In which I crowdsource my conscience. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
LDS Newsroom
- Mormon Helping Hands Assist in Maryland Park Cleanup (Photo Essay) May 23, 2012
- Faith Leaders Gather in Pacific Over Freedom of Religion May 22, 2012
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right | May 21 May 21, 2012
- Church Honored in Spain for Blood Drive Promotion May 18, 2012
- Mormon Leaders Discuss Helping Hands Efforts With Connecticut Governor May 18, 2012
- Like Jabari Parker, Thousands of Mormon Youth Attend Seminary May 17, 2012
- British Singing Sensation Katherine Jenkins to Perform at Pioneer Day Concert May 17, 2012
- Manaus Brazil Temple Opens To the Public May 16, 2012
- Connecticut and Indiana Mormon Temple Renderings Released May 16, 2012
- Ground Broken for Provo, Utah’s Second Temple May 12, 2012
Yearly Archives: 2008
Reviewing News about Mormonism for the Year
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 with the FLDS Church in the news The Mormon role in the successful effort to pass Proposition 8. But there were also smaller, important stories that happened during the year, especially if you include in News about Mormonism news about people who are... Read more »
Who Should Be Mormon of the Year?
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 just named — no surprise there). I enjoy these looks at the past year, and given how much LDS Church members don’t usually know much about news that involves the Church, it seems to me these lists might be quite useful. So let me pose... Read more »
Merry Christmas
God be thanked for the matchless gift of his only begotten. Merry Christmas everyone. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Christmas Story
If a story about football brought tears to my eyes, you know it’s gotta be good. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Is the pudding done?
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: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The True Meaning of Christmas
The Church has put together a web page on the true meaning of Christmas. Please give it a look and pass on the link. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Slaughter of the Innocents
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Get thee behind me, Santa!
I know, I know. There’s so much to love about the jolly fella. But he keeps getting in the way. Or not. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Should My Prayers Be Whinier?
The psalms are prayers. And some of them are real doozies. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Christmas and the Sacrament
There is only one Christmas. Each year it comes slightly more into view. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Nature and Cities
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 and gratitude to the divine while watching mist play across the still waters of the James River in the early morning or enjoying the power of a big Atlantic storm slamming into my bit of the world. I realize that there are some real dangers with identifying... Read more »
The First Annual Times & Seasons Sentence Diagramming Contest
Your challenge: diagram the sacrament prayers. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Elder Porter of the Seventy, in Newsweek
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Haunted and Blessed Lives
Ross Douthat believes in angels and devils. Me too. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Hugs and Kisses
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 or Happy New Year to someone. It’s enough to make even the most seasoned anthropologist dizzy. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Carnival of Ward Choirs
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Grace, Works, and the Meritocracy
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 your success and the luck is so remote, you give all credit to the hard work. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Tithing Settlement 2008
Tithing Settlement is a great part of the Christmas season. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Of Courses
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 there is good reason for this–colleges offer courses that people want to take. But with the rise of the Internet and “distance learning” shouldn’t the reverse be happening also? Shouldn’t these tools result in a lot of small, narrowly-focused courses, more academic in nature? Perhaps... Read more »
Holding the Messiah
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Relics
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 a hill in the state of New York? For a religion that attaches little to no significance to relics, it’s striking that large sections of our distinctive book of scripture are concerned with the provenance—the origin and the later cultural significance—of a particular set of... Read more »
Christmas Devotional 2008
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 told that your wealth is all there is. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Men at Work — site will be weird for a bit
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Release Time v. Early Morning Seminary
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 the district’s trimester system and eliminate the class flexibility that enables the release time seminary program. It’s unclear whether preventing the Church from offering seminary during school hours was the intent of the proposed schedule at issue, but it nonetheless raises some interesting questions about... Read more »
Dancing the Doctrines: Theology in Motion
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Has Passed Away
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Past and Present
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A More Fortunate Ensign Article
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What the Smith Boys Said This Year
Previous installments can be accessed through this link. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Home
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Thanksgiving Proclaimed
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Each in his Own Language
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 which some 2,600 have a writing system. He goes on to say: Equally impressive is the effort to provide translations of the Book of Mormon to the world. Today, the complete Book of Mormon has been translated into seventy-nine languages, and selections are available... Read more »
Millennial Vegetarianism
Enjoy that Thanksgiving turkey . . . while you can. You may be a vegetarian during the millennium. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Hymn 95
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Go Cougars!
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Now a glorious dawn is breaking
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 the core elements of Mormon personal salvation. 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Conservatives Should Support Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
Rod Dreher, I think, has a it right. Conservatives ought to support same-sex marriage legislation. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Gospel and Immigration
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 member. This situation would normally put him on track for a green card and U.S. citizenship. But this brother is facing deportation, and his ward and stake are praying for a miracle that will keep him here in the United States. Be the first to... Read more »
Pardon our appearance…
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Rhetoric, Ideology and Prop 8
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 refrain from the late Gordon B. Hinckley, Mormon Prop 8 supporters have often tried to explain that they are “not anti-gay, but pro-marriage.” This effort, however, has clearly failed to shield members from allegations of discrimination. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Bones
One of the subterranean threads running throughout the Book of Mormon is the mystery of whose bones are heaped upon the land northward. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What Should Mormons Do?
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 to religious discrimination, but did not admit wrongdoing. What’s up with that? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Vets
Today is a good day to celebrate the soldiers I have known and 9 years of marriage. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Raft-Builders
By Lord Dunsany: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
That’s Trillion with a ‘T’
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Sunday School Redux 2
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 his false traditions.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Canonization of the Book of Mormon?
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 that a text included in the Penguin series has become a stable part of the high-brow diet of books, or at least ought to be. It is worth reflecting a little bit about what this edition of the Book of Mormon might or might not mean. The Penguin book... Read more »
How the Other Half Preaches
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 prizes. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Just Say No (to members)
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Hum together, right now
While the candidates have been talking the talk about cooperation and unity, a few humble LDS editors have been walking the walk. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What of the Mormons (in Congress)?
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Prop 8 Likely to Pass
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 tallied are in counties that have favored Prop 8 by good margins. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
An Historic Night
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 to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity. Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility... Read more »
Christmas Gifts for Kids
Let’s take about Christmas. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
All opposed, by the same sign
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 he’s talking about on important issues, and it looks like he ran a pretty competent campaign. For my taste, McCain and Palin didn’t offer much more than the politics of fear and resentment, and they seemed more likely to stay trapped in the conflicts of... Read more »
Abortion, Obama: Extreme Deeds, Meaningless Words
People who want to vote for Obama labor mightily to get around his extreme pro-choice/pro-abortion record. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Counterpoint: Abortion, Obama
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Prop. 8 Cometh
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Abortion, Obama
Barack Obama is the most pro-choice/pro-abortion candidate to ever run for President in any major party. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Collateral Damage: Missionaries and Prop 8
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
2009 LDS Law Students Conference at Harvard Law School
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
An Open Letter to Michelle Obama
Dear Michelle, First, let me say how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know you over the last couple of months. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Case Against John McCain
Here are a few reasons why you should not vote for John McCain: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
12 Questions for the LDS Newsroom, Part Two
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. 19 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
The Fall Makes Righteous Pride Possible
Man is hungry for status like he is hungry for food (and they say the public schools don’t teach you anything!). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Marvelous Work and a Cacophony
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 communicating clearly the spirit. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Halloween treat
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Proposition 8, the American mainstream, and the unspeakable
Most online discussions of gay marriage are not worth the effort, because no actual discussion takes place Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
12 Questions for the LDS Newsroom, Part One
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 effort that went into preparing these detailed responses. They should help make the Newsroom an even more useful resource for LDS readers. 5 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Marriage University
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Girls, Are You Hip Enough?
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Porn increases infidelity?
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Vote Early, Vote Often
Just kidding about the “often†part. Are you an early voter or a procrastinator? Here’s why I voted early: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormon Halloween: Its Origin and Destiny
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 think that these facts quite give us a Mormon Halloween. Perhaps what we need is a good, Mormon-specific monster! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What a day for a daydream
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): Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Lunar Lander Challenge Today and Tomorrow
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Power to the Parents
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Subject unto Man
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Two-headed Hydra
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
We’re suckers for internet memes, God love us.
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Calendar Guy indicates he’ll sue BYU for degree he earned
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
President Hinckley and J. Edgar Hoover
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. The results… no dirt. The verdict seemed to be that this Gordon B. Hinckley was a “loyal American” whose reputation and work ethic were unimpeachable. The whole (slightly redacted) file is pretty interesting and definitely worth a look. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Confirm or Deny?
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Teaching the Reformation
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 you knew about it), where I’ll be part of an ongoing panel devoted to issues in teaching. This year’s issue is “Defining Protestantism,” as everyone is rightly concerned about labels we impose on people. Five or six scholars make up the panel, and we... Read more »
National Student Dialogue Conference II
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 the primary points of disagreement between Mormons and evangelicals, the discussion is sure to be electric. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Essentials in Church Categorization
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 (or Eastern Orthodox for that matter, but that doesn’t seem to be much of an issue). But despite our intentions, Mormonism is classified in all sorts of different ways by many different observers and for many different purposes. We’ve been classified all over the place.... Read more »
Prop 8
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 a slightly different widget. Sometime between now and election day I’ll post my thoughts on Prop 8. But for now, you get this happy little fellow. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A New Summer Seminar on Mormonism with Terryl Givens and Matt Grow
From Givens: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Court Finds Mormonism is Not “Protestantism”
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, and the Church itself even, would agree with the idea that Mormonism is not a Protestant faith, it seems to me that having courts making theological determinations about what denominations constitute “Protestant” is wading into some pretty murky territory. What if the custody agreement had stipulated... Read more »
Priesthood Session Online
According to this, the priesthood session of conference will be available online starting next year. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Connecticut Judges Require Gay Marriage
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 was required. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Polygamy Poetry
Polygamy was a topic for persuasive prose, not poetry in nineteenth century Utah. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Nobel calling
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 the weekly NYT column) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Preserving Marriage Media
The saints have put out some good media on traditional marriage and Proposition 8 in California. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Heart Attack
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 class, helping them to say their parts. The sweetness of Mormon life . . . Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Compendium of Mormon News?
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 a stake presidency can’t be found anywhere. Should it? I think so. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Difficulty of Theological Interpretations of Mormon History
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 that sees in it the working out of God’s purposes. On this view, God is involved in the story of the Restoration and a careful parsing of that story will reveal something about God. This, of course, is the sort of thing that sets the teeth of... Read more »
“Nobody Knows” Screening
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. The speaker at his next meeting will be Darius Gray, who will screen and discuss his recently completed documentary, “Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons” (which he co-wrote and produced with T&S alum Margaret Young). Brother Gray served in the presidency of the Genesis... Read more »
A Worse Job At Everything…
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 no time and had asked me how I went about trying to balance family, work, Church, and the constraints of the billable hour. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
General Conference Open Thread
It appears as though we’ve neglected an old institution here at Times & Seasons, the General Conference Open Thread. All apologies. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Key to the Culture of Mormons
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 called The Mormon Creed. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Compassion and Creativity
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): Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons Like the Suburbs
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 Times & Seasons for the chance to post here. I have enjoyed the change of pace. So, here we go… Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
M Gets a Joke
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 is she sees when she’s watching something. We’re not sure what that is because doctors have sent mixed messages about her eyesight. But she does see. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Parenting Tips from the Life of Warren Buffett
“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 father. When he was under, he paid twenty-two percent. … Buffett couldn’t lose on this deal either. He got either more money or a thinner son.” Sharecrop your way to health and wealth. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“Mormonism”: A Perfect Storm
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 Mormonism, whether they work in a public or small academic library. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
My inner historian smiles
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Family Home Evening Ideas
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Great Unity
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Thoughts for an Uncertain Morn
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Shame
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 celebrity. Radio encourages the presumption, in the secrecy of our private chambers, that we sing and dance every bit as good as Milli Vanilli. The inherent vice of the Internet is shame Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Questions about Personal Responsibility and the Economic Bailout
How should we think about personal responsibility in light of the financial bailout currently being debated in Washington, D.C.? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Morality, Legality and Alcohol
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 preserving Utah’s proven positive health and safety record on limiting the tragic consequences of overconsumption of alcohol.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
When Being Right is Wrong
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 continue. You have a chat with them after class and ask them to be a little more attentive next time. And then after another day or two of rudeness, and despairing that your more subtle techniques have failed, you lose patience and let them... Read more »
BYU in the Memory of the AAUP
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 year anniversary of its censure of BYU. I thought that readers might enjoy a trip down memory lane to the bad-old-days of Mormon intellectual life in the 1990s and a view of events through outside eyes: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Stewardship and Politics
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Paper or Plastic?
We begin with a quiz. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Epitome of Not Forgetting
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 and then later converted to Mormonism himself. To a deeply Jewish family, this was difficult news to absorb, and, as a result, each side of the family ended up imputing bad motives and intents on the part other, leaving bitter feelings that took decades to reconcile. In... Read more »
Visions and Enivison
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
First Things Articles
First Things has published two articles about the Church; one by Bruce D. Porter and the other by Gerald R. McDermott. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Are we not funny?
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.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Reminder: Alma Conference
For those in the Provo area: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Two Texts on a Summer Flood
Apropos of the season and storm. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Missions and the Art of Togetherness
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 of ideas. Serving God for two years takes a lot of creativity and thought. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Missions, art, and surveillance
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons, Politics, and Morality
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 sins.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Kindness and Technology
“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). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Changing Conceptions of Zion
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 were determined to literally be Zion communities Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Returning to Zion
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Brigham Daniels on deck
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 community, environmental law and policy, and politics for many years. So not surprisingly, Brigham intends to use his guest blogging stint to talk about Mormonism and the environment. We look forward to his posts. Welcome to the party, Brigham! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Doctrines of Localization
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
New Mormon Studies Clearinghouse: MormonConferences.org
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Only a Clerk
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 to Sunstone. It was titled “A Religion of Clerks.” The author, Randal Quarles, has since served as Undersecretary of the Treasury. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Special Feelings (more on Mormon Language)
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Moderation in all Salt
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) of mashed potatoes after thinking that if a little salt was good, . . . Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Three Million Strong (and Growing)…
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 Times and Seasons lumbers onward.” Fifteen months, a few new shipmates, and another million readers later, it’s still plowing onward (with the occasional hiccup). Whatever success Times and Seasons has enjoyed along the way is due in large part to all of you who peek in... Read more »
Mormon Language
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 the entire room, as if I had invented the term there and then as a joke of some kind. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What of the BYU?
Several years ago a returned missionary acquaintance was told, on applying to BYU, that he needed ‘academic repenting’ before he could be admitted. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The War Chapters
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 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
The Way to Translation
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
New Nursery Manual
The new nursery manual is available. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What to do about Deseret Book?
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 we do about it? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Sunday School Redux
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Unsubstantiated Rumor #2
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? 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
What is an Association Worth?
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 my time?” and, in the Mormon context, “is this worth anyone’s time?” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Evil Speaking
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 think, the background for the commandments against speaking evil of the Lord’s anointed and by extension — I believe — the Lord’s Church. Belief and membership — the two ideas that we use most commonly when thinking about our relationship to the Church — are, it strikes me,... Read more »
Salvation or Happiness?
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mourning with Those Who Mourn
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?” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Garden Fights
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Visit Mountain Meadows?
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Hot Mormon Gossip
Has the Church really made an unsolicited offer to buy Facebook (see here which spun off to here)? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What We Didn’t Discuss
The gospel doctrine lesson on Alma 43-52 proposed four principles of war as waged by the righteous: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Bridge from Theological to Political
Yes! Another SSM post! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What Model for Spreading Mormon Culture?
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
My Williamsburg Discrimination Story
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. The week before my job in Williamsburg was to begin, I drove down from DC, where I had been working over the summer, to find a place to stay. I had three options. One turned out to be unfurnished, which took it off the list. The second... Read more »
The Race-Orientation Comparison
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
California Judges Require Religious Doctors to Artifically Conceive a Child for a Gay Woman
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Reality of Satan
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Jacob and Esau, We and Christ
We were driving to a wedding Friday morning so naturally we started talking about Jacob and Esau. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
The week in notes, belatedly. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Welcome to Guest Blogger Kent Larsen
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 Motley Vision, so Kent is no newcomer to LDS weblogs. See this AMV post for more information about Kent’s many interests. Welcome, Kent. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Reverence Practice
The bishop is worried about ward reverence. He should be, truth be told. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Global Warming, Redefining Marriage, and Risk Aversion
I think we can all agree that, from a risk analysis perspective, global warming and gay marriage share a lot of characteristics. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Bad Reason for A Good Policy
Let me remind everyone that I support the Church’s position opposing same sex marriage. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
For Our Central Texas Readers . . .
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 timesandseasons DOT org. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 3:14-22
Previous posts in this series are available here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Eve
(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 all women would follow the path laid down by the first woman of all women and do the things that she did that all might be saved!†I have done some preliminary research and realized members of the church interpret the Eve story diversely— Be... Read more »
The Martian Rose
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Sex, blah, blah, blah.
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Wish I’d Been There
Need a smile? Then you might wish you’d gone to sacrament meeting on March 15, 1857 in the Salt Lake Thirteenth Ward: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Pioneers and Indians in Utah Valley
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. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Single Purpose
I thought Ardis’ comment deserves a bigger audience: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
MMM for Youth?
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“Mothers Who Know” Still Spurring Debate
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.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Yesharah
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.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
Comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Vampires
You are probably too erudite to discuss this, but I’m bringing it up anyway: vampire books. You know what I’m talking about. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Chesterton and the Sweetness of Mormon Life
Some of you will have noticed the posts on the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog: a Review
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. Horrible’s acting. I really liked the singing. UPDATE: Now available for free. SPOILERS Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Teas
It’s a lot more complicated than just “tea” these days, isn’t it? 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Upcoming Conference on Alma 32
For those in the Provo area: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Interesting P.R. Approach
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve encountered an interesting banner link in my gmail account: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Posts You Might Have Missed 5
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Socialism and United Order
I stumbled across a few LDS socialist stories when I was writing my MA thesis. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Pioneer Reenactments
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Political Remembering
Fascinating Utah history factoid: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Solzhenitsyn dies
Rest in peace. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Christianity by Continent
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Falcon 1 Launches Live Tonight
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Death and Doctrine, II
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
The week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Meet Your Inner Fish
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 is our conversation about this interesting book. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Wine of Creation
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Bread and Water in the Sacrament?
Why does “communion sweet” in the sacrament require both bread and water?** Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Blossom as the Rose
Lately I’ve got interested in the idea of the desert blossoming as the rose. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Braden on Bishops
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Death and Doctrine
I have an uneasy relationship with death. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Welcome to Guest Blogger Kylie Turley
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 of the LDS literary journal Segullah. According to a short bio posted at the Segullah site, Kylie is a native of the great state of Wyoming and researches Mormon women’s history. Thank you, Craig, and welcome Kylie! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
iTunes Gospel
So my colleagues have caught on to my secret plan to convert them all. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Acme of Geeky
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 3:1-13
Previous posts in this series are here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Audience of One
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Christ’s nativity: a solution
From Steven Vanden Broecke, The Limits of Influence Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
God As a Longshoreman
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
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Pioneer Day
Happy Pioneer Day. Time to break out the Nauvoo legion lapel button. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What is Our Marvelous Work Today?
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, Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Carl and Mathilda
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Massacre is Just Around the Corner
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What’s Your Master Status?
No, it’s not the same as Master Race, so banish that association from your head. Instead it’s a useful sociological concept (who knew?) 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, gun-controllers, tree-huggers, earth-exploiters, blacks, browns, whites, males, females, snobs, slobs, pro-choicers, pro-lifers, Mormons, jack Mormons, inactive Mormons, less-active Mormons, active Mormons, hyperactive Mormons, blogging Mormons, non-Mormons, and just about any other category you can dream up for someone else, or yourself. Be the first to... Read more »
Call for Papers
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Woe, Revised
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Revelation 2:12-29
Previous post in this series here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Book Review: The Host
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… Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Modern Responses to the Problem of Evil
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Cycling Through Mormon History
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. If he makes it to SLC, someone should throw him a party or something. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Quorum Fun
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 punch and cookies bit.) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Girls’ Rules
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 I had a vague memory of watching her, when I was 8 or 9 (mid-1960s), play some odd form of basketball. Was I just imagining it? She laughed and proceeded to explain the mysteries of girls’ rules. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Posts You Might Have Missed 4
In case you were too busy celebrating Bastille Day to keep up with your required blog reading, here are a few posts to notice. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Censoring Strict Mormons
J. Max Wilson is a bogeyman. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Church halts sending North American missionaries to Russia
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 a situation that was being resolved. Unfortunately, however, the news now official. The Deseret News has confirmed that the Church is no longer sending North American missionaries to Russia “due to new, tougher visa laws.” North American missionaries currently in-country will stay, but those newly called... Read more »
How Sacred is Conscience?
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 respond to it, is more explicit treatment of the question of conscience. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Gay Marriage in Space
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Webster’s is dead, long live Google!
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
It Begins
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 From: Subject: MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT MONSON Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Foundation and Apostasy
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? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Reading Psalm 137 as a Microcosm of Discipleship
Psalm 137 is one of those wonderful and paradoxical passages of scripture that contains within itself a universe. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
When The Prophet Speaks
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. The money quote: Consequently, “active Mormons†know that when the prophet speaks, the debate is over. No matter how diligently someone reads their scriptures, attends church or pays a full tithe, unless they sustain President Monson, his counselors and the other 12 apostles, [by supporting the proposed... Read more »
Notes from all over.
Your week in links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Going for Gold | Olympic Moments
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
FTA: Dating, Jane Austen, and the Virtues of Chastity
Like most rugged and red-blooded American men I have long enjoyed the work of Jane Austen. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Posts You Might Have Missed 3
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Why We Suffer
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Jesus Said . . .
I’m reading a commentary on Psalms and in the section on the authorship of the Psalms, the writer has this to say: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Resurrection B.C.
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Glorious Fourth
Let the eagle scream. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
How to be American and Mormon
The anniversary of Shelby Foote’s death has just passed us and the Fourth of July is almost upon us. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Go Ye Up to Mons Olympus and Prepare a Sacrifice There
From the Archives– -more- Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Korihor and the United States Reports
Let’s read the Book of Mormon as a commentary on American constitutional law and vice versa. Alma 30:7-10 reads: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Temple in European Mormon Sociality
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Send in the Casseroles
On the sweetness of Mormon life, with apologies to Adam: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What causes the birth dearth?
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 movement. The United States has children at the replacement rate (meaning enough kids are born to replace the people who die).* If you exclude recent immigrants and their first generation descendants, the United States has birth rates a little below the replacement rate. France, the United... Read more »
Literally Bearing Another’s Burdens
The Inklings has introduced me to Charles Williams, who was an odd sort of Christian. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Blood on the Doorposts
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.) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Is There Another Approach?
So asks Ronan. Here’s my polygamy theory–and it is worth every penny you paid for it: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
An Unfortunate Ensign Article
The July 2008 Ensign has an article titled “Cancer, Nutrition, and the Word of Wisdom.” I think it is ill-advised for several reasons. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
From my Missionary Journals
I was recently rereading my missionary journals. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
Here’s your chance to discuss the week’s links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
3:10 to Salt Lake City
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
McCain and the Revelatory Economist
Bloomberg reports the following from McCain about economists who criticized his (lunatic) summer gas plan: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Norman Rockwell Beyond the Veil
The Lovely One and I went to our ward’s temple sealing assignment last night. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
In Praise of the Elders Quorum Moving Service
Unless I’m carrying boxes, I’m probably not actually helping anybody. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Uncomfortable in Stake Conference
On the sweetness of Mormon life. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 2:1-11
Read the previous post in this series here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Posts You Might Have Missed 2
From the hundreds of posts that flow through the Bloggernacle each week, here are a couple of recent gems you ought to read. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Alyssa Peterson
I kinda vaguely remember hearing about that LDS woman who was killed in Iraq awhile back. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Water on Mars!
We have probable confirmation of water on Mars. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over
Here’s your chance to comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mississippi Rising
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 in Quincy, Illinois. Our sympathy and support to all of those struggling against the waters. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Resolved
“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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Thank you, Dr. Ulrich
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 Self-Forgiveness Defining Self-Forgiveness Receiving the Gift Repentance Shame and Pride Depression Anxious Perfectionism Self-Destructive Unselfishness Trauma and Abuse Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet Forgiving Ourselves as Parents Believing God Dr. Ulrich, thank you again. We hope you’ll come back and visit us soon. Be... Read more »
Mormonism for me, but not for thee
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 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Is it okay to forgive ourselves?
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 real, while staying firmly grounded in the scriptures. He is one of my favorite people. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Searching for a Sense of Place in Viriginia (a bleg)
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. My interest in place is heightened of course that I live a mile from the site of Jamestown — first English settlement in America — and work in Williamsburg — colonial capital of Virginia and, as one acquaintance put it to me “Disney Land for history major.”... Read more »
Sunday School Inequality
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 like a rock. These are great things, wonderful even. Unfortunately, I fear that improvement in Sunday School comment inequality may well be stagnant. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The One True Church of God’s Love
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Leader of the Band
A song that is synonymous for me with Father’s day is Dan Fogelberg’s Leader of the Band. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Last Night in Suwon
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Making Peace with Missionary Work
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 my mission presidents, all the people I ever taught, all the members I ever interacted with, the Korean people as a whole, and the church my deepest apologies, and ask for their forgiveness…because, as a missionary, I really sucked. 2 people like this post. Like... Read more »
You can’t leave home again
At the end of my junior year of high school, I caught a glimpse of my graduating student body president one last time Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
‘So many roads lead to a wet wipe’
More grist for the mill here. Please read, return, and report. P.S.–I never wash my floors either. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
Here’s your chance to discusss the week in links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Oddity of God’s Promises
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: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Our patchwork ward family
There are advantages to attending a ward too small for fixed wooden benches in the chapel Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
My Trouble with Apologetics
C.S. Lewis said he was never less convinced of the truth of Christianity than when he had been vigorously defending it. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Unhand Me, You Villain.
On the sweetness of Mormon life Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mission Transition Center?
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, in essence, “be good and good luck.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Gentile Plat for the City of Zion
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Posts You Might Have Missed
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Growing Up in Utah
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
Here’s your chance to comment. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Brigham Young in Zero G
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“What desirest thou?â€
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 would try….†“List twenty things you’d like to do before you die.†Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
FAIR One Ups The Tanners
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 created by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 1:12-20
Previous post here Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Mormons: Director’s Cut
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Walking by Faith with Popper and Quine
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 set of beliefs that cannot be falsified. It is an assumption worth thinking about. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A New Blogger
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! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Institutional obsolescence, and other tales of romance and intrigue from the history book
Last week Adam cited a widely-shared “conservative case for gay marriage.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Rock bottom
Today’s Gospel Doctrine lesson: the conversion of Alma the Younger. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Called to leave
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Thomas Jefferson Education?
For the uninitiated, Thomas Jefferson Education (hereafter TJE) is a method of homeschooling–a method very popular among Mormons. 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes From All Over
The week in links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Our Hero Discovers His Pelagian Taint
I picked up Alan Jacobs’ book Original Sin. Good stuff. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Post Too Good for the Sidebar
Should be of particular interest to our SSM hounds. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 1:4-11
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Gay Marriage and Households with Kids
A Megan McCardle McArdle guestblogger has a well-expressed version of “the conservative case for gay marriage”. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“We lived after the manner of happinessâ€
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. Mrs. Jones made me laugh out loud. It felt sort of weird. Which made me realize that I don’t laugh nearly enough Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
T&S welcomes guest poster Wendy Ulrich
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 as spirituality, abundant life, loss, forgiveness, and other aspects of personal growth. She was a psychologist in private practice in Michigan for twenty years before moving to Montreal, Quebec to serve with her husband as mission president. They currently live in Utah. Welcome, Dr. Ulrich! We’re honored... Read more »
Decoration Day
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Bastion of Mormonism
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.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Eurovision’s Mormon Moment
From the international annals of overachieving singing and dancing Mormons The Mormon moment for the Eurovision Song Contest came in 1984 Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Book Review: The Pictograph Murders, by P.G. Karamesines
Murder most foul, in the strange natural world of southern Utah. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Moral Hazard in the Scriptures
For those hoping to find more economics in their scripture study… Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over.
Here’s your chance to discuss this week’s links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Albuquerque Phoenix Bloggersnacker
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 Martian north. For details, reply to this post and include a working email address in the email box of the commenting form. Bloggern who live elsewhere can watch the live feed here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Introducing Innocents to the Fallen World
Scene One: In the car. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Element Call for Student Submissions (July 15 deadline)
Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology is publishing a special issue dedicated to student articles. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 1:1-3
So much for one post per chapter. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Interpretations: MSH at SVU
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Vertical Farms for the City of Zion
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Prince Caspian, a Review
This movie was better than the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (reviewed here). Prince Caspian was a good movie. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Platonic hymn-singing
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
God Himself
Lucky me, I got to talk about Mosiah 15 in my Gospel Doctrine lesson today. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
You Should Write More Letters
You never know what they’ll be worth someday: “Einstein Letter on God Sells for $404,000.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Revelation 21:10-21
Before we begin, we need to begin at the beginning: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Faith and Fame
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 Archuleta. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Let’s Prognosticate
Gas prices. Food prices. Credit crisis. Recession. Iraq. Iran. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
California Judges Order Gay Marriage
California’s Court has judicially mandated gay marriage. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Food Storage Idea
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Love Thy Neighbor … or Not
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 tip: Get Religion). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Apostasy and the Dark Ages
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 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Flour Gravy, Mother’s Day.
On the sweetness of Mormon life: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
From the Archives: My Gifts (Whitsunday Reflections)
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 is one of the more honest things I’ve ever written about myself. The text is below; you might want to check out the comments on the original post as well. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mother’s Day is Looming
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. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Heimskringla and historicity
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
IDTM
If one more Mormon tells me to see Expelled, I am going to scream. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Shortage and storage
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 uses any of it for an emergency, can stop a famine from ever actually happening. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons and Reality Shows
Read and discuss. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
How Notions of Government Inform Sexual Morality
This is my impressionistic take on how ideas about government influence ideas about sexual morality. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
That Daguerreotype Again (2 of 2)
Chapters 9 and 10 of Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again deal with purported photographs of Joseph Smith, including the Scannel daguerreotype. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Catholic parish registers belong to humanity
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 behalf. There are probably still millions of pages out there, uncopied. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
That Daguerreotype Again (part 1 of 2)
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Some Notes on Religious Freedom from the Former USSR
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 Union, I asked him to comment on how the church and the missionary program is fairing there. This is what he has to say. For security reasons, he asked that I post it without his name attached. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Gospel culture and the others
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”. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Janos Kalapsza “… went out to the Mormons”
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Ladies first?
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 implication was made that those 12 year old boys either preside over or are more important than the women of the RS, including the General RS presidency. Either way, the message is harmful. I worry about the way this could make women and young women in the... Read more »
The Largest Spider Web in Utah
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. 8 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Bittersweet Sixteen: Part Three
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 over or else she won’t eat. She wrings the last drop of pleasure out of these viewings then collapses back into boredom. Then she grows irritable and stops eating again. Do something to entertain me, she pouts, or I’ll starve myself. Be the first to like. Like... Read more »
The Dennis Wendt Jr. Post*: Undercover for the Lord
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 visit friends just over the state line in Jasper County, Alabama. He was never heard from again. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Prophets and textual criticism
The Book of Mormon poses a thorny problem for assumptions about the history of scriptural texts, especially if it isn’t true Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Myth of Evolution and the Myth of the Fall
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 selection is extremely uncongenial to the central Christian story about the nature of sin and evil in the world. Why? Because the Christian story has the entry of strife into the world come about as the result of human sin, whereas the core idea behind... Read more »
Bittersweet Sixteen: Part Two
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 I came to realize she wasn’t showing herself to me in a way I could understand. The light came up a little more when the nature and degree of her trouble dawned and our family found itself standing at a door we didn’t know for sure would... Read more »
Orbital Sacrament
Kathleen Maughan Lind, Don Lind, Mormon Astronaut, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985. 171-172: 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Changing Mormon Musical Aesthetics?
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Egyptian Brass Plates and a naming contest
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Bittersweet Sixteen: Part One
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 domestic environments. Grief has become part of these parents’ body chemistries. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Two Problems with Mormon Finitist Theodicies
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. I was disappointed, however, that the authors didn’t more squarely face the two strongest objections to Mormon finitist theodicies. Indeed, I have yet to see what I think of as adequate responses to either of these issues. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Taking the Lord’s title in vain
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 “Lord” into the sentence. But are we really getting it right? Is “God” really the Lord’s name, or is it just a title? And what exactly does the third commandment proscribe? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
One Hundred Thousand – WINNER DECLARED
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 to transfer funds out of war-torn countries for to do the good Lord’s most benificent charitableness, and warnings that we will surely be cast down to the uttermost depths of hell unless we renounce our false Jesus and transfer allegiance to the god of the... Read more »
Thank you, Raymond
Thanks to Raymond Takashi Swenson for his slate of intriguing and challenging posts over the past couple of weeks. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
BYU Studies Chronology of Joseph Smith’s life
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 as being listed by date. To call this compilation “extremely useful” would be a vast understatement. Simply put, this is a tool that every member should have access to. The information has been available for some time online (in a relatively little known spot), but putting in... Read more »
Is Fiction Inherently Immoral?
“The truest poetry is the most feigning.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Branch Dies on Easter
I’m posting the following from Ray with his permission. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A modest, sensible, reasonable proposal that is certain to fail
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 sense for Utah. Which new monikers might work? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
437 Children Taken from Cohab Parents
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Case of the Missing Pioneer
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. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A T&S feature I just invented in the last three minutes: Sidebar Smackdown
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 French people. Oh wait, no I’m not. And as long as I’m at it, Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
How to read an “autobiographical novel”
I have no idea. You tell me. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Pagan Christianity: A failure of nerve
A new book written by two Evangelical Christians supports many of the views of Latter-day Saints about the apostacy from First Century Christianity. Frank Viola and George Barna have collaborated on an updated and expanded version of one of Viola’s earlier books, and titled it Pagan Christianity. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Conferences and Events
- Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology Annual Meeting
- Duck Beach Mini-Conference
- Seminar on B.H. Roberts’ "Seventy’s Course in Theology"
- Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) Conference
- BYU Education Week
- BYU Idaho Education Week
- Sperry Symposium
- Utah State Historical Society Conference
- John Whitmer Historical Association Annual Meeting
- Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting
Calls for Papers
- The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology
- Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference
- Colloque international sur le mormonisme (International Conference on Mormonism)
- LDS Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists
- Mormon Media Studies Symposium
- Sunstone Kirtland
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Symposium: MORMONS AND MORMONISM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
- BYU Religious Education Student Symposium
- RESTORATION STUDIES SYMPOSIUM