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Christopher D. Cunningham

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Latter-day Saint

2019-04-04T11:29:20-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The God Who Changes His Mind

Last updated on: April 4, 2019 at 11:29 am By Christopher D. Cunningham

This morning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced policy changes that effectively reverse the policy from November 2015. For those who don’t remember, that month the Church quietly updated it’s policy handbook in response to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States to prevent the children of LGBT+ parents from being baptized, and categorized same-sex marriage as apostasy. But the changes were leaked and quickly became a major news story. Dueling Revelation Soon after the... Read more

How I understand it

LGBT

Revelation

2019-04-01T10:29:39-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Should We Tolerate Those Who Are Intolerant?

Last updated on: April 1, 2019 at 10:29 am By Christopher D. Cunningham

We live in a pluralistic society that, while it has a long way to go, has reached a general consensus that we need to treat one another with tolerance at the bare minimum. But when Latter-day Saints call for tolerance, we are often met with a simple “no.” What is strange is that this refusal of tolerance often comes from those societal quarters that not only values tolerance but places it on a pedestal as the guiding principle of their... Read more

Commentary

LGBT

Religious Freedom

2019-03-18T09:24:27-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Note on New Zealand and Religious Freedom

Last updated on: March 18, 2019 at 9:24 am By Christopher D. Cunningham

I, unfortunately, wrote about New Zealand just days prior to the horrific attack. For those who read that article after the attacks, my article surely sounds tone deaf. In it, I spoke about the irresponsible way that New Zealand’s prime minister had spoken about my faith. But these issues are very minor in comparison to the hatreds that stoked the shooter. There is no place for the kind of hatred on display there. There are those who have confused my... Read more

Broader Perspective

Religious Freedom

2019-03-13T11:29:09-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Possible Copycat Arson Target the Church of Jesus Christ Twice

Last updated on: March 13, 2019 at 11:29 am By Christopher D. Cunningham

Earlier this morning, Wednesday, March 13, 2019, a chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints burned down in Greymouth, New Zealand. The authorities are treating it as suspicious. It is the second chapel of the Church to burn down in New Zealand’s sparsely populated South Island this week, after a fire in a chapel in the city of Christchurch on Monday. These follow the well-publicized burning of a Latter-day Saint chapel in St. George, Utah in January... Read more

Anti-Mormonism

hate crimes

2019-03-11T11:38:50-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Reasons I Love the Church of Jesus Christ #3: Free Character Curriculum

Last updated on: March 11, 2019 at 11:38 am By Christopher D. Cunningham

My oldest son is four years old so we are in the process of finding him a school to attend in the fall. I feel very lucky to live in a city with so many excellent elementary school options. We’ve considered everything from the Hebrew Learning Academy, which has the best outcomes in the city plus an hour of Hebrew every day. To the school of science and technology where every student competes in Lego robot making contests. This weekend,... Read more

Reasons I Love the Church of Jesus Christ

Character

Education

2019-02-15T12:07:19-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Learning to Respond Better to Sexual Assault

Last updated on: February 15, 2019 at 12:07 pm By Christopher D. Cunningham

Those who’ve read my about page, or have been reading this blog for long, know that because of my positive experiences with the Church of Jesus Christ, my first response when people try to criticize the Church is to rush to its defense. This is what happened last week when a few stray bloggers tried to twist devastating news about a sexual assault coming to light into a church conspiracy cover-up. And while I stand by what I wrote, I... Read more

Broader Perspective

Sexual Abuse

2019-02-08T15:45:49-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Supreme Court Deals Blow to Religious Freedom

Last updated on: February 8, 2019 at 3:45 pm By Christopher D. Cunningham

The Supreme Court weighed in on a recent religious of freedom matter that received little national attention. But the results should be a concern for religious freedom advocates. Alabama had scheduled the execution of Domineque Ray. The state often allows the presence of Christian ministers. Ray requested a Muslim imam but was denied. In a surprise 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against Domineque Ray and concluded that the execution could move forward without an imam present. Because of the nature of... Read more

Religious Freedom

Supreme Court

2019-02-08T14:33:18-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Did the Church Get Caught Covering Up a Sex-Abuse Crisis?

Last updated on: February 8, 2019 at 2:33 pm By Christopher D. Cunningham

Perhaps you’ve heard this week that a former Church employee confessed to molesting a boy twenty-six years ago. You very well might have heard wrong. Outlets, like Patheos’ own “Friendly Atheist,” are omitting key facts from the story to try and create a sex abuse scandal where none exists. In fact, the story helps illustrate why the “sex abuse scandal” that anti-Mormons like the Truth & Transparency foundation keep expecting to find doesn’t exist. But let’s start with what this... Read more

Media Criticism

Sexual Abuse

2019-01-28T12:56:26-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Religious Freedom Already Part of 2020 Presidential Campaign

Last updated on: January 28, 2019 at 12:56 pm By Christopher D. Cunningham

I expect you are as leary about starting the 2020 presidential campaign as I am. The first votes won’t be cast for 371 days and the last for 645. I promise to avoid being overtly political in the (very long) meantime. That said, the ability to live our faith freely is a major topic here, and politics does affect that. In fact, one unexpected candidate is already making religious freedom one of the major themes of her campaign. Democrat U.S. Rep... Read more

Religious Freedom

Politics

2019-01-16T12:21:41-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Anti-Mormon Mockery of Family Proclamation Begins to Circulate

Last updated on: January 16, 2019 at 12:21 pm By Christopher D. Cunningham

This past weekend a document formatted to appear like The Family: A Proclamation to the World was distributed in chapels of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in and around Herriman, Utah. The document is titled “Male and Female” and claims that the Church’s teachings on gender equality are incorrect. It addresses recent changes that make temple language more egalitarian and appears to largely be a response to that. It has clearly been formatted in such a way to evoke... Read more

Anti-Mormonism

feminism

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