September Six
Around
September and into
October 1993, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (The LDS Church, also known as the "
Mormons") expelled prominent Mormon
intellectuals and
feminists. Local media outlets including the Salt Lake Tribune dubbed the first of these individuals the "
September Six", a nicely
alliterate name which stuck.
Church Measures Against the September Six
\nExcept for Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, all of the September Six were excommunicated. Whitesides was only disfellowshipped. According to LDS Church protocol, this meant she could return to the faith without needing to be baptized again. Excommunicated members may only rejoin after serious repentance and rebaptism. However, Whitesides declined to rejoin in this way. In fact, as of 2004, none of the September Six are officially member of the LDS church except for Avraham Gileadi.
The September Six
\nSince September 1993, most of the September Six have been involved with Mormonism to some extent. Their relationship with the LDS Church varies, however.
- Lynne Kanavel Whitesides - feminist noted for speaking on the "Mother in Heaven." Whitesides was the first to be sanctioned, disfellowshipped September 14.
Whitesides, only disfellowshipped, never became active in the church again as of 2004. Instead she has pursued personal spiritual growth searching for a more feminine conception of God.
Gileadi, not considered a
liberal like the others, rejoined the church and has since written
Isaiah Decoded, a book sold by LDS-owned Deseret Book.
- Paul Toscano - Salt Lake City attorney who authored a controversial book, Strangers in Paradox (1990), which questioned Church leadership. Excommunicated September 19.
Toscano lost his faith and feels remorse only for being so angry at the LDS Church. His wife Margaret Toscano was also excommunicated in
November 2000.
- Maxine Hanks - feminist writer who edited the book Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism (1992). Excommunicated September 19.
Hanks has been involved with other religious groups and does not regret having to leave the LDS Church. She still speaks on Mormon issues, however. In a ten-year retrospective article published in Sunstone Magazine, she states that although she would not be reinstated in the church, "I wish my book [
Women and Authority] was."
- Lavina Fielding Anderson - feminist writter who edited the book Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective (1992). Excommunicated September 23.
Anderson still attends church though a non-member. Her son has even gone on standard two-year LDS mission. Though officially outside the church, she still works on Mormon issues, and published a book in 2001 on Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of LDS Church-founder
Joseph Smith.
- D. Michael Quinn - Mormon revisionist historian. Among other things, he documented LDS Church-sanctioned polygamy from 1890 until 1910, after the 1890 Manifesto when they officially abandoned the doctrine. Excommunicated September 26.
Quinn affirmed his testimony of church doctrine during and after his excommunication. He refused to attend the proceeding because, as he explained in a letter to his
stake President Paul Hanks, "I vowed I would never again participate in a process which was designed to punish me for being the messenger of unwanted historical evidence and to intimidate me from further work in Mormon history." Though he is still a believer, Quinn will likely never be accepted into the LDS Church again. Not only for his views of Church history, but also because he is now openly gay. The practice of
homosexuality is itself sanctionable within the LDS faith.
Causes
\nSeveral of the September Six including Quinn and Anderson claim that only a handful of General Authorities, notably
Boyd K. Packer, orchestrated the excommunications. Anecdotes from individuals who attended excommunication council hearings suggest that
stake presidents received directives from above to discipline these individuals as if it were a local decision. Anderson was even given a letter stating such. This, along with the apparently synchronized buildup of warnings and councils over the summer of 1993 suggest that General Authorities conceived of and oversaw the disciplinary measures.
It's supposed that the Church issued high-profile sanctions against some of its intellectuals to affirm orthodoxy.
For example, the excommunicated
feminists challenged assumptions of a male-only priesthood in the Church. Because only priesthood holders may preside, this means only males can serve in general leadership positions, something feminists criticize, particularly feminists outside the LDS Church. Feminists also rankled the all-male
patriarchy by suggesting that women pray to their "
Mother in Heaven" A Heavenly mother theoretically exists in Mormon theology but is rarely discussed and has little official recognition outside of the
1845 hymn O My Father by
Eliza R. Snow.
Quinn and Gileadi likewise seemed to challenge official church positions. At the least they published research without regard for official history or
millennial doctrines respectively.
Toscano, on the other hand, directly attacked church leadership.
Reaction
\nVery little sympathy was found for the September Six within the mainstream Mormon community. Indeed, some were shunned by family and friends after being publicly expelled from the LDS Church. The event is not well remembered by most faithful and the church itself does not comment on it.
However, the event was very important to "liberal," that is, more heterodox, Mormons. Advised by the Church in 1990 to refrain from attending often-unorthodox
symposia such as those organized by liberal LDS publication
Sunstone Magazine, it then seemed as though the church was willing to actually discipline intellectuals if they strayed too far from orthodoxy.
To Mormon feminists, the event echoed the
1979 excommunication of feminist
Sonia Johnson. It signaled that her censure was the rule rather than the exception to
how the church treats its own female critics.
External links
\n*Official LDS Church Page\n*
Sunstone Magazine\n*
"Exiles in Zion" - Copy of Ten-Year Anniversary article from the
Salt Lake Tribune