The FairMormonTV Roku channel has now been updated with FairMormon Conference presentations from 2017. You can add the free channel to your Roku account here.
FAIR Conference
FairMormon Conference Podcast #25 – Jeff Robinson, “Thinking Differently About Same-Sex Attraction”
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)
Jeff Robinson, Thinking Differently About Same-Sex Attraction
Transcript available here.
Dr. Robinson received his Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University. His doctoral dissertation was a qualitative study in of married Latter-Day Saint men with histories of homosexual activity. For the last 25 years he has worked in private practice specializing in assisting individuals experiencing a conflict between their experience of same-sex attraction and their religious beliefs and/or personal values. He has given numerous presentations on the issue of same-sex attraction and has conducted training for therapists and a variety of settings. He and his wife Wendy are the parents of eight children and the grandparents of eight.
Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
The LDS Church and the Race Issue: A Study in Misplaced Apologetics
[This talk is from the 2003 FairMormon Conference]
Forget everything I have said, or what…Brigham Young…or whomsoever has said…that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.1
This statement by Elder McConkie in August of 1978 is an apt characterization of the doctrine and apologetic commentary so pervasive in the Church prior to the revelation on the priesthood earlier that year. That is, it was based on limited understanding. Yet, it is not clear how wide an application Elder McConkie intended for his references to “limited understanding;” for ironically, the doctrinal folklore that many of us thought had been discredited, or at least made moot, through the 1978 revelation continued to appear in Elder McConkie’s own books written well after 1978, and continues to be taught by well-meaning teachers and leaders in the Church to this very day.2 The tragic irony is that the dubious doctrines in question are no longer even relevant, since they were contrived to “explain” a Church policy that was abandoned a quarter century ago.
Indeed, it was apparent to many of us even four decades ago that certain scriptural passages used to explain the denial of priesthood to black members could not legitimately be so interpreted without an a priori narrative.3 Such a narrative was gradually constructed by the searching and inventive minds of early LDS apologists. With allusions to the books of Genesis, Moses, and Abraham, the scenario went something like this : In the pre-existence, certain of the spirits were set aside, in God’s wisdom, to come to Earth through a lineage that was cursed and marked, first by Cain’s fratricide and obeisance to Satan, and then again later by Ham’s lËse majestÈ against his father Noah. We aren’t exactly sure why this lineage was set apart in the pre-existence, but it was probably for reasons that do not reflect well on the premortal valiancy of the partakers of that lineage. Since the beginning, the holy priesthood has been withheld from all who have had any trace of that lineage, and so it shall be until all the rest of Adam’s descendants have received the priesthood, or, for all practical purposes, throughout the mortal existence of humankind. [Read more…] about The LDS Church and the Race Issue: A Study in Misplaced Apologetics
FairMormon Conference Podcast #22 – Daniel Peterson, “Apologetics: What, Why, and How”
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)
Daniel Peterson, Apologetics: What, Why, and How
Transcript available here.
A native of southern California, Daniel C. Peterson received a bachelor’s degree in Greek and philosophy from Brigham Young University (BYU) and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at BYU, where he has taught Arabic language and literature at all levels, Islamic philosophy, Islamic culture and civilization, Islamic religion, the Qur’an, the introductory and senior “capstone” courses for Middle Eastern Studies majors, and various other occasional specialized classes. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on Islamic and Latter-day Saint topics–including a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God (Eerdmans, 2007)—and has lectured across the United States, in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and at various Islamic universities in the Near East and Asia. He served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission (1972-1974), and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also presided for a time as the bishop of a singles ward adjacent to Utah Valley University. Dr. Peterson is married to the former Deborah Stephens, of Lakewood, Colorado, and they are the parents of three sons.
Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
FairMormon Conference Podcast #21 – Lisa Olsen Tait, “Takeaways from the Gospel Topics Essays”
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)
Lisa Olsen Tait, Takeaways from the Gospel Topics Essays
Lisa Olsen Tait is a historian and writer specializing in women’s history at the Church History Library. She earned a PhD in American Literature and Women’s Studies from the University of Houston. Her dissertation and subsequent publications have focused primarily on gender and generational issues in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Mormondom. Her long-term project is a biography of Susa Young Gates. Her work portfolio currently includes writing (with Kate Holbrook) a history of the Young Women’s organization and serving as a review editor for Saints, the new history of the church. Lisa serves as co-chair of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT), an independent group that promotes research and sharing of Mormon women’s history among scholars and in the community at large. Lisa has four children and two dogs and lives in Highland.
Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
FairMormon Conference Podcast #20 – Brittany Chapman Nash, “An Act of Religious Conviction: Mormon Women and Nineteenth-Century Polygamy”
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from 2015. If you would like to watch the presentations from our most recent conference, you can still purchase video streaming.
Brittany Chapman Nash, An Act of Religious Conviction: Mormon Women and Nineteenth-Century Polygamy
Transcript available here.
Brittany A. Chapman Nash is a historian at the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She received a BA in Humanities from Brigham Young University and an MA in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester. She specializes in nineteenth-century Mormon women’s history and is co-editor with Richard E. Turley Jr. of the seven-volume Women of Faith in the Latter Days series, which features the life writings of Latter-day Saint women. She serves on the executive committee of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT). She and her husband, Peter Nash, live in Salt Lake City.
Audio and Video Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
FairMormon Conference Podcast #19 – Elder Kevin W. Pearson, “A Sacred and Imperative Duty”
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our conference earlier this year. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.
Elder Kevin W. Pearson, A Sacred and Imperative Duty
Written talk available here.
August 2018
Elder Kevin W. Pearson was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 5, 2008. At the time of his call, he had been serving as the president of the Washington Tacoma Mission. He previously served as a counselor in the Europe East Area, President of the Pacific Area, and as an assistant executive director of the Missionary Department. He is currently serving at Church headquarters as an area assistant with the North America Southwest Area. Elder Pearson also serves on the Communication Services Committee and Strengthening Church Members Committee.
Elder Pearson received a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Utah in 1981. In 1983 he received a master’s degree in business administration in corporate finance from Harvard Business School. Prior to his call as a mission president, he was working as the chief executive officer at Ingenix, Inc.
Elder Pearson has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Finland Helsinki Mission, stake missionary, elders quorum president, ward Young Men president, high councilor, counselor in a bishopric, bishop, and mission president.
Kevin Wayne Pearson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 10, 1957. He married June Langeland in June 1980. They are the parents of six children.
Audio and Video Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
FairMormon Conference Podcast #18 – Jenny Reeder, “‘Fire In My Bones:’ Women’s Stories on churchhistorianspress.org”
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our conference earlier this year. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming. You can also buy books from The Church Historian’s Press at a discount from our bookstore.
Jenny Reeder, “Fire In My Bones”: Women’s Stories on churchhistorianspress.org
Jenny Reeder is the 19th-century women’s history specialist at the LDS Church History Department. She is the co-author of At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women, and The Witness of Women: Firsthand Experiences and Testimonies of the Restoration. She earned her PhD in American history at George Mason University, and an MA in history, archival management, and documentary editing at New York University. Jenny also speaks at Time Out for Women.
Audio and Video Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
“Alexa, play FairMormon Radio”
You can now listen to FairMormon Radio on your Amazon Echo, Dot, or other Alexa device! There are also Alexa apps available for Android, iOS, and Windows 10.
You must first enable the skill, either by visiting the Amazon web site, or through your Alexa app (just look for FairMormon Radio).
With FairMormon Radio, you can listen to past FairMormon Conference presentations, podcast episodes, and other uplifting content from FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, and the Interpreter Foundation.
You can also listen to FairMormon Radio in several other ways:
- In your web browser
- With the FairMormon app on Android or Kindle Fire
- Through the FairMormon TV channel on Roku or Amazon Fire TV
FairMormon Conference Podcast #17 – John Gee, “Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham”
Podcast: Download (49.0MB)
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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. In celebration of the release of the Facsimile Edition of the Joseph Smith Papers Revelations and Translations Vol. 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts, this episode is a presentation from our conference earlier this year. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming. You can also buy John Gee’s latest book, An Introduction to the Book of Abraham, at a discount from our bookstore.
John Gee, Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham
Transcript available here.
John Gee is a Senior Research Fellow, and the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor at the Maxwell Institute. He is the editor of eight books and has edited a peer-reviewed international Egyptological journal. He has published over eighty articles and one book. He has served on the board of trustees of national and international organizations.
Audio and Video Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.
