Heartbreaking News

As many of you have heard, one of our bloggers was killed by a drunk driver last night. We are stunned and heartsick to have lost Vada. Not all of you may have known her well from just here. But in addition to her thoughtful public posts, she was an active member of our backlist, and contributed immeasurably to our small ZD community. She was also very involved in the online Mormon feminist world in various other places, and we know many people were positively impacted by her. She will be terribly missed.

Vada leaves behind a husband and six children, including preemie twin girls who are still in the NICU. A YouCaring account has been set up for her family; if you’d like to donate, please go here.

Call for Papers for the Faith and Knowledge Conference

Sixth Biennial Faith and Knowledge Conference

Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, MA
February 24-25, 2017

The Faith and Knowledge Conference was established in 2007 to bring together LDS graduate students in religious studies and related disciplines in order to explore the interactions between religious faith and scholarship. During the past five conferences, students have shared their experiences in the church and the academy and the new ideas that have emerged as a result. Papers and conversations provided thought-provoking historical, exegetical, and theoretical insights and compelling models of how to reconcile one’s discipleship with scholarly discipline.

In keeping with these past objectives, we invite graduate students and early career scholars in religious studies and related disciplines (e.g., women’s studies, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, literature, etc.) to join the conversation. We welcome proposals addressing historical, exegetical, and theoretical issues that arise from the intersections of LDS religious experience and academic scholarship. Final papers presented at the conference should be brief, pointed comments of ten to fifteen minutes. Please visit faithandknowledge.org for more information on themes and topics explored at previous years’ conferences.

Proposals should include a paper abstract of no more than 250 words and a brief CV. Please submit proposals by December 2, 2016 to Christopher Jones at chrisjones13@gmail.com. Notifications of acceptance or rejection will be sent by December 16, 2016.

The registration fee will be $25 for graduate students and $50 for early career scholars. For individuals whose paper proposals are accepted, hotel accommodations for two nights and all meals on Saturday will be provided; travel expenses will be reimbursed based on a sliding scale.

Further information will be posted on the website faithandknowledge.org.

Support the Exponent!

The Exponent II blog is having a fundraiser this weekend. You’re likely familiar with them, but if you’re not, you should definitely check them out. They do amazing work keeping women’s voices alive and drawing attention to women’s issues. This is a great cause to donate to, and there are even prizes! Click on the link below to find out more.

Donate

CFP for the Fifth Biennial Faith and Knowledge Conference

The Faith and Knowledge Conference has just issued its Call for Papers. If you’re in a relevant discipline, you should definitely consider participating; it’s an awesome conference.

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The Faith and Knowledge Conference was established in 2007 to bring together LDS graduate students in religious studies and related disciplines in order to explore the interactions between religious faith and scholarship. During the past four conferences, students have shared their experiences in the church and the academy and the new ideas that have emerged as a result. Papers and conversations provided thought-provoking historical, exegetical, and theoretical insights and compelling models of how to reconcile one’s discipleship with scholarly discipline. Read More

Room for All in this Church

A collective statement from a number of bloggers, podcasters, and other online publishers, in support of clemency and openness.

We face a difficult and pivotal moment in Mormonism as LDS leaders and church members wrestle more openly with complicated aspects of our faith, its doctrine, and its history—often in spaces afforded by the Internet. In light of possible disciplinary action against prominent voices among us, we the undersigned Mormon bloggers and podcasters affirm the value of the conversations that take place in the LDS “Bloggernacle” and express our hopes for greater understanding and compassion from all of us involved in current tensions.

May we all remember, as scripture teaches, the intricate intertwining of mercy and justice. May we all follow the admonition to seek understanding before judgment, even as we address matters that can be difficult to talk about. Read More

Take Carol Lynn Pearson’s Survey on Sealing Inequality and Eternal Polygamy

ETERNAL POLYGAMY AND SEALING INEQUALITY OF LDS WOMEN AND MEN—A SURVEY. Carol Lynn Pearson (www.clpearson.com) is sponsoring a survey to gather information on beliefs and opinions of Mormons (and former Mormons), male and female, on this important subject. Please take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sealingsurvey and please pass this request on to your friends and contacts. The survey closes on March 31, 2014. Thanks!

Now is your chance! Donate to the fMh Tracy McKay Scholarship fund!

If you haven’t heard around the ‘nacle– The fMh Tracy McKay Scholarship fund drive is in full force!

They will be having give-aways all week, so donate now and get your name in early! All people who donate have a chance to win cool stuff like feminist t-shirts, canned goods, subversive bonnets and the grand big awesome Goddess Quilt made out of PANTS!

Last year many around the bloggernacle rallied together to help the awesome Tracy McKay finish the last few months of her degree when her ward could no longer help her out.

fMh is keeping the tradition going by helping more single Mormon mothers go back to school.

You can donate through paypal at fMhscholarship at gmail dot com.

Legal disclosure: We are hoping these donations will be tax deductible, and they very probably most likely will be. But we are waiting on lawyers and paperwork and can NOT guarantee that they will be tax deductible as of today. We were hoping to know for sure before the fund drive, but life happened and school is about to start and we need to fund this thing. If our 501c3 status goes through before the end of the year (and we fully expect it to) you will be sent a tax-deductible receipt. But life happens sometimes too, so we can’t guarantee it.

Heavenly Mother Art and Poetry Contest

From the organizers:

“There have been LDS art contests in the past, either sponsored by LDS church institutions or by private organizations, but none have yet focused on Heavenly Mother as their theme. That changed this month with the newly announced A Mother Here Art and Poetry Contest. Aiming to stimulate the visual and poetic expression of Heavenly Mother, as well as highlight the nascent divinity lying in women as well as men, monetary prizes in excess of $2200 will be awarded to the best entries. Read More

Mormon Feminist Lunch at Sunstone

If you’re going to Sunstone in Salt Lake next week, don’t miss the chance to eat lunch with a bunch of fun Mormon feminists from the Bloggernacle! Meet Saturday, August 3rd at 12:30, right after the 11:00 – 12:30 session ends. Just look for EmilyCC of the Exponent, who will be holding a larger version of this:

For more information, see Emily’s post at the Exponent, or Lisa’s post at fMh. To register for Sunstone, or to order a lunch for Saturday, visit the Sunstone website.

Ziff will definitely be attending, and perhaps other ZD bloggers as well. You can reach Ziff at ziff (at) zelophehadsdaughters.com.

And it came to pass that women were asked to pray in General Conference . . .

Just in case you haven’t seen it yet:

For Mormons yearning to see women take on more visible roles in their religion, their prayers have been answered:

The Salt Lake Tribune has learned that LDS women are scheduled, as of now, to offer invocations or benedictions at next month’s General Conference — an apparent first in the faith’s 183-year history.

Read more here.

Circumcision Panel

Recently the ZDs brought together a panel of experts in male reproductive health to discuss an important but sensitive issue that affects all of us, with implications for religion, hygiene, and public policy. This is an abridged transcript of that discussion.

Myrtle-Jane Merryweather, moderator

Harriet Appleworthy, MD

Lucy Quackenbush, PhD, child psychology

Rachel Goldfarb, professional mohelet

Eliza Piddlewit, author, Intact Makes a Comeback!

Read More