Joseph was born in the global south

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First, I probably failed to promote a recent short story of mine published by Wayfare, so let me do that real fast:

 
But what I want to talk about is Gabriel’s new story:

 

This is not his first time telling an alternative founding of the LDS faith (I think this is the same universe), but I think it deserves shouting out because it’s different from, say, Anneke’s story about the Church being formed in Africa or mine in California—this one’s written by someone from the culture where the alternate Restoration begins rather than the culture where the actual Restoration begins.

Now, the genesis doesn’t change the inherent value in the experiment, but it necessarily results in slightly different questions and thus suggests different answers. And those differences matter.

They matter to me, sure, but I think they must matter even more to the new culture where the Restoration has been moved to. And I think beginning the universalization of Mormon history and Mormon experience matters in the same way every culture on Earth already paints Jesus to look like themselves in his appearance, his clothing, his geography.

Anyway, I’m not planning on drawing grand conclusions or attempting a fancy theory or anything. I just wanted you to see the story. And to think about the story.

(And to check out this cool tweet that appeared after I wrote this but before I posted it.)