- RLD on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Congratulations! The initial list sounds great, though I suspect J. Golden Kimball will outsell them all. I especially appreciate the women. I’m not a big reader of biographies, so you’ll know far better than I will what’s been done and where a “beginner’s guide”/”in their own words” would be useful. But people I’m curious about include all those early Pratts and/or Orsons, Hugh B. Brown, J. Reuben Clark (maybe not needed), James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe (to second Lion of the Lord and rogerdhansen), and Henry Eyring (to second rogerdhansen again, I think). Is it too soon for Hugh Nibley, Leonard Arrington, Lowell Bennion, or Eugene England? I really wish I had women to add. Sidney Rigdon could be interesting, but more controversial than I think you want since you’d have to grapple with his Missouri speeches and the succession. I’m sure it’s not at all what you have in mind, but I think there’s a crying need for a beginner’s guide/in his own words for Joseph Smith. Something that can replace Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the reading lists of bookish young members and the bookshelves of Institute Directors. It could be shorter than TPJS and really focus on his “greatest hits” outside of the standard works–but maybe include some D&C revelation revision histories where they’re interesting.” Nov 12, 08:09
- on Zion will have data centers: “The irony of creating a parody that claims Jesus wouldn’t build data centers and then posting it on an internet blog is like creating a video claiming Jesus wouldn’t be a content creator and then posting it on your YouTube channel.” Nov 12, 07:33
- on Female Veiling in Mormonism: “I don’t know if I’d say uninspired, RLD. I think it’s OK to let go of things that may have been inspired at the outset but are no longer useful in the present. And I think it’s OK to fashion the endowment in a way that speaks to the current culture–without compromising its core elements–even if it means letting go of some elements that were deeply meaningful to the ancients.” Nov 11, 19:43
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Or President Irving’s father.” Nov 11, 19:41
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Widtsoe is a great idea. George Romney might also be a good person for the series.” Nov 11, 19:29
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Hey Chad, To answer your question, I think a good person to include in the series would be Elder John A. Widtsoe. Sadly, like Roberts, I don’t think he is as well-known as he once was having passed in the early 1950’s.” Nov 11, 16:05
- on Female Veiling in Mormonism: ““…this was the course pursued in the early days of the Church, and it was doubtless done in accordance with some instructions of the Prophet.” Tangent warning, but I suspect this kind of thing keeps today’s general Church leaders up at night. First, sorting through our practices and trying to figure out which really are inspired and which are just habits, and second, trying to make sure some off-hand remark or way they happen to do things doesn’t create a permanent practice for no good reason. It’s kind of too bad that they have to be so careful–I’ll bet an uninhibited President Oaks could say some very interesting things about our current political situation. But I don’t really want to go back to the days when general authorities would give speeches like “14 Fundamentals of Following the Prophet” or “Seven Deadly Heresies” knowing full well that people with the same or greater authority disagreed with them. And yes, it looks like Church leaders fairly recently decided that asking women to veil their faces was an uninspired cultural practice. And I’ll bet women leaders were involved in that decision.” Nov 11, 15:52
- on Female Veiling in Mormonism: “Given the other sexist doctrine and practices taught in the temple, I imagine women veiling their faces was not done as a sign of their sacred worth. It seems more like a shame-based practice of women being hidden or subordinate in their relationship with God. I never liked veiling myself. I hated doing it in the prayer circle. It felt silencing and humiliating. We can looks at Islamic cultures and talk about how dehumanizing it is to force women to wear face veils. These practices are rightly criticized. Yet dehumanizing church practices that have no evidence of actually being revealed from God cannot be questioned and are allowed to harm women for generations.” Nov 11, 14:52
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Any thoughts on who else would be good to include in the series?” Nov 11, 13:22
- on Announcing B. H. Roberts: Warhorse of the Church, A Beginner’s Guide: “Thanks everyone!” Nov 11, 13:21
