Flunking Sainthood
On Mormon tithing and a $100 billion investment fund
By Jana Riess — December 14, 2022
(RNS) — Tithing can’t be reduced to checking a box that says you support an insanely wealthy institution with yet more wealth and are suddenly right with the Lord because of it.
Death and the Little Black Funeral Dress
By Jana Riess — November 29, 2022
(RNS) — Each time I wear it to mourn someone I’ve loved, my dress becomes more steeped in love and history.
LDS Church is under fire in Australia
By Jana Riess — October 31, 2022
(RNS) — If the reports are true, the government of Australia has every right to be angry. This kind of financial practice looks terrible for the church. It feels covert and deceptive.
Are double ear piercings and sleeveless tops OK now for Mormon teens?
By Jana Riess — October 5, 2022
(RNS) — The LDS church just backed off telling Mormon teens what not to wear.
For many Mormons who question, Faith Matters is a spiritual lifeline
By Jana Riess — September 29, 2022
(RNS) — With a podcast, a magazine, a publishing imprint and a major in-person gathering in Salt Lake City in October, the young Faith Matters organization is on the move.
‘At Last She Said It’ podcast helps Mormon women find their voices
By Jana Riess — September 14, 2022
(RNS) — Cynthia Winward and Susan Hinckley dare to speak aloud what many Mormon women are quietly thinking.
Mormonism’s tortured genius
By Jana Riess — August 29, 2022
(RNS) — The big-C ‘Mormon Church’ will not save us. But the little-c church keeps a light of hope kindled in my heart.
Dear Mormons in a faith crisis: You’re not crazy, wrong or stupid
By Jana Riess — August 17, 2022
(RNS) — Your old faith, like the caterpillar’s body, used to serve you well, until suddenly it didn’t.
Are Mormons being oppressed and mocked on TV? If so, we’re not alone.
By Jana Riess — August 5, 2022
(RNS) — Are Mormons being singled out for religious persecution?
Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s photo discovered by descendant after nearly 180 years
By Jana Riess — July 21, 2022
(RNS) — A great-great-grandson of Joseph Smith Jr. found the Mormon prophet’s photo tucked inside a locket passed down for generations.
Oh, now I get it: Purging the word ‘Mormon’ is a bid for the mainstream
By Jana Riess — July 14, 2022
(RNS) — I’m still not a fan of the attempt to purge ‘Mormon’ from our vocabularies, but it makes sense as a piece of the larger assimilation puzzle.
Mormons now look liberal on abortion — by not changing
By Jana Riess — June 29, 2022
(RNS) — The GOP has swung so far to the right that Mormons’ nuanced abortion stance, once commonly accepted by fellow conservatives, now looks liberal by comparison.
In Mormon Utah, LGBTQ Pride celebrations meet a desperate need
By Jana Riess — June 10, 2022
(RNS) — Pride celebrations are taking off in Utah. They may be more needed there than just about anywhere else in the country.
I support gun control laws as a doctor and a father — and a Mormon
By Jana Riess — May 27, 2022
(RNS) — From Joseph Smith to Russell Nelson, LDS leaders have provided a rationale for gun control.
‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ raises the question: Are Mormons dangerous?
By Jana Riess — May 25, 2022
(RNS) — If ‘Banner’ undermines its own credibility by only presenting the horrific side of Mormonism’s founding, the contemporary LDS church undermines its credibility by ignoring the dangers of religiously inspired violence.