A sociology student felt overwhelmed about having to write a paper for their capstone and wanting to do something on the topic of the church. I put forward an idea that bugged me for a long time: How did the church go from wanting to succeed from the union in 1857; to being so pro-U.S. military as to be able to alter the torture regulations and write the torture script for the CIA?

Well, the student jumped on the idea, asking if I would do the research on the Mormon history side. I did. And that paper exists here.

Or here:

https://cdn.fbsbx.com/hphotos-xpa1/v/t59.2708-21/10916934_10206808916687249_1350328627_n.pdf/MormonsandWar.pdf?oh=501cac04873e376f63128d410f4f48a7&oe=5510D44E&dl=1

My personal summary is a bit more inflammatory than her conclusion I think. I think it is because members have been trained to follow the prophet no matter what he says; so if he says to go to war, they do, and if he says to not go, they don’t. Indeed, I think that comes out towards the end when Hinkley’s support for the Iraq war is perceived as wavering in the final paragraphs of the papaer.

Regardless, we have submitted this paper to Sunstone, and I hope it is accepted. It’s a great topic and definitely worth exploring.