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“Black lives matter! That is an eternal truth.”

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

In mourning in the wake of the racist hate crime mass shooting in Buffalo, we are reminded of the words of Dallin H. Oaks at BYU a year and a half ago. “Black lives matter! That is an eternal truth.” Reports are currently suggesting that the shooter engaged in this act specifically to kill black people because of the color of their skin because he was afraid his own race was losing power. If these reports prove to be true, it is a despicable act. It mocks the Christian faith his despicable manifesto claims he wants to protect. As Latter-day Saints, our scriptures teach of many anti-Christs who teach damnable philosophies, and then murder to try and make them come to fruition. This murderer then joins a list of anti-Christs—a man who pulls people away from Jesus by perverting the gospel of peace. President Russell M. Nelson’s well-timed words the day after the attack remind us that we are all children of God. This senseless murder took the lives of ten children of God. Rather than allow ourselves to be desensitized to the racism around us by the constant calls of those who have diluted this idea, we should each work to root out the hate, racism, and identity politics that motivated this killing from our nation, communities, and our own hearts. The murderer hoped that his killings would intimidate those who looked like his victims. We pray this is not the case. We need all of our neighbors to feel comfortable, confident, and safe in their communities. We must do our best to stand shoulder to shoulder in ensuring that these intimidation tactics will not succeed.    

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Social and Cultural Implications of Russell M. Nelson’s Remarks

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

Sunday night President Russell M. Nelson spoke to members of the Church 18-30 years old. In his remarks, he encouraged young adults to not allow any other labels to come before three primary identities: Child of God Child of the Covenant Disciple of Christ He clarified that other identities can be important, but that there are significant eternal risks for allowing anything else to obscure our view of these core sacred identities. Certain voices online warned before the remarks that they would be “hurtful,” “terrible” or require cleaning up. Presumably, this is out of the growing perception that the plain teaching of the restored gospel is now harmful to those who identify among one of the “marginalized groups.” At Public Square, we are interested in how our convictions intersect with core issues being discussed publicly. So his remarks remind us that some of the top political columnists in the U.S. believe, “All politics is identity politics.” If our public discourse hinges so much on identity, is it any surprise that this is the topic the Lord would most want us to get right? His remarks have wide-ranging applications. One he addressed directly is political labels. We, of course, have published frequently, and as recently as last week, about the need for unity among Saints. Deprioritizing our political identities can help with this. President Nelson also remarked that if we prioritize other identities, we can inappropriately judge those who have chosen differently than us. He touched on many topics relevant to our discourse in the public square. He warned against prejudice and abuse on the basis of nationality, race, education, sexual orientation, gender, and culture. As we focus on our primary identities, not only can we improve ourselves, but that we can improve our relationships with others by focusing on their nature as a child of God first and foremost as well. That can also help unify us with Latter-day Saints by further recognizing our shared identity as children of the covenant and disciples of Christ. We hope that President Nelson’s remarks will have the effect of increasing discipleship, reducing prejudice, and increasing unity.

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Old Testament at BYU

C.D. Cunningham01 mins

Brigham Young University’s Museum of Art is opening up a new exhibit of Old Testament art. The exhibit, which focuses on the artist James Tissot, was planned to arrive this year to connect with Latter-day Saints’ study of the Old Testament in Sunday School. The stunning exhibit, titled Prophets, Priests, and Queens, can be viewed online or at BYU’s campus and can be used to supplement your own study or to help teach others. “I’m thrilled for visitors to get to know the Old Testament in a whole new way,” said the Museum’s Head of Education, Philipp Malzl. “At the same time, I hope visitors will recognize James Tissot for the complex, relentlessly hard-working, and deeply fascinating artist that he was—unapologetic in his commitment to a personal artistic vision.” Here are some of the paintings that will appear in the exhibit:

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Formula Shortage Hits White House + Today’s Digest

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

Our daily rundown of the articles from around the web that we feel our readers would enjoy and appreciate. We hope to highlight the best of what’s around. Public Square Bulletin recommends: Under Pressure to Act White House Says It Will Address Formula Shortage Annie Karnie—New York Times Last week I highlighted a distressing news story about a baby formula shortage. The Biden administration has recently spoken about the issue and has promised to find ways to address the concern. Factsheet: Overview of Refugees Fleeing Religious Persecution Globally United States Commission on International Religious Freedom USCIRF has released a report on what it calls an “unprecedented” global refugee crisis. Latter-day Saints who have been asked to help support in this area can benefit from the report’s bird-eye view of the situation. ‘If someone asked you why the priesthood restoration was so significant, what would you say?’ Joseph Smith Papers historian answers Morgan Jones—LDS Living Spencer McBride, historian for the Church focusing on Joseph Smith, sits down with Morgan Jones to discuss the restoration. His insights help put us in the mind of Joseph Smith and better understand his life and ministry. Deconstructing? There’s a coach for that. Ericka Andersen—Religion News Services A trend to keep an eye on, Religion News Services reports on an increasingly likely decision of believers to not merely leave their faith but to use the help of life coaches to try and deconstruct their beliefs so they can find a way to still identify with their faith tradition while rejecting its beliefs.

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Will Latter-day Saints find Themselves on the Left on Abortion?

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

This week Fr. Thomas Reese called on US Catholic bishops to start supporting the Democratic party if they do end up victorious on the issue of abortion. Reese argues that while ending abortion is an important priority for these bishops, once that goal has been passed they may find themselves more generally aligned with Democrats. Reese’s article got me thinking about how a major change in abortion law may affect Latter-day Saints’ political leanings. This will likely depend in part on how abortion law is settled. Whether a national legislative compromise can be reached or it does go to the states. But if the Supreme Court rules in Dobbs that there is no constitutional right to an abortion and the matter returns to the states, we may see Latter-day Saints shift significantly. There are currently ten states that, in this scenario, would outlaw abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. While the Church’s position emphasizes opposition to elective abortion for convenience, it does allow exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. To be clear, the Church itself does not favor or oppose specific legislative proposals. And yet if the large question on abortion shifts from whether or not elective abortion should be legal to whether or not there should be exceptions to allow abortion for rape or incest, Latter-day Saints may find their sympathies on the opposite side of the abortion debate. Just as not all Latter-day Saints today advocate that the law match the Church’s position today, some Latter-day Saints might argue that while the Church’s position is for the whole world, not every country needs to allow those exceptions. So I certainly don’t mean to suggest that every Latter-day Saint must shift, but it’s certainly worth noting as a potential future trend.    

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Christians Oppressed in China + Today’s Digest

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

Our daily rundown of the articles from around the web that we feel our readers would enjoy and appreciate. We hope to highlight the best of what’s around. Public Square Bulletin recommends: Dramatic story of Kyrgyz Christian swept up in China’s Uyghur repression gets very little ink Julia Duin – Get Religion While much has been said about the religious persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China, the same crackdown has swept up another religious minority group but with much less reporting. Is Jesus Worth Following at Any Cost John Piper – Crossway The chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary turns the modern conception of how Christianity can benefit the individual to focus on the deep costs of discipleship that Christ identified in this devotional piece. Towards A Theology of Encountering the World Ben Spackman Latter-day Saint Biblical scholar, Ben Spackman published an understanding how Latter-day Saints understand and interact with the broader world and culture. He writes a little bit about the paper in his blog. The Pulitzers still value opinion writing — and so do readers Rick Edmonds – Poynter If you read Public Square Magazine you probably appreciate editorial journalism. Media analyst, Rick Edmonds analyzes this week’s Pulitzer Prize announcement for the current state of opinion writing.

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Should the Church Pay Taxes?

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

Yesterday Paul Mero, a man I long admired, wrote an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune titled, “LDS Church should surrender its tax-exempt status.” Since I’ve been on the record previously calling the argument that Churches should be taxed “a terrible argument.” I thought I should probably try and keep the conversation going with Mero. In his article Mero makes a few points: The Church can continue its mission with less financial means Members of the Church will continue to donate because of their faithfulness even if it is not tax deductible Tax exemptions don’t protect the religious from government interference The Church’s tax exemption gives church critics a platform to criticize the Church on. Mero clearly means well. He believes that the negative effects would be minor. But I believe where his argument falls flat is in the benefit it would provide the Church. The only benefit Mero can suggest is that, currently, some critics argue that the Church should pay taxes. Sure the Church would certainly be able to survive while taxed, but those funds would be taken away from accomplishing the Church’s mission. And the only accomplishment would be to take one issue away from critics. But this criticism is not virtuous. It is almost always a thinly veiled attempt at religious discrimination, arguing that religious nonprofits should be treated uniquely worse than all other nonprofits. (Religious nonprofits currently have some benefits others do not. But arguments to tax churches don’t seek to remove those minor additional benefits, but to take from them a major benefit that all other nonprofits have.) And this is very unlikely to reduce total criticism of the Church. No one who criticizes the Church for its tax status is likely to join if they start paying taxes. And there will always be some new issue to criticize whether real or invented that will immediately fill the gap. Criticism won’t go down, it will just move on to a different issue.

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Could a Latter-day Saint Break the 2 party Monopoly? + Today’s Digest

C.D. Cunningham02 mins

Our daily rundown of the articles from around the web that we feel our readers would enjoy and appreciate. We hope to highlight the best of what’s around. Public Square Bulletin recommends: Will the Utah Senate Race Break the Partisan Doom Loop? Beau Tremitiere — The Bulwark Latter-day Saint politician Evan McMullin is an independent running for Senate in Utah against Mike Lee. In a very unusual move, however, McMullin has been endorsed by Utah’s Democratic party. Could this cross-partisan alliance signal a new way forward? Conflict in a Society without a Religious Consensus Rick Plasterer — Juicy Ecumenism This article certainly is not the first to suggest that a lack of moral consensus plays a major role in our current political tensions, but Plasterer does an enviable job of tracing the history of this fracturing consensus. Now in the spotlight, Dubai Jews struggle for public synagogue Isabel Debre — Associated Press With a newly announced temple in Dubai, Latter-day Saints may find this article about the Jewish search to find worship space in the city of interest as well. Bravo! The New York Times reports that evangelicals are divided, not united on politics Terry Mattingly — Get Religion The godfather of religious journalism criticism examines the silver linings in a recent article in the New York Times about the state of politics among evangelicals. How We Fought Each Other at Michigan Law Andrew Koppelman, Ilya Shapiro — Heterodox Academy Two law professors at the University of Michigan coming from very different perspectives on constitutional law questions describe how meaningful they find their debates, and how to disagree with one another better.

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