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Benjamin Park

@benjaminepark.bsky.social

6.2K followers 420 following 1.9K posts

Historian, professor, author. Author/editor of 5 books, including AMERICAN ZION: A NEW HISTORY OF MORMONISM. views = my own https://linktr.ee/benjaminepark

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · Nov 7

I guess I should do a more formal intro, too.

I teach US history in Texas & write on intersections of religion, politics, & culture. I’ve authored 3 books & edited 2 more. My most recent is AMERICAN ZION: A NEW HISTORY OF MORMONISM. I’m currently working on Theodore Parker, religion, & abolition.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 1d

Thrilled to have an essay in the new issue of Reviews in American History. I use 2 new & provocative books to pontificate on larger questions concerning Lincoln, religion, and the Civil War.

(Nerdy confession: I’ve long dreamed of being in RiAH, which I consider the historian’s historical journal.)

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 4d

lol we may have stumbled upon a new business idea.

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 5d

I’m not very good at many things, but I think I’ve developed a skill in spotting gym affairs.

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Reposted by Benjamin Park

Keepapitchinin @keepapitchinin.bsky.social · 5d

The last letter written by Gov. Brigham Young ti Chief Wakara of the Ute Nation (1855), seeking peace between the warring peoples, arrived at Wakara's camp on the day he died. The letter was thrown into Wakara's grave, and its contents lost for all these years.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 6d

Latest slap in the face: my local gym, which emphasized community and featured a wide range of weightlifting equipment, was just bought out by Planet Fitness, which is all corporate and only features machines.

I get PF’s appeal. (I have a membership for traveling.) But it’s not the gym I prefer.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 7d

I wrote an essay for @sltrib.com about how the academic study of Mormonism was enabled by a partnership between individuals, community, and state, and how that structure, always tenuous, is now under siege.

The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · 7d

The delicate balance of private faith, establishment support and public funding vital to the study of LDS history is now under siege, entangled in today’s partisan battles and culture wars.

Commentary: Policies from Trump and the Utah Legislature threaten the study of LDS history

The delicate balance of private faith, establishment support and public funding vital to the study of LDS history is now under siege, entangled in today’s partisan battles and culture wars.

www.sltrib.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Park

Dave's Notes @ldsfn.bsky.social · 7d

I had not realized how much LDS history outside of traditional narratives relied on public support.

Commentary from @benjaminepark.bsky.social

During the throes of the Great Depression, as the nation struggled to stay solvent amid economic collapse, President Franklin Roosevelt introduced legislation aimed at bringing relief in the form of jobs. Among those initiatives was the Works Progress Administration that employed millions in a variety of jobs. That included a historic-documents-collection project in Utah, which featured a young, talented and underutilized historian named Juanita Brooks. With the WPA's support, Brooks scoured communities to collect, archive and transcribe pioneer diaries.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 9d

For what it's worth, here's my take on how the show is a fun engagement with, though far from an accurate recreation of, Mormon history. religiondispatches.org/american-pri...

'American Primeval' Doesn’t Try to Get the History Right — Problem is, it Doesn’t Get Western Colonization Right, Either

American Primeval, Netflix’s flashy (and quite gory) new series depicts the clash between zealous Mormons, imperial federal troops, crude trappers, and bloodthirsty Natives. Think Under the Banner of ...

religiondispatches.org

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 10d

Terrifying and disgusting.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 10d

BREAKING: Multiple people have been shot at a Mormon church in Michigan and the shooter is down, police say.

Multiple people shot at Mormon church in Michigan and shooter is down, police say

Police say multiple people have been shot at a Mormon church in Michigan and the shooter is down. Local police said in a social media post that the shooting occurred at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles north of Detroit.

bit.ly

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 10d

If you want an excellent and comprehensive overview of Nelson’s life and impact, @pfstack.bsky.social and David Noyce wrote a great obituary.

The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · 10d

Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of the LDS Church, has died at 101. This timeline offers a look at a life full of milestones.

With Russell Nelson’s death, here is an interactive look at his 101 years of service to medicine, family and faith

Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of the LDS Church, has died at 101. This timeline offers a look at a life full of milestones.

www.sltrib.com

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 10d

RIP Russell Nelson

As a sign of his longevity, I was interviewed for this obit several years ago. Dude just refused to slow down.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 10d

Breaking News: Russell Nelson, who led significant changes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as its president, died at 101.

Russell M. Nelson, 17th President of the Mormon Church, Dies at 101

He left a career as a pioneering surgeon to become a church leader, diversifying its policies and its senior ranks. He became its president at 93.

nyti.ms

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 11d

If I can’t add to a conference through wit, I’ll do so through sartorial grace.

Joseph M. Adelman @jmadelman.bsky.social · 11d

You can play the conference sock game, but when @benjaminepark.bsky.social is present, you’re playing for second place.

Man wearing red socks with multi colored polka dot pattern.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 11d

Note to anyone traveling to Boston: one of their airport runways is down for construction and is causing absolute madness. My flight was delayed two hours coming in, and our Boston crew said this is standard now. Will probably be this way through Thanksgiving.

(Take note AAR folk.)

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 13d

Trying to find joy where I can, so I’m loving the t-shirt my family got for my birthday. 41 and not-so-strong, but still fighting.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 14d

At 2.5x speed, anyway.

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 14d

Honestly I’m often amazed at how similar our comedy palette is.

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 19d

Very honored to share AMERICAN ZION won @aschurchhistory.bsky.social’s Philip Schaff Prize for best book in the history of Christianity.

Given Schaff believed Mormonism was an “abnormal American phenomenon” & more like orientalism than Christianity, I’d like to think he’s spinning in his grave.

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Reposted by Benjamin Park

Dave's Notes @ldsfn.bsky.social · 22d

Tim Ballard showing up in a @benjaminepark.bsky.social TikTok explainer. LDS adjacent are going to know who he’s talking about before Park explains it to the wider audience. I don’t think Tim’s planning on coming back to the LDS church for a while. Watch Park’s video to see where Tim goes with this

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 21d

Just chiming in to say Kate is terrific and she’ll do phenomenal with this.

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 21d

lol I’ve sworn off the SLOMW expanding universe.

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 23d

There’s a special place reserved in Hades for people who claim one of the gym’s few bench presses during peak Monday hours and proceed to lift three sets across thirty minutes.

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 25d

Going 8/8 on first three drives, each drive ending in a TD, must be a record against a Smart defense.

Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 25d

This last week, which featured multiple tenured professors losing their jobs & a direct erosion of academic freedom on multiple campuses, feels even more depressing and exhausting than the week in April when so many had their NEH grants cancelled.

I knew it'd get bad, but not this quick. Dark days.

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Reposted by Benjamin Park

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 25d

did a read-aloud of my latest column, set to the backdrop of a drive through central virginia youtu.be/pq8TUlk4BxQ

New NYT Column — Republicans Don't Want to Live in Lincoln's America

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

youtu.be

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Benjamin Park @benjaminepark.bsky.social · 26d

Onion is always on it.