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Welcome to Guest Blogger Sheldon G.

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We’re due for an infusion of new blood here at T&S, so we’ve decided to roll out the red carpet for one Sheldon G. Sheldon got his undergraduate degree from the U of U, where he majored in history, wrote his senior thesis on the reactions of LDS women to the Correlation-related changes to the Relief Society, and took advantage of every possible opportunity to taunt and belittle BYU fans. Upon graduating, Sheldon attended law school at The George Washington University Law School, where he chaired the 2008 Religious Freedom Moot Court competition. After graduating in May 2008, Sheldon took a job with a major D.C. trade association. He now intends to accrue even more student debt by pursuing a Ph.D in Religious Studies, with a focus on the role of religion in the public square. More importantly, however, Sheldon and the woman who so admirably puts up with him are also expecting their second child this summer.

11 comments for “Welcome to Guest Blogger Sheldon G.”

  3. Dear Adam,

    There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a BYU education that a second degree from U of U can’t fix…

  11. Alison and Catherine –

    Thanks for your interest and I’d be delighted to share it – as soon as I find it! Somewhere during our recent move, I managed to lose my USB memory stick with all my old undergrad papers.

    For the thesis, I had the opportunity to interview a large sample of LDS women throughout Utah and Idaho who were alive during the transition. Most of the women were 65+, and they shared their own experiences and what they could remember their mothers said about the correlation-related changes to the Relief Society.

    I found several things interesting about the interviews:

    (a) Most women described the dismantling of the “old” Relief Society structure (particularly, the independent financing and independent curriculum and magazines) as a necessary sacrifice for the international growth of the Church,

    (b) the sisters almost uniformly expressed strong emotions about the old Relief Society Magazine. The loss of a magazine by LDS women, for LDS women seemed to be the biggest loss. Many of them talked about how they and their mothers never went anywhere without the Relief Society Magazine tucked into a dress or a purse,

    (c ) related more to the general theme of changes in the Relief Society – many of the older sisters recalled that, as they grew up, it was common for the Bishop’s wife to be the Relief Society President; and even when that wasn’t the case, many women remarked that it used to be common to refer to the Bishop as the “father” of the ward and the Relief Society President as the “mother” of the ward, and finally

    (d) one of the things I enjoyed most about the interviews were the references to Belle Spafford. Belle was nothing short of remarkable, and that showed in the reverence that these women held for her.

    I’ll re-double my efforts to find my old papers. No doubt the memory stick is somewhere with my daughter’s toys (I’m sure I’ll find my iPod there, too)

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