The recent execution of Troy Davis brought to the front once more the issue of capital punishment, especially arguments about the very real possibility of executing the wrong person, the unreliability of eye witness accounts, law enforcement pressures for conviction, and the possible brokenness of many of the safeguards that are in place to assure that miscarriages of justice at this ultimate level do not happen. This podcast uses this moment of reflection to discuss Mormon attitudes about the death penalty, and especially what social and theological aspects of Mormonism play into these attitudes. It discusses things such as agency and whether all persons are equally able to freely choose, the dubious doctrine of "blood atonement" that still lingers as a factor in some Mormons’ minds, as well as other LDS concepts and angles. It also discusses the deep spiritual resources some victims’ families are able to access to offer forgiveness to perpetrators. We hope you will join Mormon Matters host, Dan Wotherspoon, and panelists Ken Driggs (an LDS death penalty lawyer who has worked on some 75 capital punishment cases), Heather Olsen Beal, and Tom Grover for personal stories and important insights pertaining to this very sobering subject that deserves everyone’s careful attention.

From 1986 to 1997, the Student Review enjoyed a wonderful run as BYU’s independent student newspaper, which at its peak published weekly and achieved a circulation of 10,000. During its run, SR featured a wonderful cross section of news reporting, essays, and wildly popular humor and satire, with some of its stories resulting in changes to campus policy, as well as impacting life in the wider community and state. As a result of some of its coverage of difficult issues, the publication occasionally rankled school administrators, sometimes even triggering official efforts to shut it down. A team of current BYU students has now resurrected the Student Review, printing and distributing its first issue on September 19th. In this episode, we meet SR’s new editor, Craig Mangum, and also learn about the newspaper’s founding and history from additional panelists, Bill Kelly, SR’s first publisher, and former editors Joanna Brooks and Matt Workman. And through it all we get a chance to hear tales of a delightful slice of BYU life as experienced by some of the school’s best and brightest of the past and present. Warning: This discussion contains stories of a credit card with mythological status, rampant sexual tension, and adventures with security guards and steam tunnels. You don’t want to miss out on any of the fun!

Many people, Latter-day Saints included, struggle with feelings of "not being enough," worthlessness, or that they are unlovable by others, God, and themselves. Those who feel this way are caught up in the throes of toxic shame--a distortion and perversion of natural and healthy feelings of "guilt" over wrong choices or healthy types of shame that help moderate the ways we act in public and in interactions with others. The gospel teaches us of our infinite worth and our Heavenly Parents’ unconditional love for each of us, no matter what mistakes we make. So why do we so easily forget these things or stop believing them? How do our aspirations to be better persons so often end up weighing us down and distorting our view of ourselves, and instead of helping, end up hurting our growth? In this podcast episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Jennifer Rooney White, Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, and John Dehlin, discuss feelings of guilt (healthy shame) and toxic shame and attempt to lay bare what causes their confusion in general, and within Mormonism, in particular. They also discuss some of the very positive messages and examples within Mormon scriptures and history for coming to a healthy relationship with ourselves--one that fully recognizes our own inherent divinity and worth while also still fully acknowledging our great capacities for sin and error in ways that will not cause us to pull away from God and our ideals or to fall into destructive patterns. Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife will be in Salt Lake City to lead two seminars. The topic for Friday, September 23rd , is “LDS Women and Sexual Desire.” The topic for Saturday, September 24th, is “Enhancing Sexual Intimacy for LDS Couples.” Click here for more information http://drjenniferfife.blogspot.com/2011/06/presenting-in-slc-september-23rd-and.html

The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks provide an important moment for all of us to reflect on life’s most precious things and what we hold in our hearts about family, friends, neighbors, our wider communities, strangers, and those with whom we disagree about what’s most important for the world and how to bring it about. This sacred occasion also provides a good incentive for thinking about what it means to be called by Christ as peacemakers. In this podcast, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Charles Randall Paul, Liz Shropshire, and James Faulconer reflect upon today’s world a decade past September 2001, as well as the nature of peace itself and what it means to be "at peace." The discussion then turns to the history of Mormon prophetic discourse as it calls, with varying vigor, church members to be peacemakers, as well as to some of the key scriptural stories and theological notions that inspire the panelists’ own peacebuilding work.