SEE ADDTIONAL UPDATE HERE: Complaints of ‘disrespectful’ Speaker Used to Cancel Abortion Debate Appear Unfounded The recent petition to ban Elder Holland from speaking at Southern Utah University’s Commencement ceremony has once again sparked a debate over cancel culture throughout the Wasatch front. This attempt to cancel Elder Holland perhaps carries an extra dose of…
In last week’s General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson gave an address titled, “Peacemakers Needed.” President Nelson is known for injunctive calls to repentance in his talks, though this one was toned after many of the calls to repentance we read about in the scriptures. President…
The BYU official policy of Political Neutrality states, “Residents of university housing may display partisan political signs in their apartment windows.” This rule means that individuals living in On-Campus housing have freedom to show support to any particular candidate or ideology without facing consequences from the University so long as the decorations are displayed from…
Southern Utah University is facing backlash after they announced the keynote speaker for the 2023 commencement ceremony. On March 16, the university announced they are welcoming Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints, as a speaker in this year’s commencement ceremony. Almost immediately after, members of the Southern…
President Nelson stressed the importance of civility when discussing sensitive topics in his General Conference address on Sunday afternoon. He admonished the saints to eliminate contention and promote “dignified dialogue” instead of the barbs that are common in today’s political rhetoric. On BYU campus, the BYU Public Health department is helping to provide a blueprint for…
In January 2023, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a study titled “Opiates of the Masses? Deaths of Despair and the Decline of American Religion.” The study looked at the association between decline in religious practice and deaths from drug poisoning, suicide, alcoholic liver failure, and other such deaths. Importantly, the researchers did not…
Elder Holland conducted what he said would be an “unusual” devotional “with a twist” on Tuesday March 21, 2023. Elder Holland began by stating the devotional was “essentially a business meeting of the BYU board of trustees.” He indicated that Russel M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Chairman…
The Utah State Senate approved the final version of the HB476 bill on March 3. When it passed, Governor Cox shared that he intended to approve the bill. On March 15, he signed the bill into law. The bill includes regulation on abortions within the state of Utah and has a significant portion clarifying abortion…
The BYU Anti-racism club recently held a speaking event titled, “We Can’t Belong Ourselves: Creation of Community Precedes a Sense of Belonging,” which was advertised on their Instagram. The event featured Jacob Rugh, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at BYU, and Anthony Bates, the managing director of the BYU Sorensen Center for…
Intermountain healthcare recently added a presentation video on cross-sex hormone therapy to its YouTube videos under the Project ECHO channel. The presenter, Rixt Luikenaar, said that cross sex testosterone therapy does not cause infertility in women who have started periods. Luikenaar also added, “[W]e don’t know why” PCOS is at a 50% rate in women…