Hello Friends,

I haven’t seen some of you in a long time. I’ve seen a lot of you recently. Some of you are just acquaintances. Doing the math, about a third of you probably know that I have been hired by Sunstone magazine to do podcasts and blogs for them. I was , and am.

And so, with no further fuss: my podcast and blog are up! You can find both at www.projectdeseret.com.

The purpose of both blog and podcast is in the name. Originally I wanted to title it The Zion Project, but then some wise friends broke it to me: I sounded like a person who robbed Palestinian land and sold it to Israelis. So it became Project Deseret, but it is still centered around the same idea—building a socially, politically, and economically just community. Because we don’t live in a very just world—and because many of Mormonism’s most promising doctrines and practices have been overlooked or trivialized by its own adherents—it will also be full of social commentary and critique, a call to remember and practice what is most beautiful in our religion. Since religion is capable of influencing our entire lives, this blog will not always be about Mormonism. In fact, it will work best when it is not about religion but, rather, about things we should go about with religious compassion: economics, art, politics, and building a good place.

I am not qualified to critique or commentate on Mormonism by myself, and I certainly do not live well enough to make my comments without hypocrisy. I am only qualified to start the conversation, and I hope it will be just that: a wonderful collaborative vision of what is wrong and what is possible. I hope that all of you will listen and contribute, agree and disagree. If you do, we will have a better chance of figuring out what Mormonism is, what it isn’t, and what it could be.

So visit www.projectdeseret.com and enjoy both podcast and blog! The podcast is divided into three parts: narrative, interview, and manifesto. It is divided that way to give history on three levels: the individual’s story, the expert’s analysis, and the dreamer’s hope. I hope that these three histories will tell us who we have been and where we can go now. I will post a podcast every two weeks, and fill the gaps between podcast posts with bloggerly musings. You can listen to the podcast on my site, or subscribe to it on Itunes.

One last thing before I go: a plug for my employer, but hopefully not a shameless one. If you have never read Sunstone, I think you should. It is a vital forum for conversation within Mormonism. It invites us to examine our religion and our own behavior with rigorous love. If the word Sunstone has an automatic stigma for you, I want you to give it another chance, because Sunstone is waiting to be as good and as rigorous and as representative as we make it. Please read it, and if you like it or could make it into what you like, consider subscribing or contributing articles to it. If we want Sunstone to continue, it is up to all of us—but especially the younger generation—to continue to shape and nourish it. As I have read and studied more about my religion, I have been surprised in two directions: Mormonism is both so much more and so much less than I was taught it was. I feel compelled to support any group that tries to straighten out the difference. I hope you will, too.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Ash