Comments about ‘University of Utah to offer fellowship in Mormon studies’

"If I was in New York, there would be a Jewish studies program and fellowships there. In Chicago, there are Catholic studies and in Atlanta you have Baptist studies. It makes no sense not to have Mormon studies in Salt Lake City."

I couldn't agree more. Transferring to the U from BYUH I received no credit for my religion classes. I wasn't looking for requirements to be filled, just simply credit as electives. Surely if they were Islamic studies classes I would have gotten some sort of acknowledging credit. It's good to hear the U is softening the opposition to all things Mormon.

This is encouraging news since reading the comments in this paper seem to indicate worsening anti-Mormon sentiment in SLC. As a proud graduate of the U in the 90's I remember some of the entries in the U newspaper being frankly bigoted. I just chalked it up to being a public institution and freedom of speech.

Congratulations Dr. Goldberg. I appreciate your objectivity.

More public education money wasted on a Cult-ure fairy-tale.

I suppose the U would pay this instructor of Cult-ure fairy-tales the same wages a professor of chemistry would make?

Re. "mo tax dollars wasted" comments.

I didn't see any mention of public money being spent on this fellowship.

Further, your comments give further credence to a need for a program like this, the word that comes to mind is tolerance.

Re. "mo tax dollars wasted" comments. You said, "I suppose the U would pay this instructor of Cult-ure fairy-tales the same wages a professor of chemistry would make?"

The article (if you would have read it) says it will be a $18,000 fellowship. Not even close to what a professor of chemistry would make. Also, it is money coming from a foundation at the U, not tax dollars.

Come on, seriously. Grow up, learn to read, learn to think, and learn not to judge others. PLEASE!

This is the kind of thing my father, Eugene England worked so hard to see happen. It came too late for him to see in this life, but I am sure he is still celebrating. I think it is interesting that this happened at the same time his papers are being donated to the U. Thank you for this, and I hope it leads to an excellent Mormon studies program. It is still surprising there isn't one there, but one step at a time.

This good news is cause for celebration for our family and many friends and scholars interested in furthering the study and writing the mormon story. The hope that this would happen is one of the reasons that we chose to put my husband's papers in the Special Collections at the U of U. Thank you to all the people who made this long awaited step come to fruition. We are most grateful.

Are they sure they want people to really study mormonism? Isn't that the whole point of the LDS experience- don't study this too hard, or look at anything objectively, because you'll realize it's not true...?

JJ | 12:27 p.m. Jan. 16, 2009
Are they sure they want people to really study mormonism? Isn't that the whole point of the LDS experience- don't study this too hard, or look at anything objectively, because you'll realize it's not true...?
******************

Obviously not!

Objective, rational, truth-based scholarship is one thing the LDS Church absolutely cannot tolerate. Remember the September 6? Not all that is true is useful or worthy according to BKP. This move is bound to make the LDS corporate leadership VERY uncomfortable. The last thing they need is a reputable institution with the means and resources really studying Mormonism. That and the internet will surely keep them awake at night.

It's funny that you eschew the Internet as a source of great truth....... The Internet is pretty much the worst source in history

Don't base your assumptions of LDS history on the fact that it was short changed by ultra conservative elements of the Church from the late 70's to the mid 90's. The pendulum of serious Mormon scholarship is swinging back the other way with programs not only at BYU, USU, Claremont Graduate University, but now at Utah. There's plenty of fruit from these labors, and no, the internet doesn't count as scholarship.

One can be both a proponent of accurate history and a faithful Latter-day Saint.

When Mike Young was Dean of George Washington university Law School, he served as Chair of the presidential commission on international religious freedom. Official religious intolerance from a university is just as undesirable as official religious intolerance from a national government.

The University of Utah Medical School has long studied Mormons from the standpoint of genealogy and the genetic transmission of disease. The Hinckley Institue of Politics has long studied the influence of Mormonism on the political environment of Utah. Professor Ed Firmage of the University of Utah College of Law wrote a book about the legal history of Mormonism and Utah called "Zion in the Courts". All of these studies have interesting and worthwhile things to say to people around the world about the unique culture and society created by Mormonism as one example of human culture that is valuable regardless of one's view of Mormonism's "truth claims". Mormon studies have long been an aspect of many parts of the University. This fellowship merely codifies an existing reality.

The last two remarks, including Swenson's concur with many of my sentiments.

I do believe that the Latter-day Saint community is a modern day ethic group worthy of study.

I have written research papers on LDS growth in South America and I find all th new research at new schools and scholars both academically compelling personally gratifying.

The study of Jews, Sikhs, Gypsies and other religious minorities always prove good social science and intellectually valuble in my opinion.

I dare say most educated people would agree.

Good job on catching up with the times, U of U.

Wow - a fellowship to study Mormonism
at the UofU - paying the munificent
sum of 18K a year for 9 months of
residency. Let's see, that works out
to be about $12 per hour if they put
in an 8-hour day. Maybe BYU can spare
someone from FARMS...

I never ceases to amaze me how the ignorant trumpet their condition from the top of their lungs. The church is based on finding out truth from the source- God. Only those who are filled with ignorance animosity declare that we try to hide truth.
I wish I had enough time to read all the great research that is being and has been done on the history of the church and its members. It is my favorite topic and it does not threaten my faith. I am not brainwashed nor do I think that the leaders are/ were perfect men. On the contrary, I find the history to be uplifting in that it encourages my faith that God can work through me also despite my own imperfections.

Let us hope they don't give this to some apologetic pseudo-scholar who tries to twist facts and logic to support the Church at all costs! A scholar with some academic integrity would be best, but then would ipso facto be "anti" Mormon!