Adam McLain
Adam McLain is a PhD candidate in the department of English at the University of Connecticut and a JD candidate at UConn Law. He researches and writes on dystopian literature, legal theory, and sexual justice. He has a BA in English, editing, and women’s studies from Brigham Young University, a master of theological studies, emphasizing in women, gender, sexuality, and religion, from Harvard University, and a MA in English from the University of Connecticut.
Published: SFRA 2019 Conference Paper
Over the summer, I attended the Science Fiction Research Association's conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Chaminade University. It was a lot of fun, and I met some really great people who are doing very endearing, fundamental, and needed work on texts that I love so much.
Five Ways Toward Latter-day Saint Inclusivity
Yesterday, I published a long Twitter thread in which I was very critical of Latter-day Saint leaders, specifically a member of the Seventy and an Apostle. I believe that we sustain leadership by being critical of them; it is how we help them stay honest and true to their great responsibilities.
A Twitter Thread on Latter-day Saint Theology and Queerness
I decided, as I sometimes do, to go on a long Twitter thread to talk about Latter-day Saint theology and its intersection with queerness. Here is it in its entirety.
In My Queer Time and Place — Some Reflections on Religion, Sexuality, and Temporality on My Birthday
As I enter my late twenties, I'm reflecting on time and place—specifically my own time and my own place. When you're raised in a hegemonic religion that articulates there is only a "strait and narrow" way to joy and happiness, you hold within you a lot of anxiety about where you are in mortal time (following the commandments? living the gospel? being a good disciple of Jesus Christ?) and earthly place (going to the temple? standing in holy places? attending church weekly?).
The Joy of Unity: 1 Thessalonians 3:9–10, 12
Tonight, I’m reading 1 Thessalonians for my Introduction tothe New Testament course. As we read through the New Testament as a class, we’refocusing on two angles: first, the historical-critical view of the text, meaning its historical context among early “Christianity”; second, a “minority” criticism, where we return to the text by looking at it through minority viewpoints (something akin to viewing a text through multiple lenses).
Essaying; or, Why I Blog
To Think
Writing is a spiritual experience. It is a movement toward greater understanding of myself and the world around me. It is a journey toward apotheosis as I come to know my humanity better through the words I write. I write because it allows me to ruminate on a subject, not coming to a definitive conclusion, but rather opening the door to understanding, even in just a little way, the simple complexity and complex simplicity of the universe that surrounds us.
To Share
Writing is a communal experience. It is meant to communicate thoughts across words in order to form other thoughts in other beings. Those thoughts do not come perfectly thought-for-thought, word-for-word, but in their imperfection, there is a connection, a community that is formed between you and me. A joining. A unity.
To Experience
Writing is an experience. Taking the time to consider something and then to write about it allows one to experience and re-experience an event, a moment, a text.