- SDS on What Do People Know About Latter-day Saints?: “Good points, Stephen. And I confess that I didn’t know about Charles Taze Russell, so mea culpa.” Sep 29, 09:02
- on What Do People Know About Latter-day Saints?: “Not a Cougar and SDS: Oh definitely, religious literacy is bad across the board (according to that Pew survey only about half of Americans could name the four books of the gospels). However, we tend to score higher than most: in that same Latter-day Saints scored higher than any other group besides atheists. But yes, I take the point and agree we could know more. I’ll quibble a little on the comparison with Protestant denominational history, simply because denominational differences (arguably) don’t really matter anymore in the American landscape (Southern Baptists [arguably] have more with the Lutheran-Missouri Synod than they do with the American Baptist Churches USA), so the appropriate analog would be people not knowing Aquinas is connected to Catholicism, or knowing that Charles Taze Russell is connected to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Sep 29, 08:46
- on Joseph Smith as a 19th Century L. Ron Hubbard: “Yes, she was very distraught over plural marriage (although there are a lot of other possible reasons why she was not so forthcoming about the practice), but that doesn’t mean that she hated him or he hated her, or didn’t believe in his mission; the same cannot be said for half of Hubbard’s wives, children, etc. That’s my point. Yes, polygamy definitely strained thing, but I’m sorry, it terms of antipathy or beliefs it’s not in nearly the same category as Hubbard’s relations.” Sep 29, 08:37
- on What Do People Know About Latter-day Saints?: “In support of not-Cougar’s last point: Recently in our ward, a brother who has been a bishop and member of the high council (and who is btw a wonderful man compared to whom I am a spiritual peon) said in a Sacrament Meeting talk that our church is the only church in the world that includes the name of Christ in the name of the church. I truly love and admire this man, but I’m thinking: how can any literate person today possibly say that? It’s an extreme instance, maybe, but I constantly hear from our members embarrassingly wrong-headed assertions about what other churches did, do, or believe. So it does run both ways.” Sep 29, 07:28
- on Joseph Smith as a 19th Century L. Ron Hubbard: “Stephen, Emma was so distraught by Joseph’s polygamous marriages that she lied to her son Joseph Smith III when he asked her about it decades latter. Not only that, she maintained the lie until she died, and it became a fundamental part of the Reorganized Church for about a century. Doesn’t that bear squarely on what she thought of Joseph’s mission and character?” Sep 29, 06:50
- on What Do People Know About Latter-day Saints?: “Stephen, having grown up outside the Latter-day Saint corridor my entire life, I can’t say that I’m all that surprised about the results of the survey for a few reasons. First, while we try very hard to get our name out there (we certainly put a lot of effort into missionary work), objectively, we’re still not a household name in the United States. Yes, we claim nearly 7 million people on the rolls, and even taking that number on its face, we’re still under 2% of the population with much of that being very concentrated in the inter-mountain West. When talking about eh United States, in terms of size, we’re closer to the National Baptist Convention than we are the Southern Baptist Convention, let alone the Catholic Church. Second, we’ve expended a lot of social capital in maintaining or adopting standards and conventions that don’t line up with American Protestant Christianity (at least up until President Nelson), and we can’t be too shocked when that results in Americans not lumping us in with other Christians. For example, in the mid-20th century, we stopped completely any and all uses of the cross as a symbol in an effort to, as I understand it, distance ourselves from being lumped in with Catholics as “undesirables” by Protestant America (and apologies for any oversimplification). We can argue whether that decision was wise in the long run, but I will point out that the Church appears to have softened on that point at least slightly as our meetinghouses are now identified by a cross symbol on Google Maps (at least they are where I live). Third, to be honest, I’m not sure how much the average American would be able to say about any given Christian denomination, not just the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whether that’s because most Americans don’t really study religion (their own or others) or because we’re far enough from the mainstream that we just aren’t common knowledge, I can’t say for certain, but I would suspect it’s the former. As evidence of that, off the top of your head, what do you know about the origins of the Baptist movement and how it got to America? How many people would be able to name Roger Williams (often credited with founding the first Baptist church in the United States) as an important person in Baptist history? Would the average person know the difference between the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention? I certainly don’t, and I’d argue that I’m a lot better read on religion in than most Americans (which isn’t saying much!).” Sep 29, 06:44
- on From Obscured to Omnipresent: Jennifer Champoux on the Evolution of Latter-day Saint Portraits of Jesus: “Officially approved art of this era is still kind of weird to me. IIRC there’s about 20 allowed art pieces in chapels. We borrow most of our most famous art and I’d pick others if that were my job. I do love Minerva art whenever I find it.” Sep 28, 20:45
- on How I taught Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (annotated edition): “I feel like you missed the important point of Ecclesiastes. Because “everything is meaningless” that is, doesn’t last, the “meaning” is in the potential goodness of each little thing you do for others and yourself. “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 & 8:15 NIV Your lesson is an interesting take on the two books’ connections” Sep 28, 18:31
- on Judging in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 9/20: “Who are we to judge what is “unrighteously” or “unthinkingly”? I say, “Live and let live.”” Sep 28, 12:19
- on From Obscured to Omnipresent: Jennifer Champoux on the Evolution of Latter-day Saint Portraits of Jesus: “I realized many years ago that I do not like “portraits” of Jesus — Jesus never sat for a portrait. I only like Jesus art when the art tells a story from the scriptures.” Sep 28, 01:11
