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A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER Daniel Rector 3 MY BURDEN IS LIGHT Elbert Eugene Peck OF GODS, MORTALS, AND DEVILS Boyd Kirkland 6 As Satan Is, Man may yet become SUNSWATH Levi Peterson 13 First Place Story in the 1986 D.K. Brown Fiction Contest PERCEPTIONS OF LIFE Louis A. Moench 30 Four Paths on Our Journey through Life THE MORMON DOCUMENTS’ Linda Sillitoe ~3 DAY IN COURT A Closer Look at Some Historical Documents RECORD TURNOUT AT SYMPOSIUM EIGHT 4O NEW DIRECTOR FOR SMITH INSTITUTE 41 LDS POET MEG MUNK DEAD AT 42 PROPHET IN THE PROMISED LAND Richard W. Sadler 44 Brigham Young: American Moses by Leonard J. Arrington SIN OR BORE? Kerry William Bate Mormon Polygamy: A History by Richard Van Wagoner READERS FORUM PUBLISHER Daniel H. Rector ALL-TIME LOW breakdowns, poor health anc! low EDITOR Elbert Eu,¢;ene Peck grades. It is not the reason gifted ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ron t~:itton In publishing the vicious LDS artists and scholars DESIGN DIRFCTOR Connie Disney personal attack on Linda Newell underachieve. GRAPHICS Robyn Smith Winchester (SUNSTONE, 10:11), SUNSTONE ART EDITOR Patrick Baxley reached an all-time low. It should Seminary is not a Primary class CIRCU~TION MANAGER Hden E. Wright be beneath the dignity of a that meets daily. It is a high school OPERATIONS MANAGER Charlotte Hamblin respectable journal to disseminate level course in theology. One EOITING INTERN Mdissa Sillitoe such a scurrilous statement. cannot become a good pianisl: through a correspondence school. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS Irene Bates, Bonnie Sterling M. McMur~m The best way to teach M. Bobet, Be.!lamy Brown, Elizabeth Buntett, Salt Lake City, Utah mathematics is in the classroom, Anne Castletc,n Busath, ]ames F. Cartwri~ht, not as a home study course. One John Cox, Earl P. Crandall, George Givens, of the most effective ways to Jeanne M. G~iffiths, Mike and Nancy convey the tenets of our faith is in Haru~ard, ]atina D. Haynie, Val Holley, JUDGE NOT... a classroom setting. Thomas ]~’IcA~ee, Carrie Miles, Joel Peterson, lilies. Pottmyer, Kent Roberts, T. Is SUNSTONE SO hard up for copy 11 am a morning seminary Euy~ene Shoemaker, Bill 5ires, Dolan and that you have taken to publishing graduate. As a young convert to Sharon Pritchett, George D. Smith, l~rie what, at best, is invective and at the Church it was the single most Winder Stromber~, ~’ Ruth Ward Tyau worst libel? I refer, of course, to important spiritual experience of the argument ad hominem attack on my high school years. Contrary to Karen Lynn’s opinion, it did make FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS lat~ Barber, Tim Linda King Newell in the letters a :’distinctive contribution to [my] Bebrend, William P. Col,lins, Wilfria? Decoo, column. Must I remind you that as spiritual development". Werner H. Hgck, Roxer H. Morrison, Kay editors, you have the right to edit? It is not necessary to publish every Nielsen, James F. Rea, Ed H. Zwanveld piece of slime that oozes under the ’~!3eminary offers camaraderiP to door. It is one thing to attack a young Mormons who feel isolated published work; it is quite another in ,.schools whet they are in the SUNSTONE is published by the Sunstone to allow vitriolic readers to vilify minority. There are lively, frank, Foundation, a non-profit corporation with an author personally. Your open discussions on topics no official ,connection to The Church of editorial policy should assign hate important to adolescents. Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints~ Articles Completing a dry home study represent the attitudes of the writers only mail to the waste basket lest your magazine should meet t]he same booklet alone is a poor substitute and not neces~sarily those of the for shared spiritual experiences editor/publisher or editorial board. fate. with one’s peers. l suggest this policy for you and your letter writers: Argue ideas The contentions of Lambert.. To speed up editing, mar~uscripts for but leave judgement of the Lynn, and Sellers is that morning ~ublication should be submitted on floppy testimonies of others to the serninary is okay for some people diskettes formatted for the IBM PC or (they imply the not-so-bright), but compatible equivalents and written with appropriate authorities, i.e. Our Heavenly Father and the an "inhumane" burden for serious Word Perfect, Wordstar, or any other word students and artists is fatuous. My pr(×-essor which saves files in ASCII testimony bearers themselves. eleven years’ experience as a format. Double-spaced typewritten Mary L. Bradford teacher for this program has manuscripts are also accepted and should shown the opposite, to be true. be submitted in duplicate Submissions Arlington, Virginia should not exceed six thousand words. Only the most motivated and Manuscripts should conform to the Chicay, o capable kids are willing to F.ay the Mauual of Style. Unsolicited manuscripts price to attend. Over 90% of [ny should be accompanied by sufficient return Yo~!’re right. We apolos, ize to Ms. students go on to college--many postage. Send all correspondence and Ne~’2ell amt repent. In the future we’ll with scholarships. Their GPA and manuscripts to SUNSTONE, 59 West 100 shal’e only the letters that resl,onsibly deal clas;s standing are high. They South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. with issues and ideas--not with participate in extracurricul~r personalities. act:ivities from music to atheletics. -Editor A lot of them have part-time jobs. United States subscriptions to SUNSTONE They do mountains of homework, are $27 for twelve issues. Outside the U.S. have fun in their spare tim(, and subscriptions are $40 for twelve issues by still find time to study the surface mail. Airmail subscriptions in the EARLY MORNING ENRICHMENT scriptures. I don’t know why these U.S. are $27 for one year plus airmail kid..,~ can do it and others can’t postage charges. POSTMASTER: Send ad- May l express a more positive dress changes to SUNSTONE, 50 West 100 view of morning seminary than For those who are able to take South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. this.e propounded by F. Lambert, advantage of the opportunity, Karen Lynn and Charles Sellers.? mo:cning seminary can be a III This Church program is not a wo:cthwhile and enriching Copyright ~ 1086 by the Sunstone conspiracycooked up by rise-and- experience. Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in shine cultists and poorly educated, the United States of America. empire-building CES bureaucrats. Michael Rayback It does not cause mental Boulder, CO 2 SUNSTONE Daniel H. Rector Just before Peggy Fletcher left she Regarding my position with In order to acquaint our readers chose me to be the president. The SUNSTONE, my father has always with the new leadership at position came quite unexpectedly. been completely supportive of SUNSTONE, and to convey a sense Professionally, I have a business what I’ve chosen to do, and this is of direction, I want to publish background with some minimal no exception. I really admire him answers to some of the questions publishing experience and a love for that. I’ve been asked most frequently for religious ideas, but I’m not an !~: What is your feeling about pub- during the last few months. editor so I was greatly relieved lishing controversial issues? {1: How do you justify SUNSTONE’S when Elbert Peck agreed to come J~: As an open forum representing existence? Do we really need both on board. The two of us fill the full spectrum of Mormon Peggy’s old shoes. SUNSTONE and Dialogue? thought, we should never fore- l~: First of all, the presence of ~: Some have expressed concern close discussion on significant more than one independent Mor- that the new leadership at issues,, and we should continually mon voice helps to insure a bal- SUNSTONE may be more break ground on new ones. Of anced and fair representation of conservative than before. Are you course, this must be done in a views, and the competition is an Iron Rodder? responsible fashion. All sides of an healthy. Of course, there is some l~: One advantage of growing up issue should eventually get fair overlap in what we do, but there in a General Authority’s home representation. We should also are specific needs that can only be was that I never shared the popu- remember that we are dealing met by a publication like SUNSTONE. lar conception of Church leaders with religious ideas that merit a Q: For instance? as nearly infallible authority fig- certain reverence and respect. But /~: Relatively few people have the ures. I therefore tend to be quite to me, genuine respect for an idea time or the inclination to wade independent in my views. This, I means that I should be willing to through a hundred-page article suVpose, disqualifies me from explore it fully. with hundreds of footnotes. Most being an Iron Rod. However, I ~: What does the future hold for of us would rather keep the longer don’t consider myself a Liahona in the Sunstone Foundation? article for reference, but read a the sense that the word often l~: Our chief goal now is to publish more concise treatment that gets connotes a distrust of personal with greater regularity. We are right to the heart of the issue in a revelation as a possible source of not making promises we can’t knowledge. Regardless of one’s keep, but you will notice few pages. private theology a person in my !~: Is SUNSTONE going to fold? improvement. Our content will /~: Over the last eleven years position must have tolerance and remaiin essentially the same with SUNSTONE has built a broad base of respect for the full range of Mor- perhaps a better balance of articles support.