Summary – Pyre is interrogating Sam, who shouts scripture at him about the “one mighty and strong.” Pyre uses false details about the murder to trick Sam into revealing that he isn’t the murderer. The police chief is getting ready to release the brothers, so Taba stalls him while Pyre talks to Robin about his brothers’ involvement in the “School of the Prophets” and gets him to reveal two names: Bernard Brady, a Provo businessman, and Prophet Onias. The detectives follow up with Bishop Low and his wife, located at the end of the last episode, asking them about the excommunication of Dan and Ron. The bishop is reluctant to reveal details because of clergy confidentiality but eventually reveals that Dan was excommunicated based on the testimony of his daughters that he attempted to forcibly take them as polygamous wives. We get a flashback to a heartbreaking scene where Matilda has sex with Dan to distract him as her daughters escape out a window in the middle of the night. Dan was excommunicated, and the girls were placed with a family in the ward (as the bishop refused to call CPS) but later ran away, and now they and their brother are missing. At his daughter’s baby blessing, Ron confronts the bishop about his brother’s excommunication, not knowing about Dan’s attempted polygamy and thinking that it’s about his political beliefs. Brenda has a conversation with Sister Low and Diana, indicating that both know that Ron is abusing her but only Brenda is willing to do anything about it. In fact, Sister Low feeds Diana a line about how her only duty is “creating a home and environment to sustain and support our Priesthood holder.” To Detective Pyre, the bishop claims to have followed church procedure but eventually encouraged Diana to leave and gave her money to do so. The detectives follow up on Robin’s lead about Bernard Brady by arriving at his house in the foothills of Provo with a warrant. We find out that the Bradys sheltered Ron when he was having a hard time. In a flashback, Ron receives a summons to a church disciplinary court and blames Diana for it. He punches her in the face and begins throwing the food she’s preparing on the floor, saying he’ll starve her into obedience. Diana grabs a kitchen knife and drives Ron from the house, telling him not to come back. Back in the present, Bernard admits to being in the School of the Prophets study group and driving miles to pick up Prophet Onias and the Laffertys but denies being further into the group than that. But when he sends his wife out of the room to make lemonade, he produces a notarized letter he sent to himself with details of the Laffertys’ hit list, including that Diana is on the list because she wrote a letter that got Ron excommunicated. The detectives rightly chastise him for not taking this information to the police earlier. Brady reveals that he knows the location of “the farm,” a Lafferty compound. With Allen’s help in drawing a map, the detectives plan to stake out the property in the morning. Detective Pyre returns home for FHE and finds that his wife and kids have been invited to the bishop’s house for the evening and are spending the night there. Pyre believes this is an attempt to keep an eye on his family and control the narrative about the case. The next morning on the way to the raid of the farm, Pyre questions Brady about the details of Ron’s excommunication, which we see in flashback. He is indeed excommunicated after lashing out at the church leaders about them not following the “correct” doctrines of the church. When Ron returns home, he finds that his teenage daughter has cut the markings out of his garments, which he puts on anyway with only a sports coat and jeans over the top. He says goodbye to his kids and leaves the home. When the farm is raided, the only people inside are three teenage girls, who we learn are from a polygamous compound in British Columbia and were brought down by Prophet Onias to be Ron’s wives. The girls show the detectives a cupboard they had been forbidden to touch, which the detectives open to reveal a single shirt belonging to Ron with some papers in the pocket, a hit list, and a revelation directed at Diana commanding her to repent and return to him. Allen is in disbelief that Ron could have written these things, but Brady confirms that Ron is a violent man. He explains that Ron fled to his parents’ home after his excommunication, where his mother confirms his calling as “the one mighty and strong” and says he’s only a heartbeat away from his rightful place. His father is lying sick in bed and asks Ron to call a doctor, but Ron recalls his cruelty to them as children and refuses. It’s implied that he indirectly caused his father’s death in order to take over the leadership of the family. Church History—This episode contains the most fabricated piece of church history in the show. When Bernard Brady reveals that Diana’s information led to Ron’s excommunication, he makes an analogy to Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. He claims that while Joseph was in hiding after destroying the press of the Nauvoo Expositor, Emma wrote a letter to Joseph encouraging him. John Taylor intercepts this letter and adds a line meant to make Joseph turn himself in, thus indirectly causing the prophet’s death. Taylor’s motive is to put Brigham Young at the head of the church, instead of Emma’s young son, in order to continue the doctrine of polygamy, which he and Brigham are already heavily involved in. Reputable historians both in and out of the church say there is no evidence to support this interpretation of events, though the succession crisis between Brigham Young and the ten-year-old Joseph Smith III is real and
With gender identity and transgender questions at the forefront of public discourse in recent years, the need for discerning the truth is as critical as our care for those navigating these questions.
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: The war over parental rights has begun Carl R. Trueman—World In his ever careful way, Trueman looks at the recent tensions between parents and the school boards that serve them. He looks at some of the philosophical underpinnings that might prevent this issue from being easily resolved. Cemeteries Remind Us of The Importance Of Religion Grace Bydalek—The American Conservative Thomas S. Monson famously loved visiting cemeteries. Grace Bydalek explores some of the reasons why, considering what the distilled messages tell us about what is most important in our lives and how it conflicts with what is valued outside the cemetery walls. A Disappointed Supporter Allyson Flake Matsoso—Philosophy of Motherhood Matsoso has recently written a two-part series for Public Square reflecting in part on the significance of Jordan Peterson in helping her understand her role as a mother. So we wanted to make sure you saw this take where she reflects on Peterson’s recent Twitter controversy where he called a magazine cover model “not beautiful.” How the church should respond to the rise of anti-Semitism in America Jordan Wooten—Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission A think tank for the Southern Baptist Church published an article looking at the alarming rise of antisemitism and what their church could do about it. The ideas are practical and should be of interest to those of other faiths looking to answer the same question. Breaking Down Texas’ Disruptive New Social Media Law Andrew Egger—The Dispatch A new Texas law will go into effect that prevents social media sites from viewpoint discrimination. The law echoes similar public square laws such as those about malls in California. The Dispatch has an explainer of the many ramifications of the new rules.
A viral article about Latter-day Saint female influencers and abortion advanced a claim that stretches the truth while raising important questions about the status we continue to give the influencer class.
I wanted to draw your attention to this stat from religion demographer Ryan Burge, which has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the third most attended church in the US on an average Sunday. On an average Sunday, there are nearly 20 million Catholics in the pews across the United States. There are 6.7M Southern Baptists. 3rd largest group is Latter-day Saints 4.4M fill the pews each weekend. That's more the United Methodists and the Assemblies of God combined. pic.twitter.com/IwCbD6mozt — Ryan Burge ? (@ryanburge) May 19, 2022 The 4.4 million in attendance is also a positive sign for activity rates in the US Church.
In the weeks since the premiere of the Under the Banner of Heaven miniseries, there has been a broad consensus that the show doesn’t quite work. Its attempt to paint Latter-day Saints as promoting violence just doesn’t land. And its depiction of Latter-day Saints simply doesn’t resonate because it’s too dissimilar. This of course must come as some disappointment to critics of the Church who had hoped the series would prompt more conversations around the issues they deem problematic such as how the Church promotes violence. Into this void comes a new argument made most prominently by Taylor Petrey, but also echoed by a student columnist at the University of Utah, and now promoted on Twitter by Benjamin Park—namely, that because there has been some violence done by some Latter-day Saints who use the language of their culture in perpetrating it, Latter-day Saints should watch the series with the intent to learn how to make their Church less violent. Both Petrey and Park had previously criticized the series for its poor job in portraying Latter-day Saints, but have since shifted. We don’t want to attack the Daily Utah Chronicle piece because it’s a student article. But Petrey and Park should know better. Some of us have been on the record defending Petrey as a serious scholar, despite the fact that his conclusions don’t often derive well from the available evidence. But Petrey seems to suggest in his article that any violence that uses the language of religion must have been inspired by that religion. We understand the temptation of this point of view. What else could we blame violence on if not the culture it arose in? But Petrey’s position assumes that human beings are naturally non-violent, and only become violent as a result of their culture. This is a major assumption in the Robert Orsi essay that Petrey relies on extensively. Parks’ tweets similarly assume that any conversation about Latter-day Saints and violence must concede that the faith contributes to the violence in some way. But the causes of violence are often complicated. Because of the importance of our innate nature in creating violence, even the most peaceful society would still produce fringe examples of extreme violence. Having a Latter-day Saint who becomes violent isn’t proof that the faith contributes to that violence, even if the perpetrator uses the language of their culture in perpetuating that violence. Cultural contexts can then increase or decrease the likelihood of that emerging, but no culture has discovered how to remove it altogether. And because Under the Banner of Heaven fails to present a clear picture of what most experience as Latter-day Saint culture, it doesn’t do much to establish whether a Latter-day Saint context is more prone to cause violence than others. Those who use Latter-day Saint or another religious language and context to perpetuate violence weren’t necessarily made violent by those cultures. But rather, violent individuals will leverage anything around them to perpetrate their violence. We’re aware of many other similar examples—of abusers, for instance, who used the language of therapy to perpetuate abuse. But it would be absurd to suggest that therapeutic culture caused that abuse. Even pacifist language has been known to be used to perpetuate violence by shaming survivors into silence. An abusive person will draw upon the most powerful language available within their given cultural context and weaponize that. This is not coincidentally the conclusion made by prosecutors in the Lafferty case, that the murder was about power and relationships and that religion was merely the pretext. Does the Church of Jesus Christ disproportionately create violent offenders? We’d be interested in reading any definitive social science research on the question, but unfortunately, those promoting this point of view or hoping to have this conversation have not yet presented any. And rather than attempt to answer this question clearly itself, Under the Banner of Heaven skips the question and takes it as a given. A study of this sort could start the conversation Petrey, Parks, and the student author hope for. Instead, we get a story about a 38-year-old murder that was notable mainly for how unusual it was among the Latter-day Saint community and perpetrated by someone who had recently been kicked out of the Church for their extremist views. It should not surprise anyone that it hasn’t prompted anyone to conclude there’s a problem with violence among Latter-day Saints.
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: What Sex Really Is Aubrey Pollnow—First Things The latest from First Things is remarkable for two reasons. First, it explores implicature and the lengths Amia Srinivasan goes to in her most recent book to avoid being seen talking to the wrong people. Second, it provides a pithy but complete defense of a traditional sexual ethic. Tibet: No Religion Allowed in Social Media Short Videos and Webcasts Lopsang Gurung—Bitter Winter China has set new regulations for social media use in Tibet. Videos shared there cannot mention religion. The rules around this regulation are ambiguous, and enforcement remains to be seen, but this should spark major concerns for any religious freedom advocates. Is “Be True to Yourself” Good Advice? Brian S. Rosner—Crossway Rosner answers the title’s question by basically saying it depends on how you define “yourself.” And then spends the bulk of the article look at the new and sometimes problematic approaches to defining the self that have become socially dominant. The recent prophetic focus on identity from Russell M. Nelson suggests this kind of analysis may be helpful. What is the Church? Chad Nielsen—Times & Seasons An exploration of the remarks most meaningful to the author from general conference, Chad Nielsen examines Reyna Aburto’s talk, tying it into the larger picture of her ministry and earlier remarks. Pro-Abortion Rights Protesters Hit Catholic Churches: Why You Didn’t Read About It Clemente Lisi—Get Religion In the wake of a leaked Supreme Court ruling implication abortion, many have chosen to channel their frustration with hateful and bigoted acts targeted at Catholic churches, including in some cases vandalism and theft. But this story was largely missing from the popular press. The essential religion in media critics at Get Religion have an insightful answer.
I wanted to draw your attention to the work of Brian Grimm who runs the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation. Next week his organization will be hosting a conference in Washington D.C. where prominent leaders from Fortune 500 companies will be speaking about the valuable role of religious pluralism in their workplaces. You can learn about one of the speakers here: Dr. Judith Richter from Religious Freedom & Business Fund on Vimeo.
A charming local news story out of Guam on Tuesday praised The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who donated 324 wheelchairs to local support agencies. Be sure to read it here. I was particularly pleased to read the paper report, “The wheelchairs have been well thought out as they come in multiple sizes and extra cushions for comfort and are also durable in Guam weather conditions.” These kinds of local donations from locals who understand local needs are often at the heart of the best Christian service. And while the recently released report demonstrates the breadth of the Church’s charitable efforts, it’s still these local reports that best demonstrate the heart and giving spirit of Latter-day Saints.
Much has been said about the Christian nationalism present in the hate crime mass shooting in Buffalo, including by us in the Public Square Bulletin. In fact a search for “Buffalo Shooting” and “Christianity” all center on the Christianity of the shooter, whether decrying the role religion played in leading to the shooting or taking efforts to separate religion from the actions of the shooter. But little has been said about the faith of the victims and community. This is a common thread in media reporting on tragedies, focusing on the way religion influenced perpetrators, but not how it helped heal victims. Religion News Services interviewed Rev. Denice Walden about the attack, and she was able to turn the focus to just those too-often underreported questions. Walden said, “We’ve also put out a call to clergy to just be a presence in this community. Just be a presence of peace, a presence of comfort, a presence of love in this community. Because at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to help us start to process. That’s what’s going to help us start to heal.” After the climax of a tragedy has passed, and the journalists move on, those remaining are often left with the long work of healing and community building, and it’s there where religion shines.
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: How Politics Poisoned the Evangelical Church Tim Alberta—The Atlantic This insightful feature looks at Pastor Bill Bolin from Brighton, Michigan, following how politics have affected his church while placing it in a broader historical context. It’s Not Progressive Christianity, It’s Accommodationist Christianity, and It Has Nothing of Christ In It Tom Gilson—The Stream Tom Gilson seeks to reframe the debate as not between progressive and conservative Christianity, which can coexist peacefully together, but rather between what he sees as traditional Christianity and a Christianity that seeks to undermine Christ to appeal to the largest group possible. Why are Sexually Transmitted Infections Surging? Kim Tingley—New York Times Sad news out of the New York Times reinforces the importance of the Church’s counter-cultural stance on sexuality. This news sadly comes at the same time as news that marriage rates hit 50-year lows. Approaches to Ending Race-Based Violence Ayaan Hirsi Ali—UnHerd After Public Square’s staff editorial yesterday on approaches to end violence, I wanted to highlight this article by human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali who adds additional approaches by looking at how violence victimizes the black community specifically. Meet the Democrat who may be America’s fiercest advocate for religious freedom Hanna Seariac—Deseret News Katrina Lantos Swett, a Jewish child of Holocaust survivors, human rights advocate, Democrat, and Latter-day Saint, invites everyone to make more seats at the table
