Archive for 2008

In which I crowdsource my conscience. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

OK, now that we’re looking at the Mormon of the Year, I’d also like to look at what the big news stories were for the year. In a lot of ways its been a very busy news year, with, by my count, three big stories dominating: Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy The confusion of the LDS Church... Read More »

Its that time of year. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is traditionally the media’s time for reflection on the past year — the time when we see story after story on the best or most important stories of the year, or the most important person of the year (as Time magazine... Read More »

Comment on the week in sidebar links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

God be thanked for the matchless gift of his only begotten. Merry Christmas everyone. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If a story about football brought tears to my eyes, you know it’s gotta be good. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

As far as holiday food goes, Thanksgiving tends to steal the spotlight. At our home Christmas Eve dinner is a true feast rivaling the best turkey-centered spreads our table has seen: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Merry Christmas from Christmases past! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Church has put together a web page on the true meaning of Christmas. Please give it a look and pass on the link. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

After the wise men came, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 0 people like this... Read More »

I know, I know. There’s so much to love about the jolly fella. But he keeps getting in the way. Or not. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The psalms are prayers. And some of them are real doozies. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There is only one Christmas. Each year it comes slightly more into view. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I often find walking in nature a spiritual experience, for want of a better term. Growing up, I think that I found my testimony in part by tramping through the Wasatch Mountains and watching thunder storms roll across the Great Salt Lake. Today, I am likely to have real moments of reverence... Read More »

Comment on the week in sidebar links 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Your challenge: diagram the sacrament prayers. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Elder Porter of the Seventy has a column in Newsweek responding to a recent Newsweek opinion piece claiming that opposition to gay marriage was unbiblical. There are several unusual features about the column 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Ross Douthat believes in angels and devils. Me too. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It’s holiday season, which means more friends and family and greetings, in person or otherwise, than usual. Add to that a few weddings receptions and you can get downright sore from all the hugging and hand-wrenching. Not to mention confused by the vast array of possibilities for saying hello or goodbye or Merry Christmas... Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Ross Douthat explains why meritocrats feel like they deserve their success. He says that you probably won’t succeed without the luck of good brains and good upbringing, but that then you have to follow that luck with lots of determination and hard work. Since the hard work and determination is closest to... Read More »

Here’s your chance to comment on the week in links. The “All Notes” link is now working, so you can go back to look at links that have been pushed off the sidebar. This may be as good a time as any to remind you that if you hold your mouse pointer over a link on... Read More »

Tithing Settlement is a great part of the Christmas season. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I recieved one of those continuing education catalogs in the mail today (from Lehman College, not BYU), and glancing through it, I began to wonder why the courses are all very basic. The courses are all introductory, and seem to be for those looking to start a career in relatively low-skill professions. I suppose... Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Book of Mormon is a reliquary in prose. In some extensive sections and at some critical moments, what drives the narrative is the question: how did a set of golden plates, a steel sword, a ball of curious workmanship, a breastplate, and two translucent stones end up inside a stone box buried in... Read More »

President Uchtdorf said that the angels came to the shepherds, the poor, not to the rich. At one point in my life that would have bugged me. Today I realized that the rich should want it that way. If you’re wealthy and still looking for something, you don’t want to be... Read More »

So we’re switching hosts this weekend. This means things are going to act funny for a while. Since we’ve been having recurring outages for weeks, this should be nothing new to our loyal fans. Hopefully, in the new world order our mindblowing traffic will stop bringing down our server. 0 people... Read More »

Below is a forward I recently received about a perceived effort to eliminate the release time seminary system in an Idaho school district. The email is from a CES employee to parents of students in the school district encouraging them to oppose one of several proposed schedules currently under consideration that apparently would restructure... Read More »

A call for papers, panels, movement sessions and choreography Sponsored by the Department of Dance with support from the BYU Museum of Art July 17 and 18, 2009 at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art and in the BYU Richards Building dance studios. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Elder Wirthlin died at 11:30 p.m. last night in his home. He was the oldest living apostle at 91. We invite you to share your memories and thoughts about Elder Wirthlin as we mourn his passing. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It’s an intellectual banality to point out that how one thinks of the present structures how one thinks about the past. The cliché, however, is useful when thinking about Mormon history. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Since I was rather critical of an Ensign article on the Word of Wisdom earlier this year, I feel obligated to point out that this month’s article on the Word of Wisdom is a much better piece. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Previous installments can be accessed through this link. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Any minute now, it will begin: first one car, then another, then another will drive into our cul-de-sac and park in front of the house across the street. As they do on every holiday, the Bishop’s children are coming home. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Our Chief Magistrate has proclaimed that today be a National Day of Thanksgiving, to acknowledge those blessings of liberty, family, and friendship we receive at the hands of the Almighty God. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

BYU’s Religious Studies Center recently announced that it had begun publishing books in Spanish, Portuguese, and German, an encouraging development, given how little is being produced outside of English. In his blog post about the news, Richard Neitzel Holzapfel writes: Today, it is estimated that there are nearly 7,000 spoken languages in the world, of... Read More »

Enjoy that Thanksgiving turkey . . . while you can. You may be a vegetarian during the millennium. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

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What will it be like for a marriage to continue past death into the eternities? What does it mean to have a perfected body, or to love an eternal being? Stephenie Meyer has an answer. Breaking Dawn, the last novel in her Twilight series, presents a sustained and vividly imagined view of one of... Read More »

Rod Dreher, I think, has a it right. Conservatives ought to support same-sex marriage legislation. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A High Priest I know is in crisis. He is an immigrant who, like many other Church members, came to the US without a visa, according to what I understand of the situation. After arriving here he joined the Church, and eventually fell in love and married a U.S. Citizen, a wonderful, faithful Church... Read More »

We’ve just completed upgrading the software that runs Times and Seasons. The upgrade requires us to also update the files that control how the site looks. It may take a while for us to get Times and Seasons to the way we want it to look, so please be patient. 0 people like this... Read More »

In the run up to and in the wake of Prop 8, Latter-day Saint proponents of the measure have often tried to parse their words carefully when discussing their support for it in order to avoid charges of bigotry and hate for opposing the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. Echoing a... Read More »

One of the subterranean threads running throughout the Book of Mormon is the mystery of whose bones are heaped upon the land northward. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Mormon employees at the University of Phoenix benefited from discrimination based on religion, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The University settled the suit, paying $1.9 million to 52 employees (an average of more than $36,000 each!) and agreeing to a “zero-tolerance” policy... Read More »

Today is a good day to celebrate the soldiers I have known and 9 years of marriage. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

By Lord Dunsany: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Is anyone else just the teeniest bit bothered that the government wants to lend two trillion of our dollars but will not tell us to whom they are lending it or what kind of collateral they have? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Joseph Smith manual had one of my favorite quotes in it this week: “I say to all those who are disposed to set up stakes for the Almighty, You will come short of the glory of God. To become a joint heir of the heirship of the Son, one must put away all... Read More »

Penguin Books has just published a “Penguin Classics” edition of the Book of Mormon edited by Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp. Penguin Classics, of course, are the paperback editions of literary staples like Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. They are printed and marketed largely as texts for college classes. The assumption is... Read More »

A pool in our area had a free admission day this summer and I’m nothing if not cheap so there we were. Imagine the delighted looks on my kids’ faces when they saw not only a FREE pool, but FREE inflatable bouncers, FREE snowcones, FREE hot dogs, FREE chips, and FREE games with... Read More »

A few months ago, a sister in our ward asked my daughter to babysit. On a Monday evening. That’s right. Monday Evening. We try to be diligent with family home evening on Monday night, so the answer needed to be “no,” but I was a bit confused about how to convey that message. ... Read More »

While the candidates have been talking the talk about cooperation and unity, a few humble LDS editors have been walking the walk. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The results are in, and the Mormon officials in congress is facing some changes as a result. From what I can tell, the new congress will include either 5 or 6 Mormons in the Senate and 9 in the House of Representatives. [FWIW, outside of the U.S., I only know of 1 LDS Church... Read More »

I haven’t found a news organization that’s called Prop 8 yet, and CNN’s exit polling showed it failing 48%-52%, but my county-by-county analysis shows that it will likely pass. With 93.6% of precincts reporting state wide, Prop 8 is leading by 406,519 votes (4.1%), and almost all of the precincts yet to be... Read More »

A horrible, no-good, very bad blog can still run a great series on missionary work. Read it, take it to heart, recommend it to others. Part I Part II Part III. *** Bumped. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party... Read More »

Let’s take about Christmas. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the issues I care about (and therefore not including the topic addressed from various perspectives so eloquently by my esteemed colleagues), I prefer the positions of the Democratic Party platform and candidate. I directly benefited from Barack Obama’s work as a state senator while I lived in Illinois, he seems to know what... Read More »

People who want to vote for Obama labor mightily to get around his extreme pro-choice/pro-abortion record. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Barack Obama has sought to bring pro-lifers and pro-choicers together to find a middle ground on the issue of abortion. With the help of noted conservative legal scholar, pro-life activist, and former Romney supporter Doug Kmiec 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

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Barack Obama is the most pro-choice/pro-abortion candidate to ever run for President in any major party. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

An anti-Prop 8 organization has released a new commercial drawing Mormon missionaries into the fight over Proposition 8. To say the ad is inflammatory is putting it lightly. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The J. Reuben Clark Society’s annual student conference will be held this year at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Registration is now open, and I urge LDS students, lawyers, and interested laypersons to attend. FYI. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Dear Michelle, First, let me say how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know you over the last couple of months. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here are a few reasons why you should not vote for John McCain: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This is Part Two of responses provided by representatives of the LDS Newsroom to a set of questions submitted by T&S permabloggers. See Part One for the first six questions and responses. 10 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Man is hungry for status like he is hungry for food (and they say the public schools don’t teach you anything!). 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Last week’s sacrament meeting was unique. While on the surface it was just the annual Primary Sacrament Meeting program, the room was packed and the overflow took up most of the cultural hall. But the best part was the congregational hymns, a joyful cacophany that mangled the hymns, making them hard to understand, but... Read More »

Strangely enough, I didn’t catch the irony until just now, as my first- and sixth-graders ran outside to catch the carpool. First grader=John McCain Sixth grader=jihadist Afghani 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Most online discussions of gay marriage are not worth the effort, because no actual discussion takes place 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Representatives from LDS Public Affairs who manage and direct the Newsroom site at LDS.org agreed to respond to a dozen questions submitted by the T&S permabloggers. We are pleased to post the first six questions and answers below, with the second set of six to follow shortly. We appreciate the time and... Read More »

The Lovely One and I were lazing in bed and got to talking about life expectancy. Barring mishap, we figured we’d reach our 50th wedding anniversary, no problem. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I kissed a girl and I liked it The taste of her cherry chapstick I kissed a girl just to try it I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it It felt so wrong It felt so right Don’t mean I’m in love tonight 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The New York Times has an interesting write-up on the latest infidelity research. Among other morceau, researchers have found a rise in infidelity among young couples and speculate that increasing porn use may be responsible. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Just kidding about the “often” part. Are you an early voter or a procrastinator? Here’s why I voted early: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’m not sure whether or not Halloween is actually “Mormon” to any significant degree. Mormons generally participate in the holiday here in the U.S., of course. And we even have a few requirements of the holiday in a Church setting — for example, we don’t allow masks at Church-sponsored Halloween events. But I don’t... Read More »

A few days ago, Russell passed around this quote backstage (yes, T&S has a backstage–that’s where the permabloggers hang out, fight, and make fun of you): 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

One competitor’s vehicle exploded on camera already. The next attempt is at 2:30 Mountain Time. You can watch a live webcast here. The challenge t is being held in Las Cruces, NM, but is not open to the public. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Naysayers regarding Sarah Palin’s promise to be an advocate for children with special needs can stand down for now rant all they want, but I’m still excited. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh . . . that all men might become subject unto him. -2 Nephi 9:5 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Thirteen-year-old son: Mom, can I watch “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”? me: No. son: Why not? There’s nothing bad about it. me: I disagree. son: Well, I disagree with you. me: That’s okay. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This is a post about a new intertubes meme I’ve noticed–your mileage may vary–and whether it has minor moral implications. This is just my $.02. Heh. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

BYU recently chose to rescind the diploma of Chad Hardy, the missionary calendar guy, because he was excommunicated from the church between the time he earned his degree and the graduation ceremony. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The FBI released its files on Gordon B. Hinckley last week in response to a FOIA request from the Salt Lake Tribune. Apparently the FBI conducted a background check on President Hinckley in 1951 in order to ensure he wasn’t a communist and clear him for a potential position with Voice of America.... Read More »

The following is making the email rounds with lightning speed. It claims to be talk given recently by President Packer. Can anyone confirm or deny? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Just as I went to publish this post, I saw Ben’s post about the conference on Mormons and Evangelicals. It’s a nice coincidence. As are the recent posts by Kent and Marc on labeling and categorizing. I was already scheduled to attend another conference this week, an annual conference for historians of the Reformation (surely... Read More »

Standing Together and the Religious Studies Program at Utah Valley University are hosting a conference of Latter-day Saint and evangelical Christian students and scholars this coming Friday and Saturday, October 24-5, 2008, on topics including, “Was a Restoration Necessary?,” “Authority and Scripture,” and “The Nature of God: Finite or Infinite?” Directly addressing some of... Read More »

Marc Bohn’s post yesterday on how Mormonism is classified became a legal issue reminded me that the issue of how Mormonism is classified is anything but clear, especially when non-Mormons are doing the classifying. We say we are Christian, and evangelicals claim we are not. We don’t want to be called Catholic or Protestant... Read More »

In response to the FP request to “do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman”, I’m bringing the widget back to the top of T&S. Actually, it’s... Read More »

From Givens: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

An appellate court in Arkansas last week refused to overturn a lower court ruling which found a woman’s ex-husband in contempt of court for failing to raise their minor children “in the Protestant faith” after the ex-husband started promoting his Mormonism to their children. While many Mormons,... Read More »

According to this, the priesthood session of conference will be available online starting next year. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In a case called Kerrigan, a majority of the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that Connecticut must institute gay marriage. As always, you can find good commentary at the Volokh Conspiracy and at Bench Memos. Among other things that Court relied on Connecticut’s civil union legislation as evidence that gay marriage... Read More »

Polygamy was a topic for persuasive prose, not poetry in nineteenth century Utah. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’m very happy to see this year’s Nobel Prize in economics going to Paul Krugman, whose columns in the New York Times helped me see the importance of the discipline of economics as nothing else ever had. I think Mormon scholarship could use more scholars like Paul Krugman (quite apart from the Nobel and... Read More »

The saints have put out some good media on traditional marriage and Proposition 8 in California. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Sara called me at work. The first counselor in our bishopric died getting up that morning. He had a heart attack. Church today was full with his family and, since today was the primary program, with the families of the children. His wife sat on the stand with her CTR... Read More »

For the past couple weeks I’ve received email reports, forwarded to me from a friend, written by a lawyer who is LDS and who is prosecuting a counselor in a Stake Presidency in a ponzi scheme. The situation is sad, the email messages fascinating and the news that this is a counselor in... Read More »

Providing a theological interpretation of Mormon history is tricky. I’ve argued elsewhere that one of the reasons that Mormons care so much about history is that in some sense they regard it has having a normative force. Part of how we understand God’s will is by offering an interpretation of our past... Read More »

Heads up for those in the D.C. area. Earlier this Spring I posted a notice about a great series of events that Greg Prince, co-author of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, hosted at his house in Potomac, Maryland. After a brief summer interlude, Brother Prince is back at it. ... Read More »

Conference this past weekend (and the lengthy list I made during it of all the ways I need to change) got me thinking about a conversation I had with a recent law school grad in our ward who was studying for the bar this summer. He’d been complaining to me about having... Read More »

It appears as though we’ve neglected an old institution here at Times & Seasons, the General Conference Open Thread. All apologies. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Last Saturday I gave a walking tour of Mormon history sites in lower Manhattan, one of the services our stake history committee offers regularly. One stop on the tour is the location where an early LDS newspaper, The Mormon, was published by John Taylor. That newspaper featured an interesting statement in its masthead–what it... Read More »

Most everyone I’ve talked to loved President Uchtdorf’s talk at the General Relief Society Broadcast. But I have a question (and yes, men, this is for you, too—since I assume that as a son of God, you also get joy in following the Father’s example of creation and compassion): 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For my last post as a guest blogger, I have written something a lot more dough headed than the stuff usually posted on this blog. This is a flavor of what I am up to on my own dough headed blog. While I hope you enjoy it, I also want to thank... Read More »

A while back our household sat down to watch an episode of Monk. We like Monk because not only is it funny, it’s also sad and tender and offers good – sometimes very good – cultural satire. As I fed M she kept turning her head to look at the TV, watching whatever it... Read More »

“The deal that Buffett made with Howie concerning the rent for Howie’s farm was … linked with weight; the amount rose and fell with Howie’s poundage. Warren thought his son should weigh 182.5 pounds. When Howie was over the limit, he had to pay twenty-six percent of the farm’s gross receipts to his... Read More »

Library Journal this month ran an interesting article offering a big-picture perspective on the world of LDS and LDS-related publishing, highlighting close to 40 books on doctrine, history, sociology, comparative theology and devotional topics, as well as periodicals, video, and internet resources. The article’s aim is to help librarians choose recent, reliable books about... Read More »

The little historian in me cheers for small things, such as correct phrasing. At the General Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday, September 27, Sister Barbara Thompson 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

After almost three years, we’ve just about made it all the way through the Bible in felt. These have been great FHEs for us. Now I need something new. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Last weekend I went to the penultimate game in Yankee Stadium, and the next night watched the last game on television, complete with its post-game wake. Over nearly 20 years I’ve attended meetings there, letting a place and a culture become an almost religious part of my life. Its a Temple of baseball. 0... Read More »

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Every medium has an inherent vice. While any form of media can be misused, there is a flaw lurking in the fundamental nature of each medium. Television exaggerates fear, as it transmits the worst events or most scandalous entertainment from the outside world into our homes. Movies indulge our self-deluding fantasies of escape or... Read More »

How should we think about personal responsibility in light of the financial bailout currently being debated in Washington, D.C.? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The church issued a statement about alcohol laws in Utah. The last paragraph reads: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that Utahns, including those who work in the hospitality industry, can come together as citizens, regardless of religion or politics, to support laws and regulations that allow individual freedom of choice while... Read More »

If you’re a teacher of any sort, you know how disruptive a couple of talkative or rude students can be, especially when you’re trying to get a discussion going. In an effort to regain control, you flash a forced smile in the direction of the goof-offs. You pause and wait until they’re finished before you... Read More »

Among the other academic spam that I get are regular emails from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which is always eager to remind me of their fights for academic freedom, higher salaries for professors, and various trendy and hip progressive causes. Today, the AAUP sent out an email commemorating the ten... Read More »

With elections coming up and my time as a guest blogger running out, I like to take up the topic of Mormonism and voting. First, what should we make of the many Mormons who seem completely disengaged in politics? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We begin with a quiz. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I linked to an article earlier that I have since decided is to good to leave just to the newsfeed. It’s from a Chicago Tribune religion reporter who is Jewish with Mormon relatives. In it, the reporter describes a rift that formed in her family after her great-uncle Al married a Mormon... Read More »

I am sorry I have not been posting more regularly. Hurricane Ike slowed me down a bit. However, everything is starting to get back to normal. So…. Here we go. If the nineteenth century Mormon experiment in planning claimed anything, it claimed to be founded on revelation. 0 people... Read More »

First Things has published two articles about the Church; one by Bruce D. Porter and the other by Gerald R. McDermott. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I freely admit that I’m not the funniest person in the world, but I do think I have a sense of humor. I like a good laugh as much as anyone. Or perhaps I should say, “I like a good laugh as much as anyone who is LDS.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For those in the Provo area: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Apropos of the season and storm. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

One unique aspect of the missionary experience is the opportunity to focus everything you do, day and night, directly on the goal of serving God. It can be kind of scary to set that as your project, because it is a tall order. Serving God for one day is hard enough; you run out... Read More »

One unique aspect of the missionary experience, quite distinct from life before and after, is the feeling that someone is always watching you. It’s probably the one aspect of my mission that I could have done without, although I wouldn’t say that it was entirely unproductive. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Some of the thoughts of a commenter on my last post, got me thinking about Mormons, politics, and morality. My observation is that the issues that set off moral alarm bells for most Mormons are those that deal with issues relating to what I would consider “freedom to sin” or “prohibitions of obvious... Read More »

“I seriously doubt whether there will be anyone in the celestial kingdom who is not kind.” “An important measure of our efforts for the celestial kingdom is how we treat others.” (Elder Jensen, Regional Conference meeting, September 7, 2008). 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Mormon conception of Zion has changed dramatically over the past century. Today’s members of the church are likely to define “Zion” as wherever the members of the church are: LDS homes, congregations, and stakes. While the conception of Zion in the 19th century may have included these elements, these Saints... Read More »

Given all that might be said of Mormonism, it should not come as a surprise that a lot of interesting topics sit pretty much neglected. One of these, I would argue, is the Mormon contribution to building settlements in the United States. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We’d like to extend many thanks to Kent Larsen for a variety of interesting and thoughtful posts. We also would like to welcome our newest guest, Brigham Daniels. Brigham works as a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center, where he teaches environmental law. He has been involved with LDS... Read More »

In April, 1998, President Hinckley visited New York City to speak at a special fireside held in Madison Square Garden, and our stake provided a 100+ voice choir for the event. I remember thinking at the time that with all of the talented Church members in New York City, the choir should be permanent. ... Read More »

Have you been wondering where to go to find out what all is going on in Mormon Studies? Now you know: MormonConferences.org, just launched today, keeps track of all the major public events in Mormon Studies and lists them all on one calendar 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Soon after I was made a ward clerk 20 years ago this month, I walked into the clerk’s office to find a xerox copy of an article posted there. The article was the text of a letter, sent by one of my predecessors, to the Church’s membership department, and had somehow found its way... Read More »

This morning I heard a member of Utah’s delegation to the Republican National Convention tell a radio talk show host that “there is a really special feeling among the Republican delegation.” Could you run that by me again? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Like in many Mormon families, my siblings and I helped fix dinner. On Sunday’s I loved to fix the mashed potatoes. It was in making mashed potatoes that I learned early that though a little is good, a lot is not necessarily better. Early on, I served a large bowl (there were 8 of us)... Read More »

A little more than a year ago, Russell wrote a post commemorating Times and Seasons 2 millionth hit. A feat he said wasn’t bad “for a blog that doesn’t feature kittens or porn.” Looking back, he also noted that while “We’ve weathered storms and squalls, and some people have gone overboard… Still, old... Read More »

I can’t resist telling this one again. Last May in priesthood meeting the photographers collecting photos for the ward directory suggested that the photos might end up on the “Blogosphere.” After they mentioned the word “Blogosphere” three times, I replied: “In the Church, we call it the “Bloggernacle.” To my surprise, this drew gaffaws from... Read More »

Several years ago a returned missionary acquaintance was told, on applying to BYU, that he needed ‘academic repenting’ before he could be admitted. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

And a great sleep did come over the land; yea, verily, there was much dozing and nodding of heads in all of the sabbath schools. 1 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Several years ago bookseller Curt Bench put together an annotated list of the 50 most important Mormon books published before 1980. While I won’t claim that everyone will agree with his assessment, I’ll be very surprised if anyone objects to more than 25% of the list. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The new nursery manual is available. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For the past decade, I’ve suggested that Deseret Book is one of the significant impediments to the growth of Mormon culture outside those elements involving worship. LDS books, music, film, art and other cultural products, especially innovative ones, are hampered by Deseret Book’s size, focus and control of the market for LDS materials. What can... Read More »

Three excellent quotes from this week’s Sunday School lesson: Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Over at MAD-Board, there is rumor about a policy change, to the effect that women may now be sealed to more than one (deceased) husband (just as men may now be sealed to more than one deceased wife). Can anyone confirm or un-confirm this one? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This past week I received a card in the mail from the BYU Alumni Association, asking for my help in “editing” my biographical information in an “Alumni Directory” in preparation. While I’ve certainly given the Alumni Association biographical information in the past, for some reason this time I started asking myself “is this worth... Read More »

In the Old Testament God likens his relationship to the House of Israel as that of a bridegroom to his wife. In the New Testament, the Church is described as the bride of Christ. The choice of the image of marriage, it seems to me, is hardly accidental. It provides, I... Read More »

During the last few years, I’ve noticed that less often is “the plan of salvation” used in General Conference, and more often we hear “the plan of happiness.” Anyone know why? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

So I’m at the pool last week with someone I really like but don’t know all that well and we’re kvetching about grocery prices, etc., when out of nowhere she says, “So I know you lost a baby daughter last winter. How are you doing with that?” 0 people like this... Read More »

Between loving fresh vegetables and an assumption about gardens being “doctrine,” I find myself planting every spring and harvesting what the bugs didn’t nibble in the summer and fall. Except for a few condo-living years when dirt was a scarce commodity, I have planted religiously. But 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A week ago I visited Mountain Meadows for the first time. I was surprisingly hard to find. While the site does appear on maps of the area, there aren’t any signs until you get within a mile of the entrance. That is a shame. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Has the Church really made an unsolicited offer to buy Facebook (see here which spun off to here)? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The gospel doctrine lesson on Alma 43-52 proposed four principles of war as waged by the righteous: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Yes! Another SSM post! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Ever been in one of the few LDS stores outside the United States? or in countries that don’t speak English? The selection can be quite discouraging. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Adam’s post about the California Supreme Court’s recent decision, and the resulting brawl in the comments got me thinking about the basis of discrimination. In 1998, while I was a senior at BYU I spent a semester in Williamsburg, Virginia doing research in the archives at the College of William and Mary. ... Read More »

It comes up often enough, doesn’t it: People compare race to sexual orientation, when discussing questions of marriage, medical access, and so on. Is this comparison legitimate? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The title says it all. The California Supreme Court has required that doctors with religious objections to lesbian households must nonetheless assist a lesbian women in artificially conceiving a child. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I heard a story on This American Life a couple of weeks ago that has had me thinking about the reality of Satan and just what that means for us in our lives. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We were driving to a wedding Friday morning so naturally we started talking about Jacob and Esau. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The week in notes, belatedly. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Times and Seasons is thrilled to have Kent Larsen as our latest guest. Kent has been very busy in book publishing in New York City for twenty years and has followed LDS publishing closely for ten years. He has also been posting on arts and media for over three years at A... Read More »

The bishop is worried about ward reverence. He should be, truth be told. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I think we can all agree that, from a risk analysis perspective, global warming and gay marriage share a lot of characteristics. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let me remind everyone that I support the Church’s position opposing same sex marriage. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

An Adult Religion Class will be offered this Fall in the Primary room of the Pflugerville Building on Thursdays from 8pm-9:30pm beginning on August 28th. The class will cover Psalms 1-89 and will be taught by me. The class fee is $16.25. Questions? Email me at my first name AT... Read More »

Previous posts in this series are available here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

(I hope you haven’t discussed this before, at least not in this way.) At the height of national debate over the Equal Rights Amendment, Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained that all LDS women should look to Eve: “Eve, the mother of all living, is truly the perfect pattern for all her daughters. Oh that... Read More »

God willing I will be giving a presentation on making the desert blossom as the rose and Mars settlement, tomorrow, August 14th, at 4:30 PM at the Mars Society conference. I would love to hear from any of you who might be attending. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Need a smile? Then you might wish you’d gone to sacrament meeting on March 15, 1857 in the Salt Lake Thirteenth Ward: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Just last week I heard a familiar comment at church: Brigham Young’s policy was to feed the Indians rather than fight them. The actual record of relations between Pioneers and Indians was a bit more complicated, especially in Utah Valley, the watery jewel of early Utah. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I thought Ardis’ comment deserves a bigger audience: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I don’t want to debate the ins and outs of the tragedy at Mountain Meadows. It was horrific no matter how you cut it. My more immediate problem is personal 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Georgia isn’t the only place with skirmishing this weekend: “LDS leader’s address still causing controversy,” a long article at the Deseret News, recounts the comments of five Sunstone panelists (and one unfortunate commenter) to LDS Relief Society President Julie B. Beck’s October 2007 Conference talk “Mothers Who Know.” 0 people like this... Read More »

Did you know that BYU had a combined-gender missionary club in the early 1920’s named the Y.D.D.? It took me a month to discover the secret of the initials: “Young Doctors of Divinity.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Comment on the week in sidebar links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

You are probably too erudite to discuss this, but I’m bringing it up anyway: vampire books. You know what I’m talking about. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Some of you will have noticed the posts on the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I really liked Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, a short musical internet film in three parts. Perhaps you think this is a shameful admission, like my fondness for the Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. And perhaps you’re right. But there it is. I liked the superhero goofiness. I liked Dr.... Read More »

It’s a lot more complicated than just “tea” these days, isn’t it? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For those in the Provo area: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve encountered an interesting banner link in my gmail account: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If you’ve been on a cross-country trek visiting in-laws or golf courses (or both) instead of reading new blogs posts, here are a few good posts you might have missed. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I stumbled across a few LDS socialist stories when I was writing my MA thesis. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We saints do pioneer reenactments a lot. Dress up, pull a handcart, dance a little to “whoa, haw, Buck.” I’ve been thinking about that and I need your help. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Fascinating Utah history factoid: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Rest in peace. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I recently read Martin Marty’s The Christian World: A Global History (2007). The subtitle is slightly misleading, as Marty recounts Christian history on a continent-by-continent basis. The last two chapters, covering the modern return of Christianity to Africa and Asia, raise issues of particular interest to the LDS experience: correlation and assimilation.... Read More »

Falcon 1 is going to try for orbit this evening. The launch will be broadcast live. This is groundbreaking first. If it succeeds, the Falcon 1 would be the first rocket from the new space industry to make orbit. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Can you help me a bit more with this topic? . . . Since LDS funeral sermons were given exclusively by men before 1900, they make an interesting comparison with LDS women’s death poetry of the same time period. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The week in sidebar links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I recently read Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion Year History of the Human Body (Pantheon Books, 2008) by Neil Shubin, a paleotologist and professor of anatomy at the University of Chicago. By coincidence, Jared at LDS Science Review had posted the same book in his “Currently Reading” list. Here... Read More »

A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Isaiah 27:2-3 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Why does “communion sweet” in the sacrament require both bread and water?** 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Lately I’ve got interested in the idea of the desert blossoming as the rose. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I have an uneasy relationship with death. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let’s have a big round of applause for Craig Harline’s busy two weeks as a guest blogger, then roll out the red carpet for our next guest, Kylie Turley. Kylie teaches honors writing at BYU (so watch those errant commas and inscrutable relative pronouns in your comments!) and is also on the staff... Read More »

So my colleagues have caught on to my secret plan to convert them all. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Lovely One and I were idly chatting Sunday afternoon when we accidentally figured out what would be the geekiest possible activity, probably the platonic ideal of geekdom. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Previous posts in this series are here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

From Steven Vanden Broecke, The Limits of Influence 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’ve enjoyed the chance to post and thank those who invited me and those who commented. I already promised that my previous post was also my last “real” post, and I’ll stick to that. But I did have one last mini post in mind, a question spurred by a recent event. 0 people like... Read More »

Without meaning to, this story (you can read it, but it is better to listen to it–it’s only a minute or so long) does a better job of explaining the nature of our relationship with God than almost anything else I have encountered. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

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Happy Pioneer Day. Time to break out the Nauvoo legion lapel button. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The development of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always been marvelous, but our sense of just what it is doing has changed quite dramatically from one decade to another. When Joseph Smith first went to (what in hindsight we call) the Sacred Grove, 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let us praise pioneers. Of all sorts, but today especially the traditional sort. I myself am thinking of Carl and Mathilda, whom I came to know through one of those wholly unexpected spine-tingling unbelievable fantastic experiences. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Deseret News just ran a lengthy article giving some details on the long-awaited but soon-to-be-released book Massacre at Mountain Meadows, by three LDS historians. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

No, it’s not the same as Master Race, so banish that association from your head. Instead it’s a useful sociological concept (imagine that!) which not only has come in handy for writing my current book, but goes a long way toward explaining why we get along, or not, with liberals, reactionaries, gays, homophobes, gun-nuts,... Read More »

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Previous post in this series here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

by Stephenie Meyers (Little, Brown, 2008). 617 pp. WARNING: major spoilers Stephenie Meyer’s foray into science fiction is a well-deserved best seller, and a great piece of Mormon literature. The romantic interaction between Bella and Edward and Jacob—wait, I mean between Jared and Melanie/Wanderer and Ian—uh, hold on a second… 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In a previous post I summarized biblical explanations for the problem of evil or the existence of suffering in the world as presented in Bart Ehrman’s latest book, God’s Problem. In this post I’ll continue with additional explanations from modern and LDS sources. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For you, summer might be a succession of beaches, barbeques, and baseball games, but for one young man this summer is an extended bicycle tour of American religious sites. He has posted excellent photos of his visits to the Smith family farm and the Hill Cumorah Pageant that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. ... Read More »

A few months ago this was the calendar, word for word, sent out to a nearby quorum in a sleepy suburban ward (hint: it’s in the US). March 15th: Concealed Weapons Class, 1pm at the home. Joint activity with the High Priests. Punch and cookies served. (Okay I added the... Read More »

My older sister was a great athlete in the old days (before Title IX), and just retired as the athletic director at a high school. Talking with her the other day gave me the idea for this post, so blame her if you don’t like it (isn’t that just like a little brother?). I thought... Read More »

In case you were too busy celebrating Bastille Day to keep up with your required blog reading, here are a few posts to notice. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

J. Max Wilson is a bogeyman. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Last week BYU Newsnet posted and then pulled offline an article announcing that North American missionaries were no longer being called to serve in Russia. The move left many wondering about the state of the missionary program in Russia with some tempered hope that perhaps the Newsnet article had jumped the gun on... Read More »

Any guest or new blogger obviously runs the risk of repeating topics that have been worn into the ground. Apologies in advance if that is the case here, but it seemed to me that possibly missing in the current debate, er, discussion, over a certain issue in California and how church members ought to... Read More »

We’re pleased to welcome Craig Harline as a guest blogger at T&S. Craig was born and raised in California, then started moving around. He has since lived, for various periods, in Belgium, New Jersey, Utah, Idaho, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, and England, suggesting that he was either in the military, in the... Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 From: Subject: MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT MONSON 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

What if the historical evidence for the foundation of the early Christian church is indistinguishable from evidence for its apostasy? What if the early church and its scriptures only arose through processes of decay? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Psalm 137 is one of those wonderful and paradoxical passages of scripture that contains within itself a universe. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Dave’s Mormon Inquiry has a post up about a new article in Meridian Magazine today that likens the brewing battle over gay marriage in California to the War in Heaven. The comments of the post link to an editorial from the Daily Universe editorial board this week that I found pretty shocking. ... Read More »

Your week in links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Mormon Times posted a list of LDS athletes who are headed to the Summer Olympics. An impressive group — I hope they all make their respective teams and countries proud in coming weeks. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Like most rugged and red-blooded American men I have long enjoyed the work of Jane Austen. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

While the Bloggernacle was ablaze with commentary on the June 29 First Presidency letter to California Mormons (see interesting updates here and here) plenty of posts on other timely topics were zipping through cyberspace. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I recently finished Bart D. Ehrman’s latest book, God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer (HarperCollins, 2008). Like all Ehrman’s books, it is both informative and troubling. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’m reading a commentary on Psalms and in the section on the authorship of the Psalms, the writer has this to say: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

According to an article in the New York Times today, evidence of Jewish belief in a resurrected Messiah decades before Christ’s birth may have been discovered. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let the eagle scream. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The anniversary of Shelby Foote’s death has just passed us and the Fourth of July is almost upon us. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

From the Archives– -more- 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let’s read the Book of Mormon as a commentary on American constitutional law and vice versa. Alma 30:7-10 reads: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The temple plays a role in the social life of European Mormons that is significantly different in a couple of ways from the usual American experience. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life, with apologies to Adam: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Do two posts: an intro to the demography problem, and a second post on causes of the birth dearth. Do a third on my unique explanation for the birth dearth–countries that are more conscious of the importance of demography have more kids, and that correlates with countries that had a more active eugenics... Read More »

The Inklings has introduced me to Charles Williams, who was an odd sort of Christian. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let’s call her Sister Jones. We both taught seminary in Northern California a few years ago. I liked her from day one: faithful, funny, and willing to lend out anything from her complete collection of Sunstone back issues. (This was in the days before full Internet access, you see.) 0... Read More »

So asks Ronan. Here’s my polygamy theory–and it is worth every penny you paid for it: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The July 2008 Ensign has an article titled “Cancer, Nutrition, and the Word of Wisdom.” I think it is ill-advised for several reasons. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I was recently rereading my missionary journals. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here’s your chance to discuss the week’s links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

They still make Westerns because the harsh, unforgiving West of the 19th century was a land of stark moral choices. 3:10 to Yuma is just the latest example. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Bloomberg reports the following from McCain about economists who criticized his (lunatic) summer gas plan: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Lovely One and I went to our ward’s temple sealing assignment last night. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Unless I’m carrying boxes, I’m probably not actually helping anybody. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life. 1 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Read the previous post in this series here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

From the hundreds of posts that flow through the Bloggernacle each week, here are a couple of recent gems you ought to read. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I kinda vaguely remember hearing about that LDS woman who was killed in Iraq awhile back. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We have probable confirmation of water on Mars. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here’s your chance to comment on the week in sidebar links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

CNN reported yesterday that 83 out of 99 counties in Iowa have been declared disaster areas — the scale of the flooding is tough to grasp. Those flood waters are now spilling into the Mississippi and moving south. Another service opportunity for the MIY (missionaries in yellow), who are out filling sandbags... Read More »

“The Church is happier with doubters who go on missions and accept ward callings than with the vocally orthodox who find ways to shirk.” Discuss. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A good thing now comes to an end. We thank Wendy Ulrich for her fantastic guest posts, and wish her the very best. I’ve just begun reading her book, Forgiving Ourselves, and I can already tell that it will be a life-changing experience. Here are some of the chapter titles: The Spiritual Basis for... Read More »

Comments are now open Is a Mormon universalism possible? Or in other words, is it possible for Mormons to envision their faith as one of many efficacious paths to God? I have my doubts, but maybe there is an argument to be made 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I had an interesting conversation the other night with a man in my ward. He is a wonderful human being with a wonderful wife raising a wonderful family… one of those people you are delighted to see called as the Gospel Doctrine teacher because you know things are going to get interesting and... Read More »

I am at a stage in life when I think a lot about place. After a decade or so of moving every 1 to 3 years, our family has arrived on the banks of the James and there is a very good chance that this is where my children will grow up. ... Read More »

This week I went to an excellent lecture on inequality. Clayne Pope, retiring economist, pointed out that while income inequality in the U.S. has been pretty close to the same for the last 200 years, leisure-time is now concentrated more heavily among the poor, while education inequality and lifespan inequality have both dropped... Read More »

In Fuchuu, Japan, I taught a young woman who had attended a Christian school and church for some years, but had become a bit turned off. She asked us why we were out trying to teach the gospel. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A song that is synonymous for me with Father’s day is Dan Fogelberg’s Leader of the Band. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I wrote this–the only sustained essay I’ve ever produced about my mission–about seven or eight months after I came home, while I was a student at BYU. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Tweny years ago today, June 15, 1988, I entered the Missionary Training Center and began my 24 months as a missionary assigned to the Korea Seoul West Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’d like to take this moment to offer all my mission companions, every missionary I knew, both... Read More »

At the end of my junior year of high school, I caught a glimpse of my graduating student body president one last time 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

More grist for the mill here. Please read, return, and report. P.S.–I never wash my floors either. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here’s your chance to discusss the week in links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I basically pay my mortgage by thinking about contracts and promises. It is a tough job, but someone has to do. Of late, I’ve gotten to thinking about God’s promising. Consider these two quotes: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There are advantages to attending a ward too small for fixed wooden benches in the chapel 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

C.S. Lewis said he was never less convinced of the truth of Christianity than when he had been vigorously defending it. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Missionaries spend from two weeks to three months in an MTC learning how to be a missionary. Many have also taken missionary preparation classes, or served mini-missions to help them prepare for their new life in the field. Returning missionaries preparing for their new life at home receive a half-sheet of counsel that says,... Read More »

I’ve just come across an interesting thinker about cities and planning who, like Joseph Smith, believes that once a city reaches around 10,000 or so of population a new city should be started. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If you have been too busy with real life to do more than your required online reading here at T&S, here are a few posts you might have missed. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I didn’t. But if you read “The Skeleton in Grandpa’s Barn” and Other Stories of Growing Up in Utah (Signature, 2008) you’ll get an informative glimpse of what it was like. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here’s your chance to comment. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Brother Jonathan Goff at the Selenian Boondocks blog has a great post on what we can learn about space expansion from the Mormon experience settling the West. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Several years ago I read a delightful book on creativity, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. It was full of interesting questions: “List ten tiny changes you’d like to make for yourself.” “What would you do as a career if you had seven more lives to live?” “If I didn’t have to do it perfectly I... Read More »

Score one for FAIR. Last week, in Utah Lighthouse Ministry v. Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected an appeal by Sandra and Gerald Tanner’s anti-Mormon ministry over its claims of trademark infringement, cyber-squatting, and unfair competition that arose out of a parody website... Read More »

Previous post here 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Heads up for those in the D.C. area. Greg Prince, co-author of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, hosts a great series of events at his house in Potomac, Maryland, the next of which is coming up on Sunday, June 8th. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A while ago I was having one of those oft repeated conversations about faith, doubt, and intellectual reconciliation. My thoughtful interlocutor asked, “Is there anything that you could learn that would cause you to abandon your beliefs?” The clear assumption of his question was that there was something distinctly fishy about a... Read More »

We’re pleased to announce that Marc Bohn has agreed to become a permablogger at Times & Seasons. We enjoyed his guest blogging stint, his contributions to the side bar, and look forward to his contributions. Welcome aboard Marc! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Last week Adam cited a widely-shared “conservative case for gay marriage.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Today’s Gospel Doctrine lesson: the conversion of Alma the Younger. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

My grandmother, mother, and I all served missions, so I was delighted when my firstborn announced her intention to serve, submitted her papers, received her call. Little did I know. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For the uninitiated, Thomas Jefferson Education (hereafter TJE) is a method of homeschooling–a method very popular among Mormons. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The week in links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I picked up Alan Jacobs’ book Original Sin. Good stuff. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Should be of particular interest to our SSM hounds. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

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A Megan McCardle McArdle guestblogger has a well-expressed version of “the conservative case for gay marriage”. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The other day somebody sent me a YouTube link for a comedian I’ll call Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones was a chubby gramdma with hot flashes – not the kind of person you usually see doing stand-up. Most of the “funny” email forwarded to me makes me sigh and hit the delete button.... Read More »

Wendy Ulrich, Ph.D., is a former president of the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists, and the author of Forgiving Ourselves: Getting Back Up When We Let Ourselves Down, recently published by Deseret Book. She is the founder of Sixteen Stones Center for Growth in Alpine, Utah, offering seminar-retreats on topics such... Read More »

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Being mildly depressed about blogging at the moment, I decided to go trolling for a “good news” story to post. Here it is, a story about SVU from the SL Trib: “A bastion of Mormonism in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

From the international annals of overachieving singing and dancing Mormons The Mormon moment for the Eurovision Song Contest came in 1984 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Murder most foul, in the strange natural world of southern Utah. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For those hoping to find more economics in their scripture study… 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here’s your chance to discuss this week’s links. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If there is anyone in the Albuquerque area who reads this, you are invited to watch the Phoenix touch-down over at our place at 5 pm this Sunday. If all goes well, this would be the first successful Mars arctic landing and would potentially confirm the presence of water ice in the... Read More »

Scene One: In the car. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology is publishing a special issue dedicated to student articles. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

So much for one post per chapter. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This past Friday and Saturday I attended a very enjoyable conference at Southern Virginia University, co-sponsored by Mormon Scholars in the Humanities and the Mormon Scholars Foundation. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A while back I tried to imagine what a plan for the city of Zion would be like if we were imagining a great city instead of Joseph Smith’s town of 10,000. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This movie was better than the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (reviewed here). Prince Caspian was a good movie. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We have a sick daughter–so going shifts, the lovely one and I, I went to another ward’s sacrament meeting, where we sang one of my favorite hymns. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Lucky me, I got to talk about Mosiah 15 in my Gospel Doctrine lesson today. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

You never know what they’ll be worth someday: “Einstein Letter on God Sells for $404,000.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Before we begin, we need to begin at the beginning: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Faith and fame aren’t always an easy mix, but Mormons who hit the big time seem to be able to hold it together most of the time. At least that’s the thrust of “How Mormons Deal With Fame” at the LDS Newsroom, discussing, among other names we all recognize, the 17-year-old phenom David... Read More »

Gas prices. Food prices. Credit crisis. Recession. Iraq. Iran. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

California’s Court has judicially mandated gay marriage. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There’s a really good conversation about food storage over at MMW and I want to throw one more idea out there, because it hadn’t occurred to me until recently that the best place to do my food storage buying was the most expensive grocery store in town. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I don’t read to the end of many online essays anymore — either most writing is dull and pointless or I have developed blog-induced attention deficit disorder, you decide which. But I read “Love Thy Neighbor: The religion beat in an age of intolerance” at the Columbia Journalism Review start to finish (hat... Read More »

Do these concepts have anything to do with each other? Apparently some Mormons think they do, hence Davis Bitton’s corrective essay “How Dark Were the Dark Ages?” (conveniently reposted at Meridian Magazine). 1 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Today is Whitsunday on the Christian liturgical calendar, a holiday in honor of the Day of Pentecost. Not quite four years ago, in June of 2005, I wrote something about the gifts demonstrated on that day, and about those–decidedly less spetacular–gifts which I believe I have. I’m somewhat proud of it; I think it... Read More »

And for thousands of Latter-day Saints who will be delivering a Mother’s Day talk tomorrow, it is looming large. Expectations are high and scriptural sources are limited. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There’s a reasonable chance that all efforts to situate the Book of Mormon over the last 180 years, geographically, culturally, and chronologically, are based on the Nephite version of the Donation of Constantine. But first, let’s talk about Odin. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If one more Mormon tells me to see Expelled, I am going to scream. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

With the recent spike in food prices, a three year old post demands new life. Here it is: Clearly, were there to be a famine, a one year food supply in the basement would look really good. What may be slightly less obvious is that the presence of food storage, even if nobody ever... Read More »

Read and discuss. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This is my impressionistic take on how ideas about government influence ideas about sexual morality. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Chapters 9 and 10 of Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again deal with purported photographs of Joseph Smith, including the Scannel daguerreotype. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

According to various news outlets the Catholic Church has ordered its dioceses to not allow Mormons access to parish registers any more. For decades, our Church has copied and preserved millions of pages of parish registers around the world, as part of the injunction to seek out ancestors and perform ordinances in their... Read More »

Jared T. at Juvenile Instructor is posting a formal, detailed, academic review of S. Michael Tracy, Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again: The Joseph Smith Photograph (Salt Lake City: Eborn Pub., 2008), Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

An old friend of mine (a former bishop, for whatever that’s worth) whom I keep in touch with by e-mail has spent much of the past decade working for the U.S. government in different capacities in Russia and Ukraine. In response to some recent news items regarding limits on visas to the former Soviet... Read More »

How do ‘we’ as Mormons learn to view ‘others’? We can try to answer this question from the angle of various approaches to the concept of “gospel culture”. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

1848 was a year of turmoil in Europe, with revolutions in France and Italy and Sicily and Germany and Poland and Romania and Moldavia and … and … and … the list seems nearly endless. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Some bloggernacle women were troubled by the order of the solemn assembly: First, the Priesthood voted (all the way down to the 12-year-olds); they were followed by the women’s organizations. In a comment at FMH, Exponent blog’s Maria notes, “By having women vote after the Aaronic priesthood, it seemed as if the... Read More »

Well, probably not. But it’s the biggest web I’ve ever seen, and certainly the biggest web I’ve ever seen in my own front yard. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Like many people dependent upon care from others, M can be a tyrant. For instance, sensing my anxiousness during her feedings, when it’s crucial to get enough into her to sustain her plus stimulate her slow growth curve, she’s begun extorting favors. Sometimes she’ll demand to watch her favorite video over and... Read More »

2 August 1888: Elder Alma P. Richards, ten months into his missionary service and working without a companion, stopped at a hotel in Meridian, Mississippi and made arrangements with a porter to keep some books and clothing until the elder’s return, expected to be a few days later. Richards, on foot, left Meridian to... Read More »

The Book of Mormon poses a thorny problem for assumptions about the history of scriptural texts, especially if it isn’t true 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Noah Millman concedes that the science of evolution is not incompatible with the truth of Christianity. But, he argues, the myth of evolution is incompatible with the myth of Christianity. I think science does have implications for the persuasiveness of specific religious doctrines, simply as a psychological matter. And I think evolution through natural... Read More »

So there I was, staring the lavishness of my ignorance. I saw the presence it had in the world, how it could impoverish and destroy as efficiently as the most inspired scientific breakthrough could improve somebody’s standard of living. Before M was diagnosed, I saw my ignorance in a slanted light as... Read More »

Kathleen Maughan Lind, Don Lind, Mormon Astronaut, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985. 171-172: 1 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I didn’t blog about it at the time, although I thought about it. But now it’s up on You Tube, so here goes. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If this is common knowledge I completely missed it. So I post this in memory of all those who also slept through indecent chunks of early morning Seminary. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Many parents with severely disabled children live life underground. Apart from society’s burbling mainstreams, they labor beneath the weight of exigent circumstances, dealing with mortal crises day by day. They monitor their child’s breathing, their sleeping, their every bodily function, often for years, developing a sense for delicate balances in their particular... Read More »

I have been listening to the papers that were presented at the recent conference of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. At the conference there was a presentation on that perennial favorite, finisitist Mormon theodicies, in this case a nicely nuanced comparison of Mormon thinking with the process theology of David Griffin.... Read More »

The Third Commandment tells us not to take the Lord’s name in vain. And for some reason, this practice has become strongly ingrained in Mormon social norms — I can easily name a dozen Mormons who cuss like sailors and drop “F-bombs” regularly, but who would never dream of injecting a “God” or... Read More »

Within the next few hours, T&S’s spam filter is going to announce that it has spared us from 100,000 offers of recreational pharmaceuticals, links to images of anatomically correct models in morally incorrect situations, promises of guaranteed wealth, solemn pleas from 12,394 persons of good moral character who need your help kindly Christian sir... Read More »

Thanks to Raymond Takashi Swenson for his slate of intriguing and challenging posts over the past couple of weeks. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If you’re not a subscriber to BYU Studies (why not?), make haste to the bookstore and pick up a copy of the latest edition. It’s a nearly 200-page chronology of Joseph Smith’s life (transcribing the chronology available online at josephsmith.byu.edu ). In the print version, events are color-coded by category as well... Read More »

“The truest poetry is the most feigning.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’m posting the following from Ray with his permission. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Utah’s NBA team needs to change its name, period. The name is silly. There is no jazz in the state of Utah. They should give the Jazz name back to the good folks of New Orleans, for whom the moniker actually makes sense, and pick a new one that actually makes... Read More »

By now you’ll have heard about the Mormon splinter sect in Texas that was accused of a forced, under-age marriage and how, in consequence, the state of Texas raided and took away all 416 437 kids. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Most people with even a general sense of the Mormon pioneers are familiar with their “roadometer,” a set of cog wheels fastened to a wagon wheel, which measured and recorded distance traveled without the need for a human observer to count the revolutions of the wheel. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Perusing our sidebar this morning, I discovered the same article linked twice, along with each linker’s distinct spin on it. Well if T&S bloggers get to rampantly editorialize in the sidebar, so should you! Feel free to sound off in the comments about the article. Personally, I am opposed to mocking... Read More »