Mormonism and the Public Good

A few months ago Richard Bushman, a leading scholar of LDS history and the author of the seminal Joseph Smith biography, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, gave the 2011 David P. Gardner Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Utah. Bushman’s topic was “Mormonism and the Public Good”:

Recent events in Washington have demonstrated once again how much Americans differ on how to resolve the nation’s problem.  The parties to the debate cannot even agree on the nature of the public good.  The lecture will argue that these conflicts arise out of basic contradictions in our national values and therefore will perpetually recur.  The question the lecture will pose is: Can Mormonism, a religious tradition of particular relevance to Utahns,  contribute to the resolution of these fundamental disagreements.  Can a religion that is authoritarian in nature help solve the problems of a democracy?

You can watch Bushman’s full presentation by following this link: http://stream.utah.edu/m/dp/frame.php?f=d2dc65e364f8da77135

Posted on January 2, 2012 in Links, News.