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Episode 14 of Apostates explores the September 1993 disciplinary actions against six prominent LDS intellectuals known as the "September Six." We examine the Church context of the early 1990s, including leadership dynamics and growing tensions between institutional authority and intellectual inquiry. We profile each individual—Lavina Fielding Anderson, Avraham Gileadi, Maxine Hanks, D. Michael Quinn, Paul Toscano, and Lynne Kanavel Whitesides—discussing their specific conflicts with Church leadership. We analyze the immediate chilling effect on LDS scholarship and the long-term impact on intellectual discourse within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sources

• Essay_Sept 6 and the Lost Generation of Mormon Scholars_Dialogue
• Video_30 Years Later Sept 6_733_Gospel Tangents
• Video_Sept 6 and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism_1834_MS
• Video_understanding Sept 6_77-83_MS
• Essay_A Question of Authority_Dialogue
• Essay_The Sept 6_Dialogue

AI Prompt

Explore how and why the Church disciplines intellectuals through the experience of the September 6. Discuss each of the six academics indivdually one at a time. Highlight their words and actions that created points of friction and led to Church discipline. What did these six have in common? What impact did their excommunications have on LDS scholarship, freedom of thought, scholarship, free speech, and dissent? Discuss the lasting legacy of Sept 6. What key takeaways for Church members?

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