Mormon Stories - LDS

In these episodes of Mormon Stories, we interview Sean Carter—traveling law humorist of Lawpsided Seminars, and former member of the LDS Church.  In this entertaining and lively interview, we discuss:

  • Sean's upbringing in the Compton area of Los Angeles and how he determined his career path
  • How he became funny as a way for people to like him in school
  • His experience of growing up black as a young man and his later realization of his efforts to "exempt himself out of blackness," or to make sure that he himself didn't experience discrimination while being aware that it existed against his community
  • His path to attending Harvard Law School, and coincidentally at the same time as President Barack Obama
  • His marriage to his educated wife who was not religious in any way, and how his investigation of the LDS Church began as a way to bring "Jesus to her"
  • How one of his biggest struggles with joining the LDS Church was being endowed and having someone else pick out his underwear, which for Sean was a stigma attached to young black men who had their underwear picked out for them while in prison symbolizing that they became property of someone else
  • His growing realization that the policies of the Church favored white culture, and how the revelation preventing young children with gay parents from joining the Church as being one of the last straws
Direct download: MormonStories-789-SeanCarterPt1.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 7:28am MDT

In this episode of Mormon Stories, we hold a panel discussion with Dr. Darron Smith—author of When Race & Religion Collide: Black Athletics at BYU and Beyond, Ryan McKnight—MormonLeaks publisher, and Vanessa Judd—a victim of assault by a BYU athlete. We discuss the MormonLeaks video which depicted an interaction between the Provo Police Department, a BYU football player, and other unidentified individuals. The video was recorded on December 4, 2016 and in it we learn that this is the second visit from the police that night and one of multiple visits they have had to make over time to the athlete.

We discuss:

*The ethics of releasing the video
*The ethics of NCAA athletics (especially at BYU), and
*The relationship between Provo Police, BYU and the Honor Code, especially regarding the many claims and accusations made concerning students being expelled or suspended for less than what is admitted to in this video

Direct download: MormonStories-788-BYUAthletics.mp3
Category:Religion -- posted at: 8:22am MDT