Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560851546 ISBN 13: 9781560851547

Publisher: Signature Books, 2002

Synopsis

 Some left, some stayed. Each one found some aspect of their church’s history, doctrine, policies, or politics that they could not reconcile with their own personal ethics. Some felt burdened by the conflict, while others embraced it. A few were reticent, even apologetic about their disagreements. Others were barnstormers. Each possessed some quality that destined him or her to ride at the fringes rather than at the center.

Mormon Mavericks summarizes a few famous flashpoints in Mormon history; more importantly, it provides a telling study in human nature. Each contributor is an expert in his or her discipline, and all approach their topic with equal doses of sympathy and objectivity.

The following mavericks are featured in this collection of biographical essays:

Fawn McKay Brodie
Juanita Brooks
Thomas Stuart Ferguson
Amasa Mason Lyman
Sterling M. McMurrin
John E. Page
Sarah M. Pratt D. Michael Quinn
William Smith
Fanny Stenhouse
T. B. H. Stenhouse
James Strang
Samuel Woolley Taylor
Moses Thatcher

About this title

About the Author

 John Sillito is Archivist, Curator of Special Collections, and Professor of Libraries at Weber State University (Ogden, Utah), where he was named the Nye Honors Professor for 2001-02. He is the co-editor of A World We Thought We Knew: Readings in Utah History, Letters from Exile: The Correspondence of Martha Hughes Cannon,Mormon Mavericks and other volumes.



Susan Staker is an editorial director at Adobe Systems (Seattle, Washington), former editor at Sunstone magazine, co-author of Sisters and Little Spirits: One Hundred Years of Primary, editor of Waiting for World’s End: The Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, a contributor to The Prophet Puzzle and American Apocrypha, among others.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION

The term maverick, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), was coined in the nineteenth-century American West to denote a “calf or yearling found without an owner’s brand.” In the years since, the word has described a person who, in various arenas, operates outside of the mainstream. Again to quote the OED, a maverick is a “masterless person; one who is roving and casual; an independent person; an individualist … unattached.”

Clearly, the individuals discussed in this volume qualify as mavericks. Each in his or her own way proved difficult to master, and each operated independently as an individualist. Running chronologically from the early nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries, the subjects of these essays stretch to the very beginnings of the history of the LDS church. Many worked side by side with Brothers Joseph and Brigham. Others were part of later currents and modern concerns. Some, through familial ties, breached the two eras. While it can be fairly stated that these individuals constitute a small part of the larger story of Mormonism, to leave them out of the story would be unfortunate because they are the salt in the stew. The right amount flavors the whole.

Whether any individual’s dissent was personal, theological, financial, intellectual, or some combination of the above, every Mormon maverick sought to differentiate his or her view of the Mormon experience from that of the church leaders and from the overwhelming majority of church members as well. This often proves to be disagreeable. The expression of differences brings separation from family and former colleagues, and dissenters are often turned into societal outcasts. Some of these mavericks would come to leave the church; some would not. Some of them would return to the fold; others would remain outside. While each case is obviously different, all of them seem to have been motivated by the desire to promote truth in the face of falsehood. Whether or not they were correct or succeeded in their endeavor is up to each of us to decide in light of our own beliefs and values.

In this regard, Paul Toscano, another Mormon maverick whose own story could well have been included here, has observed:

Responsible dissent possesses the spiritual power to awaken consciousness, raise awareness, create paradigms, alter opinions, heal wounds, and bring wholeness and holiness to our community. But it must be remembered that dissent raises the stakes. It is by nature confrontational. Even when carefully and artfully advanced, truth telling and dissent are usually not well received. One of the recurring mistakes of my life has been my silly belief that I would somehow endear myself to others by telling them what I believed to be the truth. Jesus, however, did not say the truth would make us well liked. He said that “the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). What he did not say was that it would first make everybody madder than hell.

As the compilers and editors, we appreciate the willingness of the authors to contribute to this collection. As a group, they represent some of the most talented and astute observers of the Mormon story. All but two of the essays have been previously published in a variety of journals. We have also benefited from the support and interest of the personnel of Signature books.

To conclude the collection, we have added an essay by the late Esther Peterson who poses the question: how do you decide who is a Mormon? It is a valid and on-going question, one that has been asked from the very beginning.

For us, this anthology represents one more step in our personal friendship and professional association. For more than a quarter century, stretching back to the early days of Sunstone—the magazine, the review and the foundation—we have lived, chronicled, and observed developments within the Mormon intellectual community. These experiences represent essential ingredients in our personal education.

Finally, we hope that the collection will be received in the spirit it is intended: What do the lives and beliefs of these independent spirits tell us about Mormonism, ourselves, and the larger world around us? As Thomas Merton once observed, “There are always people who dare to seek on the margin of society, who are not dependent on social acceptance, not dependent on social routine, and prefer a kind of free-floating existence under a state of risk.” It is our conviction that this is a better world because of such people, even though some of them were more cantankerous than one would have wanted to deal with up close. Others have been exemplary in every aspect of their lives: personable, warm, cooperative–even though not compromising their sense of principle—and tireless in their pursuit of understanding on the one hand and social change on the other; in short, role models for us all.

John Sillito
Susan Staker

Edition details

• Publisher: Signature Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1560851546
• ISBN 13: 9781560851547
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 388
• Editor: Sillito John, Staker Susan