Episode 250: What About Sin?
How do you feel about sin? Richard Rohr describes our inevitable human missteps as essential to our growth when he says, “Not doing it right seems to teach us much more than doing it perfectly.” But for many Latter-day Saints who struggle with ongoing feelings of guilt and/or shame, Rohr’s interpretation may sound a bit too good to be true. Our church’s focus on worthiness can get in the way of members’ ability to look at mistakes—big and small—as growth opportunities, built right into the plan. In Episode 250, Susan and Cynthia are joined by members of the ALSSI community for a conversation about sin. How have your experiences affected the way you think about it? As your faith evolves, have you reframed sin entirely?
Notes & Quotes:
Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer; A New Edition of A Lever and a Place to Stand, by Richard Rohr
What President Oaks says about mission age change for young women and the nature of future temple announcements, by Sarah Jane Weaver, Deseret News, 1/11/2026
Boundaries: The Line of Yes and No, by Chieko N. Okazaki, Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy, BYU Scholars Archive, 1995
“People can’t go to communion if they are in a second marriage or openly gay, but they can go to communion all they want if they are multimillionaires—in a world of poor people. You begin to see that we are “cafeteria Christians,” picking and choosing what we are ready to hear. If you look closely, you will see that the things we emphasize as truly sinful are usually body-based, and the things we pick as absolutely essential are those that tie us to dependence upon the clergy. Notice how different this selective morality is from the radical morality of Jesus.” —Richard Rohr
“Darkness, failure, relapse, woundedness, backtracking [...] are the primary teachers in the spiritual life. Not doing it right seems to teach us much more than doing it perfectly.” —Richard Rohr
“You know, this church is harder and harder for me to understand. You claim to have the perfect medicine, the healing power to restore and renew hearts and souls, but you also always seem to be saying, ‘Make sure you don’t really need it, because if you really need it, you are a less than ideal member!’ Forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and healing are mere concessions to the unfortunate instead of the very path of salvation itself. But in fact, they are the very nature of God.” —Richard Rohr
“By all means, people should not be depressed because we are surrounded with challenges, whether they are economic or political or social. That is part of what we were put here to experience. … We are optimistic because we trust the Lord and know that he loves us and he set us up to succeed, not to fail.” —Dallin H. Oaks
“Ephesians says, ‘Anything exposed to the light will become light.’ It's not a matter of kicking people out or saying ‘You're not worthy.’ It's just leading people on journeys of illumination. Then they see their own mistakes for themselves.” —Richard Rohr
“Much is expected of LDS women … but guilt is a burden they need not pick up.” —Chieko Okazaki