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Pomp, Circumstance, and Controversy | Richard E. Bennett, Susan Easton Black, and Donald Q. Cannon, The Nauvoo Legion in Illinois: A History of the Mormon Militia, 1841–1846

March 16, 2018

From its gorgeous dust jacket to its prosaic index, this valuable book provides narrative history, data compilations, and unexploited documents shedding light on one of the most unusual, controversial organizations of antebellum American military his tory, the short-lived Nauvoo Legion of Hancock County, Illinois. In the process, the authors add to our understanding of the violent forces that led to the 1844 assassinations of Joseph and Hyrum Smith as well as the subsequent westbound Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, then one of the largest cities in Illinois.

Finding the Presence in Mormon History: An Interview with Susanna Morrill, Richard Lyman Bushman, and Robert Orsi

March 16, 2018

Susanna Morrill: I’d like to start the conversation by asking four framing questions relating to the issue of religious experience: First, are “abundant events” proper subjects of study for historians of religion? Second, how do historians of religions go about studying such experiences within the methodological expectations of the academy? Third, what are the responsibilities of scholars to the believers whom they write about? And fourth, to what extent will, and should, the faith of scholars appear in their work? Richard, could you start start the discussion with the ideas Robert offers in his article? 

Dishes

March 16, 2018

Yesterday morning 
as I was sitting cross-legged at the kitchen table 
enjoying a bowl of corn flakes 
Jesus walked into our apartment. 
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Jesus. 
“I’m here to do the dishes.” 

Intermission Wine

March 16, 2018

I’m in London, alone at a ballet, 
wearing a wide hat 
and sitting very straight. 
The man next to me is eyeing 
me, checking me out, maybe. 

Sex Talk Sunday

March 16, 2018

I sit in a class of virginal twenty-somethings, 
rows of polka dot skirts, shiny shoes, sculpted hair, 

waiting for a stern and nervous bishop 
to deliver the semi-annual sex talk.

Blessing My Son

March 16, 2018

Now that you are named 
and heretofore known 
and promised missions and maidens 
and temples and talents 

Immortal for Quite Some Time, Part 2

March 16, 2018

(after the autopsy, after the funeral, after AIDS)

I’ve started to read John’s missionary letters from Italy. Nearly one a week for two years. From what Mom told me when I asked about them, I expected requests for money, reports of trouble, and depressed silences. John communicated all of that, of course; but his letters are profoundly uplifting as well (or is it fraternal nostalgia I’m feeling?).

The Fabulous Jesus: A Heresy of Reconciliation

March 16, 2018

Let me begin by stating that this is not an academic paper; there’s no bibliography. It is, rather, a personal reflection addressing the difficult questions of reconciling faith and the academy—many of which have already been raised today. 

I hope that you are amused by the title of my talk. I hope that you are envisioning Jesus brunching by the Sea of Galilee, wearing bejeweled Armani sunglasses and a pashmina ascot, sipping mimosas and flamboyantly expounding the homosexual agenda with an Aramaic lisp. I also hope you are thoroughly baffled, maybe even a little offended—although this crowd seems shameless.