Navigating faith and dialogue can be difficult for many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But the online world has become a mecca for those looking to discuss with other like-minded individuals.
The blog, By Common Consent, seeks to build a community of faithful church members who have criticisms or questions about the Church's policies or culture.
By Common Consent (BCC) started in 2004 with a group of faithful members trying to provide a place to post and discuss church-related topics. Originally, the blog was cheekily named The Rameumptum, the infamous altar from the Book of Mormon. The name poked fun at the idea that the bloggers were getting on a soapbox of sorts, acting in a semi-self-righteous way. But the name was changed to better reflect the blog’s mission.
On their website, they explain that they “seek truth, reason and honesty with our perspectives on faith.” The name By Common Consent came from the Doctrine & Covenants section 26 verse 2, which reads “all things shall be done by common consent in the church, by much prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith.”
Inspired by this phrase, BCC tries to embrace the principle of free will and to ensure the church is truly supported and understood by the members.
Sam Brunson is one of BCC’s most prolific bloggers. A law professor by trade, he primarily focuses on legal issues including tax law, business law, immigration policies and women’s roles.
“I’m an institutionalist. I think institutions, including the Church, are very important for human flourishing,” Brunson said. “But I also think the Church could do better things. By Common Consent gives me a faithful means by which I can put thoughts out into the ether that, with any luck at all, can seep somewhere, to someone who can actually make changes.”
Bloggers are typically selected through the BCC network. Many times, a potential blogger is invited to do a guest post. If BCC likes their work, they are offered a more permanent, unfiltered role.
Day to day, Brunson and his fellow bloggers have publishing freedom about the topics they want to write about. Often, they try to focus their work around current stories or discrepancies going on within the news and the Church. No matter the topic, BCC always tries to keep faith at the center of its critiques.
“I see part of my faith as trying to help myself, my community and the Church become what it should be,” Brunson said.
Brunson believes that his foundation of faith makes his arguments and BCC’s mission more powerful.
“I think that if I went from a purely critical, non-faithful place, it would be easy enough to dismiss … I try to make sure that when I’m writing, even if I’m being critical, it’s not about the Church being inherently and intrinsically bad. It’s ‘The Church has a policy or is doing a thing that it should be doing better.’”
Additionally, most of the writers at BCC focus on topics that they are educated on. Many of the bloggers are attorneys with specialties in different topics. Some write with no law background, trying to simply express their thoughts. Mike Huston is one writer who loves to share his thoughts and engage with difficult topics.
“For me, I don’t see faith and criticism as mutually exclusive. The whole point of faith is that you don’t know,” Huston said. “That requires pushing up against edges and boundaries.”
The blog has gotten mixed reviews from readers. Some love the opportunity to explore the nuance, while others find it can be too heavy-handed and brash. Still, the blog continues as a way to deal with complicated issues and policies.
BCC believes its space is unique because it is willing to tackle complicated issues head-on.
“For understandable reasons, church is not a place where these conversations are had. Because the church is primarily built to encourage continued devotion and reinforce the church’s teachings and values,” Huston said.
Brunson added, “I’ve never had any Church official respond negatively or positively. They’ve never actually talked to me about it. I’ve never faced any pressure from ecclesiastical leaders to tone things down or tone them up. I occasionally get a very kind email from someone saying ‘I like that thing you posted.’”
One of Brunson’s favorite comments came from a woman on the phone who explained that she was going to leave the Church over an issue, but BCC’s post about the topic helped her to explore the nuance. Eventually, she decided to stay in the Church.
No matter who reads the blog, BCC bloggers love having the chance to share their thoughts and explore topics on a deep level.
“I don’t have any illusions that things I blog about or write a bout will effect immediate change. But I do often hope that they will eventually lead to change,” Brunson said.
Without BCC, the bloggers believe many conversations won’t happen or will happen without the community being able to engage.
“I think the value that BCC brings specifically as opposed to social media is that it’s well-spoken. It’s not just reactionary,” Huston said. “It’s increasingly important when reactions to religion are increasingly unthoughtful.”
Aside from the blog, BCC also runs an independent press to produce books on a broad range of topics regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fiction, poetry and deep dives into history all have a platform to be printed outside of the traditional Church presses.
The press is a non-profit as well. Volunteers work hard to ensure that the stories can be told, and breaking even is the end goal. BCC hopes their blog and press can open up healthy, thoughtful conversation.
“We don’t have to agree, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it,” Huston said. “I hope that space continues to be present, if only to provide people who feel isolated and like they don’t have a place to talk a resource to reach out to.”
By Common Consent publishes posts throughout the week.