We have been hit with a batch of spam comments over the past 2 days. (I guess it’s a sign that we have hit the big time.) If you haven’t seen them, here’s an idea of what they look like: “The sky is green.” -John Jones. The text is always nonsense, and the name will be linked not to an e-mail address but directly to the spammer’s site. It may be a hosting or gambling site (those are the two that have hit us so far). The combination of nonsense text (they use what appear to be randomly generated,... Read more »
LDS Newsroom
- Frances B. Monson, Wife of President Thomas S. Monson, Passes Away May 17, 2013
- Elder Dallin H. Oaks Honored for Championing Religious Freedom May 16, 2013
- Rendering of Meridian Idaho Mormon Temple Now Public May 15, 2013
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right| 15 May 2013 May 15, 2013
- Mormons Around the World: Country Newsroom Websites |14 May 2013 May 14, 2013
- Mormon Delegation Encourages Religious Dialogue at International Conference May 14, 2013
- Church Donates More Than 1 Million Pounds of Food to Top Hunger-Relief Organization May 9, 2013
- Mormons Around the World: Country Newsroom Websites | May 9 May 9, 2013
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right | 8 May 2013 May 8, 2013
- Angel Moroni Statue Placed on Ogden Temple May 7, 2013
Blog Archives
Amateur Music in the Church
I was recently thinking about music in the church. To be specific, I was wondering about the church policy of not hiring professional musicians, but simply plugging the best available members into any slot where they can conceivably fit. I have been ward organist myself, despite my complete lack of training on the organ. Our current ward organist is Logan’s lovely and talented wife, who has also (I believe) had no formal organ training. This is not to critique her efforts (or my own); we have both done pretty well, I think, especially with liberal use of the Bass... Read more »
Mormonism and Christianity
“Are Mormons Christian?” The question comes up again and again, and causes no small amount of frustration and hard feelings between Mormons and (other?) Christian groups. The response of the church, and of many members, has been to assert “Of course we’re Christian! We believe in Christ, don’t we?” Mormons are frustrated that that assertion doesn’t answer the question. After all, Christians, including those who believe that Mormons are not Christian, state that the requirement for Christianity is acceptance of Christ. If that’s the sole requirement, then Mormons are in (The church states “Jesus Christ is the Son of... Read more »
LDS Blogosphere watch
A number of interesting posts have appeared in the LDS blogosphere over the last few days. I will probably write a bit more in-depth commentary on one or more of these when I have a little more time (or someone else will). For the moment, let me just point out: Dave’s examination of a Methodist committee report on whether Mormons converting to Methodism need rebaptism. Jan’s not-to-be-missed discussion of church authority and spousal abuse. and Logan’s discussion of what church meetings women may conduct. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Medicinal Marijuana, the Word of Wisdom, and the Nyquil Exception
The Word of Wisdom instructs us to avoid certain harmful substances. Present-day leaders have told us that we must avoid illegal drugs as well. However, a general exception is made for drugs prescribed by a doctor. In addition, there is, in my observation, a widespread belief that over-the-counter medicines such as NyQuil are permitted to be used for valid medical reasons (despite containing substances such as alcohol). This makes me wonder: What about medical marijuana? May a church member take medical marijuana if prescribed by a doctor? And if it is not prescribed by a doctor, could the perceived... Read more »
Essential Texts Again
In December Greg posted the very interesting question of what the five essential texts in Mormon studies are. The thread generated a lot of comments. A follow-up thread also got some comments. I just went through and tallied votes thus far. The results are interesting. Besides being a potential catalog of essential texts, the results also illustrate the broad range of ideas that people consider “Mormon studies”. A total of eight (sort of) texts received more than one vote. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
On the lighter side
As a parent, I often wonder if I watch my kids well enough. They seem to disappear sometimes at church, escaping to the drinking fountain or to crawl under tables in the cultural hall or to turn off the lights during sacrament meeting. However, I can now give myself a reason not to feel so bad — at least my children haven’t (yet) climbed into a toy vending machine. The story of the determined (and limber) vending machine boy is a pretty funny bit of recent news (including a great picture), and yes, it ends well. Be the first... Read more »
Do we have to love Saddam?
An interesting discussion has been going on in the blogosphere about the comments of Catholic Cardinal Martino, who spoke of Saddam Hussein: “I felt pity to see this man destroyed, (the military) looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures . . . Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him.” In response to this statement, Professor Bainbridge wrote that the Cardinal “comes off looking like an idiot.” Mark Kleiman then took Bainbridge to... Read more »
Examining Moroni’s Promise
Moroni’s Promise has had increasing use in missionary work and in the church generally, starting with (I believe) President Benson’s emphasis on using it to show that the Book of Mormon is true. Now, in a recent blog entry, Dave critiques Moroni’s Promise as essentially being an unfair test, which allows church members to accept positive results but disregard any negative results. Dave writes: There’s an ugly side to Moroni’s Promise if you don’t play along with the Mormon script. “f ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the... Read more »
Famous Mormons
Practically every church member I know likes to talk about famous Mormons. Of course, there aren’t a lot, and my experience has been once the discussion gets past a few well-known members — Steve Young, Orson Scott Card, Dale Murphy, Shawn Bradley, Danny Ainge, Donny & Marie — the conversation tends to skew towards the “I heard that xx was Mormon too!” direction. However, I just noticed (via Rachel Woods About.com LDS) a web site that lists famous Mormons. How cool is that? 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Church Members and Financial Scams
A recent story in Deseret News discusses yet another recent financial scam that victimized thousands of church members. (Link via Dave). This one, according to the news, was a classic Ponzi scheme. Church members are, in my observation, unusually susceptible to Ponzi schemes, multi-level marketing, Amway and similar programs, and other get-rich-quick devices. (I know, there are differences between Ponzi schemes and some types of legal multi-level marketing. As far as I am concerned, they are all dubious devices for removing money from the gullible.) I have wondered over the years why church members are more likely to be... Read more »
Insightful Discussion over at Dave’s
I like our lengthy discussions, and do not want this blog to become a “portal” or collection of links a la Instapundit. (“Look at this link. Read the whole thing. Indeed.”).* However, there is a time and place for all things, including basic links. To wit — I just noticed Dave’s post about Mormonism and Christianity, and while I don’t have anything to add to it in the way of analysis, I certainly recommend it to our readers. A sample: Mormons feel chronically misunderstood by the rest of Christianity. This is understandable, given the persistence of the silly question... Read more »
Meeting Times
One of the familiar New Year’s rites for Mormons is the changing of the meeting times. My ward is moving from 11:30 to 1:30 meeting times. I’m not thrilled — the 11:30 time had its drawbacks (primarily that Sacrament Meeting fell right in the middle of nap time and lunch time), but a 1:30 starting time means that church doesn’t end until 4:30, and we won’t be home until after 5. That means that we will get less done on Sunday. (Sunday mornings are pretty much wasted time, but I occasionally get something productive done on Sunday afternoon after... Read more »
Sex
Is it good, bad, or neutral, to have sex before marriage? This topic comes up often in discussions in many places. The church has taken the unambiguous position that pre-marital sex is wrong. For us as members, what does the church’s teaching mean about its (and our) attitudes about sex generally? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Truth
An interesting discussion has sprung up over at Bob and Logan’s blog (which really needs a catchier name) on the nature of truth. What exactly do church members mean when they say that something (the church, the principle of tithing, the law of gravity) is true? What variations are there in the definition of this word? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons and the ACLU – Short Redux
A while ago I posted on my blog, discussing whether a good Mormon can also be a good member of the ACLU. (I concluded that it is possible to be both — see the four-part discussion, 1, 2, 3 and 4; see also links to further discussion here). That multi-post discussion in turn kicked off a lengthy e-mail discussion on the LDS-Law list. Now, a reader of this blog e-mails in with an interesting piece of information: This reader was an ACLU member before baptism. Since joining the church, he reports that in his temple recommend interviews, he is... Read more »
The Mormon Blogosphere
I just noticed that my friend and ward member Logan Bobo now has his own blog. As I look at Logan’s blog, I wondered whether we at Times and Seasons have been neglectful of our peers in the Mormon blogosphere. I think we may have inadvertently neglected to discuss other LDS bloggers. So here is a short post dedicated to that topic. (Warning: Post discusses Kaimi’s idiosyncratic blog-surfing preferences). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Christmas and Commercialization
I realize that there is a general belief that Christmas has become terribly over-commercialized. It’s hard not to notice at this time of the year. But is this the answer? Fighting commercialization with, well, more commercialization? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Technical Difficulties
Yes, we’ve been having a few last night and this morning. Nothing overly serious, but this site’s admins (such as me) are neophytes when it comes to coding. (“Possibly the most neophyte, yet badly-coded . . .”). Bear with us, we’ll get things fixed again. UPDATE: Almost all-the-way fixed now, with just a little bit of aesthetic cleaning up left to do. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The “P” Word, Again
Polygamy is in the news once again. CNN reports that an excommunicated member was banned from discussing his ideas about polygamy with his daughter in a child-custody case, and is now suing for the right to teach her about polygamy. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
These aren’t the droids you’re looking for
It is sometimes funny to see what google combinations have brought visitors to the site. We just got a hit on our old-version blogger blog (we moved to MT three weeks ago, and will eventually dismantle the old site) from the following Google search: “topless alberta statutes” This is particularly odd because none of the words in that search are on the old site! I was sufficiently puzzled that I re-ran the search in Google, and didn’t see any link to the site — but that’s definitely the referrer on a hit from this very afternoon. Odd. Be the... Read more »
State v. Oman
What a surprise! Nate looks like such a mild-mannered guy. Yet, as this case makes clear, the State of Ohio put Nathan Oman in prison for four years for drug trafficking! I’m still trying to figure out how someone can attend Harvard Law School while in an Ohio prison — maybe it has something to do with grade inflation. (One of the great benefits of a name like Kaimipono Wenger — and potential drawbacks as well — is that everything refering to someone with that name actually refers to me). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Duty to stick with a dysfunctional ward
This is a topic that has been on my mind quite a bit lately — what is a member’s duty to stay with a dysfunctional ward? I have been thinking about it because, well, I am currently in a dysfunctional ward. We have a hard time keeping major presidencies (such as the Bishopric and the Elders Quorum) filled. We are on massive life support from high council and missionaries (16 in the ward). We see dozens of baptisms each year, but almost all are inactive within 6 months. Some of those who didn’t immediately go inactive were immediately given... Read more »
Sex and Censorship at NYU
I just have a millisecond to blog today, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to link this story about the (gasp!) despicable censorship at NYU, that well-known bastion of conservative thought. Apparently they are refusing to let a film student film actual sex for her film project. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Russell joins as a permanent blogger
We are happy to welcome Russell aboard as a permanent member of the blog. Now we are only 89 away from a quorum-sized group. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
This and that – Administrative
A few quick administrative notes: 1. I will be out of town most of this week, and will be blogging lightly or not at all. Please don’t take my silence as a sign that I agree with anything Nate, Matt or Gordon say. 2. The site seems to be striking a chord with people, as we are now averaging 65 visitors per day. To our visitors: Please feel free to e-mail us, to comment on posts (and for those wondering about comments from week 1, yes, we will get them copied over at some point — technology has not... Read more »
Nephites and Lamanites Redux
Other things have been keeping me busy, but Nate reminds me that I have yet to follow up on my comments about Native Americans and Lehite descent. Nate suggests that: Yes it is true that lots and lots of Mormons think that the Book of Mormon provides the only account for Native American ancestry. Yes it is true that there are probably a whole lot of general authorities that subscribe to this view. So what? I find this assertion absolutely baffling. “A bunch of general authorities — the people we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators; the people who... Read more »
Is there an LDS Thanksgiving identity?
As Gordon points out, we all seem to be enjoying our post-Thanksgiving naps just a little too much. Before moving too far on from the Thanksgiving theme, I think it is appropriate to reflect on what Thanksgiving means in particular, to Latter-Day Saints. However, the discussion of what Thanksgiving means to Latter Day Saints raises a threshold question: Is there a distinct LDS attitude, approach, or spirit towards Thanksgiving — an LDS Thanksgiving identity — or are we as church members merely hangers-on to the broad Protestant Thanksgiving tradition? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Conferences and Events
- FAIR Konferenz
- BYU New Testament Conference
- I need help with MormonConferences.org
- FAIR Conference
- BYU Women's Conference
- Mormon History Association Conference
- Eugene England Memorial Lecture, Margaret Toscano: "The Paradoxes of Religious Peace and Conflict"
- Sperry Symposium
- BYU Easter Conference
- Mormon Scholars in the Humanities
Calls for Papers
- Sunstone West
- Association for Mormon Letters Conference
- Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Kirtland Symposium
- Sunstone Symposium
- Mormon Scholars in the Humanities
- Mormon Culture Summer Seminar
- Pacific Northwest Region AAR/SBL/ASOR
- The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology