Patrick Mason’s presentation from the 2016 FairMormon Conference. The transcript can be viewed here.
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Patrick Q. Mason holds the Howard W. Hunter Chair in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, where he is also an associate professor of religion and chair of the Religion Department. After earning his BA in History from Brigham Young University, he attended the University of Notre Dame where he earned an MA in International Peace Studies and PhD in History. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of several books, including most recently Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt (Deseret Book and Neal A. Maxwell Institute), Out of Obscurity: Mormonism since 1945 (Oxford University Press), Directions for Mormon Studies in the Twenty-First Century (University of Utah Press), and later this fall an introductory college textbook called What Is Mormonism? (Routledge). A frequently sought-after expert on Mormonism and religion in American life, Mason has appeared in numerous media outlets including National Public Radio, the Today Show, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Huffington Post. He lives in Claremont, California, with his wife Melissa and their four children.
I am thankful for this talk. I am upset about the years that went by before we accepted the Black member fully into the church. I think we are too hard on the lgbt people and should find a better way to deal with them. I am not disappointed in the church in the whole because I wouldn’t have had a chance to make anything of my life without trying to live up to the covenants I made with God.
Thank you for posting this. This is a pivotal talk and I hope to see more thoughtful explorations of the benefits secularism can have inside our faith.
This is beautiful and a balm to my disaffected soul. I am neither completely in nor completely out of the church and I don’t know where I will ultimately land. But so much of this talk resonated with me. When I first started wrestling (my conscience vs. the prophet on Prop 8 was the beginning for me) I had no framework for dealing with ambiguity and nuance in my faith. We need to help people who want to stay in the church deal with these complexities with support and love. Thank you Patrick.
I read Patrick Mason’s book, “Planted.” I could not stop crying while listening to this talk though. More validation of what i have been going through over the past year and a half as I have been challened to “hold on” and ” be patient… we need you.” I have callenged myself to create change, transparency and not leave. PIVOTAL TALK! Loved it 🙂
Thank you so much for this talk. I found your honesty and open dialogue about the real issues to be refreshing. However, I kindly ask of you not to assume that those of us who left did so after a few casual glances at a website, podcast or the CES letter. I have spent years researching and studying. There was nothing casual about the rigorous approach I have taken to find what I believed to be the truth.
Now while I fully respect those who intensely research these things and are able to keep their faith in the church, I would greatly appreciate that people’s whose genuine and exhausting efforts to learn and understand take them out of the church also be respected by those who choose to stay. It should not automatically be assumed that those who leave haven’t invested the time and efforts or “done their homework” to the same level of scrutiny as those who are able to stay. Some are able to put all they’ve learned back together again, others aren’t. Neither side should be painted as weaker or less committed to their desire and agonizing efforts to find truth.
Again, thanks so very much Patrick for this talk. I wish I dared share this with many family members and friends, but many of them are not at a level of willing open-mindedness to be able to yet. I wish all members were as willing to take your approach in dealing with the issues surrounding those who struggle to stay. I’m certain many will benefit from your words.
Thank you, Val, for your kind and measured comments. I strongly agree that we need more compassion and understanding for those who don’t think like we do, or who have read the same evidence and come to different conclusions.
I firmly believe that social media and online message boards fuel the kind of sneering and mocking that we see almost everywhere. FairMormon divested itself of its message boards many years ago for that reason, but we still see much tribal chest-thumping and childish criticism taking place on Reddit, Facebook, comments on news stories, and other online forums, from ex-Mormons, non-Mormons, and Mormons themselves.
The Savior called (and calls) us to compassion and service, and that message is also taught by LDS leaders. As Latter-day Saints, I would hope that we could set the example for all concerning that.
Much of the talk was good but a few red flags stand out. He seems to be embracing the idea, which I’ve seen among some Church members, that the Priesthood ban was not divinely inspired and simply the result of institutional racism in the Church. This is nothing more than revisionist history fueled by the over-sensitivity about race in our age. Not only does it show a shocking lack of faith and low opinion of Church leaders and the revelatory process through the years, it also demonstrates ignorance of scriptural precedent we see in things such as the sons of Aaron and Levites in ancient Israel (Old Testament) and Pharoah being of the lineage that was denied the Priesthood (Book of Abraham). We’re seeing a similar “picking and choosing” among some members today regarding the gay issue. One wonders where they were all those years before it came to the forefront, if they slept through gospel doctrine class, or if they have never read The Proclamation on the Family. Statements are often made about “opening up more” to our gay brothers and sisters and that sort of thing, which is fine and proper as far as it goes. But one gets the feeling some of these voices, though they don’t come right out and say it, are hoping that the Church will change its doctrine regarding homosexuality and some even incorrectly try to draw parallels, non existent as they are, between that desire of theirs and the revelation on priesthood. We have also seen similar thinking among some who have pushed for women to receive the priesthood. The common thread in all of this are those members who seem to trust more in their own judgment than in the leaders of the Church or the scriptures. They’ll even point to certain scriptures or use historical examples as justification but, if not kept in check, these types often find themselves straying further and further from the Church, in thinking and belief, if not their actual membership.
Wow never in my wildest dreams would I think this would be a fair video .. brilliant!! How do you address through the prophetic mantle which sets the church out distinctly from other religions?
Jared Shipp, have you read the Race and the Priesthood essay published by the Church on LDS.org?
https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood
In it the current leadership of the Church disavows all racist ideas of the past. Further, the recently updated header to OD2 says that there’s no record of any inspiration behind the Ban, that Joseph Smith ordained black men, and that the brethren felt a revelation was needed to correct the practice. It stops just short of saying that Brigham Young was racist.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od/2
When you condemn members who feel that the Ban wasn’t doctrinal, you’re also condemning the current leadership of the Church of “revisionist history fueled by the over-sensitivity about race in our age. Not only does it show a shocking lack of faith and low opinion of Church leaders and the revelatory process through the years, it also demonstrates ignorance of scriptural precedent…” I know many members who agree with you, but at least in terms of the current leadership, you and they are on shaky ground.
Patrick is an excellent scholar, a humble and courageous man, and his approach is loving, bold, and hopeful. I was edified and enlightened.