495: What Do We Do with All This?: Sunstone and Todays Uncorrelated Mormon Discussions, Part 2

Published: July 12, 2018, 10 p.m.

Most Mormon Matters listeners are, as consumers of LDS-related websites, blogs, podcasts, Reddits, Facebook groups, and other social media platforms, enmeshed in the world of \u201cuncorrelated Mormonism.\u201d Whatever is happening in any part of the Mormon world, most of us have ready access, not only to the news but also a great number of comments\u2014many of them hastily made and most without attempts to present a balanced viewpoint. On any given day, we have at our disposal in these uncorrelated spaces (as well as in official church platforms) more information and opinions than anyone might possibly consume with any chance at enjoying the richness of the various items in the feast, which leaves us with the exasperated question, voiced by Stephen Carter in this podcast, \u201cWhat do we do with all this?\u201d

This episode centers on one of Mormonism\u2019s most important clearinghouses for highlighting, amplifying, and steering us to good discussions of things related to the Restoration that began with Joseph Smith: Sunstone. In its magazine and symposiums, Sunstone brings together the voices of people from all over the Mormon spectrum to share \u201ctheir\u201d story, to offer chances for all of us to truly \u201cmeet\u201d each other and to digest more slowly and with a much better signal-to-noise ratio things happening within wider Mormonism. There is certainly much content about the organization and its upcoming Salt Lake Sunstone symposium (July 25-28) in this discussion with Sunstone\u2019s executive director\xa0Lindsay Hansen Park\xa0and publications director\xa0Stephen Carter, but it also features much broader reflections on the story and changes in emphases of Mormonism\u2019s nearly 200-year history of discussions, especially in its uncorrelated sector. How have the questions changed through the years? What tasks were more important during other periods of Mormon history than what seems to be needed now?

Through listening to these thoughtful, articulate leaders in Mormon discussions, we are given explicit permission to locate ourselves \u201cas\xa0ourselves,\u201d as our own \u201cthreads in the Mormon tapestry\u201d (the symposium\u2019s theme this year). Lindsay and Stephen offer 10,000-foot views of Mormon discussions taking place \u201cat the margins,\u201d as well as share very personally about their attempts to find and be themselves in today\u2019s wider Restoration world. And, yes, you\u2019ll also hear specifics about what is coming soon to the Sunstone symposium and that will be available for you to read or listen to shortly after the event ends. If you are overwhelmed by all that is going on within the uncorrelated Mormon spaces you engage with, let Sunstone be an oasis for you\u2014a place to stop, rest, and sample in slower, more personal ways, the ideas and writings of many who are wrestling, just like you, with \u201cWhat do I do with\u201d all this information?