In Slate, on November 1, David Haglund published a powerful article about key controversies in the recent history of the Mormon Church:

The Case of the Mormon Historian: What happened when Michael Quinn challenged the history of the church he loved.

This history intersects with my own personal history. Although I did not leave Mormonism until 2000, the “Purge” of six Mormon scholars in September 1993 and the surrounding events forever changed my view of Mormonism. I was also a bit player in some of those events, in ways I will share at some point. Let me say that I found the work of the scholars who were purged to be very insightful and revealing.

For those who are not Mormons, I think you will find this article well worth your while as a way to get an insider’s perspective of controversies within Mormonism. There are also hints in the article of the other, more positive, side of Mormonism that engenders such great devotion in the members of the Mormon Church. To understand the pain of being excommunicated, one has to understand the level of devotion to Mormonism that these scholars had–and which many of them still have.