A Reign of Dangerous Lunacy

April 21, 2020 By Gina Colvin

In 2016, when Donald Trump was elected to be President of the United States, I was simultaneously dumbfounded and unsurprised. I was dumbfounded because I couldn’t believe that such a human being, utterly unfit for political office and so utterly unformed ethically, intellectually and personally, could have won a Presidential election. But my Mormon nose has been pressed up against the window of America my whole life so I was somewhat unsurprised that almost every unresolved historical pathology of America: Racism; ... Read more

Hoarding the Sacrifices of Ordinary People: A Question of Ethics

December 23, 2019 By Gina Colvin

“There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien I’ve never seen the LDS Church in such damage control. Interviews, statements, and letters have been published trying to dampen down the Ensign Peak Advisors (EPA) scandal that erupted when a disgruntled former employee turned whistleblower.... Read more

A Year After a Church Discipline and I’m Still Mormon!

December 9, 2019 By Gina Colvin

I would be remiss if I didn’t give a huge shout-out to President Russell Nelson who has, by decree, un-coupled the LDS Church from the moniker ‘Mormon’. This means the word ‘Mormon’ can now refer to any one of the 400 or so churches and groups who have genealogy right back to Joseph Smith’s original Latter-day Restoration Movement. It also paves the way for a much needed ecumenical conversation between all expressions of the LDS Restoration. It also means I... Read more

Five Days after the Christchurch Shootings: Subversive Compassion

March 20, 2019 By Gina Colvin

As I read the international response to the Christchurch mosque shootings, I find some Americans (#notallamericans) over-busy trying to fit into their heads the possibility that our community response to this terrible event is to draw together and offer compassion and peace in spite of our differences. It’s a subversive act to take such a vicious event meant to highlight ‘us’ and ‘them, and then refuse to be vicious. It’s a tough act, to turn our attention away from the... Read more

From Christchurch: A Critique and a Lament

March 16, 2019 By Gina Colvin

After gathering in our five sons from their schools where they had been in lockdown for several hours we sat in front of the news together, in silence and horror. Then, as the night drew on we switched off the television, lit a candle and prayed. We prayed for the victims and their families. We prayed with gratitude for the police and their fine, courageous work. We prayed for the medical staff, who were, as we prayed, trying desperately to save... Read more

An Open Letter to the Christchurch Stake on the Day of My Church Discipline

December 20, 2018 By Gina Colvin

Dear Sisters and Brothers of Christchurch Stake, I recall several years ago talking with a former Stake President about the reasons for church disaffiliation. He’d just been to a regional meeting and inactivity was a discussion point. He recounted several explantaions offered at the meeting; a) People had been offended. b) They weren’t faithful enough or were too lazy to make an effort. c) They wanted to break the commandments. I asked him where that information had come from? Had... Read more

Why not just resign?

December 18, 2018 By Gina Colvin

Before I address the concerns of the many, many people who have reached out to me since my impending Church Discipline was announced, let me just say: It’s Advent. This season is far more important Christian news than my discipline. Furthermore, the event of my Church Discipline is not nearly as significant as the pressing issues of poverty, oppression, inequality, war, despotism, or the tragedy of social isolation and loneliness – especially during Christmas. And, it’s certainly not the worse... Read more

When the LDS Church Disciplines a Woman

December 9, 2018 By Gina Colvin

Whatever you may think about the soteriology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it offers big, audacious blessings. I went to the temple to be sealed to my first husband when I was 19. That marriage didn’t last, but that was OK because when it came time to marry Nathan, President Hinckley moved pretty quickly to clear the way for our temple marriage. I remember that September morning like it was yesterday. After the... Read more

In the Wake of General Conference: Let’s Talk About Spiritual Abuse

October 9, 2018 By Gina Colvin

Zina Huntington (1821-1901) was a young woman in her prime when she married Henry Jacobs. But Joseph Smith had long fancied her. Her marriage to Henry, however, was no impediment to Joseph whose superior priesthood afforded him the right to approach the married Zina with a polygamous marriage proposal. This he did proclaiming that he’d had a revelation involving (you guessed it) flaming swords and angels and threats of death. She finally consented. When Joseph Smith was killed, Zina... Read more

When Church Leaders are More Important than Church Children

September 17, 2018 By Gina Colvin

“Some churches, sects, cults or religious movements are basically collective egoic entities, as rigidly identified with their mental positions as the followers of any political ideology that is closed to any alternative interpretation of reality.” – Eckhart Tolle When I was 11, the first man entitled to ask me if I kept the law of chastity was my Stake President. A few years ago he was found guilty of paedophilia and imprisoned. When I was 13 my then Bishop came... Read more