When we talk about fundamentalism, there's so much ignorance around the idea of what it means to be a Mormon fundamentalist.

The word has become sort of this pejorative for the LDS people. I know it certainly was when I grew up.

And yet the word is also a badge of honor to so many others.

We see a huge movement towards fundamentalism, and that is to say what some see as living

the true fundamentals of the gospel. But the word gets thrown out a lot and it's conflated often

with extremism. And we need to note that not all fundamentalists

are extremists, even though the word is used interchangeably. It's likely because most fundamentalists

of any faith usually try to uphold a literal, strict view of scripture and religious requirement.

We've all heard the stories in the news. We all

know where some radical religious extremists end up. But unlike larger Christianity or Islam,

Mormonism is still so new. So these fundamentals of Mormonism are really up to interpretation.

Because I view Mormonism as such an American

religion, I think it's safe to say that it is also really just a reflection of larger American

culture. I'm not the only one who said this. Scholars have been saying this for a long time.

The Mormon Church is just a reflection of American culture. I would also say in so many ways Mormonism is also a reaction to the American movement.

So take for example the 1970s.

If we look at the politics of that decade, we see a lot of unrest.

Continuing on from the 1960s, there's this whole awakening of the modern civil rights movement.

We have social movements that are springing up from this time period. There's full equity for

African Americans that are being fought for. And Native Americans are having these big resistance

movements. Women and gays and lesbians are fighting for full political

rights at this time. There's other things going on like in 1971. How many people know what

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