Michael Erickson

A machine gun emerges from under the Ukrainian flag on a front-line position near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, March 26, 2022.

Perspective

Perspective: A heroic soldier from World War II should inspire America to stand up to Putin

The U.S. has done much to supply Ukraine with military aid, but we should not be limiting that aid based on fear.

By Michael Erickson

A young boy walks past a painting depicting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a Juneteenth celebration in Los Angeles.

Opinion

Opinion: Juneteenth is for all Americans

The symbolic mark of the end of slavery completes the promises of the Fourth of July

By Michael Erickson

Opinion

Who more than party their country loved

Unchecked partisanship inevitably destabilizes a republic. Lincoln’s example can steady the country.

By Michael Erickson

Opinion

If you doubt the election, trust our institutions

Our loyalty is to the Constitution, not any president or party.

By Michael Erickson

Opinion

#GiveThanks for the Pilgrims of 1620

There is a reason that 400 years later we continue to honor and remember our Pilgrim forbearers.

By Jenet Jacob Erickson and Michael Erickson

Opinion

America has a legacy of loving its enemies. Don’t forget that now

With political opponents vilified in cataclysmic terms, talk of love may seem naïve, even treacherous

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Opinion

Remembering the courage and faith of John Lewis, an American hero

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are the best known leaders of the civil rights movement. John Lewis should be a household name as well.

By Michael Erickson

Opinion

America, God mend thine every flaw

The controversy over our public monuments could use a dose of wisdom from the old saying, “Don’t remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.”

By Michael Erickson

Opinion

The socialism in Bernie Sanders’ ‘democratic socialism’

By Michael Erickson

Opinion

America’s leaders need to hear our prayers, and we need to hear America’s history

While America’s enemies abroad are real, there is an increasing sense that the greatest danger to our Republic is the slow, corrosive weakening from within

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2017, file photo, a syringe loaded with a dose of CBD oil is shown in a research laboratory at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.

Opinion

Michael and Jenet Erickson: Legalize medical marijuana, the Utah way

Here are five likely scenarios to unfold if Prop 2 passes.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Largely ignored in the exposés of Hollywood harassers is the way in which they use nudity and sexual scenes in their films to perpetrate their harassment.

Opinion

Michael and Jenet Erickson: #TimesUp for Hollywood’s sexual addiction

Unless that national dialogue begins to address Hollywood’s broader addiction to objectification and sexualization, we risk perpetuating many of the far-reaching effects of Hollywood’s sexual harassment.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

While anyone is free to smoke if they so choose, no one should be forced to breath another’s secondhand smoke in enclosed, confined spaces. Similarly, no one should be forced to endure involuntary images of sex and violence in the increasingly cramped and

Opinion

Op-ed: Congress, please limit graphic content in airplane movies

It appears that in-flight movies are becoming a new second-hand smoke.

By Michael Erickson

Tom Christofferson, brother to Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve, shares his journey and perspective as a gay Mormon in a new book titled, "That We May Be One."

Opinion

Op-ed: Lessons I learned from ‘That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith & Family’

Of all the lessons we might take from Tom Christofferson’s book, perhaps the one that would mean the most to Tom is how to love our LGBT family, friends and neighbors.

By Michael Erickson

With the recent update of the “Mormon and Gay” website, now an official part of lds.org, there are even more resources to understand the intersection between same-sex attraction and religious belief and practice.

Opinion

Michael and Jenet Erickson: Lessons from ‘Mormon and Gay’

With the recent update of the “Mormon and Gay” website, now an official part of lds.org, there are even more resources to understand the intersection between same-sex attraction and religious belief and practice.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Opinion

Michael and Jenet Erickson: Marriage deserves a 2nd chance

Couples who were at some point very unhappy can become happy again. Research that followed low-conflict, unhappy marriages over five years found that of the 85 percent who stayed married, two-thirds were happily married five years later.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Opinion

My view: Discriminating against BYU threatens efforts at compromise

Rather than discriminating against BYU for its LDS-based honor code, LGBT groups might instead consider lobbying Big 12 states to follow the “Utah Compromise” and balance safeguards for LGBT with protections for religious liberties.

By Michael Erickson

Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump holds a plane-side rally in a hanger at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Ohio, Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Opinion

My view: Trump: the anti-Republican

Republicans should unify behind the principle that there is no place in the Republican Party for anti-republican rhetoric.

By Michael Erickson

In this photo provided by the Library of Congress, President Abraham Lincoln, seated and holding his spectacles and a pencil on Feb. 5, 1865.

Utah

Michael Erickson: Lincoln’s virtue of respect for all people

Not long before his death, Douglass wrote that Lincoln “was the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color.”

By Michael Erickson

FILE: Utah Sen. Jim Dabakis speaks during a press conference

Opinion

Last year’s Utah Compromise is a model in statesmanship

When Abraham Lincoln, a well-known teetotaler, addressed Springfield’s temperance society, he did not denounce drunkenness, but urged kindness and brotherly love.

By Michael Erickson

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 1998 file photo, Barbara Henry, a former teacher at William Frantz Elementry school in New Orleans, left, and her 1960 first grade student Ruby Bridges-Hall, pose for a portrait in Boston. Ruby Bridges will be one of the presenting

Opinion

Ruby Bridges’ Ordinary Answer for an Extraordinary Problem

As we commemorate the Civil Rights movement today, Ruby Bridges’ example reminds us that ordinary Americans strengthened by faith are at the heart of extraordinary events.

By Michael Erickson

FILE — Executive Director Janice Crouse of World Congress of Families IX speaks during a press conference in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, announcing that the World Congress of Families will be in Salt Lake in October. The World Congress of Famil

Opinion

World Congress of Families a hate group?

The World Congress of Families (WCF) will be held for the first time in the U.S. If you’re concerned about the “controversy” around the largest gathering of family scholars and leaders, come and see what it’s all about.

By Michael Erickson

In this Oct. 3, 2014, file photo, Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood president, speaks in Orono, Maine. Stealthily recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials casually discussing how they provide aborted fetal organs for research have pushed the grou

Opinion

Michael Erickson: Stop America’s later-term abortion tragedies

The U.S. is one of only seven countries in the world — including China, North Korea and Vietnam — that permit abortions after 20 weeks. This policy is a reflection of American politics and media, not the American people.

By Michael Erickson

Abortion is a topic we would all prefer to avoid. But if we do not talk about it now, then when?

Opinion

Michael & Jenet Erickson: Organ harvesting controversy deserves our attention, discussion

Abortion is a topic we would all prefer to avoid. But if we do not talk about it now, then when?

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Opinion

Five principles to help guide public dialogue over what marriage means

Unless overruled, divisive decisions like Obergefell v. Hodges should be followed out of respect for rule of law. But as a matter of moral opinion, it is just that, opinion.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Obergefell v. Hodges is a Supreme Court case about who decides what constitutes “marriage.” It intersects two of America’s most profound institutions — marriage and republican government.

Opinion

Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision threatens American democracy

Obergefell v. Hodges is a Supreme Court case about who decides what constitutes “marriage.” It intersects two of America’s most profound institutions — marriage and republican government. Following are four lessons from the dissent.

By Michael Erickson

A century and a half ago, America paid its post-Civil War respects to assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, who was credited for not only saving a nation but a race as well. He in turn redirected the honor and glory to God.

Opinion

Lincoln saved a nation but deflected credit to a greater power

A century and a half ago, America paid its post-Civil War respects to assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, who was credited for not only saving a nation but a race as well. He in turn redirected the honor and glory to God.

By Michael Erickson

Elder L. Tom Perry of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, left, shakes hands with Equality Utah executive director Troy Williams, center, as Clifford Rosky, chairman of Equality Utah, right, looks on following t

Opinion

SB296’s spirit of compromise: 10 scenarios where SB296 balances safeguards for LGBT with religious liberties

Senate Bill 296 balances safeguards for LGBT people in housing and employment with religious liberty protections for people of faith. In support of SB296, we offer our observations about how it fairly applies to a variety of circumstances.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

Opinion

Protecting conscience is not discrimination

LGBT should not fear reprisals for publicly acknowledging their legal relationships. But neither should the religious fear reprisals for acknowledging their beliefs and acting according to conscience. Fairness for all requires mutual understanding.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson

In our pluralistic society, religious freedom is not just one policy among many; it is the foundation of the liberties we enjoy as Americans. It is our first freedom.

Opinion

Utah businesses need religious freedom bill

In our pluralistic society, religious freedom is not just one policy among many; it is the foundation of the liberties we enjoy as Americans. It is our first freedom.

By Michael Erickson and Jenet Jacob Erickson