Flunking Sainthood
Meet the Mormon Celtic Woman
By Jana Riess — April 27, 2015
Roll out the emerald-green carpet. Irish singer Alex Sharpe is back in the U.S. touring with Celtic Woman, and she's particularly excited to see fellow Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City.
A Mormon celebrates “I believe” instead of “I know”
By Jana Riess — April 23, 2015
"When will I *know* the Church is true?" Brighton Capua wondered. Without that knowledge, she found herself in the midst of a painful faith crisis. Now she understands that she was never supposed to know.
Questions about Joseph Smith? Join the Club
By Jana Riess — April 22, 2015
Seer stones. Plural wives. Masonry. Folk magic. Conflicting First Vision accounts. If you have questions about any of these, professional Mormon historians are standing by to assist you.
Missing Mom at the movies
By Jana Riess — April 21, 2015
Movies aren’t just entertainment; they’re memories of life and love. When I see a movie a second time I am always thinking about where I was and who I was with the first time. And Mom and I aren't making those memories anymore.
Why we still need Mormon youth dances
By Jana Riess — April 17, 2015
We need Mormon youth dances not just because they help teens learn to socialize, etc. We need them because we've lost nearly every organized activity that once existed in the Church purely for the sake of fun.
Beauty pageant shows Mormons missing the point of modesty — again
By Jana Riess — April 15, 2015
Has the Mormon definition of "modesty" become so impoverished that we buy into every consumer message of the surrounding culture with the single exception of the one about showing shoulders and cleavage?
Everything I need to know, I learned in Mormon nursery
By Jana Riess — April 14, 2015
Popcorn's popping on the apricot tree, and 11 other lessons that bestselling novelist Mette Ivie Harrison learned in Mormon nursery. (My favorite: church lessons can be short. Also, let's start using Playdough in Gospel Doctrine class. Please?)
How to pray, in one year and 37,000 miles
By Jana Riess — April 10, 2015
Jared Brock felt a little burned out and uninspired in his prayer life, so he embarked on a 37,000-mile adventure to do something about it.
Mormons are decriminalizing doubt. What’s the next step?
By Jana Riess — April 8, 2015
Talks like Sister Wixom’s are turning doubt into a legitimate topic of conversation in Mormon culture, and not a dirty word. Decriminalizing doubt and doubters is the first step. Our next task is much harder.
Mormon hecklers, traditional families and more: Recapping today’s General Conference
By Jana Riess — April 4, 2015
Hecklers in the Conference Center? Halfway through Mormonism's semiannual shindig, here are three takeaway points on what went down.
Author returns, exhausted, after 3 hours in Mormon heaven
By Jana Riess — April 1, 2015
The unsettling new book "3 Hours in Mormon Heaven" warns readers: get all your R&R in now, because there's no rest for the righteous where you want to be going.
Mormon missionaries’ escape portrayed in new movie “Freetown”
By Jana Riess — March 30, 2015
The independent Mormon movie "Freetown" is inspiring and well-told without resorting to heavy-handed preaching. Thumbs up! Filmmaker Garrett Batty talks here about making the movie, which opens in the US on April 8.
If you don’t like Mormonism, why don’t you leave?
By Jana Riess — March 27, 2015
People often ask Mormon novelist Mette Harrison why she sticks with the LDS Church even if she has some problems with it. "I believe in the principle of conversation and compromise," she says.
“Free BYU” campaign gains momentum as Mormon university’s accreditation nears
By Jana Riess — March 25, 2015
In a university that prides itself on its visible support for religious freedom, it’s ironic that its own students are not religiously free. It’s also unfortunate that something called an “Honor Code” implicitly encourages students who doubt their Mormon faith to lie about that fact in order to maintain their degree program, housing, and employment.
Mormon priesthood, racism, and following the prophet
By Jana Riess — March 23, 2015
Defending the priesthood ban as a righteous doctrine just so we can protect our need for to worship an idol that's predictable and in keeping with our own expectations is a violation of the first commandment.
Jana Riess
Flunking Sainthood
Senior columnist Jana Riess is the author of many books, including "The Prayer Wheel" (Random House/Convergent, 2018) and "The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church" (Oxford University Press, 2019). She has a PhD in American religious history from Columbia University.
