Nephi's Sisters

The Book of Mormon is written for our time. It teaches us about the pride cycle, the Zoramites' contempt for the poor, the Gadianton robbers; it shows us how social divisions, both economic and racial, contributed to a civilization's downfall. All these principles are well taught in our manuals and classes and have been incorporated into our narrative of gospel understanding.

But what if all those things were just symptoms of a much more fundamental problem going on in the Book of Mormon? What if the seeds of the Nephite's downfall were planted much earlier, before Lehi's family even arrived to the promised land? No, I am not referring to the friction and eventual split between Laman and Nephi. I believe the Nephite story is less about the generational effects of quarrelling brothers and more about the long-term social impact of an entire nation that persistently disregarded their sisters.

The Book of Mormon is, at its heart, the story of a family. We are introduced to a prophet named Lehi through his vision of the destruction of Jerusalem and accompanying theophany, but his main function in the narrative is that of father, traveling to the promised land with his wife and bickering sons. It really catches us off guard when we read in 2nd Nephi, long after the dramatic story of the family's journey in the wilderness is told, in some offhand comment nonetheless, that there were sisters.

With ample opportunity to name them, Nephi instead introduces his family this way: "And [Lehi] did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother, Sariah, and my elder brothers, who were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam."

Why does Nephi not think it is any more important to give us the names of Lehi's daughters than to record for us the names of Lehi's camels? What is the lesson for us in the Book of Mormon about women?

Over and over again, Nephite women are conspicuously missing. Overlooked. Forgotten. I mean, Nephi and his family are halfway down the road to the promised land before they suddenly remember that they need wives, the way a person might remember halfway down the highway that they forgot to pack their toothbrush.

I am no expert in ancient civilizations, but I would wager that Nephi was no less thoughtful and inclusive towards women than any other man in 600B.C. Context is everything in this story and, even among God's covenant people, Nephi was just probably functioning in the constructs of his ancient society. It probably does us no good at all to judge him harshly and according to our 21st century sensibilities. But some of us may be left wondering, "If a prophet, the mouthpiece of God, can't be inclusive towards women in the scripture, who on earth can?"

Well in 2021, we all can.

Dr. Joseph Spencer, a professor of philosophy and ancient scripture at BYU, suggests an interpretation from Jacob 2 that turned the Book of Mormon completely on its head for me. I borrow heavily from his presentation here, and from a chapter in his book from Neal A. Maxwell Institute here.

He suggests that we have good reason to believe that Lehi was trying to introduce to his sons a social model of gender that was different from Jerusalem society. It could be that he recognized the injustice and abuse against women in his society, and was inspired of God to create a new society in a new land. Jacob gives us these insights into the teachings of Lehi:

For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things. For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts. (Jacob 2:30-32)

Behold, the Lamanites your brethren...are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them. And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people. Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children. (Jacob 3:5-7)

And now behold, my brethren, ye know that these commandments were given to our father, Lehi; wherefore, ye have known them before; and ye have come unto great condemnation; for ye have done these things which ye ought not to have done. (Jacob 2:34)

The life of this particular remnant of Israel in the promised land was meant to be apart from the wicked traditions of their fathers, to become a society where women were no longer abused, excluded, or considered property—where husbands loved their wives and where monogamy was the rule. God separated Lehi and his family with a commandment that involved gender equality.

And thus, the rest of the Book of Mormon could be read through the lens of this question: How did they do?

Short answer: not good. Quite terrible, in fact.

Missing Women and the Downfall of the Nephites

Sariah is the only non-Lamanite woman who speaks in the first person, or is even mentioned, in the Book of Mormon. She is the wife of one prophet, and mother of another. She probably felt keenly the restraints put on her in this band of boys who seem to blunder along, forgetting all kinds of things and obviously not including her in the decision making process, having to backtrack needlessly. I am sure she sighed the way a mother does when she is halfway into town and her child suddenly announces he forgot to put on his shoes. In this position, waiting for her sons to return with the brass plates and worried that they might have died, she murmurs against her husband. "Behold, thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness."

The only identity afforded her in Jewish society, that of a mother, is at stake with the possible death of her sons, and her entire hope for a new life for her and her daughters is threatened. The most comforting words mustered by a prophet and compassionate husband do nothing for her. She is inconsolable, temporarily robbed of any sense of self on their journey to the promised land.

But there is a turnaround to her justified murmuring. With her sons' return, she emerges no longer just as Lehi's wife, and not just as Nephi's mother, but as a person with her own voice and her own testimony. She is her own witness. Sariah's reconciliation is given to us with her own words: 

"Now I know of a surety that he Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak."

Though she is testifying of her husband's calling as prophet, Sariah is nonetheless liberated by a faith that is at last independent of her husband, and she is given space on the gold plates to carve out her own witness. From there, she is provided the strength necessary to continue on her difficult journey to the promised land, even though she was soon after nearly brought to the grave on the ship by the men and their "exceeding rudeness."

Alas, there is no "Book of Sariah." She may not have even been literate, (though I like to believe she was.) But despite having only one verse to speak, one would at least hope that Sariah's would begin a legacy of incorporating women's voice and testimony into the Nephite record, engraving their words in gold alongside their husbands, brothers, and sons. But this did not happen. The nameless sisters in that first generation in the Americas, from the daughters of Lehi to the daughters of Ishmael, and continuing on in a long and tragic line of male-only generations all the way to a motherless, wifeless Moroni, prove that the Nephite's did not continue with Sariah's example if including women in the record.

From there on out, the only named women, the only women who ever speak in the record, or are mentioned by name, are Lamanite women. Abish. The mothers of the army of Helaman. King Lamoni's wife. The Lamanite Queen. All of these have a poignant place in the narrative. But if we try to find the same in the Nephites, we come up empty handed.

Without hyperbole, this eventually led to the Nephite's total destruction. It was their failure to "love their wives" that set them apart from the Lamanites and, as prophesied by Jacob, led to their downfall. However the Lamanites, who according to Jacob valued women at least more than the Nephites did, were spared to be redeemed in the last days.

One is left wondering that if women were treated differently in this ancient society, would the storyline be different? Would we still have to grapple with the tedious war chapters—the endless battles, the violence, the depravity—if women were valued the same as men in their society?

One BYU researcher I admire very much, Dr. Valerie Hudson, has studied and measured extensively different variables of how women are treated in nations around the world, and convincingly argues that "the fate of nations is integrally tied to the status of women in society." 

This can certainly be true of the Nephites. If we are looking to the Nephites as a model we should emulate, I believe we are reading it wrong.

So where do go from here?

Mormon and Moroni write to us on the hill as they witness the utter downfall of their patriarchal society, documenting in painful detail the cruelty and depravity, especially towards women, as outlined in Moroni 9. Moroni implores: 

"Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been."

O Ye Fair Ones: Mormon and Moroni witness the destruction of their people.

Without condemning, is it presumptuous to believe we can be "more wise" than the Nephites? If every attempt to create a Zion society in the scriptures has ended in disaster, what makes the restored Church any different? What do we have that they did not?

Well, for one thing, we have our unprecedented fight for global women's rights.

Moving Forward: Nephi's Sisters in Zion

When we look back on the progress that women have made in society over the past two hundred years since the Nephite record was extracted from the hill Cumorah—since heavenly messengers have turned their heavenly keys and Moroni has come to announce the Lord's coming with a trump—it has been very heartening. Women have gone from silent property to citizens with a voice in only a few short years. 

But how much more needs to be done? Well if the status of women is a temperature check on how well a nation is doing, I would say that given the state of things and the struggles we face worldwide, that the answer is "plenty of work."

Talking with the women in my life, some tell me they do not resonate with the claim that women struggle at church. Some say that they already do feel heard and involved at every level. Like Sariah, they have already made it onto the plates. I do not want to minimize their voice or their experience in any way. I am aware that many women already do speak in church, teach lessons, plan activities, participate in decision making, work in leadership positions, and some already feel like their voice is valued equally alongside the witness of their brothers and their husbands as they counsel and receive revelation together. I am truly happy for them.

But I also know that many women in this church do not feel included. Without changing any doctrine, there are some policies and church culture that could be changed to afford a space for some women to better reach their potential, especially if their spiritual gifts are not in the traditional sphere of caregiving and nurturing. Are women who feel excluded wrong in how they feel? Are they deceived by the feminists? Lost to the deceptive voices of the world? Is "all well in Zion, yea, Zion prospereth?" Are we pacified with the status quo of women at church? Do we spend more time decrying "radical feminism" and not enough time repenting and changing the ways we might be marginalizing women? In other words, if Nephi's sisters were to ask to write something to their posterity on our modern day golden plates, would we give them room to do so? Or would we just continue to let the men do the talking?

Last week at General Conference, I heard the voice of the Lord in the words of our prophet and apostles, and I felt the guidance and strength I needed. I was filled. But with only three women who made it to the pulpit, including the closing prayer, out of all 10 hours of the broadcast, I thought about how we can better fulfill President Nelson's plea for more women to step up and share their voices with us.

Of course, the Holy Ghost can teach us regardless of the gender of the messenger, and I do not mean to sow seeds of discontent in an otherwise marvelous conference. I sustain those who are specially set apart as special witnesses of Christ, and respect that they may be given priority in their messages. I do not claim insight into how speakers are chosen, but I do wonder: if there is no precedent for how women can speak up and share their voice at the highest levels, how can this happen on the ground? As one blogger writes, "You can't listen to women if they aren't invited to speak."

I do not know how much more needs to be done to give Nephi's sisters a voice and an identity today, but I am certain we can improve. I believe the first step to progress is to listen to our sisters, both those who are happy with the status quo and those who are not. I am not always the best at this, as my wife will hasten to tell you, but I am trying. Some of the necessary changes will come quietly, through the gentle voice of revelation. Others will require courage and a struggle. All will come from asking the Lord as we go to Him over and over again for guidance. Some of those changes to give women a voice will require official channels, but most, I think, are simply cultural attitudes that will fall away as everyday members persistently seek and ask how to include our sisters in the church. Regardless, it is going to take a lot of work. I do not believe God wants us to wait around for instructions on how to do this.

Unfortunately, many women are feeling more out of place in a church that is designed for Nephi. Young women in particular, I believe, are hungry for a church that is better suited to their needs. We have a rising generation of youth that is very comfortable asking questions and expecting cultural and official teachings that promote gender equality. We have young women who want to serve, but don't know how in a church designed by, and for, their brothers. 

And for the men, it will require active listening without assuming that we have already achieved equality in the church. Not yet, my brothers. Gender inequality is the most persistent, lingering result of the Fall of Adam and Eve. It is the foundation of the lone and dreary world. We will stay lone and dreary until we are side by side with our sisters as equal partners. The bride is not ready for the bridegroom. Bringing men and women together is the only thing that will bring us back into Eden's paradisiacal glory. At least, that is the symbolism I feel in the temple.

As contention increases inside and out of the church, we need more than ever a church designed by and for women as well as the men. We need the witness of Nephi's sisters to stabilize us, and while I might emphasize they are not responsible to "fix" the men, adding their voice alongside ours will stop us from falling into the same male-dominated patterns of contention like the Nephites did. Their voices are greatly needed.

Stay with Nephi

In the end, in spite of his weaknesses, Nephi's unnamed sisters remained with him. Nephi records, 

"Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words."

Today, I pray for the same. That our sisters will stay with us in Christ in spite of our shortcomings. That they will stay with me in spite of my numerous blunders. The only thing that will make this happen is mine and our repentance.

I know we have a prophet who guides us to safety in the wilderness towards Jesus Christ. I believe a large part of the ongoing restoration is the restoration of truths about gender equality. Just as the early saints kept their faith in Zion in spite of the failures of their leaders, in spite of the times when reality did not match with the ideal, we can forgive each other, bear with each other, and listen to each other.

For that to happen, we need Nephi's sisters to have a name. We need them to have an independent identity, and to speak and lead us on our journey. We need men to be proactive in allowing space for women to lead. We need both Lehi and Sariah's faith to be given equal weight on the record as we flee the wickedness of gender inequality at Jerusalem, making our way slowly, painfully, toward the promised land.

We need Nephi's sisters now more than ever as we continue to build our eternal families in the wilderness.

Beholding the Wind, the Earthquake, and the Fire

Tomorrow is General Conference.

It has got me thinking this week about how the Lord speaks to me, and how I can prepare myself to hear the voice of the Lord.

In the Book of Mormon, before the resurrected Lord appeared to the Nephites, there were some dramatic geological changes. Earthquakes, mighty winds, and fires broke up the rocks, buried their loved ones, and devastated their communities. In their disrupted state, it says "they heard a voice...and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center." (3 Nephi 11:3)

We have had some significant shifts in our socio-political landscape recently. I think I have more respect for the earthquake, the wind, and the fire than I ever used to. Most importantly, I appreciate the way this pandemic and the turmoil of 2020 has prepared my heart to hear the voice of the Lord.

Revelation Can Come from the Bottom

I used to believe that all revelation for the world must come from the top-down, from the prophet. I still believe that when it comes to official policies and changes to the church structure, this is true. I leave that to them. But I do not believe that the work of seeking and preparing for those policy changes leading up to those answers is up to them. It is my job to be a seeker, to ask my questions and engage with difficult issues until my heart breaks wide open and the Lord can speak with a whisper to my heart. If we just passively wait for God to speak to us by semiannual announcement over the pulpit, it removes our responsibility in the process of revelation. It would disengage us from the process, and not to mention make us very angsty and powerless. We might find ourselves wringing our hands when our leaders aren't saying the things we want them to say. We might wonder why our prophets act more like administrators, or like custodians of the church in Zarahemla, instead of crying repentance on the wall like Samuel the Lamanite.

The teachings of prophets at conference and throughout the year have stayed relatively constant: a pleading for faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and covenant making and keeping. The announcement of temples adds a bit of zing semiannually, but it is still a predictable part of the conference. Even the recent changes from our current prophet President Nelson that we breathlessly talk about, not to minimize their significance, are really more like "small and simple" policy changes, things like moving church services from 3 hours to 2, a new ministering program, young women can now hand out a towel at the baptismal font, older and younger men are realigned into a single Elders Quorum, women can give their nod as witnesses when a person goes all the way under the water, and single men can now serve in bishoprics. All these changes are just small shifts that reflect greater, much more miraculous trends in a changing world. If all we see are these policy changes, we might miss the "marvelous work and a wonder" part that the Lord is doing in the world.

When it comes to the social change that is required to make space for the restoration, it is a collaboration of many. Revelation of this kind is more likely to be bottom-up. Grassroots movements lead out to address major problems in our society, and we now have the technology to make these conversations go even farther, faster. Not all of these movements are good or inspired, of course, and some are downright dangerous spiritually, but when a group of people seek for something good, either within or without of the church, and as we seek the will of the Lord as these things flash across our news pages, it can open the doors for further revelations from God. 

The next step, it seems, is for the church to then quietly adjust its policies to reflect the revelatory changes that are already happening in the world. It is a much more inclusive, collaborative approach, with many good people outside the church being recruited by the Lord in the process of preparing the world for Christ. This can be frustrating to some who believe that the church isn't leading out more on serious issues, but I believe it is more in line with way God works. He doesn't do a job with one servant when he can use a million, so that more people, both inside the church and out, can receive the blessings of their service.

In short, we need to get over the idea that we are the only heroes preparing the world for the Second Coming. 

Too often we disparage the work that goes on outside of the church. The protests, the marches, the battles for a cause. Yes, sometimes it is loud. Sometimes it is messy. Sometimes it is complicated. It is always done by imperfect people, and we always need the spirit to know which political storms are bringing us closer to Zion, and which ones are taking us further away. And yes, we do need to be careful that we are not so caught up in the earthquake that we miss the still small voice that comes after. But the work of preparing the world for the second coming must first be loud, messy, and complicated. Slavery didn't end without a fight. Women's suffrage wasn't handed out without making some noise. Civil rights don't happen without a protest. With todays numerous issues, it is obvious that corrupt power will not relent to our demands quietly. Instead of turning our back on that work of preparation for God's Kingdom to expand, we can stand on the mount with Elijah and behold it. Be grateful for it. Feel the way the Lord comes quietly to His people after every noisy political storm. 

Beholding the Earthquake, Wind, and Fire

My mind keeps going back to Elijah's vision on the mount. Elijah had been called of God and retired to a cave, feeling completely overwhelmed and frustrated in his responsibility as prophet. It says, "he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." The Lord continued to feed Elijah in his dejected state for forty days by ravens. After that, the Lord asked, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"

In that moment, Elijah stood upon the mountain, 

"And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." (1 Kings 19:9-12)

Like the case of the Nephites, it feels like there is a preparatory role that the wind, earthquake, and fire must play before Elijah can receive the quiet voice of the Lord. These forces rend mountains, break in pieces the rocks, and make room for something else to move in. As we look around the world and see the political movements, the social change, the upheavals, the social media comment threads and arguments, the loud clamor of the world, we can see how it provides needed change and also the catalyst for our own quiet moments with the Lord. Joseph Smith would never have retired to a grove of trees without the "war of words and tumult of opinions" that prepared his mind to seek for the Lord. 

We cannot receive difficult answers without asking difficult questions.

Before the Restoration, there was the Reformation. Noisy men and women who broke up the rocks of religious persecution for us and were martyrs to make God's word available to the boy who drives the plow. Today, the work of breaking up the social and political landscape to make space for the still small voice is ongoing. The work of the noisy laborers goes forward in tandem with the stillness of the restoration. We may not like the sounds of jackhammers and bulldozers and nail guns outside our window, but we had better get used to it, because they are busy building our house. And maybe we should get out there and help throw a hammer, too.

From our messy efforts in whatever cause we feel inspired to enlist in, I believe that the Kingdom of God will always move forward quietly behind us, filling in carefully the spaces carved out for it by the winds and earthquakes and fires we make.

"But the Lord was not in the earthquake." The role of the church never was to be a major player on the stage of politics. That is a role given to regular, ordinary people, like you and me, regardless of our religion or lack thereof. By in large, it is up to us to do the work of asking and seeking for greater knowledge, not to wait idly by for Elijah, or President Nelson, or God's representative to mandate social justice from the mount.

"If you have desires to serve, ye are called to the work."

To Whom Shall We Go?

At the end of a pandemic year, and after a year of disappointments, disillusionment, and frustrations, perhaps feeling our spiritual hopes crash against the harshness of reality, some of us may be questioning our faith. We might see the failures of our own church to measure up to our ideals. Others may just feel underwhelmed. After so long being fed on pathetic morsels of nourishment brought to us by the ravens in a cave of pandemic isolation, we might feel the Lord asking us, as I have felt Him ask to me, "What doest thou here, Christopher?"

Or, as Christ asked Peter after so many left Him when He failed to live up to their expectations as a mover and a shaker in the political issues of their day, "Will you also go away?"

Last Sunday as I looked at the tokens of Christ's body and blood up there on the stand, and looking around the chapel at the good "small and simple" people gathered around me, I felt, as Peter did, the words in my heart, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)

What the church does is different from the earthquake, or the wind, or the fire. It is quiet. It is small and simple. It is "peace, not as the world giveth." It is the church of the same man who was found quietly doing good away from the power structures that existed in His day. His work takes place in the souls of men and women, filling the emptiness left by the storms, and healing the unseen woundedness of our hearts. He is the God of lepers, of blind men, and of the woman at the well. It was Calvary that defined His life the most. He was a great big giant letdown to those who wanted Him to skip the small stuff and overthrow the Roman Empire already and stop wasting time with simple sermons about faith and repentance and baptism, and then just up and die on a hill.

Whatever keys were turned at the start of this dispensation, whatever messengers are being sent today, whatever heavenly seals are being opened in preparation for the Second Coming, they are going to come from God to the whole world, and involve not just a few. I hope to be involved when I can. And always, like Elijah, I will stand on my mount and behold it all with wonder and thanksgiving, recognizing the hand of the Lord when I see it.

And after the earthquake and fire and wind that passes by in my newsfeed each week, I will make sure that I spend time with that still small voice, and return to Christ's sacrament table every Sunday, "that I may always have His [still, small] spirit to be with me."

So, considering all that has happened in the last six months, I will be looking for a still small voice, not an earthquake, tomorrow at General Conference.

The Fall of the Gentiles and the Gathering of Israel

So long, 2020. It's good to have you in my rearview mirror.

There were a lot of things that made me feel frustrated last year. Like, a lot frustrated. However, one of the things that really helped me put perspective on things was that old faithful book, the Book of Mormon. Studying it this year was good therapy. It calmed me down. It gave me peace. It helped me forgive. It helped me see that the political and social shifts going on around me fit into a larger prophetic narrative.

It was quite a ride reading the Book of Mormon alongside the news in 2020. The Book of Mormon reads like the fieldnotes of a civilization that fell apart, which is kind of what this year has felt like to me. Through it all, though, there is one insight that has really struck me this year, and it coincides perfectly with the message of our current prophet:

"There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than [the gathering of Israel.] There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing." (Russell M. Nelson, Hope of Israel, March 2019.)

Yes, even more important than a pandemic. Even more important than a tumultuous American election year. More important than any headline making waves today. Compared to the gathering of Israel, all the rest is just "fake news" in comparison.

The Book of Mormon says a lot of different things, but it seems to weave it all into one central narrative: there is a literal gathering of Israel. I have always been struck by the role that the Gentiles play in the gathering of Israel, but most interesting to me this year was how the scriptures explain that the Gentiles place in the spotlight would inevitably come to an end.

"These sayings which ye shall write [the Book of Mormon] shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of [Israel's] seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfil the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel.  

"And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father. Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter days shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them." (3 Nephi 16)

Who are the Gentiles, and what makes them so special?

The definition of Gentile varies in scripture, but it is clear enough in the Book of Mormon that in the last days, the Gentiles would arrive on the scene to possess the land of the Americas, and that through them the restoration would begin and the Book of Mormon would come forth. Based on the outline of history, the Gentiles in the Book of Mormon could refer mainly to those of European descent. 

Racial identity is always a tricky and problematic social construct to define today, but if you celebrate the Mayflower somewhere in your family tree, it is probably you. It is me. It is Europeans. It is, generally, white America. It is those who have held power in this country for the last 200+ years.

To understand the plot of this story, one has to understand the covenant that God made to Israel. To the descendants of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, God promised, among other things, land and power over their enemies. They were God's chosen people to receive the priesthood, and that the Messiah would come through them. But the Israelites were more than a little bit rebellious, they sought after other gods, and over time they were scattered. But the covenant still stands, and in the last days it is prophesied that they would be gathered back together like the branches of the olive tree, that "the last shall be first and the first shall be last." In other words, the gospel would be taken from them and given to the Gentiles. Thus Europe, not Israel, became the capital of Christianity.

However, the Gentiles are not the focus of the covenant. They are a means to an end in fulfilling the covenant. They are, in a way, dispensable. Mormon writes:

"I have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation." (2 Nephi 33:9)

Christ explains this further:

"But wo, saith the Father, unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles—for notwithstanding they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel; and my people who are of the house of Israel have been cast out from among them, and have been trodden under feet by them;

"And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them." (3 Nephi 16:8-9)

It is a horrible matter of historical record that Europeans have been anything but kind to the nations where Israel is most likely to be represented. The Native Americans in both the north and south were smitten and massacred and dehumanized; colonialism and greed desolated nation after nation; and racism has ever been an integral part of our history. Alongside our pious desire to spread the word of God through Christian missionary work, we simultaneously were also caught pillaging the resources and disrupting the political and social order of the nations where we were supposedly spreading a message of peace and love. As Europeans dominated the world, so did our abuse against Israel, particularly against people of color. It is precisely as prophesied, but justice for their wrongs is always a key part of God's promise to His people.

The great dramatic irony is that those same Gentile nations who scattered them would also be responsible for gathering them back again.

"Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

"And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me." (Isaiah 49 as quoted in 1 Nephi 21:22-23)

All this is common BOM Sunday School talk. Christopher Columbus, Europeans discovering America, the scattering of the descendants of Lehi on the American continent, Joseph Smith's role as a descendant of Joseph, and Ephraim's role in gathering Israel, grafting them one by one back into the tree through family history and missionary work.

But something that became more and more apparent to me in 2020, and something which is prophesied in the Book of Mormon, was how terribly white America would eventually flunk out of the gospel program, speaking generally.

After the injustice of the Gentiles towards Israel, the day comes when a centuries old power dynamic is to be absolutely reversed. The day of the Gentile is prophesied to have an end, and scattered Israel throughout the world will begin to take back their place as God's chosen people.

[Jesus says] And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.

And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them. And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.

Only after the Gentiles reject the gospel, then will God remember His covenant to gather up His people. The gathering is only just starting. If this description of the falling away of the old power structure to make way for the new one reads like the newsreel of today, you might be right.

If ever there were a time when, speaking generally, white America has turned away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, it may be now. Not only do we have the slow decay of godless secularism and general hedonism always growing in our society, but we also see moral decay from those who should know better---the Christian right. It feels like, more than ever, white Christians have lost their way. 

Even more troubling, antagonism towards those who have been scattered and oppressed---the literal House of Israel---is growing in America. Those in power are less and less interested in protecting the vulnerable, which was once the defining hallmark of American greatness. We are becoming less and less interested in "carrying Israel on our shoulders" and more interested in pursuing our own selfish interests. 

As Israel is gathered and grows in power and influence, so does the threat to old hierarchies. It is small wonder that white nationalists have started rallying in full force to protest the shifting power dynamic that moves decidedly towards the oppressed: blacks, Native Americans, and other people of color---basically any who were once marginalized, abused, and scattered. In other words, Israel. Tellingly, some even going so far as to chant angrily at pro-Trump rallies, "Jews will not replace us!" Unaware of Book of Mormon prophesy, the irony is certainly lost on them. Though this is admittedly a small minority, the feeling of being replaced or left out of society is the absolute fuel for the alt-right movement, and is widespread.

As a society, never before has our fall from Christian principles been as obvious as it has been in 2020. The cozy relationship that white America has made with some decidedly un-Christlike politicians, for example, and most notably the current American president, demonstrates (to me anyway) that the fall of the Gentile is well underway. White Christian men applaud politely while the ultimate metaphor for the collapse of Christian decency and moral authority, as embodied in the persona of Donald Trump, blusters on about immigrants and refugees, disregards the oppressed, spreads a steady stream of lies and mischief, protects the interests of the crooked and the shamefully wealthy, and acts with complete disregard, contempt even, for the vulnerable to whom he has responsibility, particularly in this pandemic, and all this with a Christian church as backdrop and an unread bible as prop. 

The current presidency gained momentum from the start by focusing on the fear of Latinos and other ethnic minorities, trying to halt as much as possible the gathering of Israel in the United States of America. All this, to me, has a parallel to the prophesies in the Book of Mormon, that literal Israel would grow in power and authority on the American continent, and that they would be seen as a threat to the unbelieving Gentiles. 

People have seen the changing face of America, perhaps even more so after seeing a person of color as president. Alarmed, they work desperately to bring back a time when God's chosen people were still white. Sensing their fall from power, there are many people who would like to "Make America great again," (white America, it wasn't so great for people of color) and do so without their arms open to the vulnerable, the downtrodden, and the stranger--to scattered Israel--which is a definite requirement of this land. 

Nevertheless, churches are filling up more and more with immigrants and ethnic minorities, and the gathering of Israel is taking place beneath our very noses. Meanwhile, white America is found less interested in ancient promises and more interested in defending their political and economic advantage. In this they will fail.

This tumultuous year may well mark the end of an era of Gentile spiritual stewardship and moral authority. The Christianity of the new predominately white alt-right movement has departed so drastically from the teachings of Christ as to be almost entirely unrecognizable. We can't undo what has been done.

And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor. (2 Nephi 26:20)

And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood. (1 Nephi 22:13) 

I can't think of a more dramatic demise to white America's place as moral authority than what has just transpired in 2020, as the great and abominable churches of political conservatism and liberalism tear each other apart, "drunken with their own blood." I fear it is far from over yet. And unfortunately, many latter-day saints are far too eager to be a part of it.

But the good news is, it gets better. Those willing to be a part of the gathering, no matter how little Israel blood they have in their veins, have great blessings in store for them. The gathering has less to do with race or any other category as it does with "healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captive, and opening the prison to those who are bound." (Isaiah 61:1)

Whoever they are, those who have been oppressed and abused (Israel) will be passed the baton of power in this nation as it passes out of the hand of the Gentiles. All the injustice, abuse, and pain of the centuries shall be made right, and the power and authority of Israel will be restored to them at last, both temporally and spiritually.

"And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver."

In other words, white America is going to get a thrashing if they don't get on board to help with God's covenant to the oppressed.

Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent, for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots; And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds. 

And I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.  

But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance. (3 Nephi 21) 

And there's the rub: This land is not ours. It is on loan to us, and only so far as we are willing to do the work in redeeming captive Israel can we be numbered as heirs with Israel to dwell in it. If we want to have a place in this land, we certainly can, but it's not going to happen while moaning about the immigrants, whether they come legally or not; nor by shutting our doors to the refugees, fretting about the Muslims, or denying that the face of America is changing. We can't chant "All Lives Matter" at God's covenant people. We can't build a wall to stop the gathering of Israel.

If we want to be a part of this land, we need to repent. 

Behold I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 30:2)

As outlined in the Book of Mormon, we need to do our part to gather downtrodden Israel. This is not necessarily a specific race, or one specific group, though we do have some clues. Israel is simply whoever we can find who has been downtrodden, marginalized, left out of the power structure, and abused. It is the ultimate affirmative action program. We need to be willing to carry Israel on our shoulders. We need to be their nursing fathers and nursing mothers.

One of the ways we carry Israel on our shoulders is to fight against racism. There are many ways to do this. We might support the influx of Syrian refugee families seeking asylum. We might work to help distressed families at the Mexican border, or speak out against deplorable human rights violations by the US government there. We may feel a desire to support our black brothers and sisters and march with them when they seek justice for centuries of abuse and ongoing racism. We might protest with Native Americans as they demand their rights to their land. Or, more simply, we might help whatever person we see who needs to be gathered, regardless of their nationality.

Gathering takes many forms, but refusing to be a part of the process may mean risking being torn to pieces spiritually by the emerging young lion of Israel among our flock of sheep.

But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel. And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father. (3 Nephi 16:13)

It's the only way to inherit this land. 

In conclusion, the Book of Mormon is not just a book about our individual relationship to Jesus Christ, but it is also about our relationship to each other. It is an instruction manual on how to crash a big ginormous family reunion that we are invited to, even if we are only very distantly related, even if we hail from the most far-flung, furthest remote islands from Jerusalem, even as far as the British Isles.

The Book of Mormon is both radical and progressive. It demands a new world order. It is a book that calls upon us to fight for equality and social justice. It invites us each to be individually grafted into the tree of Christ, and to help gather the original branches that have been scattered around the vineyard. It is a guidebook for peace and charity.

It is a book we need a lot more of today.

1 Nephi 22

2 Nephi 6

2 Nephi 26

2 Nephi 30

2 Nephi 33

Jacob 5

3 Nephi 16

3 Nephi 21

Undecorating the Tree

Our Christmas tree has got a lot of ornaments on it this year. It is borderline absurd, but it is full of nostalgia and I love it. I have tacky ornaments I made in kindergarten, mixed together with the delicate glass ornaments that we got for our wedding 14 years ago. There is a creepy Santa ornament from who knows where. We have a glass bulb that says "Adrien" on it, even though we have no idea who Adrien is. There are 'First Christmas" ornaments for each of our children, and then there are the special and carefully chosen ornaments of our kids from their aunt and uncle each year. There are even just random items that our kids thought to stick a hook on and hang it on the tree. It is all quite messy and very lovely. The lights manage to shine brightly through all the ornaments, and I can still feel the spirit of Christmas when I sit quietly taking it all in from the couch in the darkness.

But I have to admit, with all those ornaments, it can be hard to see the Christmas tree underneath all those decorations.

________________________________

Looking Beyond the Ornaments

When I was growing up, I remember being taught quite forcefully, "No matter what happens, no matter what trials or questions you might have, you always go to church." It was a good lesson, but I laughed just a bit to myself this year when the pandemic hit, and I was suddenly commanded by the prophet to stop going to church.

I wonder if, with all the well-meaning rigor of trying to point me in the right direction, the focus was too much on the church and not enough on the Savior whose church it is—a little too much ornament and not enough tree.

The truth is, I love church. I always have. I love the gathering, the rituals, the forced tittering that goes out over the congregation when the same old icebreaker jokes re-emerge at the beginning of a talk. I miss the awkward conversations in the foyers and the crying babies being taken out by their parents. I miss the smiley grandpa ushers at the doors. I miss the rustle of green hymn books. I miss the teenage boy slip-ups over the sacrament prayers and the too-long primary presentations, and that one blessed member who always gets up and bears their quirky testimony. I miss the full pews and the last-minute clanking of metal chairs in the back as more people trickle in. I miss the smiling, mask-less faces. I miss the pulpit kleenex box and the scratchy walls in the hallway and the basketball hoops hanging over the congregation at the back. And oh how I miss the singing!

It filled my soul up.

But, as it turns out, all of that stuff was just ornaments on the tree.

During the past several months, there have been times when, trying to reconstruct my weekly worship, I almost felt spiritually orphaned. Home church was wonderful enough, and of course I loved gathering for the sacrament in my living room with my kids, and being able to participate more intimately in the emblems of the Lord's Supper. But I admit that I felt just a little bit lost without the traditions, the social side of church, and unwritten parts of my worship that have grown up with me right alongside my own hardwood testimony of Christ. 

I never realized how much I would miss "rubbing shoulders with such good brothers and sisters."

But I think the time away was well spent, because it forced me to focus on something even more important than church—my own personal relationship with Christ.

All that stuff I have been missing you might call the form of the gospel. The ritual, the physical church building, and all the outward expressions of my faith that were expressed therein. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a vessel, a carrier of the message of Jesus Christ, and a very good one, I believe. But I think sometimes I have confused the form with the substance of my Christian faith. I wonder if I have sometimes been guilty of over-emphasizing the church over the Christ. It has been a hard lesson for me to learn.

Form vs Substance

It is very easy to talk about the form of our faith. It is the statistics. It is the number of operational temples, the growing number of wards and branches, the number of missionaries, the callings, the policies, the formal and informal liturgy, the callings, the people in the pews—all the outward expressions of our worship. They are measurable. We can talk all day long about the dollars spent (or not spent) on humanitarian aide, or the growing (or dropping) activity rates, the subject matter of conference talks, the policies, the programs, and even the most sacred and necessary parts of the gospel and why they are important. But it is much harder, impossible even, to measure the substance.

What is the substance?

The substance is Jesus Christ, a very real resurrected being who lives today to change our hearts and our behavior with his everlasting love and grace. It is hard to measure the substance of Christ, because it is manifest in so many immeasurable ways, like an increase of love for a neighbor, a strengthened family bond, the unexpected forgiveness of an enemy, a changed heart, or the redemption of a sinner.

Both the form and the substance are necessary—you can't have the substance of your faith without having some kind of container to carry it in—but focusing on the form rather than on the substance can be spiritually damaging. Nephi taught:

"And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words [the form], believe in Christ [the substance.] And if ye shall believe in Christ, ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day." (2 Nephi 33:10-11)

Nephi's method asks us to put our belief squarely on the substance, on Jesus Christ. If you don't believe in the Church right now, believe in Christ. If you really don't know how you feel right now about this messy church, for whatever reason (many of which may be well justified) well then, try just believing in Christ. Peel back the layers of ornaments and get a glimpse of the tree. Examine the substance, putting aside all the ornaments that may have overcrowded Him. Talk to Him. Listen to His Spirit. Faith in Christ will lead anyone to the path we need to follow Him in, in whatever form that may look like. Focusing on Christ leads us to make surprising changes, and take both the most wayward sinner and ardent believer to some unexpected places.

Basing our testimony on the form can be terribly limiting, because the form does not have any power in itself to save a soul or change a heart. The church's function is only to carry the substance of Christ's body and blood shed for us. The church is the imperfect vessel for the perfect Christ, and it must change, shift, mature, grow, recant, and make mistakes according to the times it is in, the inperfect leaders appointed, and the general sins and blindspots of a generation at any given moment. Having a testimony of the church without qualifying it with our belief in Christ will never end well, because the church is in a process of refinement as much as we ourselves are. Sometimes it leaks. Sometimes it has to change course and adjust the sails. But ultimately, if you want to know if this church works in its mission to bring you to Christ, you have to focus on Christ, not the vessel. In the storm, the disciples didn't turn to the boat to save them. They turned to the Savior who was sleeping in it down below.

Sometimes I think we care more about keeping up with appearances with the form of our worship than we do about the substance of our worship. We often tell those that struggle to keep white-knuckling it, to always go to church, "fake it 'til you make it," as if we are looking to the church itself for our salvation. While I have learned for myself that the ordinances of the church are a necessary step to bring a person to Christ, and that our willingness to engage in the programs of the church can be essential to our spiritual growth, maybe the topic of church should not be the focus when we feel like a loved one is drifting away. Telling someone to believe in the Church and then, hopefully, somewhere along the line they will end up believing in Christ, is exactly backwards to the method Nephi recommends. 

If we make Christ the focus of all our invitations, rather than the Church, I believe He will better shepherd our loved ones back to the covenant path, in whatever way that looks like for His children, and He will do it in His way and in His time. Instead of inviting to church, we should invite to Christ, starting with ourselves.

Over the past few years, our prophet has decreased church by an hour, then cancelled it altogether for most of this year. He has retired and simplified the programs. He has slowly (or not so slowly!) removed more and more of the bells and whistles of our worship, and repeatedly asked us to focus on Christ. President Nelson has emphasized the sacrament, asking us to re-examine the tokens of Christ's body and blood that we take into our bodies every week (which is a beautiful interplay between the form and substance of our worship.) He is consistently reinforcing the foundation we need in order to survive spiritually in this unstable world. That foundation is always Christ, not the church.

I will be the first to admit that this pandemic has been hard on me. I miss very much being able to participate unrestrained in the traditions and weird, wonderful culture that represents my spiritual heritage. I would love a good and awkward ward Christmas party right about now. I ache for the routines and rituals that gave me much needed support for my faith. Having it all stripped back to the absolute basics has felt like lion claws in my spiritual hide. But I think it has been good for me. Even after this pandemic is over, I can't imagine the church ever going back to where it was. This gives me a fair amount of anxiety, but also hope. We have grown out of a shell, in a sense, and I think we are getting ready to move into the next one. I look forward to witnessing that change. 

We really have changed in 2020, and so has the world. Removing the many ornaments that have been accumulating for 200 years on the branches of this tree has been hard, but necessary. 

I will continue to commit myself to the form of this church by keeping my covenants, but I am also grateful for this year that has taught me where I really need to place my focus: on the tree of life, on the evergreen branches of my Savior's grace, and on the only true substance of my faith.

Spiritual Questions, Scientific Questions

 

General Conference, April 2020

It feels like a long time since our prophet spoke to us and announced that temple work, missionary work, and church services would be altered significantly, or even put on hold. It was a remarkable thing for a prophet of God, the ultimate spiritual authority, to defer to public health and scientific experts to shape policy for the church.

"After prayerful consideration and with our deep desire to be part of the solution to this challenge, we have recently made many temporary adjustments to the way we worship and serve the Lord."

And then, shortly after, 

"We are grateful for the helpful direction that government, health, and civic leaders have provided to keep us safe. And we will continue to be prayerful and proceed with an abundance of caution."

As a former physician and as a prophet, President Nelson asked members of the church to follow public health guidelines, and to pray and fast for those affected by the pandemic.

Since then, things have changed for Latter-day Saints. We adapted well to church at home, and our  revamped ministering program announced over 2 years ago seemed divinely tailored to this new situation. Our priesthood authority is already planted in individual homes around the globe, and gospel teaching and weekly sacrament continued without interruption for many of us. This was truly our time to shine! Our community centered belief system should have made conquering this virus easy-peasy. Utah could have emerged as a beacon, showing the world a doctrine that teaches us about unity, care for the vulnerable, and cheerful obedience to authority, which could help stem a plague as effectively as rams blood above the lintel.

But that was decidedly not the case.

Right now, Utah has emerged as one of the global hotspots for the virus. The disdain and outright antagonism there for public health restrictions is (hopefully) a vocal minority, but it is much louder than it should be. And unfortunately in a pandemic, it only takes a minority for a contagious disease to spread out of control. And it is also all that is needed for the contagious spread of lies and misinformation.

Oh Say, What is Truth?

In this 2020 pandemic, one of the big questions that is being debated right now is who on earth has authority to proclaim truth about what to do. These are indeed times of uncertainty and social upheaval. To me, one of the prophet's takeaway messages in this pandemic is that when it comes to spiritual questions, he will continue to provide very much needed direction from the Lord. That is his responsibility forever and always. But when it comes to scientific questions, he prayerfully defers to the experts. 

During my lifetime, I have seen the problems that happen when a person rejects spiritual authority in favor of something else. When you reject the prophets, carving out your own truth and making yourself or worldly voices your new authority on spiritual truths, you are setting yourself up for spiritual chaos. Similarly, when you reject scientific authority, making yourself a sudden expert on infectious diseases and epidemiology after some hours spent in the rabbit holes of youtube and fringe media sources and websites, you are setting yourself up for public health chaos. 

And that is exactly where we are right now.

What happens when we begin to disregard scientific authority? Even members who are spiritually anchored can still find themselves "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of [secular] doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." (Eph 4:14) Just as we would be in a dangerous place if we were to say, "Prophets don't know what is right for me!" we are also in a dangerous place when we start to believe, "Overwhelming scientific evidence doesn't know what is right for me!"

What We Know

The fact is, we actually do know quite a lot about how pandemics work. We know how a respiratory virus spreads. We also know what works to make a virus stop spreading. We know all about the germ theory, that a virus doesn't spontaneously appear in your body from nowhere, but from contact with droplets of an infected person. This person may or may not know if he/she is infected. The virus doesn't care. We know that these droplets generally come from your nose and mouth. Wearing a mask over said orifices actually does work to stop these droplets from spreading. If you mask is medical grade, even better. Not reusing your crumpled juicy mask in your pocket day in and day out, and then going on to touch things with your unwashed, nose juice hands? That's public health nirvana. We also know that social gatherings is where most of the spread happens. Physical distancing, keeping your hugs and kisses and social gatherings to yourself, and washing your hands frequently is really going to make a difference. Because, science.

We also know that this virus is significantly more virulent than the flu. For example, John Hopkins states that COVID-19 has killed more people in the US in one year than the influenza has killed in the last 5 years. The death rate of influenza has been around 0.1%. The death rate for COVID-19 is more like 3.1%. This is a significant difference. Worldwide, 1.5 million(!) people have died, and this is likely an underestimate. As much as we would like to bury our head in the sand and believe that this is not a big deal, it just is.

Another thing we know is what our capacity is in the health care system. We know how many beds we have, and how many staff we have to care for sick patients. We know our limits, and we know when they are being pushed. We also know what happens when we don't have the capacity to care for sick patients. People die.

In the crass words of one conservative pundit, "Facts don't care about your feelings."

In spite of overwhelming evidence, these facts about the virus are being drowned out by loud and politically motivated individuals and groups that don't care much about scientific authority. This is particularly true in the United States, and for various reasons. Some groups rely on pseudo-science that works to tear down good research, basically the scientific equivalent of passing around anti-Mormon pamphlets. These groups have their own political interests and agenda. They will continue to call the pandemic a liberal hoax or "just the flu" because it is politically expedient to do so, facts and pesky scientists be darned. What do they care for the weight of scientific authority? Their efforts have effectively politicized this pandemic, making it much more difficult to control, and increasing death and loss of livelihood. 

This politicization is not totally unexpected in a world that is becoming more and more divided in the ongoing culture wars.

Truth Embraceth Truth

In the gospel, we are taught that scientific truth and spiritual truth fit together. "Truth embraceth truth" (D&C 88:40), and it doesn't matter whether that truth is spiritual or physical in nature. However, the process for obtaining spiritual or scientific truth are actually quite different. When we have spiritual questions, we go to the Lord. When we have scientific questions, we hunker down and do the research. 

Jesus Christ is the creator as well as the Savior, and he understands both scientific processes and spiritual ones equally well. The Lord can, and sometimes does, reveal things to us that may be considered scientific. President Nelson, for example, relates the time he had a revelation about how to perform a particular heart surgery and save a patient's life. But for the most part, and especially when it is within our ability, the Lord expects us to "study it out with our minds" (D&C 9:8) and seek for knowledge "out of the best books" (D&C 88:118). The Lord sent us to learn things from our own experience, to engage with scientific discoveries and increase our understanding of this incredible world. In short, we came to this earth to learn about things both physical and spiritual.

We get that mixed up sometimes. We rely on feelings when we should be relying on scientific evidence, and we rely on scientific evidence when we should be relying on our feelings. For example, some have pointed to a lack of scientific evidence for the Book of Mormon to justify them leaving the Church of Jesus Christ. The question about whether the Book of Mormon is true is a spiritual question, not a scientific one. On the other hand, some people are relying on their feelings about masks, vaccines. essential oils, or what have you, when we should really be relying on the evidence. We can't let our emotions override the findings. Most importantly in light of this pandemic, we don't determine public health policy based on our feelings.

Neil L. Anderson said, "Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers from God."

Likewise, we might also say, "Scientific questions deserve scientific answers from the united voice of experts and scientists across many fiends."

(And this should go without saying, but scientific truth is never, ever established in the newsfeeds and comment threads of social media, which is unfortunately where people are turning to more and more for their information.)

The Question of Authority

One of the problems is likely an honest ignorance about what constitutes good authority and good research. Not everyone can be a scientist or a public health expert, so we have to rely on the expertise and authority of others quite often, and this can be tricky. Is there anything wrong with this?

C.S. Lewis said, 

"Don't be scared by the word authority. Believing things on authority only means believing them because you've been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine per cent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I haven't seen it myself. I couldn't prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary man believes in the Solar System, atoms, evolution, and the circulation of the blood on authority-because the scientists say so. Every historical statement in the world is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Armada. None of us could prove them by pure logic as you prove a thing in mathematics. We believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them: in fact, on authority. A man who jibbed at authority in other things as some people do in religion would have to be content to know nothing all his life."

Unfortunately, some latter-day saints have gotten caught up in dishonest and biased research—unreliable authority—about various things. This is maybe not their fault. It is hard to know what is good authority based on a surface level perusal of the internet. For example, there is plenty of people with apparent good authority, claiming excellent credentials that state they have evidence that vaccines cause autism. Closer investigation shows that these studies and authorities are definitely not reliable, and their disregard for ethical rules and the basic scientific process becomes quickly apparent.

But unfortunately, it is infinitely harder to kill a lie than to tell one. In the tidal wave of information on the internet, falsehoods spread without restraint, and it can be hard to know what is good evidence and what is not. You can find "evidence" of nearly anything on the internet nowadays, from aliens that place mysterious monoliths in the Utah desert to fairies. How can we possibly know what is true? 

Because we can't know everything, turning to people we trust with background and expertise in that area is always a good idea. Getting out of the echo chambers of our social media accounts is also vital. Admitting when we are wrong, especially when we unknowingly spread misinformation, is difficult but always a good idea. What is NOT a good idea is to dig in your heels when the evidence is against you. It is an even worse idea to reject science outright, and then go on to believe, without evidence, that there is a widespread conspiracy among all the experts in that field, one so insidious as to involve thousands of physicians and medical examiners and researchers across many nations, and that in their everlasting snobbery and greed and hiding behind their degrees and years of academic effort, they are collaborating together to lie to you. This is not only ridiculous, but it is a slap in the face to these people, many of whom are sacrificing much and working hard to keep you safe. They are not perfect, and science is by definition an ongoing process, not an end result, so asking questions and engaging with the research is always a good idea, particularly if you are a scientist and have a way of legitimately entering the conversation. But the authority of science is not something that should be dismissed just because you don't like what it has to say. Evidence based research has brought us incredible progress, and to reject it is to return our society back to the superstitions and social divisions of the dark ages.

Conclusion

One thing we are fairly good at in this church is recognizing spiritual authority. We believe that prophets act as watchmen on the tower, seeing things we can't, and that they know what we must do in order to stay safe. However, culturally, I think we are far too skeptical when public health officials stand at their pulpits as a kind of watchman on the tower, and explain to us the looming crisis based on their research, statistics, and the invisible things they see under their microscopes. Maybe what we are missing is a basic respect for scientific truth and an understanding of the scientific method.

And yes, perhaps we do have good reason to be suspicious at times. In the past, there have been plenty of instances when science was unkind to matters of faith, and definitely overstepped its boundaries. I am not advocating for science worship, or to accept wholesale whatever science is selling to us in every situation. To place our trust in science is not the point. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm" (Jeremiah 17:5). We never throw out spiritual truths from God for the transient truths of man.

But God is always interested in evidence. "Faith is the evidence of things unseen" (Hebrews 11:1) and "the Spirit speaketh of things as they really are" (Jacob 4). We do not need to throw up our hands in despair, thinking we can't know anything anymore. This just isn't true. Just as we can all gain spiritual knowledge though a defined process, so can we engage with the evidence around us and listen to the united authority of those whose gifts and expertise we do not have in order to obtain a better understanding of the physical world as well.

Spiritually and scientifically, in order to conquer the enemy, we must act together in faith. Not blind faith, but faith based on the evidence of our own critical thinking and judgment, proceeding with careful humility and hope, and without fear. The truth can unite us, while misinformation will always divide. We will need to do better than fringy websites, conspiracy and fear driven belief systems, and crackpot politicians that are more interested in political gain than they are in your safety. In the words of President Nelson, "Good inspiration is based upon good information."

And in this brave new age of misinformation, we need to get a better handle on what good information really is.

The Election is Over (Kinda). Now What?

This has been a rough week/month/year/whatever.

The pandemic, the breakdown of civil discourse, the ignorance, the divisions, and then this deplorable, way-too-long American election—I think it has been exhausting for all of us, no matter where we land on the political spectrum.

If there is one thing that can unite us at this point, it is our shared misery.

I know that religion and politics are two things that you aren't supposed to talk about too much, but during the past year, our collective nose dive into chaos has made me wonder if avoiding difficult subjects is really a good idea.

It has also made me think about what the Church of Jesus Christ can possibly have to offer against these growing divisions.

It has made me think about some things we might be getting wrong.

Cracked Sandstone Foundations

In October Conference 2020, President Uchtdorf talked about the early Saints in Utah in the 1850s as they tried to establish Zion and build a temple. He said:

"Just as the temple foundation was nearing completion, an army of United States soldiers approached to forcibly install a new governor. Because Church leaders did not know how hostile the army would be, Brigham Young ordered the Saints to evacuate and bury the temple foundation.

"I'm sure some members of the Church wondered why their efforts to build God's kingdom were constantly being frustrated. Eventually the danger passed and the temple foundations were excavated and inspected. It was then that the pioneer builders discovered that some of the original sandstones had cracked, making them unsuitable for a foundation.

"Consequently, Brigham had them repair the foundation so that it could adequately support the granite walls of the majestic Salt Lake Temple. Finally the Saints could sing the hymn "How Firm a Foundation" and know their holy temple was built on a solid foundation that would last for generations.

If this sounds familiar given the circumstances in which we find ourselves today, it’s because it is." (God Will Do Something Unimaginable, October 2020 General Conference)

This year, as we have been forced to bury some aspects of our church worship in this pandemic, and now, as we slowly begin to excavate our foundations and return to church again, it may be a good time to ask ourselves, "What are some of the cracked sandstone foundations we have been building on? Is it possible that we may have made some mistakes trying to build Zion?"

1. The Gentile Dilemma:  Politics

About 8 years ago, I went to priesthood session in Utah with some family. There was the familiar buzz of brotherhood as we all crammed into the chapel in our white shirts and ties and made our way to the metal chairs at the back. One family member quipped to his young sons, "See that guy over there? He voted for Obama!" to which there was the sounds of teenage disgust and a chilling remark, "What is he even doing here?"

The warm feeling of unity and brotherhood I felt coming into the building immediately went cold. I wondered "If a worldwide priesthood conference cannot unite us, what on earth can?"

Both sides of the political spectrum have been engaged in a sort of "fight to the death" for some time now, basically the American political version of the Jaredite's last battle of extermination at Hill Cumorah. Unfortunately, this fight has spilled into our church culture as well. Because the church has been aligned for so long with conservative politics, the past decade has overwhelmingly marginalized people with liberal views, but it can certainly happen both ways. How does this happen? Hugh Nibley said:

I have been...much too easily drawn into what I call the Gentile Dilemma. That is, when I find myself called upon to stand up and be counted, to declare myself on one side of the other. Which do I prefer—gin or rum, cigarettes or cigars, tea or coffee, heroin or LSD,...Republican or Democrat, black power or white power, land pirates or sea pirates, commissars or corporations, capitalism or communism. The devilish neatness and simplicity of the thing is the easy illusion that I am choosing between good and evil, when in reality two or more evils by their rivalry distract my attention from the real issue. (Hugh Nibley, "How Firm a Foundation! CWHN 9:163)

As I mentioned, it is not just conservative members who have demonized the other side. Liberal members can look down in disdain at conservatives too. But, overwhelmingly, I have seen intolerance from Republican members towards Democrats. It ranges from suspicion ("OMgosh They voted Democrat, I bet they will be leaving the church soon) to outright antagonism (If you vote Biden, you support communism and killing babies.)

Increasingly, in our modern wasteland, we sometimes favor categorization over diversity. We divide the world into false binaries: good/evil, black/white, and liberal/conservative. For example, the American election took the incredible diversity of people with different political thought and opinions and attempted to squash every person into one of two parties. Over the past couple of decades, there has been an incredibly destructive polarization of nearly every issue. Suddenly, if you support humane immigration policies, you are immediately accused of killing the unborn. If you support tax cuts, you also support locking children in cages. You have to accept wholesale a political party and its leader, and to depart one iota on a complicated issue is to defect to the other side. Caught in this ridiculous binary, the space that the Constitution works so hard to protect, that specifically allows for diversity of opinion and a wide range of belief, is being whittled down into two insanely polarized groups: right versus left, conservative versus liberal, Republican versus Democrat. Ladies and gentlemen, arm yourselves for a Nephite/Lamanite battle to the death at Cumorah. Sleep on your sword. Prepare for civil war.

If the problem in America is a particular issue or seven, then it may be tempting to gravitate to the strongman that will fix it, that can own the enemy, wipe the floor with their liberal tears, and win the war. Vote for the president who can do this, no matter how divisive or ugly the method, no matter what character flaws he might have. But if the problem in America is actually our division, then our tactics will need to be very different. We will need to vote for someone who will unify us, not divide us. Then, and only then, when we are united as a people, can we come together to address any other issues that may be on our minds: tax cuts, immigration, abortion, gay marriage, etc. It is not one political leader or party that can save us in these culture wars. It is our collective unity and brotherhood.

It doesn't take a genius to note that our divisions are hurting our nation. And they are also hurting our church.

For years, I have sat in church classes where both students and teachers have discussed at length how "the liberals" are destroying the family, the church, the nation, and the world. How can we expect our brothers and sisters with liberal views to stay? At these times, I have looked around the room in these classes and seen faithful saints with their faces down, in obvious pain at the way they are being other-ized in a gospel that they love as much as anybody else. I have seen people hurt by insensitive and incredibly divisive social media posts of friends and family that only push away members who are sincerely trying to find their place in the gospel. At university, I watched helplessly as many of my friends found new and exciting ways to think about the gospel, and with a determination to stay faithful in the church, but over time started to feel pushed out. Some were called apostate just for voting for the wrong political party. Sometimes they were excluded or shut down in the Sunday School lesson. Other times they were just ignored, hoping they would go away and stop rocking the boat so that we could go back to talking about comfortable things. 

Eventually, many found that there was no place for them in their wards, and they left. Small wonder.

Would you stay?

In saying these things, I am not talking about who is politically right and who is wrong.  This is not about the "Gentile Dilemma." 

This is also not to say that we all don't have a very important right to express our opinions and views openly and freely. We do.

What I am talking about is how to create a culture of inclusion in our church. I am talking about putting down exclusionary language in the gospel. I hope we would never go the other way, and point to the people in our congregations and think, "See that guy over there? That man is a Trump supporter. What is he even doing here?" We need each other. Every one of us. We need to talk to each other, learn from each other, combine our different spiritual gifts and listen, regardless of our political views. The eye cannot say to the foot, "I have no need of thee." We need diversity to nudge us all along the path of spiritual progression. Losing our brothers and sisters in the gospel with different views is as spiritually stunting for us as it is for them.

2. The Tower of Babel

In the Old Testament, we read about how the people of Babel were trying to get to heaven by building a tower. Perhaps they had the City of Enoch in mind, and they figured that if the city of Zion could ascend to heaven, so could they.

"Go to," the people said, "let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. (Genesis 11)

Why would God disrupt their righteous goal to get to heaven? Wasn't their heart in the right place?  Well, perhaps they had fallen into the trap that there was a man-made way to reach God. They were united, to be sure, and "they had all one language," but it wasn't the right one. So the God of diversity made them speak a lot of different languages. Chaos ensued. From here on out, if they were going to try again, they were going to have to learn to speak one another's language.

One of our towers that we are erecting to get ourselves to heaven, I believe, is our politics. We who are trying to build our way to heaven may say, "And let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." We have to define ourselves somehow. We need a Latter-day Saint identity, lest we be "scattered" in the world. But sometimes that name we use to define ourselves is not Jesus Christ, and nothing else will do. "For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Do we have a different identity, a different set of beliefs that we are using to get to heaven, besides the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do we sometimes think that a certain set of political beliefs is necessary to get us to heaven? Some might call it conservatism, others liberalism, or Republican, or Democrat. Whatever name we use besides Christ doesn't matter. Satan doesn't care much which side of the horse we fall off on. 

Perhaps the current confusion in our political discourse is a little like the tower of Babel. Sometimes, trying to have a discussion with someone with different views feels like we are speaking a totally different language. We don't understand each other. But perhaps this time the only way to build our way to Zion is to learn to speak one another's languages.

3. Towards Inclusion

Sometimes I wonder how I can help friends and family who have left feel like they want to come back to church. I recently had the realization that maybe it is us that needs to change to bring our loved ones back, more than them. It may require more from me than making room on the pew. I need to make room for them in our culture. If only a certain "type" of person fits in, I mean really fits in—a red-blooded, white Republican who likes green jello—then how can I expect my inactive friends and family to return (who, I guarantee it, have also learned valuable lessons we could learn from, and have needed gifts they could share with us)? 

What if it was more about what they can do to fix us, rather than what we can do to fix them? 

Or what if it isn't really an "us versus them" scenario at all?

We need to stop with the quips and quotes like "No member can be good Mormon and a good Democrat." Put your artillery of out-of-context President Benson quotes away. Because nothing could be more intellectually and spiritually limiting than replacing the gospel with a political platform. Like the Zoramites in the Book of Mormon, I sometimes wonder if we have created for ourselves a scripted form of worship, one that leaves out Jesus Christ, that we preach atop our rameumptons of rigid political conservatism. "Thank you God that we are a more chosen and holy people than [the liberals.]" (Alma 31.) (No doubt some liberals could offer the same prayer!) Their homogenous and dystopian form of worship was maybe, at least in part, because the Zoramites had unceremoniously thrown out of their city all who disagreed with them. This led them to a dearth of diversity of thought. Diversity is the vehicle for learning and growth, and if we continue to push out members when their views don't fit in with a political narrative, we might just end up like the Zoramites, and we should not be surprised when our gospel experience goes stale and our Sunday School becomes an echo chamber.

Of course, our prophets are ahead of the game. The Come Follow Me program, together with a recent official endorsement of informal study groups and faithful podcasts and online resources outside of the correlated manuals, has opened up many doors for us to engage with new ideas and experience new perspectives. Who has not read the Book of Mormon this year and seen it differently than they ever have before? This pandemic has, interestingly, led us to some inspired time away from Sunday School, to discover some dynamic and innovative ways to engage with the gospel directly, most of all with the scriptures themselves. I believe it has helped us get beyond the tired manuals and scripted lesson plans of our past. The burying and excavating of our foundation in 2020 has revealed a cracked foundation that we can work together to replace.

It is important to state that I believe firmly that the core teachings and doctrine of Christ cannot and must not change. Certain commandments are not for us to revoke or alter. But there is enough pharisaical hedges around the law that we can legitimately clear away to make space for our brothers and sisters, and do so without dismantling the laws of God. As followers of Christ, our greatest strength should be our ability to love people who are outsiders, like He did, and nurture them gently onto the path of eternal life. We can accept each other as they are, and leave the changing entirely to the Lord. But unfortunately, this is something we fall on our faces with again and again. Myself included.

If we don't change our trajectory, the one that the Book of Mormon teaches us about, it won't be long before we are again classifying ourselves into "all manner of -ites," breaking down into tribalism along social, economic, and political lines. We will eventually reach the same epic downfall that the Nephites did. 

Truly, the gospel of Jesus Christ is all inclusive and has the power to break down all our petty divisions, because Christ's atonement is infinite and applies universally to all of us. We can put away fears and insecurities about our differences in this gospel, move on over, and make room both culturally and politically, putting our full faith in Christ's incredible ability to unite us while still preserving our beautiful diversity.

Conclusion: Hear Him

It has been 200 years since Joseph Smith, exhausted from so much ideological warfare, retired to a grove of trees to hear the voice of God.

"Nevermind, all is well—I am well enough off. I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true."

Those were the first words of Joseph Smith to his mother after he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in 1820.

Now, 200 years later, we live in a world that is again lost in a "war of words and tumult of opinions." This time, it is not about which church we should go to, a debate that has mostly died out years ago.

Today, the debate is about which party to join, how to interpret world events, what news source to go to, how to think, who to be loyal to, which policies are right, which philosophies to evangelize, which social media posts to share, which pages to follow. The debate is as intense now as it ever was in upstate New York in 1820, and I doubt that the arguments have changed much at all.

This year, our prophet has asked us to ponder the meaning of the restoration of the gospel, to celebrate 200 years since God told Joseph Smith to "join none of them."

We could all do with a little more sacred grove in our life.

We each can go to God and find revelation from Him that is entirely different from the old, tired, human arguments of whose interpretation of the world is right, and whose is wrong.

We all can witness the finger of God, which eternally points us to His Beloved Son, as he calls us each by name and asks us to "hear Him."

I truly believe this is the Church of Jesus Christ, but our politics and cultural differences, however right we think we are, should not distract us from who actually saves us. Him. Not our political or social views. The foundation, the rock upon which we are to build, is Christ.

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

 Everything else is just cracked sandstone.