How do we know what news to trust, particularly in election seasons? Skepticism plays one part, but we also must learn how to trust responsibly.
When heroes like Tim Ballard face allegations, it shakes public trust and prompts reevaluation of beliefs. The fallibility of influencers, especially within religious communities, reveals the danger of elevating individuals over core principles.
While the Washington Post sheds light on the Church of Jesus Christ’s finances, it overlooks key perspectives, instead allowing our critics to speak for us.
When Latter-day Saint women ask, ‘Should I serve a mission?’ they’re looking at a transformative journey. Mission service refines their personal growth, broadens academic horizons, and cultivates professional skills.
The events of this last week bear witness to something troubling all right—but it’s not quite the trouble you’ve been hearing about in the national media or on Twitter.
It’s surprisingly easy for people online to pretend to be someone they are not. Don’t be fooled. Learn how to spot a propagandist masquerading as a truth-teller.
The New Yorker published a story last week about the authorship and provenance of the 1971 book Go Ask Alice. The book is presented as the diary of a teenage girl, but a new book suggests that it was composed by Beatrice Sparks, a woman who claimed to only have found the diary and edited it. The article is a fine read, asking interesting questions about the ethics of publication, and the difficulties of identifying authorship. But near the end of the article they include this line, “As a few ex-Mormons have pointed out, Sparks was not the first Mormon to publish a text ostensibly based on an original source that the rest of the world did not get to see.” The line takes a not-quite veiled swipe at the founding of the religion that Sparks was a member of. I can’t help but wonder if Sparks was a Catholic, would the author have been as comfortable opining, “Sparks is not the first Catholic to put out a book where the original sources aren’t available.” This kind of winking attack feels more fitting on the ex-Mormon Reddit than in a major publication like the New Yorker.
A small note today. Both The Courier and The Times in Scotland have run headlines largely advertising the faith of a couple cleared of abuse charges. Mormon bishop and midwife from Dundee cleared of abuse charges after five-day trial Mormon bishop and wife cleared of child assaults This is no surprise, as our study showed, media outlets are much more likely to use the word “Mormon” in connection with negative news. This illustrates the long-felt frustration that Latter-day Saints’ faith is only public in negative circumstances. This frustration perhaps is doubly felt this week, after the recent Washington Post article about influential Latter-day Saint journalist, Jack Anderson, left out his faith entirely except to note that he could not be assassinated by poison, because he didn’t drink.
Many commentators feigned shock with the recent Huntsman lawsuit. They shouldn’t be. Similar “publicity stunt” lawsuits have been going on for a long time.
