Welcome to the Summer 2026 issue of SquareTwo! We have an excellent lineup for you.
First, Susan Madsen pens an important piece on sexual violence in Utah. Madsen justifiably asserts that this scourge cannot be effectively tackled until “Latter‑day Saints consider how building Zion requires confronting the cultural norms that allow violence to persist.” Why does Utah consistently report higher‑than‑national‑average rates of rape, child sexual abuse, and other forms of gender‑based harm? Our faith community can no longer avoid this difficult conversation.
Second, V.H. Cassler reviews Holly Lawford-Smith’s new book, “Feminism Beyond Left and Right.” In it, Lawford-Smith, an Australian gender-critical philosopher, argues that neither the Left nor the Right are true friends to women. The Left has never earned the right to “claim” feminism as its own, and the Right certainly cannot. It’s time for feminists to stop centering political ideology, and center women first and foremost.
Third, Hayden Coombs uses the lense of Social Identity Theory to re-examine the contention between the Kingmen and the Freemen in Alma 51. He asks by what means each side constructs their identity, but then posits a further question. That is, is there a yardstick by which an onlooker can judge between opposing social identities, especially as these tend to become existential over time, leading to outright conflict?
Fourth, McKenzie and Ted Richards explore the distinction between freedom and liberty in scripture and also in the founding of nation. It is in the liberty provided by Christ that our freedom can redound to our happiness. The Richards assert that “with the freedom we are granted, should we wish to maintain it in the fullest, we must choose morality and religion, paradoxically liberating us from our passions.”
Fifth, Emilee Pugh Bell raises an interesting point about families and AI. More specifically, if the prerequisite to a family is embodiment, how does AI, which encourages the disembodiment of relationship, affect the family? Is there something spiritually crucial about the body that our current embrace of AI is denying?
Sixth, Ashley Clinton asks what Mother Eve learned from her Heavenly Mother as she approached the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In what ways does the life story of Eve parallel that of the Savior?
Seventh, our faithful and intrepid book editor, Emilee Pugh Bell reviews the classic book by Gabrielle Palmer, “The Politics of Breastfeeding.” Among other things, Palmer’s book asks us to consider the question, “Why is the right to breastfeed fought for so vehemently by some women and rejected so forcefully by others, often according to their class, education or society?”
Last, we have our editorial board’s remarks on the passing of Carol Lynn Pearson, whose work has influenced many in our faith community, and we also have our current Readers’ Puzzle, asking whether our readers believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should do more about male violence against women in their congregations, as Susan Madsen exhorts, and if so, what steps might be taken.
Enjoy this fine new issue!
Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board, SquareTwo Journal (2026) "Editors’ Intro, Summer 2026," SquareTwo, Vol. 19 No. 2 (Summer 2026), http://squaretwo.org/EditorsIntroSummer2026.html, accessed <give access date>.
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