I had a dream

I dreamed I was ready to go back to church for the good community and support we could find there. I woke up and thought, maybe I can do this. I dreamed that maybe we can make it here, in the South. Maybe, with strong, loving community, we can live full lives here.

Then I remembered all the reasons I left. I remembered all the reasons I would share with my community if they would give me a voice. But they spent years silencing me. My dream is gone, now, and I'm lying awake wishing I could share my life with you, but you would have to show me you hear me. Without that I can't give my body, my time, and my soul to you, even if it would feel safe to quietly partake of your love for a returning lost lamb.

You would have to hear my cry

You fear immigrants

Many of you fear immigrants. You grab on to the carefully worded caveats of cowardly leaders that we must welcome immigrants while respecting laws. So you say they have to come the right way.

What is the right way to come?

What is the right way to flee starvation? What is the right way to leave when your farm dried up because of climate change? What is the right way to flee gangs that will kill or conscript your children? What is the right way to flee a government that can't or won't protect you? What is the right way to run to a hope of freedom? A hope that with hard work you can raise your children in safety, and maybe rise from poverty and fear? What is the right way to come to America?

You are riled up with fear

In your fear, many of you support a man who kidnapped children to keep their parents from coming to America. In your fear you think we can't integrate so many foreigners into our way of life. In your fear you think leftists are trying to replace true Americans with foreigners. Love has no room for these fears.

You fear women

You fear trans women

Many of you fear women who weren't born looking like women. You fear they are making a mistake or sinning when they change their appearance or body to become the woman they are. You fear that a trans woman might win a sporting event because she has some extra testosterone. You fear a man might pretend to be a trans woman to sexually prey on girls. You fear they will decide they are men after all and regret their previous choices. You let this fear make laws to oppress these women and control them.

And if you don't fear these women, you still silently let your neighbors fear them, and let them vote for politicians who oppress trans women without calling them to repent, as the gospel commands.

I do not fear trans women.

If a trans woman or girl makes a mistake, I will do what I do with anyone close to me. I will love and support her in her hard decisions and in her ever changing life.

If one wins a sporting event, I will say, you go, girl!

If one wants to use a women's bathroom, I will remember that men have been sexually preying on girls for millennia without pretending to be women to do it. I will remember that men are the biggest danger to girls, to women, to trans women, to boys, and to other men. I will vote for laws that actually keep people safe, not those written by and for fear.

If my neighbor speaks fears and lies about trans people, I will not let it pass unchallenged. I may be gentle. I may not fight. But I will speak. I left because I could not speak by myself to the every week drum beat of “you are wrong, you are wrong, you are wrong.”

I tried to speak with patience, love, kindness, and generosity for years. I know you knew I was different. You heard the dissonance with the love, and you accepted me. But you never spoke up with me. You never changed. You made me say the same things, over and over just to protect myself. Just to be myself among you. And you would never let a trans woman be herself among you.

You fear women's bodies

Most of you fear a woman's sexuality. You teach that, unless tightly controlled through proper dress and behavior, it will corrupt men and boys.

I trust women to dress themselves. I trust men and boys to decide wisely and respectfully how they will interact with women, and to not blame women for their choices. Of course we will all make mistakes, but I'm not going to blame a woman for mine.

You fear women making choices

While women are encouraged more to have a voice on councils, every decision ultimately rests with a male priesthood. Any decisions made by women are a gift from God sanctioned by men. Men control the money. Men control who speaks. Men are instructed that it is their duty to regulate speech and to correct “doctrinal errors.” Institutional choice ultimately rests with men, without exception.

I do not fear women making choices. I support my women bosses and respect the expertise of my women colleagues. I vote for radical women that you speak of as cautionary tales of how our nation is falling from truth and righteousness. I believe women should have the priesthood and be equal voices in number, wealth, and position in the church and in our government. You fear such change will be our destruction. I believe it is our only path to salvation.

You fear abortion

You recognize that there are times when abortions are right. But you fear so much that women will make a bad choice that you vote for politicians who try to stop all women from making any mistakes.

Not only are you wrong to deny your trust to mothers in deciding what is right in their lives—that is Satan's plan, after all, to stop anyone from sinning—but you are wrong that very many of them are making a mistake when they choose an abortion.

It is a hard choice. I would never want to be faced with it. That's why, after four kids, when my body, my wife's body, and our time, energy, and patience were stretched so thin that we questioned our ability to raise the children we have, I had a vasectomy. Another child would have destroyed my wife's health, both physical and mental. It likely would have done the same to me. It would have stretched out finances to breaking—pretending that other circumstances weren't already pushing us to constant insecurity. And we are in so much better of a position than the majority of women who seek abortions.

I'm 2022, 87% of women seeking abortions were unmarried. 66% were racialized women (Black or Hispanic), and another 8% were foreign. 61% already had at least 1 child. You all know the problems that come with being a single mother of color. If you don't speak of it outright, you speak about it in code often enough. These are the women your laws want to control.

I do not fear these women, with trained professionals assisting them, making the best choice they know how in circumstances that I have been spared. Let God judge them, and let us show them love, compassion, understanding, and support.

You fear that taking our guns is taking our freedom

I drove through a small town where a mortuary displayed gravestones for sale unironically behind a sign for a gun shop.

I do not fear common sense gun regulations. Universal and enforced background checks. Denial of gun rights to domestic abusers and others with violent pasts. Limits on ammunition sales and magazine size. Requirements for training and safe storage. If we need a new amendment to make it happen, we can do that. Making amendments is supposedly part of the Constitution.

And if you think it's a mental health problem, I support widely available, government funded mental health care. You can, too. You don't have to be afraid of it.

I do fear weapons

I fear politicians endlessly funding the military industrial complex. I fear weapons manufacturers using their taxpayer funded wealth to lobby for more taxpayer money.

I fear disaffected and disillusioned men with weapons. I fear for them, too many taking their own lives with guns. I fear their using their easily acquired, easily lethal guns to kill innocent children. I fear arming everyone, thinking that if everyone is ready to shoot the bad guys we somehow will magically stop shooting people.

I fear for the young men who feel that the military is their only chance at a good, financially stable life. I fear at our willingness to take advantage of their need. I fear at our willingness to scrimp and save on caring for them after they gave their health for us. The hoops we are willing to make them and their families jump through to get the benefits we promised them when they signed up.

I don't fear someone like Bernie Sanders who calls for an end to our endless wars and at the same time calls for us to respect and fully fund our promises to our veterans.

You fear equity and diversity

When others raise up women and people of color in large numbers to lead us, you run the other way with your votes. You elect white men. You elect a few women and people of color who exactly toe the party line. If one steps out of line, even if it is to tell the truth about a liar, a rapist, a thief, and a would be dictator, her political career is ended—no matter how quintessentially Republican she is in every other way.

And if you aren't running to elect the next white, male, Christian, anti-abortion, wealthy businessman to office, you don't feel like you can say anything about it at church. So you don't, except to a few sympathetic ears. And nothing changes. No one repents, or even knows they should.

You fear government

You think that government is corrupt, that it wastes money, that taxes are theft, and that regulation and government run services are anti-freedom, anti-capitalist, and anti-American. So you elect corrupt leaders, who prevent the IRS from collecting taxes from the wealthy, who (since Gingrich in the mid 90s) never compromise to get government work done if it doesn't help the party, who try to break government services like Social Security and Medicare, and who deregulate or turn over regulation to the wealthy and to the businesses being regulated. You let rich people and corporations run our government. You let judges who are bought by wealthy men rule on our laws.

Then after fulfilling your own prophecy, you self-righteously reassure each other of how you knew you were right and how it's all a sign of the times that the world is ending and God is coming, soon.

And if you don't believe these things, you still can't call it out as evil. Or at least you won't be heard. Or you'll be reminded how the things you say are what the Soviet Union did—even though the truest similarity between the Soviet Union and American policies are how repressive and exploitative, authoritarian policies destroy peace and prosperity.

I do not fear government

Government is our way to work together to usher in the Millennium. As Brigham Young taught, we have to prepare the world for Christ's return by building Zion. Government is our way to build Zion with others who don't share our religion.

Government is our way to build a society without rich and poor. A society that is no respecter of persons, but treats all equally. A society that is peaceful and safe for all. I believe we can build Zion through the hard work of democratic government, and that we can never build it through authoritarian government, or government run by money. I believe we can build Zion through respecting diversity and choices that don't oppress or harm others. I believe we can build Zion by giving voice and power to the many, diverse groups that live within our country.

I'm awake now

I wish my dream could come true. I can't go back. I miss your community. I miss people who would love and look after our children, as we looked after yours. I miss singing with you. I miss believing we could build Zion together.

But Zion is a place where there are no rich or poor. Zion is a place where those fleeing violence can find safety. Zion is a place of love, where we trust God to save us from our fears. We have to act like a Zion people to build Zion. I'm awake now, and I can't go back, even though I miss you.

“I won't stop short for common ground that vilifies the trodden down.” -Become You, Amy Ray, Indigo Girls

I found a 1960s-70s protest song that has been an enduring anthem in Italy. It has been covered by some of the greatest stars of Italian music. And it speaks to me, today. So this Easter season I give you Francesco Guccini:

And now I give you my translation, updated for 21st century America:

God Is Dying

I've seen it Some of my generation wandering here and there Along the paths untried too often leading nowhere, Seeking out their dreams that sometimes leave them crazy Looking for the promised peace they'll never find In this world that has been left them, nor in sorrows they tried drowning in a bottle. Some looked in psychedelic dreams for their salvation and in the smoke they saw a world made for Econs not for beating hearts— they could protest or swallow whole the structures of their prison walls.

While God is dying. Along car crowded streets, God is dying In cars bought in installments, God is dying. In the childish dreams of summer, God is dying.

They told me That this my generation's fallen far from grace. Rejecting lies so often masked in robes of faith, No more “My country right or wrong” no chosen nation, Because the time is now to stand with truth together and reject all that is false: No more the blind faith of tradition, fire and brimstone. No more the promises forgot after elections. No more of “Greed is good”, each for his own fifteen minutes empty fame. Hypocrisy of leaders following Winners never risking loss.

While God is dying. In the walls along the border, God is dying. In the myth of Great Replacement, God is dying. In the fear of all that's foreign, God is dying.

But I think That this my generation long has been preparing For a new world with hope reborn and not despairing, For a future that is here, A revolution without arms; Because we still believe That if our God is dying in three days He will be risen. In the things that we believe, Our God is risen. In the things that we desire, Our God is risen. In the world that we will make, God is risen.

Happy Easter, my friends.

I'm gradually collecting hymns that speak to me at this stage in my life. Many aren't from any hymnal, and aren't church music at all, but this one is, and makes me think of my many ancestors that paved the road I walked for so much of my life. Here's an arrangement and performance I did all by myself. So expect everything to be amateur.

I always intended my blog to include things I make. Here's a first submission.

I arranged a medley of Lift Every Voice and Sing (James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson) and Come, Come Ye Saints (William Clayton). The performance is all me. I'm happy to share the sheet music as a pdf or a MuseScore file on request. Any of my parts of the creation can be used under CC-BY-NC, or contact me for other uses.

The embroidery and carved frame are something I did for my wife. Mostly DMC floss on repurposed linen. The dancers are based on pictures from The Art of Movement by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory. The wood is from a local oak that fell in a tornado, coated in epoxy.

Lift Every Voice and Sing

James Weldon Johnson

Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place For which our fathers died. We have come, over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, 'Til now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet, stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land.

Come, Come Ye Saints

William Clayton 3rd and 4th verses combined

Come, come, ye saints, no toil nor labor fear; But with joy wend your way. Though hard to you this journey may appear, Grace shall be as your day. Tis better far for us to strive Our useless cares from us to drive; Do this, and joy your hearts will swell - All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so; all is right. Why should we think to earn a great reward If we now shun the fight? Gird up your loins; fresh courage take. Our God will never us forsake; And soon we'll have this tale to tell- All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared, Happy day! All is well! Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid; With the just we shall dwell! We'll make the air, with music ring, Shout praises to our God and King; Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell- All is well! All is well!

Discuss...

Since I first discovered Transhumanism around 2010, I been drawn to the big philosophical thinking and ideals of thetranshumanist declaration and the Mormon transhumanist affirmation. I still see a lot of careful, generous, and aspirational thought behind them, but I have come to the conclusion that the most effective transhumanist organizations are not any with the name “transhumanist,” but instead those working toward equality and sustainability, now.

Technological Research

There are scientists the world over working on projects with the potential to help billions of people or to unlock yet unrealized human abilities. Almost all of this research has the potential to contribute, at least in part, to ethical transhumanism. But within the current economic structures of our world, most of it is directed toward ultimately consumptive—and consequently destructive—ends.

Gut microbiome-brain connection

As an example, we have relatively recently learned about strong connections between the bacteria and fungi in our intestines (the gut microbiome) and our mental and physical well-being. In the last 20 years the number of publications in this area have exploded. Here are the basics:

• Probiotics are bacteria and fungi in our gut that produce chemicals that make us healthier or make us feel better.
• Prebiotics are foods that help probiotics thrive. As a first approximation, this means a high fiber diet.
• Postbiotics are the chemicals made by the probiotics.

I listened to an American Chemical Society webinar on this topic, and a few things stood out to me. Someone with more time could pretty easily double check all of this (and maybe should), but since the patterns match what is seen in other areas, I'm confident in sharing my imprecise memories.

• The broadest societal benefits from probiotics would come from understanding prebiotics and natural foods containing probiotics, and fostering healthy diets throughout society.
• This would likely require our entire food system and culture to shift from being built around meat and simple carbohydrates to being vegetable centered.
• It would require major changes in how farming is done, how we distribute our food, and how we eat.

As individuals we can work towards these ends (e.g. supporting local agriculture, changing to a mostly vegetarian diet, slowing our lives down so we have time to prepare fresh food, etc.), but all of these things fight against how our society is arranged, and they are hard and often expensive. In contrast, here is how it is, now:

• Most research funding into pre-, pro-, and post-biotics comes from big corporations (pharmaceuticals, primarily).
• Of the relatively smaller funding from public sources, a significant portion will be targeted at projects that can be transitioned to support commercial application and our current healthcare system.
• Our current economic system is built around what can be patented and sold, and our healthcare system (in the US) is built around fixing problems after they happen.
• Current health supplement laws in the US make it bad for food companies to research the effects of pre- and pro-biotics. As long as they make general wellness claims, they can sell pretty much whatever they want. As soon as they make a specific, tested claim, then the underfunded Food and Drug Administration can regulate them.

So what is most of the research being done?

• Relatively low impact, infrequent, incomplete, ambiguous, small sample size or small effect research into the effects of diet. I know this statement oversimplifies and downplays the work of dedicated scientists doing important work that I find really impressive, but I'm painting with broad strokes.
• Well funded research into postbiotics that could be commercially produced by pharmaceutical companies and sold at a large profit to Americans with expensive health insurance.
• Well funded research into genetically modified probiotics that can be patented and sold to consumers for a large profit.

It's not to say that these latter two paths of research do not benefit society. They are simply designed to benefit shareholders first and whoever can afford the product second.

I chose this example of what could be considered a transhumanist technology because I'm more familiar with it than many others. Hopefully this example illustrates how development of transhumanist technologies within selfish, capitalist systems creates selfish, capitalist technology. It has almost nothing to do with the intent of the scientists involved. Perhaps all of them want to do work that is interesting and beneficial to humanity (I haven't met any who don't have these desires, and I've met and listened to more than a few), but they also want jobs that let them take care of themselves and their families now. How we've organized our economy means that those jobs are working for corporations whose only responsibility (for the last 30-40 years) is to make money for shareholders. If their research isn't leading toward corporate profits, it gets stopped. So of all the hundreds of millions (probably billions) of dollars poured into gut-microbiome research, only a tiny percentage is specifically directed toward understanding how to help people eat better in order to improve our health.

Transhumanist Associations

I'll start by admitting limited involvement with transhumanist organizations. I spent a lot of time with the Mormon Transhumanist Association several years ago. I interacted with people trying to start a Transhumanist political party in the US. I've tangentially observed what prominent transhumanists write about, what other transhumanist organizations write about and publish on their social media feeds, and I've observed the demographics of these organizations. Here are the things that seem most prominent in these circles:

• Philosophical discussions defending the aspiration to become transhuman in different ways (physically, intellectually, socially, emotionally, technologically, etc.).
• Excitement over technologies that push boundaries.
• Excitement over researchers and business people that push technological boundaries.
• Speculative discussions about possibilities of living forever, becoming super smart, etc.
• Links to information about products that can help us be a little more transhuman, now.
• Among religious transhumanists, discussions of how religion and transhumanism can be integrated.

Of course there are small amounts of all sorts of other things, and it can be a lot of fun, if you like this kind of stuff. These groups tend to be fairly optimistic, thinking we humans have a pretty good chance of solving our biggest problems, even while recognizing that some things threaten the very existence of humanity. But some parts of the Transhumanist Declaration and the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation get more attention than others.

Transhumanists mostly aren't focused on changing the social order so that it's possible for responsible decisions to be made. They are more often focused on new tech to extend lives like their own than on policies spreading wealth to relieve and empower the billions of poor in the world. They are more often focused on the possibilities of technological advances than on the costs of the advances that can be externalized to other people and places in the world. The artificial health regimens of rich tech leaders trying to live forever get more attention than reducing our resource footprint so that miners and communities in China, Argentina, and the Congo don't have to suffer the effects of rare metal mining. Solar power advances get more attention than ways we could use less energy as a society. There is a lot of talk about changing the world with technology, and not a lot of is talk about changing the fundamental systems within which the technologies are made.

Changing the Systems

Many transhumanists know we have to change the systems. To some of us it is obvious that a fundamentally greedy, consumerist, capitalist system will produce selfish, wasteful, ultimately destructive technology. Just look at Elon Musk and other private companies cluttering space, for the purpose of making money on Earth, to the point that we are beginning to impede space science and could eventually prevent humanity from traveling to the stars. Without a focus on changing our current social and economics systems in some fundamental ways, we will fail in realizing the Transhumanist Declaration. Without a focus on new systems that undo the greed of capitalism and consumerism, transhumanist activism and activities will inevitably fail in realizing their hopes of an ethical, thriving future.

So for me, after a few years of reflecting on my transhumanist involvement, I've decided the most effective transhumanist groups don't even think about transhumanism. They are the groups working for equality and dignity for all humans. They are the groups resisting authoritarianism and fascism. They are the groups working to preserve our environment. They are the groups resisting capitalist greed. They are the groups recognizing all that we share and working to use it responsibly. They are the groups fostering greater democracy in our nations and in our businesses. They are the groups undoing discriminatory laws.

It's not the so called tech visionaries that are going to save humanity. Maybe they can save themselves, if they are selfish and lucky enough. It's the revolutionaries working for peace and justice that will save humanity. They will make the systems that work for all of us—not just for the rich and powerful. And within those new systems we will have a hope of developing ethical new technologies that can lift up all of humanity.

Discuss...

I arranged this medley of Lift Every Voice and Sing, by James Welden Johnson and Come, Come Ye Saints, by William Clayton. Everything about it is amateur, but the feeling is sincere.

I have been thinking about civil rights and all of my hopes for a happy and thriving world. And as I do, all the stories and ideals that have shaped my life prick at my emotions, leaving me with a very physical feeling of hope and discouragement stretching in my chest. I no longer easily recall chapter and verse, but Mormonism was once led by radical prophets calling us to forsake the systems and power structures of the world and to build Zion. The calls of these prophets, with all their flaws, have led me to seek for the prophets speaking today. I look for the people calling us to repentance—calling us to forsake the evils that will lead to our destruction and to build the land of peace and equality that will save us.

On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, these are some messages I hope we, as Mormons, as Americans, and as citizens of the world will hear. But I speak most to those like myself—American Mormons who have grown in a world of opportunities shaped by the sacrifices of our ancestors.

Laws Against Being

Only a few generations ago, laws were made specifically so that Mormons could be sent to jail and denied the vote. None of the laws said, “Being Mormon is illegal,” but every Mormon knew that's what the laws were about. Today, we have laws meant to put people of color in jail and keep them from voting. None of the laws say, “It's illegal to be black,” but that's exactly why the war on drugs was shaped the way it was. It's exactly why zoning laws, voter ID laws, and numerous other laws and policies have been made as they are. Laws are being made to protect children and women, or to make sports fair, while every trans-person knows they are really laws making it illegal to be trans.

There are prophets calling us to repent. Calling us to change the laws and treat all people justly. Calling us to stop making it illegal to be Black, poor, or foreign and for us to make everyone's vote count. I pray that we will listen.

A Home for Everyone

When Alma the Elder and his people escaped slavery, the Nephites welcomed them in and integrated them into their society. When the Anti-Nephi-Lehies fled genocide, the Nephites made a land for them and protected them from invaders following behind with their military might. We are told Zion will be a refuge for everyone who doesn't want to take up arms against their neighbor. Today, as a result of climate change and wars that we have helped create, there are more displaced people and refugees than ever before in the world. They are suffering, looking for peace and safety.

There are prophets calling us to repent. Calling us to welcome the wretched and oppressed, to integrate them into our safe society, to make lands for them, and to protect them from those who would follow behind and hurt them. I pray that we will listen.

Our ancestors left poverty and religious rigidity enforced by state and culture. They built homes in new places. They were driven from those homes repeatedly. Finally they took lands among and from Native Americans who themselves had been killed, driven, and oppressed. They had a right to places to live, to be safe, to work and have food. Today there are many within our own country lacking places to live, to be safe, to work, and to have certain and healthy food.

There are prophets calling us to repent. Calling us to stop our greed. To tax the wealthy so that we can house the unhoused, care for those who are young, old, sick, or disabled. Calling us to stop valorizing those who get rich off the labor of others, or by gaming the financial and legal systems, or who pretend that their idea work is thousands of times more valuable than the essential work of the many who realize and support their ideas and lives. Calling us to claim the dignity of human life because it is human life, and not because of what it contributes to the economy. And in respecting this human dignity and the equality of all born to this world, we will create opportunity and freedom for more and more people, instead of freedom for the wealthy, the powerful, and inhuman corporations. I pray that we will listen.

No One Is Above the Law

The Book of Mormon tells of good kings and bad kings. The good kings served their people. The bad kings made their people rich and themselves richer until it all fell apart. The good kings loved the poor. The bad kings surrounded themselves with corrupt advisers, pushed away the poor, and drove out dissidents. Under the judges, good judges were just and protected the poor. Bad judges were bought and protected themselves and the wealthy. Today we live in a country where what the typical American wants has almost no impact on what is made into law. To get anything common sense done we have to fight tooth and nail against the moneyed interests that benefit from rigging the system. We live in a country where the last President pardoned his own advisers who were convicted of crimes benefiting the President. We live in a country where chief judges have taken bribes to change the laws in favor of the wealthy and unscrupulous.

There are prophets calling us to repent. Calling us to hold our Presidents, our Supreme Court Justices, and our CEOs responsible to uphold the same moral standards most of us expect of ourselves and those around us. Calling us to make laws that benefit all, apply to all, and make the world fair and safe for all—a world that shares its plenty and its pain, not a world that hoards its plenty for the few and grows its pain for the rest. I pray that we will listen.

I and Thou

I hope that I see you as a person, and treat you as a person. I originally started a thought piece, telling the Mormon origins of my moral world, but I had to let it go. There is good work to be done. There are obvious changes we can make for a more just, equal, and peaceful world. To change, we have to listen to the prophets showing us the way forward, not those benefiting from the power and wealth they have invested in the laws and institutions that now are. I must hope that we can change the world.

Postscript

Progressive Mormonism

To learn about how Mormon thought led to my progressive ideals, Hugh Nibley is probably the best source. In essays collected in two books, he uses Mormon scripture and the teachings of Mormon prophets to call us to build Zion. Both are available for 1 hour, repeated check outs on archive.org: Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints. Much of this book is a call to repentance for modern Mormonism based on the words and teachings of Brigham Young. Calls for us to treat the environment well, to participate in politics but not be ruled by party politics, to renounce war, to seek out the best scholarship and to seek excellence in education, and to challenge authoritarian leadership—even if it is in the Mormon church. And this is an abbreviated list.

Approaching Zion. Here Nibley made many pointed critiques of capitalism, grounded in Mormon scripture, history, and words of modern prophets. He decried the concessions we make to accommodate the powerful, capitalist structures of America, and recognized that all that we have is a gift—even if we work hard for it—and we must be willing to share it with everyone if we are to ever have Zion.

Martin Buber

It may be better to read about Martin Buber than to read his original writing, but I've never been sorry I put in the truly hard work to read I and Thou. This philosophy, and that of C. Terry Warner in Bonds That Make Us Free had a great influence on the idealism of my 20s and 30s.

Sociology

At some point I decided it was worth believing what the world was like for people of color and other oppressed groups. So I started reading their stories, and investigating the sociological evidence carefully collected, analyzed, and presented by scholars and journalists. It often didn't match up with the narratives I was accustomed to and had incorporated into my visions of Zion, but I think it's been worth the journey. If you want a reading suggestion, tell me a topic and I'll tell you if I've read something good about it. I'm no expert, but I might be able to point you toward thoughtful, compassionate, and eloquent people who are.

Updated Forward

I wrote this post almost seven years ago. I'm surprised how little it needs updating. Instead of decrying political correctness, Republicans now rail against woke-ness. Yet every chance they get they put, front and center, every woman or person of color they can find who will be a spokesperson for their agenda. The NRA has a female governor speak to a sea of white men. A Black football hero in Georgia, with no experience and no message, is chosen to run against Raphael Warnock, a Black preacher with a lifetime of social justice activism. Republican women in the Georgia state legislature privately tell a colleague they don't want to vote for the anti-abortion bills, but they have to or else they will lose places on committees and other positions of influence. Republican legislators want the women's votes, but not their opinions.

Let's look at some numbers from the U.S. and my state of Georgia. Data are from the Pew Research Center from 2020 or later, a congressional report for the 117th congress, and by examining photographs of Georgia state legislators at https://www.legis.ga.gov/.

Approximately 1 in 3 Americans is not white. In the U.S. House and Senate, only 1 in 10 Republican legislators is a person of color, while 4 in 10 Democratic legislators are people of color. 2 out of 5 Georgians are people of color. Out of 133 Republican state legislators, one might be a light skinned person of color. In contrast 82 from 105 Democrats are people of color.

Approximately half of Americans are women. In the House and Senate, 1/6 of Republicans are women, while 2/5 of Democrats are women. In the Georgia State Assembly, 1/7 of Republicans are women while 3/5 of Democrats are women.

It's little wonder to me that people who demographically don't represent Americans, and even less so Georgians, spend so much energy attacking political correctness, woke-ness, and diversity, while at the same time playing up every little bit of diversity they can claim.

Now I'm going to share the thoughts I wrote seven years ago (with minor edits) after the opening night of the 2016 Democratic National Convention:

I want to make a better world

I care about living in a better, safer, kinder, more loving world, and I feel pretty strongly about bringing the good I have to others. That's what drove my missionary zeal for many years. I wanted (and still do) everyone to be welcomed into the joys of Zion, even though I knew we would have to build it together. Sharing good is a big part of why I love teaching undergraduate Chemistry. I feel like strong scientific reasoning is an important tool that can help everyone live a better, fuller life. It's likely that less than 5% of my students will become scientists, and only one every few years will become a chemist, but it still seems worth it to me.

Women's rights and equality of income indicate a better world

I have recently been convinced of two striking correlations relevant to my goal of a better world. There are two metrics that are strong indicators of a world I value. First, countries that treat women better are more peaceful than those who treat women worse. This treatment is measured by a variety of standards falling under three major headers: physical safety, equality in family law, and parity in decision making councils. When women are physically safe in a society from all types of violence, countries are more peaceful. When women have more independent, legal rights, countries are more peaceful. When women are represented equally in decision making councils, countries are more peaceful. You can learn all about this and ways you can help in Sex and World Peace, written in part by a fellow Mormon, former BYU professor (current Texas A&M professor and expert on International Security) Valerie Hudson.

The second metric is that countries are better when there is less income inequality. Better in almost every way measurable. Go check out this TED talk by Richard Wilkinson and maybe follow some of the links to learn more. It is quite striking.

Truth is not all—the teacher matters

For all of my memory I have believed in seeking truth and seeking to be right. The gospel encompasses all truth, so I should seek to have all truth, like God. I think I love truth, but I have come to doubt the possibility of having all of it—even for God. In the process, I have come to value other moral goods more highly. Atonement and love are much higher on my list. I try to remember the two great commandments, and that in Zion they were of one heart and one mind, and there were no poor among them. Unity is essential to Zion, but I discovered that diversity is, too. Without it, Gods will cease to be Gods. So it seems, in the world I dream of, truth is too big to know alone, diversity is essential to godly success, and we can tell we are headed toward that world when women are measurably safe and part of human progress, and there are no rich or poor among us. All this has made me believe that, for all the amazing white men I have learned from and emulated for a lifetime (and I think it's a pretty impressive list), and for however good this white man may be at what I do in life, Zion will never truly be until all are alike unto us, not just unto God.

The Democratic National Convention

I've felt the Bern. I even gave one of those 8 million donations of approximately $27. I was sad to have my revolutionary candidate surpassed by a politician I consider smart, ambitious, strong, level-headed, but too tied in to big money and the inevitable compromises that come over a lifetime of such ties. When I got the email that Bernie would be speaking at the Democratic National Convention, I decided to listen to a DNC talk for the first time in my life. I went to the website and tried to find it, and to my great blessing, I only found a seven hour long feed with no indication of when he spoke. I began clicking through the feed 2-3 minutes at a time to see who was speaking. The words I stopped for were predictable, political babble. I skipped past to see who the next political babbler would be so I could get to Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders. Within a few minutes I started to marvel. Then tears came to my eyes. What I saw was women's faces, black faces, immigrant faces, Latina and Latino faces, faces of the disabled, and gay faces. The Latina congresswoman from California was inspirational. The daughter of immigrants tore at my heart, as I'm sure was intended. White male faces comprised less than 1/3 of the visible representatives of the Democratic Party. I don't imagine white men are voiceless in the Democratic Party, but I know it matters who has a voice. It matters who is represented by our government, AND it matters who FEELS represented by our government. I became an impassioned blogger because I felt how the disaffected from Mormonism had no real voice in Mormonism, and these included people I love. There are good reasons the RNC skewed their speakers to appear more diverse than their delegates, and good reasons LDS media does the same with representing members. Appearance is a kind of voice and a kind of message, and I hope the politically correct public relations efforts of Republicans and Mormons will eventually change the attitudes rejecting the “political correctness” that is really respect for people who are different from you. I didn't listen to most of the words, but I was moved to see so many faces of the vulnerable represented and celebrated on a political stage. I was thrilled to see significant diversity among the delegates as well. I don't know what mostly was said, but these are the faces I want my children learning from. I want them to know the world and know good leaders from many cultures and backgrounds.

Michelle Obama's speech

I'll end with a few more political thoughts inspired by Michelle Obama's speech. I think it matters that a black school child could ask President Obama, “Is your hair the same as mine?” I think it matters that children have chosen to write book reports about the Obamas for their school classes. I think it matters that black children can imagine doing good for the world as President of the United States of America. And I imagine four years from now my elementary school aged children choosing to write a report about the life of a President of the United States. I hope they will be proud to think, I can live a good, courageous life, fighting for women's rights, using my gifts to help the vulnerable, making hard decisions and difficult compromises, treating people with respect, living through family sorrow, making mistakes and even wrong choices, but going forward with hope—just like the 44th President of the United States. I hope that is the message they will see.