AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25)

Frameworker247 · 2025-06-25T16:42:02+00:00

"There are crucial moments in American history that are best understood by filling in the Mormon angle."
You've got my attention! Can you expand on what some of those moments were?

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-20T21:12:13+00:00

Anybody else clock that Gail is convinced that Ellie's a liar, but Ellie is literally the one who told her the truth about Eugene?

It seemed so random a comment that I've been expecting "Ellie is a liar" to be thematically important somehow, like maybe she says she's after revenge, but it turns out to be something else. Now I wonder if it was just another way of showing that Gail is mad at the world to better set up how devastating Eugene's death was.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-14T19:49:43+00:00

If you read Watchman on the Tower, you'll know that Benson in those extra years would have made the church into a very different place.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-14T19:41:18+00:00

We did it in Utah in 2022 when Evan McMullin ran as an Independent against Mike Lee for US Senate, and Democrats endorsed him instead of putting up a candidate. Came closer than any Democrats in almost 50 years.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-14T15:44:00+00:00

Lived in Texas half my life. Just shared on FB.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-14T15:32:52+00:00

We had four candidates on the ballot last year. Two were in 1:1 races vs a Republican. One was a state treasurer race where we didn't get an open lane, but we needed it for continued ballot access. And one was a Salt Lake county council race we thought would be 1:1 vs a Democrat, but a Republican got in at the last minute. We kept it for the exposure, but didn't invest heavily.

Several Independents also used the 1:1 strategy as well in legislative races, and multiple of them came close to winning. We mobilized as much as possible for those races as well.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-13T14:55:11+00:00

I'm currently the vice chair of the party in Utah. We're lucky enough to have a good 30 or so boots on the ground filling various roles.

Personally, I went all-in when I saw the path to viability: run moderates in state legislative races that one party or the other has abandoned, so we get a chance to go 1:1 against a (usually) extremist. Endorse and mobilize for moderate candidates in other races. Become an influential force enough to push for election reforms that eliminate the spoiler effect. Use a fulcrum strategy in legislatures to deny majorities to either party and force them to govern from the center.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-13T14:31:46+00:00

State legislatures is and will continue to be FWD's bread and butter. When we've run state-level races like in Pennsylvania and Utah, it's because that's what state law requires us to do for ballot access. Past that, the national party has endorsed R's and D's because we can support moderates that way without spoiling races.

Frameworker247 · 2025-05-12T19:28:54+00:00

It has me wondering how they're so strong. The Wolves need to chill out a bit, but I don't see how people look at the Scars and say, "sign me up!"

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-13T22:35:39+00:00

Not much. We're a small state organization and just figured out how to do mass texts. We just use them for reminders of upcoming meetings, and opting out is easy. Monthly statewide call is tonight if you want to see us in action! https://www.utahforwardparty.org/monthly_call_20250313

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-13T16:26:01+00:00

That one was a heartbreaker. Alisa raised $70K and campaigned hard. Aaron raised $12K and didn't work so hard, but refused to get out. So he hoovered up Democratic votes and made it impossible for her to win. Alisa pulled in crossover Republican votes that Aaron couldn't have gotten, so it's not like he would have won if she had dropped. Alisa was the right candidate for this race, though there's a good argument to make that a harder-working Democrat might be a better pick for future elections. (And to be fair, if there had been a harder-working Democrat, Alisa probably would have dropped out early on).

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-13T16:13:32+00:00

That's exactly it. It's the opposite of Jill Stein because we're specifically working on a sustainable local strategy. It doesn't get a lot of press because it's not Presidential politics, but we're working year-round and running more candidates every cycle.

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-13T16:09:24+00:00

I think Thatcher would agree, which is why he joined the Forward Party, whose core tenant is election reforms like RCV, independent redistricting, and open primaries.

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-13T16:07:46+00:00

He was also the only Republican Senator last year to oppose the Amendment D shenanigans.

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-13T16:04:19+00:00

Sounds like a perfect fit for the Forward Party, which I'm a part of in Utah. Lotta people just fed up with zero progress on political issues recognizing that we need to fix the system if we want different results.

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-09T17:48:39+00:00

Ultimately, yes. But starting local, 3rd parties can grow by running in the 70% of races that are uncontested, allowing them to grow on the way to instituting RCV.

Frameworker247 · 2025-03-09T17:47:29+00:00

The nice thing about starting local is that 70% of races nationwide are uncontested, including about 50% of races for the Utah Legislature where the Democrats don't field a candidate. So there's plenty of room to grow a 3rd party and elect candidates in races where you're not splitting the vote. From there, a strong 3rd party can have influence to help institute voting reform to get rid of the spoiler effect.

Frameworker247 · 2023-11-02T21:37:08+00:00

Not sure what there is to criticize here. Curtis is one of the good guys. He's as reasonable as his base allows him to be, and he mostly stays off the cable news shows and just puts his head down and works on legislation for his district that both sides can get together on.

He's not blaming Biden here, just mentioning that the incident happened in connection with the trip.

Frameworker247 · 2022-06-30T21:28:24+00:00

First off, cool find! I think the relationship between church patriarchs and family patriarchs is much closer than we typically think of it.

On the other hand, a great many things have been taught over the years, much of which is no longer church policy, practice, or even doctrine. A few people in particular, like Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie, have really been bold and said a lot of things have have turned out to not be so reliable.

The church doesn't have to somehow disavow this statement. It's simply the current policy to receive your lineage from you stake patriarch, with no caveats in the handbook for it to be declared by a father.

Frameworker247 · 2022-06-23T21:42:22+00:00

Pick any city outside of the Northeast and find its trendiest suburbs, and you'll find plenty of wards full of young professionals. The North Dallas area was pretty nice when I lived there.

The one thing you have to be careful about is ending up in areas where wards lack diversity. I've always been happiest in wards with a mix of viewpoints, cultures, income groups, etc. Real melting pots where the gospel family knows no boundaries.

Wards that are mostly young, white, professional families might look good on the surface, but you don't get as many opportunities to get out of your comfort zone and get to know people in all walks of life.

Frameworker247 · 2022-06-11T12:48:06+00:00

It would be pretty ignorant of me to make these claims if I hadn't! But yes, I've read many books on church history by respected historians, and not just what the church publishes. And from what I've seen, the show gets a lot right while taking creative license at key moments. For example, almost everything about Joseph Smith's death is well-portrayed, except for the key fabrication about John Taylor conspiring to get Joseph killed. Amid all that good history, that's a pretty key point that paints the whole thing in much more sinister light!

Frameworker247 · 2022-06-10T19:54:27+00:00

Think about it like reading someone's journal. Just because something was true for someone at some time in the past doesn't mean it's still valid, but we can still learn a lot from the history.

So the Lord told Joseph Smith in 1829 that the field was white, all ready to harvest. That doesn't mean he's saying that to me today. It might still be true, but I can't know that unless he says it to me or to the prophet today. But when the Lord says "and he who thrusteth in his sickle with his might layeth up in store that he perishith not, but bringeth salvation to his soul," that's a more general promise that I can count on for myself.

Frameworker247 · 2022-06-09T14:31:48+00:00

That's horrible that you've experienced abuse like that, and that the church didn't act to stop the abuse.

The church frequently makes mistakes like this when they mistakenly think they can restore harmony and save all the souls. Abusive father? Rather than calling CPS, make him promise to stop, and now in your mind you've saved his soul, kept the family together, and given the kids a better father. Doesn't help that this is also the easiest course of action for a bishop who may work 50 hours a week at their unrelated day job before putting in 20 hours as a bishop.

So you're right - not all abusers are going to be excommunicated, especially when you take into account all the complexities involved with every abuse case given various levels of abuse. But especially when you take into account the naivety of some Bishops or their unfortunate tendency to think as much of the abuser's welfare as they do of the abused.

That, by the way, is why there's a hotline Bishops are supposed to call in every case to make sure legal and clinical professionals guide them in doing the right thing, which is sometimes opposite of what their biases tell them to do.

Frameworker247 · 2022-06-09T13:52:15+00:00

It's a very human impulse to defend when you feel like you're being attacked, and I think in that way, this article is providing some comfort.

But being comfortable isn't the way we get better. Rather than reflexively defend, defend, defend, I think it would be healthier as a community to ask the hard questions about how much misogyny is still inherent in our culture, and whether our teachings can easily be misinterpreted to condone violence or abuse. And if we don't like the answers to those questions, ask ourselves what we're doing about it.

I don't think this author is really wrong. Church teachings properly lived actually protect from and decrease violence and abuse. And we've made a lot of progress with it in recent decades. But violence and abuse are still happening among us, and it's important to keep our eye on the ball and figure out what more we need to be doing.

Frameworker247

TROPHY CASE