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In this episode Valerie interviews former BYU professor and current lover of people, education, music, truth, and personal integrity.  In this conversation, Jason shares his journey from his teen years as a convert to the LDS church, through years of rewarding orthodoxy (box checking like the best of them) that led him to a position at BYU.  

His faith expansion journey began during those tenuous weeks when the university temporarily allowed LGBTQ students protection for openly expressing themselves under the same standards as straight cis-gendered students and then reversed their decision. 

Other key moments of awakening occurred while confronting struggles with an on-campus speech referencing muskets [you probably know the one…] and dissonance related to the new policy related to BYU faculty’s lack of confidentiality in temple recommend interviewing protocols. While painful, this transformative journey led Jason to his present job, but more importantly, to a deepening ability to love, serve, and worship according to his clear conscience.

Join Val and Jason as they explore his expanding faith in God and Christ and his new way of participating in the LDS church as a result of this intensely challenging and life expanding 4 year detour as a BYU faculty member. 

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Series Title:  2022 Strength of Youth Pamphlet Health Check [Part VII of VII]

This episode rounds out the complete analysis of the 2022 Strength of Youth Pamphlet AND explores the wisdom of the great thinker and theologian Francis Menlove's writings, proposing that unity of doctrine is greatly overrated in this [and every] church and that the idea of needing to have a set standard of beliefs [aka: documents such as the For the Strength of the Youth Pamphlet] represents a departure from Christ’s vision and slowly evolved but not until over 200 years after the death of Jesus Christ.  

Menlove proposes that humans have always been drawn to want to gather, worship, love, and support each other [independent of what each person 'believes'] and due to their combination of humanity, fear, ego, and desires to help and/or control others, power figures [in all churches] have been inclined to warp “church" into a place that  dictates and then disciplines believe rather than allowing "church" to be a place to gather, share, explore, love, nurture, and be seen, known, and loved. She proposes that we awaken to this reality and each learn to allow church to be what Jesus intended.

Book referenced:

• The Challenge of Honesty: Essays for Latter-day Saints, by Frances Lee Menlove❤️❤️

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Series Title:  2022 Strength of Youth Pamphlet Health Check [Part VI of VII]

Join Val and Nathan in this deep dive into the Church's current positions on the human body, sexual thought, speech, expression, and relationship, the Word of Wisdom, tattoos, piercings, grooming issues, and a word to those who have been abused in any way.

Main points discussed include conversations about the following

1. Our bodies are created in "their" image, male and female
2. How our body's as temples has much deeper meaning than often understood
3. The prescriptive nature of the word of wisdom and its meandering origins
4. A more healthy way to talk about addiction that addresses the pain that is being medicated rather than forbidding the use (or overuse) of any particular substance
5. A healthier way to talk about sexual maturation that encourages youth to better integrate their emerging sexuality rather than forbidding or discouraging them from contact with these parts of themselves
6. And more!

Please SHARE this episode with anyone who has influence over the youth of our church!

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Series Title:  2022 Strength of Youth Pamphlet Health Check [Part V of VII]

In this episode Val and Nathan break down the section "Walk in God's Light", a section of the manual used to offer direction on issues such as media use, word of wisdom, and issues around the use of pornography. 

They love the guidance to cultivate our own offspring-of-God abilities to discern what brings us closer to our potential and what gets in the way and a focus on how the spirit is available to each of us to help us. 

They dig deeper into ways that this section seems to overgeneralize the many reasons why people have a complex array of strong feelings (which are not always connected to having the spirit) and also how important it is that we learn to navigate the complexity of social media, variously rated movies, and other technology.  

Val and Nathan also begin to talk about pornography and more and less helpful and healthy ways to address this issue with our youth (this conversation will continue in the next episode fully committed to the theology of the body).

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Series Title:  2022 Strength of Youth Pamphlet Health Check [Part III of VII]

In this episode Valerie and Nathan tackle the "For the Strength of Youth" section titled "Love God, Love Your Neighbor".  This section starts off strong reminding us of love as the power that evokes more love and the most important force for growth and change. Another "win" is the reassurance that God's love is always available.  It also invites us to love of all the world: a beautiful global neighborhood.  What's not to support here! 

Then this document moves into transactional invitations that (unfortunately) encourage our youth to prove their love by right action, rather than expressing a life committed to goodness as the natural outcome of love of self, others, and God.

Val and Nathan also discuss the following:

1. The power of prayer and communion emphasized
2. Encouragement to self-advocate in situations that are not safe
3. Openness and inclusion for all people no matter their race or religion (specific mention of gender/sexuality omitted in this clause sadly)
4. Prescriptions around opposite sex early benign interaction
5. Ways to handle complex home life situations
6. Questions at the end implying more transition-based relationship with God.

This section offers a lot of beautiful counsel.  Nathan and Val express some concern that the counsel does not necessarily align with current theology and policy around real-time issues of inclusion and safety.  It does however invite healthy advocacy towards these Christ-like values.

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Series Title: Analysis of E. Corbitt: Christ-Centered Activism [Part II of II]

In this follow up episode, Valerie conceptualizes the recent formal criticism of activism/advocacy against the LDS church from the psychological framework called Internal Family Systems [IFS]. She begins by explaining how within each individual is a “true self” who is whole, complete, wise, and infinitely capable and powerful…[exactly what might be expected of offspring of divine parents!] 

As mortality wears on we each collect experiences and relationships that inevitably hurt and overwhelm and through these experiences our true selves fade into the background while two other self states emerge: the “wounded child” part [representing deep fear and helplessness] and an aggressive, hostile, bullying “protector” part, who takes charge to protect the “wounded child” part, and generally makes things much worse even while intending to make things better. 

Healing comes when the “true self” steps in and begins to reclaim their power through [atonement-activated] love, compassion, and self acceptance.

In this episode Valerie proposes this exact dynamic playing out in “real time” in our very institution. She further proposes that we activists begin to see our role as essential in the growing body of the church’s “true self” potential.

Book referenced in this episode:

• No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, by Richard Schwartz

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Series Title: Analysis of E. Corbitt: Christ-Centered Activism [Part I of II]

In this special episode, Nathan and Val respond to the recent address given by E. Corbitt claiming that all activism against the church is sinful, wrong, and motivated by evil intention.  This could not be further from the truth.  Val and Nathan address the following issues looking at the psychology of how to heal fractured relationship and the many ways healthy healing principles were not only not practiced, but (sadly) completely contradicted.  Here is a rundown of what they addressed:  

1. A general misunderstanding of the nature of the suffering, hurt, betrayal, hopelessness, and pain that brings about activism [relational protest] of all sorts.
2. A list of "what not to say" to someone who has experienced legitimate pain at the hands of an authority figure if healing is desired by both parties
3. An explanation of how pain and suffering can be healed through legitimate acknowledgment of its reality (rather than a diminishing of its existence).
4. The claim that activism is ALWAYS wrong in the context of religion.
5. Several misinterpretations of scripture including the claim that prophets are 'made perfect in Christ'
6. The claim that sustaining means exact alignment with prophets all of the time
7. The claim that activism is a blanket rejection of Jesus Christ and the entire leadership and church
8. The claim that activism does not bring about change in the church (because change sufficiently happens on its own) while also claiming that if activism is needed, it can be solved at the ward level
9. The claim that activists are judgmental, narrow minded, and an echo-chamber of their own beliefs [wow].
10. The idea that disagreement in any way causes contention and contention is always wrong. 

Val and Nathan also walk through multiple ways one might "check themselves" to see if they have caught what Elder Corbitt calls "ATC" and Valerie and Nathan take the test to see where they stand and how it feels. (PS They feel fine!)

Take the test for yourselves and evaluate your own endeavors to align with love and goodness! Please SHARE this episode to help others make sense of this recent address and news article.  Articles of this nature further divide rather than heal.  As Christ-Centered Activists, we seek to be acknowledged, seen, and understood.  This is how reconciliation happens.

Helpful Links:

• PDF: ACTIVISM VS. DISCIPLESHIP: A Message for Chaplains of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt
• YouTube: Activism vs. Discipleship, Protecting the Valiant || Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt

Book referenced

• Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned, 

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In this episode Valerie walks you through her own experience with many, many of her own clients who tenaciously refuse to believe that the atonement is actually infinite and eternal for them.  In the LDS faith (and other conservative Christian faiths) sexual addiction seems to hold an elevated place of shame, judgment, and condemnation.

Many people communicate and truly believe that this struggle is too "bad" to be consumed in the atonement of Jesus Christ...until the wounded does something to earn it first. Once again.  This belief harms everyone.  And it paralyzes the one desperately in need of that Love that heals ALL wounds and changes all natures.

Follow Valerie through her own experiences working with individuals who need more than anything, a reason to believe that they are worthy of the love that activates their own healing journey.

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SUPPORT GROUPS: You are invited to join one of Valerie’s space-limited ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Faith Crisis and Expansion Support and Processing Groups⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!  As a trauma therapist, she continues to help our LDS faith expansion community become psychologically healthier and spiritually well in and around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Details about availability on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠latterdaystruggles.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  These groups ALWAYS FILL UP, so jump in asap!

     

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Series: 2022 Strength of Youth Health Check [Part III of VII]

In this episode Val and Nathan focus on the section in the pamphlet that outlines the LDS church’s teachings on the atonement of Jesus Christ and riff about some positives in this section as well as what they feel might be a generalized misunderstanding about the nature of Christ’s truly infinite power to heal us through love.

They start with Val breaking down 3 atonement theories:

1. Ransom Theory
2. Satisfaction Theory
3. Penal Substitution Theory

and talk about which of these theories seem to be most generally accepted in LDS thought… and why this is problematic.

They then address several questions, including:

• Must we do something to activate the healing power of the atonement? 
• Does God really demand justice of their children and does Jesus Christ really intervene to protect us from our own justice-demanding parents [and why would we worship that kind of God?] Is this stance possibly a product of centuries of patriarchy? 
• Why would “sin/repentance” language be better replaced with “wounded/healing” language to connect us with Christ? 
• Who truly demands justice and struggles the most receiving Christ’s mercy [hint: look in the mirror]? 
• What keeps people from sinning their lives away if they aren’t motivated by fear, punishment, or disappointment from God and Christ? 

The essence of this episode is that the atonement is founded in love, was performed through love and heals us through love even before we have a chance to mess up. Buckle up and maybe catch this episode twice because it’s likely atonement ideas you never heard in church. 

Brilliant books referenced: 

• The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe, by Richard Rohr
• All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between, by Terryl and Fiona Givens
• Dialogues With Myself Personal Essays on Mormon Experience, by Eugene England

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Due to the large number of enquiries I have received about joining a space-limited support group, this short episode will answer some of the common questions that many of you have about what to expect in a Latter Day Struggles Support Group.  I address and give examples of kinds of conversations we have, kinds of content I bring, what type of participation you might expect to have, and how well you will get to know yourself and each other.

I divide my focus between immediate skills training content and practices (such as--ideas about how to have a challenging conversation with someone who does not understand your current journey) and more long term identity development, consciousness raising, soul-growth type of conversations (you'll need to listen to the episode to get the explanation on this one!). 

I also share several ways that we are connecting between session and a new closed Facebook group that I am soon opening for all members of all groups where I will be hosting periodic Q&Rs.  Listen in and let me know if I have not answered your questions by emailing me at [email protected].

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