Common Ground—Different Opinions: Latter-day Saints and Contemporary Issues

$31.95

Edited by Justin F. White and James E. Faulconer

“Provides models of faithful and diverse Latter-day Saints who remain united in the body of Christ.” — Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Understanding, BYU

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Book Description:

There are many hotly debated issues about which many people disagree, and where common ground is hard to find. From evolution to environmentalism, war and peace to political partisanship, stem cell research to same-sex marriage, how we think about controversial issues affects how we interact as Latter-day Saints.
In this volume various Latter-day Saint authors address these and other issues from differing points of view. Though they differ on these tough questions, they have all found common ground in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the latter-day restoration. Their insights offer diverse points of view while demonstrating we can still love those with whom we disagree.

Comprehensive Table of Contents:

James E. Faulconer - Introduction
1 Robert L. Gleave - Paradigms
2 Robert L. Millet - What Is Our Doctrine?
3 Nathan B. Oman - What Do We Mean by “Church Doctrine”
4 Larry Wimmer - Presiding in Our Homes: Are We Doing Too Much or Too Little?
5 Kent R. Brooks - Same-Gender Attraction and Same-Sex Marriage
6 Taylor G. Petrey - Toward a Post-Hetereosexual Mormon Theology
7 Richard N. Williams - Making Meaning and Making Families: Evaluating the Assumptive Grounds for Advocacy For or Against Same-Gender Marriage
8 Camille S. Williams - In Your Patience Possess Ye Your Souls
9 Kristine Haglund - For Louisa
10 Marleen S. Williams - A Journey through Feminism: Reflections of an LDS Woman
11 Margaret Blair Young - All God’s Children Got a Place in the Choir: Race and the Restored Gospel
12 Bruce W. Young - Following Christ in Times of War: Latter-day Saints as Peacemakers
13 Eric A. Eliason - Why We Fight: A Moral and Spiritual Basis for Latter-day Saint Military Service Today
14 Bob Bennett - Why I Am a Republican
15 Richard Davis - Partisanship and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
16 George B. Handley - Heaven and Earth: Thinking through Environmentalism
17 David A. Jensen - An Argument against Embryonic Stem Cell Research
18 Sariah Cottrell and Steven L. Peck - Becoming a Person: Stem Cells and LDS Teachings
19 Daniel Fairbanks - Evolution: From Naiveté to Understanding
20 David Grandy - Genesis and Darwin: Finding Common and Uncommon Ground

**Praise for Common Ground—Different Opinions:**

“[This book] provides models of faithful and diverse Latter-day Saints who remain united in the body of Christ. This collection clearly demonstrates that a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive issues do in fact exist in the Church. . . . [T]he collection is successful in any case where it manages to give readers pause with regard to an issue they’ve been fond of debating, or convinces them to approach such conversations with greater charity and much more patience. It served as just such a reminder and encouragement to me, and for that reason above all, I recommend this book.” — Blair Hodges, Maxwell Institute

“After all these conversations, do we actually find ‘common ground’ here? Is there some place or idea upon which these sometimes opposing views can come together and meet? Each author has ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each author expresses herself or himself clearly, succinctly, confidently and courteously. They are one in community, but they are not one in opinion. And when those differing opinions are expressed thoughtfully—and received respectfully—as they are in Common Ground, the community is enriched and there is room for growth on all sides.” — Laura Compton, Association for Mormon Letters

About the Editors:

Justin F. White is a graduate student in philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. He studied philosophy and English at Brigham Young University. His current research focuses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century European philosophy. He and his wife, Anna Snyder White, are the parents of three children.

James E. Faulconer is a professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University, associate director of the Wheatley Institution, and a former holder of the Richard L. Evans Chair for Religious Understanding.

More Information:

379 pages
ISBN 978-1-58958-573-7 (paperback)
Published October 2013