Hal Boyd

https://www.deseret.com/authors/hal-boyd/rss

Hal Boyd is editor of the Deseret News. He was an associate professor of family law and policy at Brigham Young University’s School of Family Life and previously worked as the opinion editor and as an enterprise reporter for the Deseret News. He is a fellow of the Wheatley Institution. Twitter: @halrobertboyd

People stand on an upper floor of the Conference Center in Salt Lake City after a session of general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Perspective

What’s behind American media’s unhealthy fixation on ‘Mormons, Inc.’?

The media’s unusual and enduring fascination with Latter-day Saint finances has extended over the better part of a century.

By Jacob Hess and Hal Boyd

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, seen in reflection, poses for a portrait in 2015.

Perspective

Tucker, Crowder and Trump — conservatism must hold its own accountable for misogyny

By Meagan Kohler and Hal Boyd

Brandon Sanderson in American Fork, Utah.

Perspective

Seeing Brandon Sanderson respond to public derision told me all I needed to know

A critical Wired profile of fantasy writer and Latter-day Saint Brandon Sanderson was more about writer Jason Kehe than about the popular Utah novelist.

By Hal Boyd

Politics

One of America’s greatest legal minds on the state of democracy

We caught up with Noah Feldman to discuss his book, his fascination with Latter-day Saints and his role in helping create Facebook’s Oversight Board.

By Hal Boyd and Paul S. Edwards

Perspective

Perspective: The church is right. The Respect for Marriage Act can be a vehicle for protecting religious freedom

The act carves out protections for those who support traditional marriage and says diverse beliefs are ‘due proper respect’

By Hal Boyd

A Baylor fan and a BYU fan talk after BYU scored a touchdown at the end of the first half at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo.

Sports

Can BYU become a ‘fanbase of Ted Lassos’?

Now is the moment for BYU to create the best college football and fanbase culture in America

By Hal Boyd

Perspective

Perspective: Welcome to a new age of countercultural Christianity

The core “social identity” of believers influences whether saints stand fast in the faith.

By Hal Boyd

Residences and hotels contrast in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

Perspective

Perspective: Dubai brings the East and the West into conversation in new and imaginative ways

How the city navigates the next decade may chart a future for not only the gulf, but the broader Middle East.

By Hal Boyd

U.S. & World

Jeff Flake just registered to vote as a Republican in Utah. Now he’s taking democracy’s fight to Turkey

Democracy’s status is contested around the globe, and America’s man in Turkey is speaking out: freedom and stability hang in the balance.

By Hal Boyd

The Bountiful Utah Temple pokes through the fog as it envelopes the valleys along the Wasatch Front in 2004.

Perspective

FX’s ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ is bad for Latter-day Saints — but not for the reasons you think

Too much real-life anger comes from Tinseltown. It’s time for Dustin Lance Black to let go of his angst toward Latter-day Saints

By Hal Boyd

Faith

From Brazil to BYU to billionaire: Carlos Martins’ improbable odyssey

In an era of pandemics and displacement, one of Brazil’s richest men is helping refugees find a home.

By Hal Boyd

Education

BYU-Malibu? Pepperdine-Provo?: Inside the comity between two of America’s most religious campuses

BYU and Pepperdine independently settled on the word “belonging” to define the kind of Christian community they’re seeking to cultivate.

By Hal Boyd

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., listens during a media availability after the Senate Policy Luncheon on Nov. 29, 2016, in Washington.

Politics

One of the nation’s most powerful politicians was also a steadfast ‘home teacher’ at church

Harry Reid’s legacy started with his rise from poverty in rural Nevada, eventually becoming the U.S. Senate majority leader.

By Samuel Benson and Hal Boyd

Perspective

No ‘offensive chant’ will break the centurylong bond between USC and Latter-day Saints

The Southern California school has a long history with Latter-day Saints that doesn’t involve expletives.

By Hal Boyd

Fans cheer as BYU and Arizona State compete during a college football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Opinion

‘Let’s go Brandon’ chants don’t belong at BYU games

The principles of true Christianity demand better politics.

By Hal Boyd

Q&A

Why H.R. McMaster thinks Biden’s foreign policy is putting the country in danger

The word “surrender” is rarely used to describe American foreign policy. Yet that is how H.R. McMaster characterizes our Afghanistan withdrawal.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

Opinion: Elder Holland was right about BYU

BYU’s godly mission means fidelity to commandments and orthodoxy. It also means calling out cruelty and bigotry.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

No, the Deseret News doesn’t have a ‘leftist agenda’

On matters of core importance it’s not hard to discern where the publication stands.

By Hal Boyd

Family

Watch: What is the importance of fathers in America today?

In the run up to Father’s Day, many are reflecting on a father’s impact. Watch what these public intellectuals have to say about why Dad matters.

By Hal Boyd

Sen. Mitt Romney talks with members of the media after he and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson volunteered at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Utah.

Family

‘Cash or Child Care?’ Watch Mitt Romney discuss how to best help American families

The Utah senator joins a panel of distinguished scholars and experts today for a Deseret News and Institute for Family Studies webinar.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

Facebook’s Trump ban is bad

Facebook’s ban on Trump worries me. And Germany, France — and even Russia’s opposition leader — seem to share my concerns.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

Booing Mitt Romney is an embarrassment

Utah Republicans booed Senator Romney this weekend at the party’s state convention. Lamentably for the GOP, this is not an isolated incident.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

Why I believe Mitt Romney should be America’s vaccine czar

Sure, Romney may have missed his opportunity to become president of the United States, but he could still help heal the nation.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

The Atlantic interviewed the prophet. Here’s what it did right

The Atlantic published perhaps the most consequential magazine-length feature on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in more than a decade.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

Politics is about religion — even if the Supreme Court confirmation shouldn’t be

Debates about Amy Coney Barrett’s faith are more often surrogate skirmishes for larger conflicts about who in American life rightly owns the judiciary.

By Spencer James, Hal Boyd, and 1 more

Opinion

The Family proclamation looks prophetic in addressing our society 25 years later

The carefully written document outlining the church’s doctrines and principles on marriage and family life was the fifth such “proclamation” in the church’s history.

By Hal Boyd and Alan Hawkins

Opinion

Don’t let a pornography boom disrupt human attachment

“We’re all familiar with popular portrayals of no-strings-attached sex, but human sexual systems don’t actually work that way,” writes Mark Butler, Hal Boyd and Kaylin Cash in the Deseret News Opinion Section.

By Mark Butler, Hal Boyd, and 1 more

Opinion

Masks make us all social conservatives

Seemingly personal choices of consenting adults can’t help but impact society. And, in the face of a pandemic, we ignore this reality at our own peril.

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

Why the Supreme Court cited the Doctrine and Covenants in this week’s key religious liberty decision

In underscoring the vital role teachers play within religion, Justice Alito reached for a scripture familiar to Latter-day Saints

By Hal Boyd

Opinion

In protecting LGBTQ workers, America must not overlook religious rights

The LGBTQ community must have rights. How, then, do we break the minority-majority persecution?

By Hal Boyd and Robert Snyder