“Light cleaveth unto light”: Intermarriage discourse, LDS women of color, and the new racism

Fifty years after Loving v. Virginia, oppositional attitudes toward interracial relationships are still advanced by religious institutions in the United States. Extant social science literature characterizes these attitudes as generated largely by Evangelical and Christian nationalist traditions where members harbor negative attitudes toward interracial relationships. Hidden behind this characterization are the significant, but less obvious ways in which non-Evangelical denominations construct and disseminate similar attitudes. Through discourse analysis and digital interviews with LDS women of color, this study uses the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) as an entry point for examining intermarriage discourses in other faith traditions. Findings highlight that LDS messaging about interracial relationships shifted over time, integrating multiple racial frames in ways that expanded the scope of LDS racism with especially harsh implications for LDS women of color. Broader theoretical implications for the study of race, gender, and religion are discussed.

Utilizing Brief Spiritual Assessments with Clients who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

Social Work & Christianity ◽

10.34043/swc.v47i3.145 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 30-44

Author(s):

Gordon Limb ◽

David Hodge ◽

Richard Alboroto

Keyword(s):

Jesus Christ ◽

The United States ◽

Assessment Instrument ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

Church Culture ◽

Spiritual Assessment ◽

Mental Health Settings ◽

Consistency Strengths ◽

Growing Churches ◽

In recent years social work has increasingly focused on spirituality and religion as key elements of cultural competency. The Joint Commission—the nation's largest health care accrediting organization—as well as many other accrediting bodies require spiritual assessments in hospitals and many other mental health settings. Consequently, specific intervention strategies have been fostered in order to provide the most appropriate interventions for religious clients. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest and one of the faster growing churches in the United States. In an effort to facilitate cultural competence with clients who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ, a brief spiritual assessment instrument was developed. This mixed-method study asked experts in Church culture (N = 100) to identify the degree of cultural consistency, strengths, and limitations of the brief spiritual assessment instrument. Results indicate that the framework is consistent with Church culture and a number of practice-oriented implications are offered.

Development of the Genealogical FamilySearch Database and Expanding Its Use to Map and Measure Multiple Generations of American Migration

Genealogy ◽

10.3390/genealogy5010016 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 16

Author(s):

Samuel M. Otterstrom ◽

Brian E. Bunker ◽

Michael A. Farnsworth

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

Short History ◽

Large Cities ◽

The People ◽

History Of ◽

Genealogical Data ◽

Migration Flows ◽

The Church ◽

Family Trees

Genealogical research is full of opportunities for connecting generations. Millions of people pursue that purpose as they put together family trees that span hundreds of years. These data are valuable in linking people to the people of their past and in developing personal identities, and they can also be used in other ways. The purposes of this paper are to first give a short history of the development and practice of family history and genealogical research in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has developed the FamilySearch website, and second, to show how genealogical data can illustrate forward generation migration flows across the United States by analyzing resulting patterns and statistics. For example, descendants of people born in several large cities exhibited distinct geographies of migration away from the cities of their forebears.

Attitudes toward Mormons and Voter Behavior in the 2012 Presidential Election

Politics and Religion ◽

10.1017/s1755048315000048 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 60-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

George Hawley

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Presidential Election ◽

Party Identification ◽

The United States ◽

Vote Choice ◽

Voter Behavior ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

Active Member ◽

The Relationship ◽

AbstractPrior to the 2012 presidential election, some commentators speculated that Mitt Romney's status as a devout and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would undermine his presidential aspirations. Using the 2012 American National Election Survey, this study examines the relationship between attitudes toward Mormons and voter behavior in the United States in that election year. It finds that attitudes toward Mormons had a statistically-significant effect on turnout — though these effects differed according to party identification. It additionally finds that these attitudes influenced vote choice. In both cases, the substantive effects were small, indicating that anti-Mormon feelings did play a role in the 2012 presidential election, but they did not determine the final outcome.

Toward a Critical Refugee Study: The Vietnamese Refugee Subject in US Scholarship

Journal of Vietnamese Studies ◽

10.1525/vs.2006.1.1-2.410 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 (1-2) ◽

pp. 410-433 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Yêên Lêê Espiritu

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Vietnamese Americans ◽

Science Literature ◽

Global Context ◽

Vietnamese American ◽

The Social ◽

The Relationship ◽

Vietnamese Studies ◽

Vietnamese Refugee

This review of the field of Vietnamese refugee studies in the United States first assesses the social science literature that dominated Vietnamese studies during the 1970s and 1980s, showing how this scholarship produces Vietnamese Americans as the desperate-turned-successful. Then it reviews the current range of Vietnamese American scholarship, foregrounding the promising studies that situate the diversity and vibrancy of Vietnamese lives within a critical global context. The paper concludes by suggesting that we imbue the term "refugee" with social and political critiques that call into question the relationship between war, race, and violence, then and now.

Aftermath

Joseph Smith for President ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190909413.003.0016 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 199-206

Author(s):

Spencer W. McBride

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Jesus Christ ◽

Presidential Election ◽

The United States ◽

Church Leaders ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

Decision To Leave ◽

Joseph Smith ◽

This chapter describes the aftermath of the assassination of Joseph Smith. This aftermath includes mourning and a funeral in Nauvoo, debates over who should succeed Smith as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who the Mormons should vote for in the election, and the decision to leave the United States altogether. The Mormons were contemplating leaving the United States before Smith’s murder, but the violent act seemed to make this departure the only way forward in the minds of many church leaders. They had come to realize that without significant reform, the United States was incapable of protecting them. This chapter also considers the result of the presidential election of 1844 and what became of each of the candidates in the years that followed.

Epilogue

Mormonism, Medicine, and Bioethics ◽

10.1093/oso/9780197538524.003.0010 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 213-230

Author(s):

Courtney S. Campbell

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Universal Access ◽

The United States ◽

Humanitarian Assistance ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

Social Commitment ◽

Assistance Programs ◽

Basic Health ◽

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has not addressed the structure of health care delivery in the United States that is simultaneously expensive far beyond the levels of any other nation and yet fails to provide access to basic health services for nearly 10% of the population. The concept of adequate health care in LDS teaching on welfare principles provides a basis for constructing an LDS argument for universal access to basic health care. This epilogue draws on the examples of Church advocacy of health care reform in Utah—and Church priorities in international humanitarian assistance programs—to construct a framework of ethical principles to assess proposals and criteria for a social commitment to provide adequate health care to all citizens.

The Third Wave and the Third World

Pneuma ◽

10.1163/15700747-03702001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 177-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jon Bialecki

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Third World ◽

The United States ◽

Causal Effects ◽

Third Wave ◽

Science Literature ◽

The Third ◽

The Third World ◽

Charismatic Christianity

While a great deal of social science literature has examined the explosion of pentecostal and charismatic Christianity in the Global South as well as conservative and anti-modern forms of resurgent Christianity in the United States, little work has been done to investigate the causal effects of the former on the latter. Drawing from existing literature, interviews, and archives, this article contributes to filling that gap by arguing that in the mid-twentieth century, evangelical missionary concerns about competition from global Pentecostalism led to an intellectual crisis at the Fuller School of World Missions; this crisis in turn influenced important Third Wave figures such as John Wimber and C. Peter Wagner and is linked to key moments and developments in their thought and pedagogy.

The Role of Religious Leaders in Religious Heritage Tourism Development: The Case of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Religions ◽

10.3390/rel11050256 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 256

Author(s):

Daniel H. Olsen ◽

Scott C. Esplin

Keyword(s):

Jesus Christ ◽

Heritage Tourism ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

Religious Institutions ◽

Religious Leaders ◽

Sacred Sites ◽

Heritage Sites ◽

Religious Rituals ◽

For centuries, people have traveled to sacred sites for multiple reasons, ranging from the performance of religious rituals to curiosity. As the numbers of visitors to religious heritage sites have increased, so has the integration of religious heritage into tourism supply offerings. There is a growing research agenda focusing on the growth and management of this tourism niche market. However, little research has focused on the role that religious institutions and leadership play in the development of religious heritage tourism. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of religious leaders and the impacts their decisions have on the development of religious heritage tourism through a consideration of three case studies related to recent decisions made by the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Soviet Union and the Antarctic Regime

The American Journal of International Law ◽

10.2307/2202198 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 78 (4) ◽

pp. 834-858 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Boleslaw A. Boczek

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Soviet Union ◽

The United States ◽

Science Literature ◽

The West ◽

The Third ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

Antarctic Treaty ◽

The Antarctic

Ever since the Antarctic regime began the third, crucial decade of its existence following the entry into effect of the Antarctic Treaty in 1961, interest in the frozen continent has escalated. This interest has spawned an immense social science literature, which analyzes the diverse legal, political and economic aspects of Antarctica and the surrounding oceans. The Antarctic regime has been universally and deservedly hailed both in the West and, especially, in the East as an unprecedented example of peaceful cooperation among states professing conflicting ideologies and, one might add, belonging to adversary alliances—as witnessed especially by the participation in the regime of the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Yet much of the pertinent scholarly writing devotes primary or exclusive attention to the position of the United States within this regime; except for incidental references in some works, not one study has appeared anywhere that deals with the position of the Soviet Union on major substantive issues arising within the context of the Antarctic regime. This study will attempt to fill this gap by comprehensively examining the topic of Soviet participation in the affairs of the southern continent.

Terrible Revolution

10.1093/oso/9780190080280.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher James Blythe

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Nineteenth Century ◽

The United States ◽

American People ◽

Latter Day Saints ◽

History Of ◽

National Norms ◽

Violent Images ◽

The Relationship ◽

The relationship between Mormons and the United States was marked by anxiety and hostility. Nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints looked forward to apocalyptic events that would unseat corrupt governments across the globe but would particularly decimate the tyrannical government of the United States. Mormons turned to prophecies of divine deliverance by way of plagues, natural disasters, foreign invasions, American Indian raids, slave uprisings, or civil war unleashed on American cities and American people. For the Saints, these violent images promised an end to their oppression. It also promised a national rebirth as part of the millennial Kingdom of God that would vouchsafe the protections of the U.S. Constitution. Blythe examines apocalypticism across the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly as it would take shape in localized and personalized forms in the writings and visions of ordinary Latter-day Saints outside of the church’s leadership. By following the official response of church leaders to lay prophecy, Blythe shows how the hierarchy, committed to a form of separatist nationalism of their own, encouraged apocalypticism during the nineteenth century. Yet, after Utah obtained statehood, as the church sought to accommodate to national norms for religious denominations, leaders sought to lessen the tensions between themselves and American political and cultural powers. As a result, visions of a violent end to the nation became a liability, and leaders began to disavow and regulate these apocalyptic narratives especially as they showed up among the laity.