Mormon Matters episode 31 featured a panel discussion about the LDS Church’s struggle to meet the needs of many of its young single adults and some of the possible reasons why. Episode 33 then highlighted in a more personal way through first-hand accounts from two people in this group some of the tensions they faced as singles in Mormon culture as well as in their own spiritual journeys. This episode revisits the LDS young single adult experience with new panelists--Kayela Seegmiller, Derrick Clements, and Megan Sanborn Jones--who each experience the gospel and both the blessings and the tensions of being active, committed, single, and young Latter-day Saints in ways not explored in depth in the earlier episodes. Fresh and mature insights (as well as great laughs) abound in this terrific episode!

The recent Occupy Wall Street movement and its ongoing spread, along with the cover essay in the October 2011 issue of Harper’s that draws what the author of that piece sees as a direct link between Mormonism’s economic ideals and its rise in influence in society at large, and certain factions of the Republican Party in particular, provide excellent springboards for a great discussion about LDS views about wealth, dangers that arise in times of prosperity, business principles, economic systems, cultural attitudes that sometimes suggest a connection between righteousness and financial successes, and much more. And that’s what this podcast episode contains. In dialogue with each other and Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon, panelists Joanna Brooks, Todd Decker, and Jason Brown provide a far-ranging discussion that draws important distinctions between an LDS culture that seems to writers, pundits, and many outsiders to be quite like the picture painted by the Harper’s article (which is, of course, accurate in certain ways) and the long history of Mormon theological teachings about the dangers that are inherent in wealth and prosperity and divorcing oneself from the labor of one’s own hands, the sacredness of community, and economic systems that forefront care for one another. These are difficult issues, and this podcast is full of terrific observations, both light and serious, and wonderful invitations for deep self-examination. Can and will those who find themselves recognizing that they a sympathy with the Occupy movement or have other hesitations about capitalism as it operates today do more than just talk?

This week’s Mormon Matters episode discusses two stories from the past week: (1) The dust-up over and media slam-down of remarks made by Texas mega-church pastor and Governor Rick Perry supporter Robert Jeffress that Mormonism is a cult--does this episode represent a real shift in the tenor of the "Mormon Moment"?; and (2) the news that the LDS Church has recently sent out a survey that aims to understand how its members interact with today’s social media and view particular blogs, bloggers, and reporters--including two of this episode’s panel members, Joanna Brooks and McKay Coppins. The episode’s third panelist, Morris Thurston, is one of those who was surveyed. The result of this coming together is a dynamic conversation full of passion (don’t let Joanna Brooks hear you think you’re in any way playing fair when you speak of Mormonism as a cult!) and terrific insights into current national discussion of Mormonism as well as some of the things the LDS Church might be hoping to learn from their surveys.

The central claim of Christianity is that all human beings are "fallen," held captive by sin, or are in some other way in a dire circumstance that can only be overcome through God’s aid, which comes through faith in the infinite love and sacrifice of God’s own son, Jesus Christ. According to the Christian tradition, this is the central truth of the human condition, and it is only through what has been labeled the Atonement of Jesus Christ that there is a way out. Throughout history, many Christians have celebrated their feelings of being rescued from the grasp of sin, selfishness, and aimless searching for purpose via the Atonement, and they claim their transformed lives are living testaments to this saving act of God’s grace. Still, many--both outsiders and Christians themselves--have paused to ask questions such as: Why is this the only way someone can turn from sin or be made worthy of heaven? What kind of God requires the suffering of an innocent being in order to be willing to forgive humans of their shortcomings? If every sin must be punished, is there even such a thing as genuine "forgiveness"? Many people seem to be able to forgive others for their faults and evil acts who don’t believe in or have never even heard of Jesus Christ, so why can’t God? Many Christians have not only asked such questions, but from the very earliest days following Jesus’s death, they have formulated various theories to answer them and also explain the reasons the Atonement "works." In this podcast episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Jared Anderson, Brian Johnston, and Tresa Edmunds explore these questions and the historical attempts to answer them and explain the experience of transformation or renewed life through Christ that so many claim, including the panelists themselves. In general, the discussion explores the Atonement from the ideas that first show up in biblical sources and then onto the main Atonement theory categories: ransom, satisfaction, penal substitution, and moral influence. It also gives attention to various angles on the Atonement and Christ’s redeeming work that are emphasized the most in Mormonism, as well as a couple of Atonement models that are unique to it. The panelists then close the discussion with their own views regarding or experiences with the Atonement in their own lives.