DiaBLOGue

Notes on Apostolic Succession

The recognition of Brigham Young as leader of the Church in August 1844 and the reorganization of the First Presidency under his direction in December 1847 have provided the basic pattern and precedent for apostolic…

For Brother de Mik

Cupped in your papery palm the rose 
was like a wound, flowering. 
Your wife nodded when we brought it. 
Yes, Papa, yes is pretty. Then 
she put it in a bowl to float 
and wilt on water. 

Sin and Sexuality: Psychobiology and the Development of Homosexuality

Dialogue 20.2 (Summer 1987): 31–43
Stout’s article is a reminder just how important psychology and psychologists were for mediating these early debates. It really was groundbreaking in LDS print media. He talks about how he believed and presented publicly theories on the cause and cure of homoseuxaity, following Freudian psychology in 1970. “16 years later, “he states, “I can state that what I presented was wrong and simplistic. The evolving change in my views came by examining new research, gaining more clinical experience, and looking for alternative explanations to clarify some of the mystery surrounding the development of human sexuality and specifically homosexuality.” Stout’s overview provides a guide to the updated psychological research from the 1970s and 80s that overturned earlier consensus on the pathologization of homosexuality and on whether it can be cured. He tackles the ethical and moral issues with forced celibacy, but leaves the question as a mystery of paradox of how to proceed on the topic, warning against “extremes” on all sides.

Discouragement

                  Discouragement, 
is the adversary’s vision of the work 
revealed to and 

Monologues and Dialogues: A Personal Perspective

Engaging in dialogue is one of the first experiences we have as human beings. Even when our communication is only inarticulate gurgling, we are participating in some kind of communication. Entering into dialogue with another, whether human or divine, is one of the experiences we bring from the preexistence.