Marriage for Elites Only? + Today’s Digest

Our daily rundown of the articles from around the web that we feel our readers would enjoy and appreciate. We hope to highlight the best of what’s around.

Public Square Bulletin recommends:

The Benefits of Marriage Shouldn’t Only Be For Elites

W. Bradford Wilcox—Institute for Family Studies

Today the rich marry much more often than the poor. The benefits of marriage are clear and consistent. Wilcox wonders how to close this gap.

Thoughts and Prayers Do Help

David Bashevkin—Wall Street Journal

Russell M. Nelson spoke in May about how praying for those in need inspires him to action. So I wanted to recommend this recent Wall Street Journal article that delves into the concept and why it would be a mistake to throw away “thoughts and prayers.”

Susa Young Gates: ‘Daughter of Mormonism’

Jerry Winder—From the Desk

Susa Young Gates is an essential figure in the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ. This Q&A with her biographer is succinct, fascinating, and essential for anyone looking to quickly understand her life and accomplishments.

Walmart Settles Religious Discrimination Dispute

Tom Raabe—American Spectator

One of the most interesting religious freedom cases making its way to the Supreme Court involved a man that Wal-Mart refused to promote because as a Seventh-Day Adventist he required one day off a week. But Wal-Mart unexpectedly settled the case before it could make the high court. The reasoning may interest you.

Jesus in Recent Latter-day Saint Art

Chad Nielsen—Times and Seasons

This overview of Anthony Sweat’s recent presentation about depictions of the Savior includes links to many of the beautiful images that Sweat references and is definitely worth a leisurely read.

On Key

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Scottish Papers Fixate on Religion in Abuse Case

A small note today. Both The Courier and The Times in Scotland have run headlines largely advertising the faith of a couple cleared of abuse charges. Mormon bishop and midwife from Dundee cleared of abuse charges after five-day trial Mormon bishop and wife cleared of child assaults This is no surprise, as our study showed, media outlets are much more likely to use the word “Mormon” in connection with negative news.  This illustrates the long-felt frustration that Latter-day Saints’ faith is only public in negative circumstances. This frustration perhaps is doubly felt this week, after the recent Washington Post article about influential Latter-day Saint journalist, Jack Anderson, left out his faith entirely except to note that he could not be assassinated by poison, because he didn’t drink.

Kingmen on January 6th

The Committee Hearings on January 6th have been ignored as a political ploy by many Americans, including people of faith. That’s a mistake.

The Art of Skewing Church Statements

Some have been confused about the Church’s support for new federal legislation. But are they confused about what the Church actually said—or about how media outlets spun it?

De-Nazifying The Church

Plenty of horrifying things in history have been justified as accomplishing “great good.” That’s true of the atrocities in Ukraine. And it’s also true of those tearing apart the faith of believers young and old.