Many beliefs and practices of early Mormonism such as polygamy, theo-democracy, the Order of Enoch, and the hope for Zion were profoundly counter-cultural and critical of aspects of the American order. However, the painful reconciliation with monogamy and mammon that followed on the heels of Utah statehood and the Second Manifesto dramatically transformed the Mormon ethos. From former Church President Ezra Taft Benson’s vociferous denunciations of socialism, to the Church’s o

Editor’s Note: In an article for the Daily Mail, Gillian Relf described her experience of caring for her 47-year-old son, Stephen, who has Down's Syndrome. The experience has been so difficult that Relf said she wishes she had had an abortion rather than give birth to Stephen. (Gillian Relf, " 'I wish I'd aborted the son I've spent 47 years caring for': It's a shocking admission-but read on before you judge," Daily Mail, October 22, 2014.) Here, Penny Singleton offers her com

Rose Evans, an advocate for the consistent ethic of life and contributor to Life Matters Journal, passed away on April 13 at the age of 87. She was part of the organization Consistent Life for most of its history, participating in the organization as it evolved from Pro-Lifers for Survival, an anti-nuclear pro-life group, into its current form as a group working to promote a broad spectrum of life issues united by the consistent ethic of life. Rose served at different times a

The myriad atrocities committed by the organization known variously as the Islamic State, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have filled the news for over a year now. ISIS’ activities have prompted a military response by the United States, which has bombed ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria and sent troops back into Iraq in support of the Iraqi military. Earlier this year, the Obama administration sent a request to Congress for

Krystle Marie Campbell, Lu Lingzi, and Martin William Richard, an 8-year-old boy, were killed by Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, just over two years ago. Three days later, the brothers killed Sean Collier, an MIT police officer. They injured 280 others between those injured in the bombings and the police officers who hunted them down. Now, two years later, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been convicted on all 30 counts levied against him, 17 of which are punisha

In war, there is not always a clear-cut bad guy and good guy. People fight for all kinds of reasons. In this story, there is an obvious bad guy: terrorists. They hate. They embrace evil. They will use any method imaginable and some unimaginable to achieve their end. Killing children? Rape? Nothing is beneath them. A terrorist is a bad guy pretty much by definition. That makes us the good guys. If only it were that simple and we were four-year-olds on a playground! Every time

“I just knew that sex got me attention and attention got me something that I thought was close to love.” These are the words of Danielle, a victim of human trafficking who began having sex for money at age seventeen. She tells her story in the documentary film Tricked, currently available to view on Netflix. Tricked is an eye-opening look inside human trafficking in the United States, and how public perception of prostitution is not grounded in reality. Danielle’s story is gu

Students for Life: Pregnant on Campus Initiative The girl touches a growing bump under her violet-colored shirt and furrows her eyebrows. She is 18 years old and just started college, doing her undergrad in biology with an emphasis in healthcare. Since volunteering at her local hospital in the summer of her freshman year in high school, she’s been set on getting a medical degree. The Pregnant on Campus Initiative supports women like this and affirms that their dreams do not h

Brittany Maynard, an attractive and vivacious 29-year-old, spent the last few months of her life campaigning for the cause of “death with dignity.” She killed herself in November 2014 with drugs a doctor prescribed to her. “Right-to-die” legislation has emerged in a handful of states, and physician-assisted suicide has come to the forefront of debates about life and death. Those who value the life and rights of every human being must be ready for the coming battle over whet

Moral principles must be based on pre-logical moral intuitions and laws should be based on those moral principles. (Of course, to say that “laws should be based on those moral principles” is not to say that every moral principle should automatically be enacted into law.) Though everyone I have talked to agrees that moral principles must be based on pre-logical moral intuitions, I have heard an intelligent person or two contend that the correctness of such moral intuitions can

A Physician at a women's clinic in the daylight, A Hit Man by night, Tells clients other options exist But sees money and accepts it. "A job's a job; it's not my choice to decide. Frightened? Unsure? Here you should hide. The price, we'll say, is only financial— The value of life, only circumstantial. "Your situation is tough but there's a resolution, A magic bullet to the brain or a solvent solution. Unrestrained by the Other, your life starts anew." Rebirth—a job

BY MARY KRANE DERR The right to access the full range of voluntary family planning methods is often neglected or actively undermined in the name of prolife, especially but not exclusively in the United States. Yet there are nine good reasons -- at least -- why fostering this right is essential to respect in practical deed for all human lives, already born and unborn. 1. Family planning freedom prevents millions of human deaths every year. Voluntary access to modern methods o

BY LILIANNA SERBICKI Swollen, a dream on its way to fruition; Nothing romantic. Lense (soft-focus) gone. Real fruit bruises; a real fruit stays the motion We make ourselves. Our unkempt pieces drawn Into alignment; some beings are too real To smudge with soft words. Some beings delight In waking up the small pith in the chest With beating limbs. It is a sudden sleight Of soul, not hand; the itch will soon persuade Myself to love my stippled skin far more Than when it held jus

BY AIMEE BEDOY I am writing this ten years to the day that those towers fell. And ten years later, I want us to discuss what we have learned from September 11, 2001, and where we as a nation must continue to grow. I am speaking as someone who grew up in this culture, immersed in it wholly from the time I was 12 years old. Perhaps I am not the wisest, or the most sage member of society to speak on these points, but this is what I have learned from my childhood to the present

BY NICHOLAS NEAL The abolition of the death penalty in Illinois began when Governor George Ryan placed a moratorium on capital punishment in the state in 2000, after seeing an alarming number of death row inmates being exonerated. Eleven years later, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill officially abolishing capital punishment in Illinois. It was then up to Pat Quinn to sign it. Now, although Governor Quinn is a Democrat, he had previously spoken in favor of capital

BY AIMEE BEDOY & STEVEN OETJEN A quandary of major proportions faces our nation in this day and age. It could be a matter of life and death for countless persons -- we cannot truly be sure. This paper seeks to examine abortion through the lens of Constitutional law, science, and justice, and lastly to apply these faculties to the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act recently passed in Nebraska. In brief, our recommendation is always to stand for justice and ultimately

BY NICHOLAS NEAL & AIMEE BEDOY On Tuesday, August 23rd, the rebel forces in Libya stormed Gadhafi's capital of Tripoli, thus declaring victory over the tyrannical leader who had once imposed unjust and inhumane purification laws against his own people. After 42 years in power as an autocratic dictator in Libya, Muammar Gadhafi has been removed from power by rebels within his own borders. Gadhafi is currently out of power and in hiding from NATO forces, but in an effort to k

BY BILL SAMUEL What should our attitude -- as individuals, social movements and nations -- be toward war? When, if ever, is war justifiable either as to our own participation or as a decision of a nation or social movement? How do we get to a meaningful peace? These questions have been discussed and debated for millennia, and may be even more vital in this day of advanced weaponry. They have been discussed by people from many different religious traditions, and from none.

BY OLIVIA MELDRUM While I am mistress of my mind, You will sleep safely every hour. No morning will you wake to find My warmth turned cold, or sweetness sour. A fragile burden do I bear (O precious visitor; flesh brand-new) - I forget my face and clothes and hair In pain and consciousness of you. My little one, your mama hurts. She shakes at every strange man's gaze. You've joined the Dance - this you deserve; But our dance, dear, limps through a maze. I am not mistress of my

BY JULIA SMUCKER It's that time of year again -- or has been, since sometime last year. The mud is flying left and right as a motley crew of politicians competes for our nation's volatile confidence. And who are they trying to appeal to? For a myriad of confounding reasons, our national political discourse has become so polemicized that most prominent candidates, as well as many commentators, seem able to do little more than preach to particular choirs within their own par