The Next Mormons
Jana Riess recently published The Next Mormons: How Millennials are Changing the LDS Church. Her work explores how the next generation of the Church is navigating the difficulties of staying devout to their religion in a rapidly changing culture. Using large-scale national studies and personal interviews, she explores how Millennials are navigating the tension between the Church's conservative ideals and a culture of individualism and pluralism. Her work is a valuable contribution to Mormon academia and culture.
I was honored to be interviewed by Jana Riess. She asked insightful questions. She carefully recapitulated my experience, honoring it with acute attention to detail. Here is what she wrote concerning our interview.
"Given these deep divisions, it's not surprising that one interview after another brought up LGBT issues as particularly significant in their decision about whether to leave Mormonism. One millennial who is trying to stay in the church despite her misgivings about LGBT equality is Blaire, 33. Once a primary president in her local ward, she now has no calling, and several years ago her temple recommend became a casualty of her outspokenness on women's ordination and LGBT rights. What she said was 'nothing aggressive or defiant,' she notes, but the bishop called her into his office to discuss the possibility of a disciplinary council. She found his response 'shocking and frustrating,' especially after all the time and energy she had poured into serving the ward. After a couple of meetings, the bishop told Blaire she could either stop speaking about controversial issues or have a disciplinary council about her temple recommend. Since she hadn't been to the temple in a while and didn't want to participate in what she calls 'the authority power place of local leadership,' she surrendered her temple recommend. 'The bishop may control my standing in the LDS church, but not my standing with God or Mormonism,' she says.
Now she is at a crossroads. When the church's new LGBT policy was leaked in November 2015, she and her husband were planning to baptize their eight-year-old son, the oldest of their three children. At the time of our interview the following summer, they still had not done so. 'The only reason we were exempt from the policy was because I married a man, when I am equally attracted to women,' explains Blaire, who is bisexual, but has been quiet about that fact at church. 'I really do want to baptize him, but I do not know how I can be true to my Mormon community and to my queer community. It's extremely conflicting. I'm very devoted to Mormonism, but I also can't deny my queer side. It's frustrating.'
Despite her anger and sadness about the LGBT policy, Blaire has no desire to leave the fold. A ninth-generation Mormon, she has ancestors who numbered among Joseph Smith's inner circle and were some of the earliest members of the faith. 'If there is Mormon DNA, I have it,' she explains simply. Although she willingly yielded her temple recommend, she promises she would fight to retain her church membership. 'If someone wants to take away my temple recommend, let them have it, but they're going to have to kick me out because I'm not planning to leave the Church.'" (pp. 182-183)
I highly recommend picking up a copy of Riess's book for more information on how Millennials are cautiously staying in and leaving the LDS faith. Thank you, Jana, for your contribution to Mormon academia and for including me in your project.
