Forthcoming Articles

Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association publishes articles and book reviews online when they have been peer-reviewed and copyedited. The articles on this page will appear in Volume 2 of JMSSA when it is assembled. The pagination in forthcoming research articles posted here will be the same as in the printed version of Volume 2, but book reviews, correspondence, and other items may have preliminary pagination.

Articles

“Come for the Memes, Stay for Defending the Faith”: Far-Right and Anti-Feminist Red Pill Influences in the #DezNat Twitter Hashtag
Spencer P. Greenhalgh,  University of Kentucky
Amy L. Chapman,  Columbia University

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Abstract

Scholarship on the intersection of Mormonism and the internet has often focused on progressive online voices. However, in recent years, the DezNat movement has challenged the assumption that online Mormonism necessarily trends more liberal than the Latter-day Saint mainstream. In this study, we examine the influence of red pill communities—which include far-right and anti-feminist movements on the internet—on DezNat. We collected 1,378 screenshots of tweets containing the #DezNat hashtag (which often included additional data and context) and engaged in open coding of these tweets, guided by our understanding of red pill concepts and tropes. We found considerable evidence of far-right and anti-feminist influences on DezNat-tagged tweets, suggesting that it is disingenuous for DezNat defenders to describe the movement as merely about Latter-day Saint orthodoxy. However, interpreting our findings through an affinity space framework, we argue that it is impractical—and perhaps impossible—to definitively establish the motivations of all those who participate in the movement. Rather, we suggest that the clear red pill references by DezNat participants provide an opportunity to consider overlaps between Mormonism, the far right, and aggressive anti-feminism—as well as the tensions between intentional ambiguity and boundary maintenance in Latter-day Saint institutions.

Not Before Jesus Comes, If Ever: Mormon Views on When Women Will Receive the Priesthood
Ryan T. Cragun, University of Tampa
Rick Phillips, University of North Florida
Michael Nielsen, Georgia Southern University

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Abstract

While there has been agitation in recent years among some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for women to be ordained to the priesthood, research has established that the leaders of the religion and most members continue to oppose the idea. Drawing on data from an online purposive sample (n=49,568), we examine how likely members of the LDS Church are to think that women will be ordained to the priesthood and contrast that likelihood with a similar estimation of when Jesus will return and the leadership of the LDS Church will call on some members to move to Jackson County, Missouri in preparation for the Second Coming. Our results suggest that the Mormons in our sample believe that it is more likely that they will move to Missouri to greet Jesus than that women will receive the priesthood.