Okay, it is time for another post on Mormon legal history. This one is on the state of the field and where we go from here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike 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
How Reed Smoot Restored what Winston Churchill had Preserved
It is hard not to admire Winston Churchill. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Endocannibalism in Sacrament Meeting
Cannibalism, it seems to me, is one of the unspoken issues that lurks beneath all Mormon sacrament meetings. 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Temple Worship and the Retreat of Esoteric Space
In a comment on Gordon’s recent post, Jed Woodworth raises an interesting point. He, entirely accurately, points out that the notion that the temple is a place that most members should regularly attend is a late 20th century phenomena in Mormonism. Prior to that time, the temple, for most members, was generally a place visited once or twice in a life time, and work for the dead was largely delegated to specially called temple workers. Indeed, during the 1930s, Heber J. Grant actually hired people to do temple work on behalf of his ancestors as a kind of make-work... Read more »
The First Mormon Justice
It occurs to me that there is a politically well-connected Mormon who is eminently qualified to take Justice O’Connor’s slot on the Supreme Court. (And no, I don’t mean Orrin Hatch.) 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
The Great Liberal Death Wish?
Here is an empirical question that I don’t really know the answer to: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Ed Firmage’s Apostasy and the Age of Mormonism
Ed Firmage, for many years the token Mormon at the U of U law school, is an interesting apostate. 4 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
The Theology of Jeffersonian Hypocrisy
I recently spent a week or so immersed in constitutional law, looking at — among other things — the place of the Declaration of Independence in constitutional interpretation. It has gotten me thinking about the virtues of hypocrisy. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Very Important News
A frequent morning ritual for me involves taking a bag of compost to our garden, which is several blocks from our house, on my drive to work. I enjoy this little task. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Dubitante
In the common law world, judges are required to write opinions that justify their decisions. The holdings and reasoning in these opinions then become the law. Generally speaking, there are two sorts of opinions. First, there are opinions offered by the court that state its decision and the reasons for it. Second, there are dissents, which explain why the dissenting judge cannot join the majority’s opinion. There is also, however, an almost completely forgotten, third kind of opinion that is worth thinking about: a dubitante or dubitans. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Game Theory and Mormon History
So let’s think about Zion as a prisoner’s dilemma (PD). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Seduction of Heather Oman
At first she was basically opposed to the idea. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Book Review: Being Bugged by Armstrong
I just finished Karen Armstrong’s Islam: A Short History and I was bugged. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
John Adams and the Problem of Joseph Smith’s Legal Papers
A few days ago, I had the rare experience of actually having enough time to sit in my study and read. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
And now the news you have all been waiting for…
It is time for another garden update. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
From the Archives: How Joseph Smith Restored Greek Religion
I’ve been thinking of late about immortality and Mormonism. My question is whether or not you can be a Good Mormon and a Good Homeric Hero. I am unclear on the answer, but Moroni and John Taylor seem to suggest that for at least one Good Mormon being a Homeric Hero was just fine. (more…) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Political versus Theological Friendships
Are theological friendships possible between different religions? At times I am skeptical. Consider the always fascinating question of which Christian denomination likes Mormons the least? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons and Markets, III: Strangers and Neighbors
In my last post on this subject, I argued that one of things that markets do well is coordinate dispersed information. Another thing that markets do fairly well is facilitate cooperation among strangers. This is worth thinking about. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Against Fundamental Questions
We tend to think that fundamental questions are important and therefore that they ought to take up much of our intellectual effort. This view may be mistaken. Consider, for example, Islamic law. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
An Ethical Question from the Laws of War
Are executions in the town square less moral than air bombing? Consider the following hypotheticals from the international law of war. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Spinach
An update on the Oman garden is in order. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Flags, Idols and Envy of the SPQR
Of late, I have been reading about the Romans, a group of exceptionally creative — if frequently cruel — lawyers with a really good army. What is not to like? It has got me thinking a bit about patriotism. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons and Markets, II: Information and the Failure of the United Order
Throughout the 19th century, Mormons tried various different communal economic arrangements that basically didn’t work. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
12(ish) Questions with Senator Robert F. Bennett
A while ago, we announced that Senator Robert F. Bennet (R-Ut) had agreed to do 12 Questions with T&S. Senator Bennett has read all of the posted questions and offers his answers to the questions below. 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons and Markets, I: Property
Embedded in the ten commandments are at least two injunctions having to do with property, which makes it one of the main subjects of the Decalogue and presumeably of central concern for the Gospel. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Radishes
This weekend marked a victory of sorts. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Theorist Amongst the Stories
I studied philosophy in college. I enjoyed law school. I work when I can as an appellate lawyer. I read few novels but a lot of philosophy and legal theory. I enjoy the clean, crisp flow of well-honed arguments and get a kind of goofy joy at watching the interplay of concepts and abstraction. By temperament, I am a theorist, but I, alas, live in world where as often as not stories hold sway. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Happy Ending
In most of the ways that matter, I grew up in a fairly typical Salt Lake City Mormon home. What this means is that I went through most of the various Mormon rites of passage right on schedule in an environment that looked very much like an photograph from the Ensign: baptism in the basement of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, priesthood ordinations by a faithful father surrounded by family, and all the rest. Coming home from my mission, however, was slightly different. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Against King Benjamin
I am sorry to say that I think that King Benjamin’s great sermon has badly distorted the way that Latter-day Saints think about charity, the treatment of the poor, and the redistribution of wealth. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Unfortunate Decline of Preaching
Mathew Cowley, Hugh B. Brown, J. Golden Kimball. What these men had in common (other than the fact that I think they were all Democrats) is that they were great preachers. Preaching, however, seems to be a lost art of sorts in the Church. Indeed, there is so little real preaching that I suspect that most of the time we don’t even recognize its absence. 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