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Welcome, dear readers, to the Spring 2014 issue of SquareTwo! The full table of contents can be found on our archives page here.

First up, we have V. H. Cassler's discussion of recent talks on women and the priesthood by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder M. Russell Ballard, and President Sheri Dew. Cassler argues these talks proffer nine new propositions that, when synthesized, create a stunning new framework for thinking about priesthood and Priesthood--and women. Check it out!

Second, Alixandra Lewis Adams has penned a must-read work on how women in the early Church (1847-1930) viewed women's employment and political participation. You may know some of the historical information Adams pulls together for you, but we guarantee that you will be amazed at much of what she has found, and will be emailing your friends and family to share it. Furthermore, Adams asks an important question: what did the early Saints understand about women's roles that the modern LDS Church is now struggling to regain? It's longer, but make time for it!

Third, Nathaniel Givens and Walker Wright discuss how the Church transitioned from a "three-fold" mission to a "four-fold" mission that includes attention to poverty alleviation. Givens and Walker also suggest that the triumph of economic growth approaches over redistributional approaches in combating global poverty smoothed the way for this change within the Church.

Fourth, Rachel Fairclough Zirkle discovers that Utah is dead last in a ranking of women in politics and leadership among all the states of the union. How could this be so? What does this say about Utah? Is it possible that religion plays a role? And if so, could religion also turn things around? And is the LDS Church already laying the foundation for that turn-around? Some serious food for thought here.

Fifth, Steve Cranney examines the nationwide General Social Survey, which from time to time asks where respondents would place God on a continuum from exclusively male in gender to exclusively female in gender. Where do you think most Americans' views lie on that continuum? And what about Mormons? Check out his research for some fascinating results.

And last but not least, we have a interesting set of comments for our most recent Readers' Puzzle from our readers about immigration reform and Church principles, with many arguing for more open borders, and others wondering how to correlate spiritual principles of preparedness in all things with such a call.

As always, we offer a new Readers' Puzzle for the Spring 2014 issue: In light of Cranney's article, we ask our readers whether they have ever had a spiritual experience where they felt an expressly feminine communication or expression--and how did they know it was feminine? Tell us, and we will print your responses . . . who knows? you may find, if you have had one of these experiences, that you are not alone.

 



Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board (2014) "Editors' Introduction to the Spring 2014 Issue," SquareTwo, Vol. 7 No. 1 (Spring), http://squaretwo.org/EditorsIntroSpring2014.html, [give access date]

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