Episode 235: Is it Too Expensive to be a Latter-day Saint? | A Conversation with Natalie Brown

“In all my angst about if I would marry and if I would have children and if I would have a career, I did not fully consider how the ideals in this proclamation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reflected a certain moment in white, middle-class America’s economic history,” writes Natalie Brown. Most Latter-day Saints have absorbed a lifetime of talks and lessons centered around an “ideal” family model in which a father goes to work and a mother stays at home with the children. This arrangement is no longer economically possible for many American families, and the disconnect between Church teachings and members’ lived experience can have many consequences. In Episode 235, Susan and Cynthia are joined by Natalie to explore the collision of realities that have changed with teachings that haven’t. How might our church adapt to better serve members caught in the middle?