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How We Talk about Marriage (and Why It Matters)

A decade from now, same-sex marriage will likely be the law in a majority of states. Given the domino effect of legislatures embracing a cause that has successfully claimed the mantle of equality, coupled with…

The Church’s Use of Secular Arguments

One fascinating development in the Proposition 8 debate in California was the extent to which secular arguments-involving legal, political, and sociological claims-came to take center stage, even in announcements from the Church itself. The Church’s…

Two Modes of Political Engagement

The hard-fought campaign over Proposition 8, which in November 2008 rescinded the legal right to marriage for same-sex couples in California, is evidence of an important political success for religious conservative political groups who support…

Six Voices on Proposition 8: A Roundtable

Dialogue 42.4 (Winter 2009): 106–141
After Prop 22 passed, it was overturned by the courts as a violation of the equal protection clause of the CA constitution. Opponents of same-sex marriage devised a new proposition to amenda the CA constitution to ban same-sex marriage and the LDS church announced its public support and activism for the measure in the summer of 2008 before the november election. It was a deeply contentious issue bringing national attention to the church whose members provided the bulk of the funding for its passage, nearly $40m. The issue was a breaking point for many in the church and the above roundtable attempts to offer a variety of legal and religious arguments for and against the measure. 

Who was Second Nephi?

The story of Nephi occupies a prominent place in the hearts of the Latter-day Saint people. As a young man, he was singularly affected by his father’s teachings and, despite his relative youth, became the de facto leader of the extended families of Lehi and Ishmael even before his father’s death. Later, as a prophet in his own right, he led a people who called themselves “Nephites” in his honor; and nine centuries after his death, hundreds of thousands of Nephites still honored his name and legacy. He belongs to the ages as the namesake of an ancient nation.