Expiation by Richard Dutcher (Review)

My friend Richard Dutcher wrote an excellent short story titled "Expiation"—published by Sunstone Magazine.

It gave me a lot to think about when it comes to Mormon culture and attitudes regarding a number of topics from redemption to the words of prophets—and how they are interpreted—and attitudes towards the sins and nature of others, especially those that we love.

The story isn't a happy one and is written as a confession discovered in a Utah canyon. The story made me grateful for the light and knowledge that's been made available to us through modern revelation and also disappointed in the fact that so many people will close their eyes and ears to it out of fear of getting something wrong, all the while forgetting that we're not expected to get everything right in the first place.

The story also raises questions for me that I hope someday to find the answers to about Church history and attitudes and beliefs of the early Latter-day Saints and their leaders and how God requires different sacrifices from different groups of His children at different times.