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Volume 42, No. 4

Winter 2009

The Winter 2009 issue begins with Keith J. Allred examining exactly who "second Nephi" could be and what it meant for the Nephite peoples. This is followed by "What is Mormon Cinema? Defining the Genre," by Randy Astle who takes a look at the history of Mormon movies and Mormons in movies, and the cultural impact they have had on those both in and out of the church. This issue also features a fascinating and timely interview between Gregory Prince and Brent Rushforth about the use of torture on enemy combatants in the war on terror. To end this issue there are many personal voices, several beautiful works of poetry, and a work of fiction titled "Body and Blood" by Michael Palmer.

  • Topics
  • fire, cinema, polygamy, prop 8

Contents

Articles

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. 



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Fiction

Body and Blood



It’s six o’clock, time for dinner and Little House on the Prairie reruns. I walk up the stairs as my mom is pulling some string beans out of the microwave. She asks me if I’ll…



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Interview

Letters to the Editor

Personal Voices

Poetry

Reviews

Roundtable

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. 



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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…



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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…



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An Evangelical Perspective



As an evangelical Christian living in California, I had mixed feelings about the Christian community’s involvement in Proposition 8. I had just started attending a new church during election time. One Sunday, I was handed…



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The Political Is Personal



As a California native, I have a stake in my home state’s politics, especially on social issues such as same-sex marriage. I was living in Pasadena, California, in 2000 when Proposition 22, defining marriage as…



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Sermon

Volume Art