In late 2020, the editors of BYU Studies offered MWEG the opportunity to guest edit an issue of the journal focused on Latter-day Saint principles of good government. After more than a year of work, “The Restored Gospel and Good Government” was released last month, and we are thrilled to share it with you. It is a rich, nuanced, diverse meditation on the ways our unique Latter-day Saint culture and doctrine can inform our political engagement.
The ideas of many MWEG members are found throughout the journal, beginning with the cover image by MWEG Founding Member Linda Hoffman Kimball. Kimball, along with MWEG Founder Sharlee Mullins Glenn, current MWEG Senior Director Kristine Haglund, and MWEG member Susan Howe served as guest editors for this edition, devoting countless hours to soliciting submissions, writing, and editing. Founding Member Melissa Dalton-Bradford and member Susan Madsen each contributed an article, and pieces by members Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye and Jessica Robinson Preece bookend the edition. Beautiful poetry by members Susan Howe and Darlene Young is also included.
Near the midpoint of the issue are two articles devoted to MWEG. In “Women of Faith Speak Up and Speak Out: The Genesis and Philosophical Underpinnings of Mormon Women for Ethical Government,” Glenn documents the founding and early days of MWEG, describing the ideas and actions that launched us into the national conversation. Glenn explains, “[MWEG] was born of desire, frustration, and hope: the desire to act, to push back with faith, love, and light against what we see as a tidal wave of corruption and self-interest; the frustration that comes from feeling directionless and alone in our efforts; and the hope that, working together, we can actually make a difference.” Glenn grounds her chronicle in the four core attributes that drive forward all that we do: proactive, faithful, nonpartisan, and peaceful.
In the next piece, “Bending the Arc of Politics Towards Zion: Voices from Mormon Women for Ethical Government,” current MWEG Co-Executive Directors Jennifer Walker Thomas and Emma Petty Addams describe the growth of MWEG in the subsequent three years. Using the voices of MWEG’s leadership team, the article articulates the ways MWEG has grown as an organization, governed by a core set of values and focused on two objectives: building the capacity of women and then directing that capacity outward to structure a society that allows others to achieve their own potential. You will read the ideas and experiences of women who differ by geography, age, race, and political ideology, but who are unified around the audacious notion that our political engagement can actually lead us toward Zion rather than away from it.
As Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf wrote in the opening article of this journal, “What we have in common as the people of the world is of far greater significance than what divides us.” We invite you to read the contributions of the many different voices in this journal — from apostles, to a federal judge, to professors, to engaged citizens — and see how each of our voices and contributions help build a more peaceful, just, and ethical world. After all, “there’s power in a truthful woman’s voice.”
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