virtue

Elvira Stevens Barney (1832–1909) was a physician, missionary, and advocate for women’s rights in early Utah. Born in Gerry, New York, to a merchant father and schoolteacher mother, she was baptized in 1844 and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with the Brigham Young pioneer company in 1848. In 1851, Barney was called on a mission to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), where she taught the gospel and basic education while learning the Hawaiian language. She later pursued her long-held dream of becoming a doctor, studying at Wheaton College in Illinois and serving a mission to Philadelphia, where she continued her medical studies. She graduated as a doctor of medicine in 1883. Barney practiced obstetrics and taught medicine classes to women in Utah. She served as a visiting physician at Deseret Hospital and spoke at mass meetings defending Latter-day Saint women’s voting rights. Active in the Utah Woman Suffrage Association, she also authored The Stevens Genealogy , published in 1907.

Evan McMullin (b. 1976) is an American politician, intelligence officer, and civic leader whose career has been defined by a commitment to democratic principles, moral courage, and service to the common good. Born in Provo, Utah, and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, McMullin served as a clandestine operations officer with the CIA for over a decade, working in counter-terrorism and national security across the Middle East and North Africa. He later served as Chief Policy Director for the House Republican Conference before launching an independent presidential campaign in 2016, earning 21% of the vote in Utah and drawing national attention as a principled alternative to the major-party candidates. McMullin’s public life has centered on the defense of constitutional democracy and human dignity against authoritarian impulses. In 2021, he co-founded the anti-authoritarian organization Stand Up Republic, and in 2022 he ran as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah, earning broad cross-partisan support. His advocacy consistently draws on moral foundations rooted in his faith, framing democratic participation and the protection of individual rights as ethical imperatives rather than merely political ones. McMullin’s career reflects a conviction that intelligence, courage, and moral clarity are inseparable—that the work of protecting human dignity requires both rigorous discernment and principled action. His willingness to challenge concentrated power and defend pluralistic institutions resonates with the Mormon transhumanist commitment to decentralized flourishing and the notion that genuine community requires consent, accountability, and the active participation of morally engaged individuals. In an era when technology increasingly mediates political power, McMullin’s insistence on transparency and ethical responsibility points toward the kind of stewardship that responsible technological progress demands.