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Mormon Matters - (Dan Wotherspoon ARCHIVE)

Mormon Matters was a weekly podcast that explored Mormon current events, pop culture, politics and spirituality. Dan retired from Mormon Matters Podcast in 2019 and now hosts a podcast called "Latter-day Faith" that can be found here: http://podcast.latterdayfaith.org/
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Mormon Matters - (Dan Wotherspoon ARCHIVE)
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Now displaying: January, 2013
Jan 30, 2013
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) fascinate. Most share similar features that suggest the existence of a spirit or consciousness separate from the body that can continue to exist after the body and brain have ceased functioning in ways generally thought to be necessary for "life." Those who have experienced a NDE also often undergo changes in worldview and personality traits, including a greater sense of compassion, less desire to judge others harshly, a sense of one’s own importance (even divinity), and peace amid life’s chaos that stems from a feeling that no matter what, everything has purpose and all will work out in the end. Some even claim that afterward they are more intuitive and/or have a different energy about them that affects electronic devices, etc. Others claim and exhibit a lack of interest in the mundane world anymore, with many of them failing to ever successfully re-integrate into the purely mortal realm--as it seems to be far less "real" as the other, a mere shadow of true Reality. But are NDEs truly a glimpse at the afterlife, a real hint about the nature of spirit, human personality, structures of the universe, the existence of God or Divine purpose? Can purely physiological explanations account for the different types of experiences that people report following an NDE? What might NDEs suggest about the role and status of "religion versus deeper "spiritual" modes of experiencing? In this two-part episode, panelists Jeff Olsen, a person who has had a profound Near-Death Experience, Tom Haws, a long-time student of NDEs, and Lisa Hansen, a psychologist with a strong interest in the subject, join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in an exploration of all of these, plus many more, aspects of Near-Death Experiences. All Latter-day Saints, at various points in the discussion the panel notes connections and discusses aspects of Mormonism (and religion in general) that line up with or are challenged by NDEs.
Jan 24, 2013
Very little coverage of the story of the cruel hoax perpetrated on Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o has focused on aspects of the Mormon and Pacific Islander cultures that helped shape him and how these might help illuminate and give context to what seems so baffling to so many: how Te’o could be as trusting and naïve as he would have to be in order to be victimized to the degree he was, as well as why he might be extra hesitant to share the story earlier than he did. In this podcast, panelists Anapesi Ka’ili, Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, and Stephen Carter, along with Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon look at the Te’o saga with eyes trained on the places and cultures in which he was raised and how they likely helped create a perfect storm for him to be so extraordinarily trusting and captivated by the qualities embodied by the woman he fell so deeply for without having ever met her. Both Mormon and Pacific Islander identities (especially in combination with each other and also their mix in the specific town in Hawaii in which Te’o was raised) help us better understand this story, but in return the story provides a fruitful jumping off point for an extensive examination of things Mormon and Islander, such as many largely un-examined LDS (and wider religious) sensibilities and narratives, the prevalence of affinity fraud in Mormon and other close-knit religious and kinship groups, and pressures to present oneself to others in ways that fit inspirational molds but which are not fully authentic.
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