the conference, we’re grateful for his attendance and coverage, and we encourage all to review the written remarks when made available:

Blair’s notes from Thursday, August 1st

Blair’s notes from Friday, August 2nd

We set a new record for attendance this year (425 tickets issued, up from 402 last year), and we received very positive feedback from the conference attendees on our move to the Utah Valley Convention Center.

Several announcements were made at the conference, including:

FAIR is going through an extensive rebranding process. Beginning soon, we will be known as FairMormon, and our two current web sites (fairlds.org and fairmormon.org) will be rolled into a single site with a consistent look and feel.

FairMormon logo

Daniel C. Peterson announced the upcoming roll-out of The World Table, a new social platform that will allow individuals of different faiths to interact with mutual respect. The site is not active yet, but you can sign up to be notified when it’s open by visiting theworldtable.org.

The World Table logo

Hales Swift and Neal Rappleye were given the John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award for their excellent work on the Scripture Study Aids. Outgoing vice president Allen Wyatt was recognized for his many years of service to FAIR, and Steve Densley, Jr. was named as the new vice president.

We’re grateful for all who attended this year, and especially for those who supported FAIR though generous donations and purchases at the conference bookstore. We’d also like to thank our sponsors who helped make this conference possible:

Bonneville Communications

Deseret Book

BYU Studies

The Interpreter Foundation

Mormon History Association

LDSAgents.com

Roger Nicholson

Brant & Valerie Gardner

Farr’s Jewelry & Electronics

The next FAIR Conference will be held on August 7 & 8, 2014. Mark your calendars—we look forward to seeing you next year!

Online ticket sales for FAIR Conference ending July 28th

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This year’s FAIR Conference will be held on Thursday and Friday, August 1 and 2 at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah.

We have an exciting lineup of speakers this year, including Ron Barney, executive director of the Mormon History Association; Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby; and Maxine Hanks, one of the “September Six” and a newly rebaptized member of the Church.

See the FAIR home page for a full schedule and details of the conference.

Online ticket sales are open now and will be available through Sunday, July 28. After that, tickets will be available at the door, but will cost $5 more per ticket than the online price.

If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, now is the time to order!

Changes at the Maxwell Institute, and “controlling the narrative”

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As many are no doubt aware by now, late last week Daniel C. Peterson was dismissed as editor of the Mormon Studies Review (formerly known as Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, FARMS Review of Books, and FARMS Review, in that order), the flagship journal of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (formerly the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, or “FARMS”).

Dr. Peterson has been the editor of the Review since its inception and first issue in 1989. At that time FARMS was a private foundation that served as a “clearinghouse” for cutting-edge research on the Book of Mormon. It also published works of an apologetic nature, typically reviews of books and other materials that were critical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1998 FARMS became part of Brigham Young University, gaining some “official” status as part of the Church’s university. Although editorial freedom was promised in this arrangement, over the years there has been increasing tension at the organization between Peterson and others who believed it should defend the Church in print, and university-appointed administrators who did not agree with this approach.

Last week Dr. M. Gerald Bradford, executive director of the Maxwell Institute, fired Peterson as editor of the Review via email while Peterson was out of the country. (As far as I can tell, Peterson retains his position at the Institute as editor-in-chief of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative.) [Read more…] about Changes at the Maxwell Institute, and “controlling the narrative”

Okay, let’s go over this again…

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An inquiry came to FAIR’s “Ask the Apologist” service this morning, asking for help with the following claim on the Wikipedia article “Linguistics and the Book of Mormon”:

Richard Packham has pointed out that several Biblical Hebrew names, including Aaron, Ephraim, and Levi are listed as Jaredites in the Book of Ether. He argues that these are anachronisms, since the Jaredites are supposed to have originated from the time of the Tower of Babel, and did not speak Hebrew.

Perennial ex-Mormon gadfly Richard Packham apparently fails to understand that the Book of Mormon is a translation, and translations render ancient words — including names — into modern forms that didn’t exist at the time.

[Read more…] about Okay, let’s go over this again…

Dispelling the Myth of the “Curse of Cain”

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In connection with Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, the priesthood ban is getting a lot of attention from the media again.

The most recent turn comes from The Washington Post, where reporter Jason Horowitz interviews Darius Gray and other black Latter-day Saints about their experience with and feelings about the ban. Searching for a theological explanation for the ban, Horowitz contacted BYU associate professor Randy Bott. Horowitz paraphrases Bott:

According to Mormon scriptures, the descendants of Cain, who slew his brother Abel, “were black.” One of Cain’s descendants was Egyptus, a woman Mormons believe was the namesake of Egypt. She married Ham, whose descendants were themselves cursed and, in the view of many Mormons, barred from the priesthood by his father, Noah. Bott points to the Mormon holy text, the Book of Abraham, as suggesting that all of the descendents of Ham and Egyptus were thus black and barred from the priesthood.

Professor Bott’s explanation is an example of how doctrinal folklore continues to be taught by well-meaning members of the Church. Ironically, the dubious “folk doctrine” in question is no longer even relevant, since it was created to explain a Church policy that was reversed nearly thirty-four years ago. [Read more…] about Dispelling the Myth of the “Curse of Cain”

Administrative update: FAIR Blog user registration

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In an effort to more effectively manage the FAIR Blog, we will now require users to register before commenting.

You may register using your real name or a pseudonym (as long as your pseudonym is appropriate for an all-ages blog), but you must provide a verifiable email address as part of the registration process.

At this time we will continue to moderate all comments to help prevent endless debates, “drive-by” attacks, threadjacking, and so forth. Our intent is to hopefully loosen that up a bit in the near future so that only new commenters are moderated.

The usual rule against sockpuppets applies here — one user account per person, please.

Misquoting Brigham

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An anonymous blog that provides out-of-context and embarrassing quotes from Brigham Young has manufactured a quote it attributes to the second president of the Church. On the “About” page, the blog owner says about himself:

I am a Prophet of God in this dispensation. I carry on the work that began with Joseph Smith. I led the Saints to the barren Salt Lake Valley and it is where we built Zion, even though Joseph Smith taught the Savior would return in Jackson County Missouri. Monogamous marriage is not the order of heaven, for it is only through polygamy that a man may achieve exaltation. The government should stay out of the lives of the Saints and let us worship and practice our religion according to the dictates of our own conscience. If there ever comes a day when the Saints interfere with the rights of others to live as they see fit, you can know with assurance that the Church is no longer led by a Prophet, but a mere man. The doctrines of this Church are eternal, for they were ordained before the world was and any man who changes these doctrines such as the temple ceremony, or the man who abandons polygamy, or allows blacks the Priesthood of God, is a fallen prophet.

I am Brother Brigham. And I am the voice of God.

The blog does not provide a citation for the quote. This is nothing more than a clumsy mashup of virtually every controversial subject on which Brigham ever spoke: Zion, polygamy, church and state, authoritarianism, the temple, and blacks and priesthood. And there’s an oblique reference to Proposition 8, too.

Normally this kind of juvenile prank would be ignored, but the quote was posted to a high-traffic discussion site for ex-Mormons, and now is being blogged and shared through Facebook.

FAIR volunteers have searched electronic databases of all of Brigham Young’s recorded sermons — the Journal of Discourses, the Deseret News, the 6-volume Brigham Young Addresses, and early Church newspapers — and have not found anything like this coming from Brigham’s mouth.

This quote is a hoax. Please pass the word.

For more, see the FAIR wiki:

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Update: The original blog owner has admitted that the quote is a fake, but that it is “merely words that sum up [Brigham’s] doctrine and [Brigham’s] teachings.”

Russell Henderson