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Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:54 am
by KevinSim
Tom wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:36 pm
The Utah Lighthouse Ministry will shutter March 1, and Tanner does not plan to reopen in another location.
Roughly forty years ago I paid a visit to the Utah Lighthouse Ministry's bookstore, and got into a conversation with Sandra about the nature of God. She seemed to think that because God was God, He could do whatever He chose to do. I said she was saying that at the extreme we were talking about, might made right. She agreed. Then her phone rang and she went to answer it. I came to the conclusion that everything that needed to be said had been said, so before she got done with her call I left. I was an immature young adult at the time, just out for scoring debate points with Sandra Tanner; I'd like to think that if I had the opportunity to do it over again I would have tried to have a more meaningful conversation with her, or maybe I wouldn't have decided to pay a visit to the bookstore at all. But that memory has stuck with me.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:03 am
by msnobody
KevinSim wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:54 am
Tom wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:36 pm
The Utah Lighthouse Ministry will shutter March 1, and Tanner does not plan to reopen in another location.
Roughly forty years ago I paid a visit to the Utah Lighthouse Ministry's bookstore, and got into a conversation with Sandra about the nature of God. She seemed to think that because God was God, He could do whatever He chose to do. I said she was saying that at the extreme we were talking about, might made right. She agreed. Then her phone rang and she went to answer it. I came to the conclusion that everything that needed to be said had been said, so before she got done with her call I left. I was an immature young adult at the time, just out for scoring debate points with Sandra Tanner; I'd like to think that if I had the opportunity to do it over again I would have tried to have a more meaningful conversation with her, or maybe I wouldn't have decided to pay a visit to the bookstore at all. But that memory has stuck with me.
She is probably still reachable. She was very accommodating the couple of times I talked to her.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:20 am
by Informant
Doctor CamNC4Me wrote: ↑It was tough to watch SLC hit a hard downward spiral that I’m not sure it’s going to pull out of.
You can diss on Mormonism but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you diss on the greatest city—
my city—in the nation.
Get thee hence!
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:16 am
by KevinSim
msnobody wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:03 am
She is probably still reachable. She was very accommodating the couple of times I talked to her.
Actually, it may have been
thirty years ago, not forty. I'm not having much luck remembering precisely when I would have had a car at my disposal in Salt Lake City! Anyhow, MsNobody, I'm not sure it would be wise for me to drive to the bookstore before it gets demolished, nor would it be productive to try to call it. What I can see myself doing is sending Sandra Tanner an e-mail. If you can get me her e-mail address I will send her a note and see if she remembers me.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:53 pm
by Kishkumen
End of an era. I remember seeing the store as I drove around SLC. I can’t remember if I ever popped in. Jerald and Sandra have done a lot of good things, so it is hard to say I wish they had never embarked on their ministry. In the balance, I would say they have been a force for good. That said, I was never a fan of the goal to oppose Mormonism as a faith. Hopefully Mormonism continues to become better as a result of their work. In terms of awareness of Mormon history and the evolution of the scriptures, the Tanners have succeeded in getting Mormon scholars to deal with the historical questions their documents have raised. Kudos to them for that!
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 4:45 pm
by Informant
Yeah, good riddance. The world needs more love and less hate.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 4:55 pm
by Fence Sitter
Tom wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:36 pm
In a 2006 profile, now-retired Brigham Young University professor Daniel Peterson said the Tanners “pound for pound, year after year, have been the most successful opponents of the church.”
It wasn’t meant, he added, as a compliment.
And yet, that was exactly what it was.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:03 pm
by Fence Sitter
Informant wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 4:45 pm
Yeah, good riddance. The world needs more love and less hate.
I know, right? Because lying to people is so much more loving than telling them the truth.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:08 pm
by dastardly stem
Back as a Mormon I wasn’t a fan of the tanners, not because they didn’t have good criticisms but because they failed to acknowledge that if they turned the critical eye on their own religion even a little bit, it too would show all the similar problems as Mormonism. I’d be like, “yeah but have you looked around noticing your glass walls?”
But I suppose I should acknowledge it’s sad to see old things pass away.
Re: Utah Lighthouse Ministry is Closing
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:14 pm
by Dr Exiled
Never went there but heard from my church leaders that it was a center for misguided apostates and that I shouldn't bother with them. The opposite was true. Jerald and Sandra did a lot to uncover the hidden history of Mormonism and should be applauded for it. I hope it maintains its online presence.
http://www.utlm.org/