Gathering and Judging Israel: A Conversation with Justin Goodson and Brian H. Shirts

In this episode of the Dialogue Out Loud podcast, we hear from Justin Goodson and Brian H. Shirts about their personal essays in the spring 2023 issue of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.

As the members of a disciplinary council were tasked to judge the sins of a man who had committed adultery and homosexual acts, Justin Goodson was forced to grapple with his own conflicting feelings. He was caught between personal conviction and religious belief, feeling the weight of judgement on not only the offender, but himself. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to condone the council’s decision but was unable to effectively oppose it, leaving him to accept a new reality in his relationship with his congregation and local leadership. Goodson’s write about his experience in his person essay, “Judging Israel.”

Drawing on his background in genetics, Brian H. Shorts explores what it means to have common ancestors with those around and how we can relate to both our past and our present communities in his piece, “Genetics and Gathering the House of Israel.”