ClobberBlog | Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity

Here is a summary of what has happened on my Utah trip for Days 1-4 (future summaries forthcoming):

Day 1 – Friday

An interesting scenario took place on our airplane trip out here. Alicia and I were sitting in Aisle 19 Seats E & F (middle and window). A woman from New York was sitting in Seat D (aisle). Her husband was sitting in front of us in Aisle 18 Seat D. Two Muslim women in hijabwith a really cute baby girl were sitting in Aisle 18 Seats E & F.

I began discussing with Alicia my recent joy at my younger sister’s discovery of feminism, in which I mentioned that I considered myself a “quasi-feminist.” The New Yorker at the end of our row said, “Excuse me, but what’s a ‘quasi-feminist’?” So I explained to her that I consider myself a conservative feminist, and I don’t think I have any disagreement with the principles of feminism, but a lot of people would say that you cannot be a feminist if you’re pro-life. She nodded understandingly and said that she knew that argument, and she’s a pro-choice feminist, but she thinks you can be pro-life and feminist.

We had a great discussion on the plane with the woman, whose name was Carol. Carol was a lawyer heading to Salt Lake City for some legal business with her husband Bruce in tow. My friend Alicia wanted to know if men could be feminists, and it was fortunate to have Bruce on hand, because he was a self-proclaimed feminist. He said that having a daughter was what made him a feminist. Carol and Bruce described themselves as culturally Jewish. I eventually got to share with Carol how I became a Christian, and she was so warm and open to listening to other viewpoints. Carol also recommended some movies for my feminist movie list.

I kept wondering what the two Muslim women in hijab thought of our conversation about feminism. Between the two Jewish people, the two Christian seminary students, and the two Muslims, we certainly had an interesting block of rows on that plane.

Wherever you are, Carol and Bruce, I had a lovely time meeting you and I hope you’re enjoying your time in Utah.

When we landed in Utah, we stopped in Temple Square and ate at the Lion House for lunch before heading to Orem. It was fun.

That night we worked at the Food & Care Coalition, which is the only homeless shelter in Utah County (they’re still working on opening the dorms). We cleaned up after a fundraiser, put stuff away and did dishes. It is such a nice facility, and so needed for that area.

Day 2 – Saturday

The highlight of our day was going to hear testimonies from some people who had left the LDS church for evangelical Christianity and were now attending CenterPoint Church in Orem. One of them was a young woman who had converted from evangelical Christianity to get married in the LDS church and had since left the church, so her husband was LDS and she was effectively in an interfaith marriage. It was really cool to hear from them.

We also hiked the Y, which I’m embarrassed to admit I had never done as an undergraduate.

Day 3 – Sunday

We rose at the crack of dawn to go to Mountain View High School in Orem and help CenterPoint Church set up for their meetings. They are the largest evangelical church in the Utah Valley, but they are building a new building right now, so they meet at MVHS.

After attending a service there, we went to an LDS singles ward in Provo and stayed for both F & T Meeting and Sunday School.

Day 4 – Monday

We went to UVU to find LDS students and have conversations with them. I have to confess, I’m fairly bad at just walking up to someone and saying, “Hi, want to talk about religion?” But I tried.

Then we went to BYU and attended a Greek class on Matthew that was being taught by my friend Eric Huntsman. Janice Allred (excommunicated in 1995 for her work on Heavenly Mother) was sitting in on the class, and I sat next to her. She was fun. My friend Sarah Tayloralso joined us for the class and I got to meet her in real life for the first time. Or in other words, this class kicked so much ass.

I broke off from the group so I could take a bus to the other side of Provo and meet up with my brother-in-law, Adam. I got to meet my new sister-in-law, Rachel, for the first time as well as my five-month-old nephew.

Will keep you posted on the trip as time permits. Next post features Day 5: my meetings with Sandra Tanner and Shawn McCraney. DUH-DUH-DUH!