Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of History. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-198).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47).

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of International and Area Studies. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-189).

This study sought to determine whether the change in the LDS Church practice of black Priesthood denial on June 8, 1978, was voluntary or was a result of external and internal pressures against the Church. Four official statements given by the First Presidency of the Church were examined using Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's seven elements of rhetorical action. It was determined that external and internal pressures from the NAACP, civil rights activists, and dissonant LDS believers, against the Church's practice of black Priesthood denial, were the motivations behind the change in Church practice.

The project consists of three parts: a summary of the research, a collection of sixteen oral histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations professionals who contributed to the development and growth of media in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a one-hour documentary film, Pioneers in Mormon Media, which gives a brief history of the development of modern mass communications and its use by the Church. This qualitative study investigates who has been involved in Church media, what projects have been accomplished and provides some explanation as to why the Church uses media. The oral histories which are in DVD format are available in Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. The library has also made them available online at http://byugle.lib.byu.edu. Transcriptions of the oral histories are located in the appendix. The documentary film is available through BYU Broadcasting and the Harold B. Lee Library.

A personal mode of discourse is central to Latter-day Saint culture. This mode is both pervasive throughout the culture and significant within it. Two specific genres-the personal experience narrative and the personal testimony-illustrate the importance of this discourse mode in LDS culture. Understanding the LDS personal mode of discourse is essential to properly understanding Mormonism. The personal orientation in LDS discourse mirrors a tendency towards personal expression which has become common throughout Western culture. This tendency has important roots in the Protestant religious movement. In particular, Puritanism represents a significant point of origin for American personal expression. Such expression has been further encouraged by the democratic climate of America and has become an important part of American religious discourse. However, LDS personal discourse cannot be explained by merely reducing the Latter-day Saint tradition to outside influences. Latter-day Saints, while deriving influence from many points, have fashioned a tradition of using personal expression in their religious discourse which deserves independent consideration. Within Latter-day Saint culture, the LDS tradition of personal discourse has special significance because it draws upon a host of doctrinal and cultural associations that are religiously significant to Latter-day Saints. LDS doctrines about the necessity of personal revelation and the importance of pragmatic action legitimate a religious focus on personal experience. Likewise, cultural encouragements towards personal religious involvement and spiritual expression foster a culture of personal expression. Because of these philosophies and commitments, LDS audiences respond powerfully to personal discourse. A personal style of discourse is important in mediating authority in the LDS religion. Personal expression is a means through which official LDS doctrine is conveyed. This mode of expression also allows individual Latter-day Saints to locate their identities within the structure of the LDS religion. Culturally-encouraged genres of personal expression allow LDS speakers to enact their religious beliefs. These genres reinforce fundamental LDS doctrines and serve an acculturating function in LDS culture. They teach Latter-day Saints how to experience, interpret, and speak about the world in ways consistent with the Latter-day Saint community's doctrines and commitments.

Beginning in 1847 and continuing to the turn of the century, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) were encouraged to gather to Utah, where they formed communities seperated from the evils of the world around them. While Mormonism continues to be closely associated with Utah, in 1989 it is a world-wide church with nearly seven million members, most residing outside of Utah, and many of these in major urban areas. Nevertheless, few studies have been made of how the Church has developed outside of Utah. When the Los Angeles Stake was organized in 1923, it was the first stake in a major urban area. In its sixty-year history the stake has flourished - although not necessarily in the traditional Utah sense - by adapting to its cosmopolitan setting. Because of its inner-city location the stake has been forced to the forefront of the changing nature of Mormonism in general and urban Mormonism in particular.

In 1852, the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the pivotal decision to publicize the doctrine and practice of plural marriage—something they had worked to keep out of the public eye for years. This decision came in response to federal and social pressures. They quickly moved to announce and defend plural marriage among Church members as well as broader society, including those in the federal government. Orson Pratt was chosen by Brigham Young to be the face and the voice of the Church concerning plural marriage, both in Salt Lake City among members and in Washington D.C., where he preached sermons and published a periodical on the subject. This thesis a) demonstrates why Orson Pratt was the ideal candidate for such an undertaking; b) assesses the motivation for and context of the public unveiling and defense of plural marriage; c) analyzes Pratt’s rhetoric of the first public treatise on the subject given to a Latter-day Saint congregation at a special conference on 29 August 1852; and d) compares the rhetoric and reasoning between Pratt’s sermon to the Saints and his persuasive periodical written to the nation from Washington D.C. titled The Seer. Pratt’s rhetoric is incisive and carefully tailored to his audience. Important nuances in argumentation arise as he publishes the Seer and strives to convince his fellow citizens that plural marriage is right before God, improves society, and that the Saints should be allowed to practice polygamy as an expression of religious freedom. Orson Pratt ultimately fails to make a difference in the national opinion of plural marriage, but is successful in establishing a foundation of principles and reason that would be employed by the Saints to defend the practice of plural marriage for decades.

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