Flunking Sainthood

Overcoming Mormon doubt is hard when you’ve never been given the tools

By Jana Riess — April 8, 2021

(RNS) — LDS leaders want doubters to be able to magically know how to do something we’ve never taught believers how to do, which is to understand that we could be very wrong in what we are currently thinking about religion.

Mormon leader blasts some right-wing US extremists, but will they know he’s talking to them?

By Jana Riess — April 5, 2021

(RNS) — Latter-day Saint apostle Dallin Oaks just sounded the alarm about the recent actions of some Trump supporters in the United States. But the talk did not let liberals off the hook, either.

Younger US Mormons voted for Biden, but Trump performed well overall

By Jana Riess — April 1, 2021

(RNS) — Millennials and Mormons of color chose Biden over Trump, but overall, two-thirds of US LDS Church members voted Republican.

The Mormon Israel and the problem with “Let God prevail”

By Jana Riess — March 29, 2021

The overall idea of translating "Israel" as "let God prevail" ignores the original story, in which Jacob actively refuses to let God prevail.

The ‘nones’ are growing — and growing more diverse

By Jana Riess — March 24, 2021

(RNS) — ‘Church attendance is the first thing that goes, then belonging, and finally belief—in that order,’ says Ryan Burge, author of a new book on who is leaving religion and why. ‘Belief goes last.’

What the LDS church wants to know from young adult Mormons

By Jana Riess — March 22, 2021

(RNS) — A peek behind the scenes of a landmark survey of LDS church members reveals the stirrings of possible change.

No more live endowment sessions in Mormon temples

By Jana Riess — March 16, 2021

Something important is lost when we erase history in the name of efficiency and a franchised, on-brand temple experience.

“Allergic to religion”: Conservative politics can push people out of the pews, new study shows

By Jana Riess — March 12, 2021

Various studies have argued that one reason for the rapid rise of the "nones" may be a backlash against the actions of the Religious Right. Three political scientists have now proved that there's a direct connection.

Netflix docuseries ‘Murder Among the Mormons’ is TV worth watching

By Jana Riess — March 4, 2021

(RNS) — 'Murder Among the Mormons' is a gripping docuseries, and largely free of Mormon-bashing. If anything, it lets the Church off the hook a little too easily.

Racism at BYU is a problem, study finds

By Jana Riess — March 3, 2021

(RNS) — Mormonism's flagship university has issued a self-critical report of its own racism and lack of diversity.

Latter-day Saint Charities donates $20 million to UNICEF’s Covid vaccination campaign

By Jana Riess — February 27, 2021

The donation is the single-largest gift from any private organization so far in UNICEF's efforts to fight the pandemic.

Tish Harrison Warren, a rising star in Christian spiritual writing

By Jana Riess — February 26, 2021

(RNS) — Tish Harrison Warren's willingness to merge personal vulnerability with deep theological reflection has made her one of the most promising Christian spiritual writers of her generation.

On Joss Whedon, cancel culture and the Bible

By Jana Riess — February 25, 2021

(RNS) — I won’t be torching my Harry Potter books or throwing my Buffy DVDs on a bonfire. I’d have to throw my Bible to the flames as well.

The Mormon Jesus can handle your grief and pain

By Jana Riess — February 22, 2021

(RNS) — I hunger greatly for deeper connections at church, a frank acknowledgment that most of us are the walking wounded.

Leadership by old men: In Mormonism, gerontocracy is a blessing and a curse

By Jana Riess — February 15, 2021

(RNS) — With an average age of 90, top Mormon leaders are unlikely to be named in headlines about religious sex scandals. The cost of gerontocracy, though, is that they are also resistant to needed social change.

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