Dispatches from Mormon Zion

by Ryan W. Davis, Terryl Givens (Foreword by)

Overview

In today’s deeply divided world, how can people find common ground with each other?
 
One of the earliest goals of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was to build a modern Zion—a community where people would share one heart and one mind. That vision raises questions that are profoundly relevant in today’s divided society. Is unity of feeling and belief desirable or even possible? If so, what does it look like? Ryan Davis explores these questions by reflecting on personal stories from his life and work in the present-day Latter-day Saints faith community.
 
The stories that Davis is interested in are ones in which relative strangers or mere acquaintances catch a glimpse of each other’s humanity. Within that liminal space—which Davis calls “Mormon Zion”—they are able to listen to each other, learn from each other, and find common ground, qualities that are sorely needed in today’s public square. Combining gifted storytelling with keen analysis, Davis illuminates people’s lived experiences within the Latter-day Saints community and offers thoughtful reflections on what it might mean to share one heart and one mind in today’s polarized world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467468985
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/13/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	205
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Ryan W. Davis is associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University. His academic research focuses on ethics, politics, and philosophy of religion. His work has been published in TheJournal of Political Philosophy, TheJournal of Politics, TheAmerican Journal of Political Science, TheJournal of the American Philosophical Association, Religious Studies, and Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. He has also written op-eds for The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and Deseret News.
Ryan W. Davis is associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University. His academic research focuses on ethics, politics, and philosophy of religion. His work has been published in The Journal of Political Philosophy, The Journal of Politics, The American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of the American Philosophical Association, Religious Studies, and Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. He has also written op-eds for The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and Deseret News. He is the author of the book Dispatches from Mormon Zion.
Terryl Givens is a Neal L. Maxwell Senior Fellow at Brigham Young University. He formerly held the University of Richmond's Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English, where he was professor of literature and religion. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including All Things New, The God Who Weeps, and The Crucible of Doubt.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Terryl Givens
Preface
1. Millennial Imagining
2. I Don’t Fish on Saturdays
3. Visions of Freedom
4. Taylor Swift and the Metaphysics of the Self
5. My Mom, Shoe, a Wild Raccoon, and Being without Guile
6. The Dance
7. The Thing They Don’t Tell You
8. Divine Riddles in the Laser-Tag Line
9. Family Home Evening, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Quietist Theological Relativism
10. The Legend of Quint McCallister
Conclusion
Works Cited
Index

Editorial Reviews

02/03/2025

Political philosopher Davis (Why It’s OK to Own a Gun) explores Mormon faith and community in this diffuse essay collection. The best pieces wrestle directly with the tenets of Mormonism. “Millennial Imagining,” for example, suggests that Latter-Day Saint communities have “perhaps a little by accident” created Zion—a community “of one heart and mind”—by removing cultural scripts that can get in the way of genuine human connection. One such notion is that college is solely a place to drink and party; doing away with that idea, as Mormon universities have, can preclude some “prefabricated” interactions and allow for more honest ones, Davis suggests. In “Family Home Evening, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Quietist Theological Relativism,” he argues that Joseph Smith’s claim that all other religions are “abominations” stems from a more general “anticreedalism” that asks adherents to “seek out God for themselves” rather than leaning on doctrine. Other entries are less focused, including a meandering recollection of a fishing excursion, and a meditation on how grades are counterproductive because they can create divisions among students. Davis is a wry and assured storyteller with a knack for finding touchstones of Mormon ethics in contemporary life, though the variety of tonal registers can make the collection feel a bit patchwork. Still, this offers an intriguing window into Mormon thinking. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly
“Davis is a wry and assured storyteller with a knack for finding touchstones of Mormon ethics in contemporary life . . . Offers an intriguing window into Mormon thinking.”

“Dispatches from Mormon Zion is an extraordinary love letter to Mormon culture. To love someone is to see them in a way that inspires an awareness of their value. As an insider who’s been on the outside and an outsider who’s been on the inside, Davis has seen the church from every angle. From this, Davis has crafted a clear-eyed and compelling portrait of faith, family, and community that warmly invites outsiders to appreciate the aesthetic charms and philosophical insights of the Utah Mormons.” 
—Jessica Flanigan, University of Richmond 
 
“‘Zion’ is one of the most sublime concepts in any religion. But as Ryan Davis rightly shows, ‘Zion’ is also found in the mundane—from fly-fishing to department meetings, and from Sunday sermons to Taylor Swift. This collection of delightful essays not only brilliantly exposes the unique variants of the Mormon Zion, but also demonstrates core principles of yearning and belonging that are shared across all faiths.”
—Benjamin E. Park, Sam Houston State University
 
“Ryan Davis’s book is a beautiful—and often hilarious—exploration of the weird and wonderful experience of living in community. His stories show how a community can be distinctive and, at the same time, marked by generous hospitality. These delightful essays remind us why such communities are worth seeking out, worth building, and worth preserving.”
—Kyla Ebels-Duggan, Northwestern University
 
“Reading Dispatches from Mormon Zion is a rare pleasure. You are in the hands of a delightful, endearing, and exceptionally gracious narrator, possessed of a dry wit and uncommon wisdom for our fractious times. You will be grateful, as I am, for his gentle tutoring in the art of seeing others more truly.”
—George Handley, Brigham Young University

From the Publisher