September Six
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In September 1993, six noted Mormon intellectuals and feminists were expelled from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church). The Salt Lake Tribune dubbed these individuals the "September Six," an alliterative name which was commonly used in the media.
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Church measures against the September Six
Except for Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, all of the September Six were excommunicated. Whitesides was disfellowshipped, a less-severe sanction. According to LDS Church policy, this meant she could return to full fellowship without re-baptism. Excommunicated members may be rebaptized and enjoy full fellowship after repentance is demonstrated. However, as of 2004, four of the September Six are not members of the LDS church—the exceptions are Avraham Gileadi, who was rebaptized, and Whitesides, who is still a disfellowshipped member.
While the LDS Church publicly announces when a person has been excommunicated, the church refuses to discuss details about why the person was excommunicated, even if details of the proceedings are made public by that person. The church's point of view is missing, therefore, as to why each of the September Six were excommunicated. Based on many of their own comments, and other sources, the following describes what is known about the individuals' reasons for excommunication and their current relationship to Mormonism.
Short Biographies
Lynne Kanavel Whitesides
Lynne Kanavel Whitesides is a feminist noted for speaking on the "Mother in Heaven." Whitesides was the first of the group to experience church discipline. She was disfellowshipped September 14.
Whitesides has not returned to activity in the church again as of 2004. Reports state that she has pursued a personal spiritual growth by searching for a more feminine conception of God.
Avraham Gileadi
Avraham Gileadi is an Old Testament scholar. He authored a book about Isaiah and the last days which was published by LDS-owned Deseret Book but later pulled from the shelves. Details of why he was excommunicated on September 15 are not available though they probably have to do with issues relating to Mormon fundamentalism.
Gileadi, not considered a theological liberal like the others, has been re-baptized, and is an active member of the Church. He has since written Isaiah Decoded, a book now carried by the church owned Deseret Book chain.
Paul Toscano
Paul Toscano is a Salt Lake City attorney who co-authored a controversial book, Strangers in Paradox: Explorations in Mormon Theology (1990), and later wrote the book The Sanctity of Dissent (1994). He was excommunicated September 19.
Toscano has stated that he lost his faith and said he feels remorse only for being so angry at the LDS Church. His wife Margaret Toscano was excommunicated in November 2000, her story can be found on the Sunstone Magazine website Tidying Up Loose Ends?: The November 2000 Excommunication of Margaret Toscano 2001 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium.
Maxine Hanks
Maxine Hanks is a writer, historian, feminist theologian who compiled and edited the book Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism(1992). She was excommunicated September 19 for this work (as was fellow contributor, D. Michael Quinn).
Hanks had been researching, writing and lecturing on Mormon history and women's topics since 1975. Mormon studies continued as her area of scholarly work after the excommunication, expanded by religious and liturgical studies. Privately, she pursued a spiritual path of Gnosticism, and was ordained minor clergy in the Ecclesia Gnostica in 1999.[1] She continues working with women's studies in religion, particularly Mormon, Christian and Gnostic traditions.
Lavina Fielding Anderson
Lavina Fielding Anderson is a feminist writer who edited the books Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective (1992), and Lucy's Book the definitive edition of the Lucy Mack narrative, a former editor for the Ensign and the current editor for the Journal of Mormon History. She was excommunicated September 23.
Anderson still attends LDS church services as a non-member. She continues to write on Mormon issues, including editing the multi-volume Case Reports of the Mormon Alliance, an ongoing collection of interviews with Mormons who believe they were unfairly disciplined by the Church.[2]
D. Michael Quinn
D. Michael Quinn is a Mormon historian. Among other studies, he documented LDS Church-sanctioned polygamy from 1890 until 1904, after the 1890 Manifesto when they officially abandoned the doctrine (see: "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (Spring 1985) 9-105). He also authored the 1987 book, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, which argues that early Mormon leaders were greatly influenced by superstitious beliefs and magic practices including stone looking, charms, and divining rods. He was excommunicated September 26.
A few years after his excommunication, Quinn announced that he was gay. However, there is no evidence that sexuality was an issue in his excommunication.
Quinn has since published several critical studies of Mormon Hierarchy, including his two-volume work, that starts with his dissertation The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and a companion volume The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, a third volume is forthcoming from Signature Books in 2007. He also authored the 1996 book Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example, which argues that homosexuality was practiced among early Mormons.
Despite his excommunication and critical writings, Quinn remains a believing Latter Day Saint. For further information on Quinn see, Lavina Fielding Anderson's article, "DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn." in Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters, edited by John Sillitoe and Susan Staker, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002, pp. 329-363.
Causes
The excommunicated feminists challenged assumptions of a male-only priesthood in the Church. Because only priesthood holders may preside, this means only males can serve in general leadership positions, something feminists criticize. Feminists also challenged the all-male leadership by suggesting that women pray to their "Mother in Heaven". A Heavenly mother exists in Mormon theology—the 1845 hymn O My Father by Eliza R. Snow mentions her briefly. "Implicit in the Christian verity that all men are the spirit children of an Eternal Father is the usually unspoken truth that they are also the offspring of an Eternal Mother" Mormon Doctrine page 467 by Bruce R. McConkie. Though clearly a Mormon concept, this theology is dangerous ground for modern LDS scholars.
Quinn and Gileadi likewise seemed to challenge official church positions. At the least, they published research without regard for official history or millennial doctrines respectively.
Toscano, on the other hand, directly attacked church leadership.
Several of the September Six including Quinn and Anderson believe that a handful of General Authorities, notably LDS apostle Boyd K. Packer, orchestrated the excommunications. Anecdotes from individuals who attended excommunication council hearings suggest that stake presidents received directives from above to discipline theologically liberal individuals and intellectuals as if it were a local decision. To some, the apparently synchronized buildup of warnings and councils over the summer of 1993 suggest that General Authorities conceived of and oversaw the disciplinary measures.
Reaction
Reactions to the September Six event within the mainstream Mormonism ranged from shock to confusion to sympathy to apathy. The event was a curious confrontation between the church leadership and a small scholarly subculture of which most Mormons were entirely unaware. Thus, the event took church members by surprise and is still not well understood by mainstream Latter-day Saints. The church itself does not comment on it.
However, this watershed event in contemporary LDS history had repercussions for liberal scholarship and feminism, greatly discouraging liberals, feminists and critical scholarship, while ironically spurring conservative apologetics.
The September Six event echoed the 1979 excommunication of feminist and ERA activist, Sonia Johnson and seemed to deliver a message about how the conservative Church views feminist critics within the Church. Members were advised by the Church in 1989 to exercise caution in reading publications or attending symposia not sponsored by the Church itself.[3]
More recently, however, dialogue has increased between liberal, conservative, moderate, apologetic and critical views on the Internet, as well as at academic and independant conferences.
Bibliography
- Anderson, Lavina Fielding. "The LDS intellectual community and church leadership: A contemporary chronology." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 26(1) [Spring 1993], 7-64.
- Anderson, Lavina Fielding. "Freedom of Conscience: A Personal Statement." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 26(4) [Winter 1993], 196-202.
- Anderson, Lavina Fielding. "The Church and Its Scholars: Ten Years After." Sunstone, 128 (July 2003), 13-19.
- Stack, Peggy Fletcher. "Exiles in Zion." Salt Lake Tribune, 16 August 2003.
- Whitesides, Lynne Kanavel, Toscano, Paul James, Hanks, Maxine, Quinn, D. Michael, and Anderson, Lavina Fielding. "Spiritual Paths after September 1993," Sunstone, December 2003, 13-31.
- Waterman, Bryan and Kagel, Brian. The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998, pp. 258-301.
- "Six intellectuals disciplined for apostasy." Sunstone, November 1993, 65-73.
External links
- Official LDS Church Page
- Sunstone Magazine
- "Exiles in Zion" - Copy of Ten-Year Anniversary article from the Salt Lake Tribune