Welcome, dear readers, to the Spring 2018 issue of SquareTwo! Click here for the full table of contents for this issue.
First up, Neylan McBaine introduces our readers to the Better Days 2020 campaign, which seeks to celebrate that state of Utah’s granting of suffrage to women in 1895. But the first woman to cast a vote did so in the territory of Utah, in 1870. In 2020, it will be the 150th anniversary of that vote—something to cheer about! McBaine has found some amazing quotes from early Church leaders about the importance of women’s suffrage that will knock your socks off—take a look!
Second, Emily Powers celebrates the changes in Church policy concerning how bishops handle allegations of abuse. It is clear that bishops need better guidance, especially when all bishops are male and most victims are women. The steps being taken are a real step forward, asserts Powers.
Third, Amber Richardson pens a thoughtful essay on seeing our Heavenly Mother in the stories of women in the Bible. My favorite rumination was on Queen Vashti; she is skipped over very quickly to get to the story of Esther, but Richardson reminds us that Vashti was a woman of integrity and virtue.
Fourth, Scott Hammond, who has worked with Search and Rescue teams for many years, reflects on what he calls ‘lost person behavior.’ Drawing upon his long years of experience, Hammond likens what people do in the wild when they are lost to the situation of those who are lost spiritually.
Fifth, Kent Harrison takes on the perennial tension between science and religion. He suggests that what many take to be conflict between the two ways of knowing is more likely simply a consequence of ignorance. Harrison takes us on a guided tour of what science is telling us about the earth, the universe, and the human mind, and compares that with what the Restored Gospel tells us.
Sixth, Kent Harrison reviews the book, The First Love Story: Adam, Eve, and Us, by Bruce Feiler (Penguin, 2017). Feiler, a non-LDS Christian, comes to some interesting conclusions that mirror certain LDS teachings about our first parents. If we don’t see that the story of Eden is a love story, we’re missing the point, says Feiler.
Seventh, we have some terrific comments on last issue’s Readers’ Puzzle on the #MeToo moment in American culture, catalyzed by the case of Harvey Weinstein. While all commentators applaud the progress being made in holding perpetrators of sexual assault accountable, many also worry about unintended effects.
And finally, we also have a new Reader’s Puzzle on the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Google, Facebook, and other business entities now know enough about us to make George Orwell blanch. What are governments to do in the face of this unprecedented power? What are individuals to do? We’d love to hear from you, dear readers.
Enjoy this terrific new issue!
Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board, SquareTwo Journal (2018) "Editor's Intro Spring 2018," SquareTwo, Vol. 11 No. 1 (Spring 2018), http://squaretwo.org/EditorsIntroSpring2018.html, accessed <give access date>.
Would you like to comment on this article? Thoughtful, faithful comments of at least 100 words are welcome. Please submit to SquareTwo.