Lindsay Hansen Park
@FemiLinzi
Followers
6,200
Following
311
Media
163
Statuses
1,144
Host of the Year of Polygamy podcast and the Sunstone Mormon History podcast. Researcher, writer, misfit, mom, adventurer off the deep end. she/her
Great Basin Kingdom, Deseret
Joined December 2014
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
FREENBECKY URANUS2324 ON STAGE
• 863087 Tweets
SERENADE CONCEPT
• 229355 Tweets
JIMIN IS COMING
• 134420 Tweets
MUSE IS COMING
• 128340 Tweets
#青島くんはいじわる
• 111357 Tweets
minho
• 111309 Tweets
#127_Till_Infin8_Time
• 85972 Tweets
#8YearsWithNCT127
• 85930 Tweets
#우리7과_시즈니_온도_88뜨거워
• 83607 Tweets
#SixTONESANN
• 77037 Tweets
Perez
• 72697 Tweets
FAYEYOKO RECAP BLANK
• 65218 Tweets
احمد رفعت
• 58264 Tweets
織姫と彦星
• 55953 Tweets
Zimbabwe
• 49122 Tweets
サクナヒメ
• 43528 Tweets
ベテルギウス
• 39875 Tweets
PARK JIMIN
• 37878 Tweets
ヒュニンカイ
• 37323 Tweets
TIM MAXWELL
• 31028 Tweets
Checo
• 26572 Tweets
アイナナの日
• 26103 Tweets
Trent
• 23033 Tweets
aiko
• 19321 Tweets
Leclerc
• 18371 Tweets
Khyree Jackson
• 16550 Tweets
Trippier
• 16143 Tweets
لوي ناظر
• 16110 Tweets
土ポーズ
• 15626 Tweets
しょっぴー
• 15438 Tweets
#ENGSUI
• 12074 Tweets
بنزيما
• 11888 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
Brad Wilcox: What, Brigham Young was a jerk?
Me: Yes, a thread.
43
276
2K
I'm genuinely shocked people are JUST now learning about the history of BYU conversion therapy.
Yes it happened. No it's not a lie. Scholars at BYU have published on it. Yes Oaks oversaw the program. Yes LDS officials knew and encouraged it.
Why do you think we are all so mad?
20
171
997
Mormons on the LDS Church's facebook group post congratulating Biden on his win, is some church-basketball level anger. I was always taught it was apostates and sinners that would break the church, but it turns out Trumpism is really doing the trick right now.
29
39
985
To the people who say, "I already know about all that stuff already" about LDS church history:
How could you? I've been researching it every single day since 2008 and I'm still learning new, big, important things.
18
36
761
If you are concerned about child trafficking but haven't said a peep about the babies living in abandoned Walmarts, ripped from their parents at the border, then you're not concerned about children.
You're just invested in puritanical ideas about sex, not justice.
8
99
743
I wish the LDS church would work as hard to eradicate homophobia, sexism, shame, nationalism and racism as they have with the name "Mormon."
14
86
742
If you've ever demanded that shorts be to the knee or that there should be no tank tops at school because they're "too distracting," I really don't want to hear you say that wearing masks at school is against your freedom.
2
91
631
It's 1am and I'm in Short Creek sitting in a shed with a bunch of ex-FLDS trying to explain what Trek is. And suddenly their religious upbringing isn't the weirdest one in the room.
9
11
513
It’s been weird spending years trying to engage my
#LDS
community around the existence of fundamentalism/extremism within OUR own communities & being consistently dismissed as “too critical” & “unfair” and then having the media prove my thesis over and over.
#timballard
13
32
509
I love my Mormon people, but can we get our act together and celebrate Halloween like regular people? On Halloween proper?
Just had a Mormon youth group show up at my door, trick-or-treating. It is Saturday. Halloween is Monday…
Oh, they were also singing Christmas Carols.
35
10
448
What fun. Another long text thread about church finances. If you haven’t been following this week’s Mormon scandal dujour, here’s a great article to whet your whistle.
Read and then return for my ht /
7
22
240
If only people were as upset about children sleeping in cinderblock cages as they were about superbowl halftime shows....
6
49
394
In 1852, BY addressed the territorial legislature and said some horribly racist things, including , " "any man having one drop of the seed of [Cain] ... in him [could not] hold the priesthood."
BY also facilitated legalizing slavery in Utah, teaching that it was ordained by God.
3
4
381
And before anyone comes in and tells me my points need more context, I would instead invite you to google each of my points and discover your own context. Good luck and enjoy that additional context.
7
5
379
LDS women please don't worry. Decriminalizing polygamy in Utah doesn't "open the door" for the LDS church to "bring it back."
It was never practiced legally by the church. It was always illegal & that didn't stop it. But this makes it easier for folks to get help who need it.
19
28
357
I feel prompted to share this PSA.
"Mormon" is an umbrella term for the different branches of religious traditions that came from Joseph Smith's restoration.
There are over 400 different expressions, churches, and groups that identify with what JS started, not just the LDS.
5
28
348
Another jerk thing he did was allow his close leaders to butcher, harass, rob and throw 'over the rim of the basin' anyone that opposed Mormon hierarchy. While we can't prove BY ordered things like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, we absolutely can prove he covered it up.
4
3
354
Mike Lee is the spookiest thing in my Utah October.
If he campaigns on your doorstep, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him as the ghost of Cleon Skousen.
8
20
351
I want to talk about bridge-building with people you disagree with, using a recent experience with LDS missionaries who came to my house. Hopple in:
22
25
338
When a bully is asked to stop hurting others, the bully isn't being persecuted. They are being corrected. Accountability isn't oppression.
Being told your beliefs are doing harm doesn't mean you're the victim of oppression, it means you're the perpetrator of it.
2
65
327
Though it is denied now, BY taught, several times and over the pulpit, "The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it . . . ”
Blood Atonement was a very dangerous doctrine that caused a lot of harm in for generations.
1
3
323
BY ruled the American West as a theocracy, and proudly so. He actively and purposely promulgated dangerous rhetoric against any and all outsiders. When followers responded obediently to his violent sermons, BY often defended them or got them out of trouble.
5
2
318
I’ve reached the level of looking so apostate that the Mormon man on the plane next to me is trying the, “innocently pull out a Book of Mormon and see if she asks me what I’m reading” trick.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen this classic missionary move.
18
8
323
BY is credited by Mormons for being kind to Native Americans, but his policies, decisions & attitudes decimated local bands of Shoshone, Ute, Paiute and Navajo. He told Mormons to buy "Indian slaves" because "the more favored portions of the human race" should take care of them."
1
8
318
BY ordered the extermination of the Timpanogos tribe, horribly butchering at least 102 innocent people in what is now Provo, Utah, citing cattle theft conflicts as justification.
2
8
316
BY once said, "If a man apostatizes, his property need not apostatize."
When you left Mormonism back in the day, you left everything. Even your stuff. There are reports of apostates showing up and begging at forts because they lost everything.
1
4
304
The teaser is out for Under the Banner of Heaven. It was the experience of a lifetime working on this. I’m so excited:
11
7
297
For example, when a Mormon bishop castrated a petty criminal from Logan, BY protected and defended the bishop. This was not an isolated incident, but just an example of many times he protected and upheld violence.
6
2
298
1848 Utah, BY instituted a contest for Mormons where people would get points for however many animals they killed. This "game" ended up causing a ripple effect that led many of the tribal bands that depended on these animals for sustenance, to starve & die.
1
6
283
BY is often applauded by Mormons for evading the federal government (i.e. criminal behavior, treason, breaking the law). He started a federal war with the government and helped drive out judged, governors and other federal appointees that challenged his powers.
2
3
279
The
@LDSchurch
is as good at handling allegations of abuse as they are at managing their Twitter account today…
7
14
279
“But Brigham helped the widows and the poor!”
Brigham also made plenty of widows and caused plenty of poor to suffer.
4
5
270
Last tweet: I’m annoyed that I get accused of being too hard on Mormons when I have to endure this stuff b/c of where I situate. We showed grace that wasn’t reciprocated. I hope LDS can update the cultural incentives and ask: What is owed to those who believe differently?
20
5
265
BY talked out both sides of his mouth, allowed and encouraged violence from his loyal followers, saw and treated women like property, used indigenous conflicts for his benefit, inflamed and perpetuated racism against African Americans, hated the government and caused so much harm
3
10
268
The students protesting on the BYU campus are giving me life right now.
The youth of Zion aren't faltering today my friends, in defending truth and right.
7
16
260
BY confused love with violence, "I have no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with clean hands."
2
5
261
BY actively preached polygamy and taught that deniers of the doctrine, especially the unrighteous women, would be damned on heaven and on earth. “Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned,”
2
4
257
BY taught men obedience first over family: “Elders, never love your wives one hair’s breadth further than they adorn the Gospel, never love them so but that you can leave them at a moment’s warning without shedding a tear. Should you love a child any more than this? No.”
2
7
259
BY taught repeatedly that women were subject to their husbands, "“You ought to love a woman only so far as she adorns the doctrine you profess."
4
5
255
BY told people his words were as good as scripture, he never gave wrong counsel, & even challenged members, "who can bring up the first idea, the first sentence that I have delivered to the people as counsel that is wrong, I really wish they would do it; but they cannot do it."
3
3
256
BY wasn't a fan of traditional marriage. “Thus this monogamic order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers.”
5
5
250
There are too many quotes to show how BY talked down to everyone around him using crass language, threats of intimidation, coercion, dismissiveness and misogyny. I picked some of the easy ones, but we could go on all day.
4
5
250
BY bragged about how many wives he had, but the wives he didn't like he either ignored or sent to work houses like his Forest Farm dairy where they had to work hard to make nice cheese, butter and food for the wives he did like.
2
4
250
BY bragged about marrying young girls, "I could prove to this congregation that I am young; for I could find more girls who would choose me for a husband than can any of the young men.”
3
6
247
BY taught that God had sex with Mary, his daughter. “The birth of the Savior was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood–was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers.”
3
4
245
BY taught Jesus was polyg: “The Scripture says that He, the Lord, came walking in the Temple, with His train; I do not know who they were, unless His wives and children; but at any rate they filled the Temple, & how many there were who could not get into the Temple I cannot say.”
2
2
220
But the fact that in 2023 representatives of the
#LDS
are going door to door and spouting unblushing white supremacy and LGBT division is unacceptable.
6
8
205
Today, and in five years and in fifty and a hundred, I will be proud to say I never voted for Trump.
May my grandchildren know it. It's a badge of pride I will always wear.
If you did, you owe it to your country and human decency to learn from this and help repair this mess.
5
13
200
We took the sacrament in the Kirtland Temple together this morning and then a bunch of diverse Mormons (including fundamentalists) stood in solidarity with our beloved LGBTQ BYU students.
We love you. We claim you. You matter. You are the best parts of the Restoration.
1
16
198
“Presentism! BY can’t be judged by his day.”
Y’all. No. He was considered such a problem that the US gov sent troops to put him down, MORE THAN ONCE. They saw him as a mob boss & criminal. I’m not misreading history. He was a problem, ESPECIALLY by the standards of his time.
4
5
195
I'm not interested in revelation that does not help and lift the least of these. Full stop. If your revelation harms the vulnerable, it's no revelation at all.
#LdsConf
7
28
188
My weird brag is I have unique and exclusive access to some of the most isolated "cults" in the American West.
I want to do a thread about cults for a second and talk about some observations.
(This is tweet 1 of 12)
6
26
179
If you want to hear stories from Latter-day Saints who lived out narratives that Hulu's Under the Banner of Heaven is portraying, read them here.
Each day I add new stories and y'all. It's a hard read.
7
32
176
Mormon friends of all stripes, but especially the LDS extremists who don't understand Mormon studies:
Respecting your religion doesn't mean "believing" your religion. C'mon my LDS brothers and sisters- we have to learn this distinction.
5
7
166
Can we do a, "I'm so Mormon... thread?" I need the laughs tonight.
I'll start- I'm so Mormon I did baptisms for the dead EVERY. SINGLE. WEDNESDAY. at the JR Temple before school.
I know the baptistery in my sleep. I can smell the chlorine just thinking about it.
#somormon
151
9
162
On the bus this morning, I told the homeless folks to get a damn job and I mocked the elderly for being slow. I kicked a dog too. Felt good.
Though it may not have looked this way to some, this matter was motivated by love— and the example of my prophet.
#BYUDevo
14
14
155
But bridge-building has to be mutual. That's the lesson I was reminded of. We hear a lot of talk about "both sides" these days. I'm a believer in bringing people together. But it has to be relational. There has to be mutual curiosity.
2
7
162
I found myself asking why the Utah attorney general was traveling to Haiti to play Rambo when trafficking is a real concern in our state. Yet Reyes seems to be wooed by the very same people who are accused of orchestrating trafficking within our state.
Explain this to me.
4
13
159
It’s only been a couple of days but this has aged 100 years since then.
I wish Senator Romney and his family the best in retirement. Over the last several years, I have been asked by many in Utah, D.C., and across the country to run for his seat whether or not he was running for re-election.
I believe I am well positioned to run for and win that
69
23
131
2
7
144
The most accurate thing about Netflix's
#MurderAmongtheMormons
docuseries (besides all the incredible history) is the Utah accents.
6
6
138
I wrote something important and I hope y’all will read it.
In this tautly argued guest column for
@latimes
, “Under the Banner of Heaven” historical consultant Lindsay Hansen Park (
@FemiLinzi
) argues that its Mormon critics are missing the point: the dark patterns that have defined their faith.
7
26
91
15
12
136
Apostate politics hurt families in my community, and it would be easy to demonize these young men. I am trying to hold space where I can. It's sad tho that these young men were taught not only ignorant things, but that teaching them is brave and good. That's a community problem.
1
2
135
But this was a conversation that wasn't one. It was a manipulative script that didn't allow my son to say no. It was guided questions that looked like "agency" but really just incentivized compliance. It was bad manners. It was condescending. It was rude.
2
3
135
It’s disheartening seeing things we depicted in
#UTBOH
in the 1980’s playing out today in 2022.
4
10
134
Mormon Deznat Dudes: Patriarchy is a made-up, libtard, woke word for feminists to whine about. It doesn't exist.
Also Mormon Deznat Dudes: The Patriarchal Order is blessed and ordained by God and the only way to organize heaven and earth. Here's a pic of a bowie knife.
2
5
133
The YW lesson I never got, but actually needed to prepare me for motherhood:
How to eat your dinner as an adult while someone is crying because you made noodles, and someone else is making fart noises. This is the reality that no toilet-paper-fashion-show ever prepares you for.
4
3
126
The problem for me, the central issue with ALL of this is not the wealth nor even the disparity. The real sin is the illusion that the church is somehow above this, that it's spiritual not corporate. And that’s the lie that needs to be corrected imo.
4
1
87
Sometimes I just get embarrassed by where I come from.
This was one of those times.
2
0
127
I've been reflecting on it all week. My brand has always been, "there's more than one way to Mormon." I have tried to argue for pluralism in a community that works really hard against it. I believe in bridge-building. It's essential for all of us.
2
1
119
Answer me this: When has religion dictating best practices in medical science ever gone well?
#conversiontherapy
#utpol
2
8
114
This is essential reading for anyone who doesn’t see themselves “represented in the narrative” of
#UTBOH
.
You’re represented of course, in the folks that dismissed, enabled and ignored the abuse happening around you every single day:
2
14
114
I'm sad to say that it took me having to experience this with my mama-bear eyes, for me to understand just how inappropriate LDS missionaries can be. I've always tried to hold space for the impossible position we put our youth in.
1
1
115
Which one is more obnoxious? (I have been all 3)
1. A faithful Mormon with their scriptures out, stuck next to you on an airplane.
2. A Mormon going through a faith crisis ruining every party conversation because they want to talk about polyandry.
3. A Mormon with a podcast.
7
1
110
I ended that I had no intention of ever returning to activity because the church's stance on LGBT issues was unacceptable. Out of empathy for their mommas that sent them out this way, I won't tell you how the rest of that conversation went, but these boys need manners.
5
0
115
There are so many good Mormon people that believe bad doctrine because they weren't given choices otherwise. I will always try to stand as a person to offer the choice otherwise, since I'm grateful it was afforded to me.
2
0
111
At one point they told us that the tl;dr of the Book of Mormon was a story about two groups: the Nephites and the Lamanites and that all we "need to know is that Lamanites are the bad guys." To which I said to my son, "Lamanites are brown people." The Elder smiling, said, "yes."
10
2
109
Years ago a neighbor in my ward worked for the church developing a software tracking temple attendance and proximity to tithing. The data showed that in areas where temples are built, tithing in that area increases. This isn’t a new idea, but it was a new idea to me.
2
2
68
If your spot in Heaven is determined by who you don't make room for, then that's no heaven at all. It's stealing.
If you need a heavenly mansion, make sure it isn't made out of the stones thrown at our LGBTQ+ brothers, and cis/isters.
1
5
101
There was no mutual curiosity and it was clear that our opinions not only weren't wanted, but we weren't going to be able to offer them. "Questions" weren't really those and saying no wasn't always offered without being combative.
1
1
100
I don't believe in a God who, when we die, will reward us for our bigotry.
That's just such a glaringly human thing, to see God as signing off on our ignorance when we should be exploring instead the diversity that has been created in this big, beautiful and expansive world.
4
9
97
I know how hard missions can be for these kids. I often say exmo reddit is a boneyard for missionary trauma. I've spent over a decade in faith crises spaces and missionary trauma is a huge part of people's stories. Missions are demanding and rigorous by design.
1
0
99
For my part, I was kind of stunned. The discussion had been so rote, so pushy, and frankly- offensive.
"Did I push back enough on harmful things? Was I too rude? I don't want to be labeled as an "angry apostate."
It triggered a lot inside me that's been dormant.
1
0
97
I want a limited series on Netflix, but it's just Jon McNaughton paintings brought to life.
Is it a horror genre or true crime? A romantic comedy with Putin? A Hallmark propaganda porno? A patriot's fever dream, but with more crying?
Yes. All of the above.
8
6
95
Am I petty about this? Yeah. It's frustrating to spend a fraction of my life putting my body on the line, having conversations, doing research, writing, doing real work to bring attention that Mormonism has a problem here. To be constantly told otherwise.
2
1
94
I was already concerned about him when we learned that he was too involved with the Kingstons. He reportedly once keynoted the Washakie (Kingston company) Xmas party and accepted thousands of campaign dollars from the group (which he later froze after the news was reported).
4
1
93
Remember it is the job of Sean Reyes to investigate and prosecute these crimes.
1
0
93
Talking with "both sides" is essential, hard work. I know this because I grew up with extremely binary thinking. I've seen the damage it does. I will always try to approach my community with the same patience I was afforded when I said and thought ignorance things.
1
0
93
(5/12) I don't care what your demographic is, if you can't/won't openly criticize your group/leader, you're probably in a cult. If you are willfully blind to the harm being done by your group to others... well? That's not a good sign.
1
8
86
It's no secret Reyes has been involved with Tim Ballard and O.U.R. but as we watch him distance himself, I want to point you all to an older O.U.R. documentary called Operation Toussaint. Watch it.
3
0
90
Which is why, when the missionaries come over- we are kind to them. I try to let them just be kids for a hot sec. I've talked to lovely groups of Elders and Sisters over the years. Lots of good experiences. The following recent experience was not one of those.
1
0
90
I wrote a thing. We need more white allies standing up.
5
18
87
Oh Senator, no need to apologize for being a religious zealot and extremist that embarrasses my childhood faith and state of origin. We are laughing at you, not with you on this.
Mike Lee wants us to know that he’s sorry that we were offended
43
17
253
2
4
87
He said, "No, mom. Haha, never. I was just being nice to them." He told me it seemed like they really wanted this and he wanted to show them respect by taking their ideas as seriously as they did. He was being polite.
2
0
89
I let him say his no's and when it was clear they weren't going to accept them, I stepped in. Momma-bear broke the polite rules and I told them we weren't interested, they were always welcome to come have conversations, but I expected future ones to be equitable.
1
0
87
If you aren't aware, the Kingston group is a Mormon fundamentalist polygamous sect that has faced MANY allegations of fraud, abuse AND human trafficking. I've spoken to dozens of people who were used by the group for forced labor and forced, underage marriage.
1
5
87