***Disclaimer: This episode contains a brief and explicit discussion on sexuality; listener discretion is advised.*** Up until this point, we have been discussing leaders in the formation of Latter-day Saint thought, documenting how they articulate their respective takes on the theologies and practices of “Mormonism.” With Armand Mauss, we take a step back from that and analyze the Church as an object of sociological study. Armand Mauss (1928-2020) was a professor of sociology at Washington State University where he specialized in the sociology of religion. His most influential work on Mormonism is undoubtedly The Angel and The Beehive (1994). This work dissects the sociology of the Church in the twentieth century, highlighting the shifts from "polygamy era" Mormons at the turn of the century, to "assimilationist" movements in the early part of the century, and concluding the century with a shift to "retrenchment." Mauss wants to dissect what societal drove drove these changes, particularly the shift from "assimilationist" to "retrenchment." For Mauss, the "assimilationist" period is when the Church sought to rebrand itself post-polygamy, hoping to assimilate itself with the broader American "Christian culture." Prior to this shift, the United States was often polemicized as the "wicked world" that the people of Zion (i.e. Mormons) needed to leave, taking refuge in the mountains (i.e. Utah). All that shifted in the 1920s when Church leaders wanted to be viewed as a "brother church" with other Protestant, Catholic, and even Jewish denominations. The 1960s, however, brought a shift of the Church’s focus to retrenchment, where Church leaders, such as J. Reuben Clark, Ezra Taft Benson, Harold B. Lee, and Bruce R. McConkie, sought to "particularize" the Church again, hoping to recreate the former glories of Mormonism's past that were lost through assimilation with “the world.” The shift created a more hierarchically rigid and corporatized Church where Church leaders organized themselves and led the Church as if it were a business, and one does not question one’s leaders lest they be conceived of as apostate. The retrenchment period saw further economic shifts in the Church's business ventures, crackdowns on what conducts were permissible for Temple recommends, and even strict guides on how the family ought to conduct themselves ranging from the creation of Family Home Evening to publishing a pamphlet on what sexual positions were proper and improper. Mauss is a figure that you may not have heard of, but his ideas created the field of Mormon Studies as we know it today. Suggested Reading for Overachievers - "The Angel and The Beehive" by Armand Mauss - "Rethinking Retrenchment" by Armand Mauss (This is Mauss' updated views on his book "The Angel and The Beehive," written in 2011. Access here: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/rethinking-retrenchment-course-corrections-in-the-ongoing-quest-for-respectability/#pdf-wrap - "All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage" by Armand Mauss - "Shifting Borders and a Tattered Passport: Intellectual Journeys of a Mormon Academic" by Armand Mauss