Technical Details
This blog is powered by WordPress. It is coded by Kaimi, Matt, and Gordon. We have received helpful advice at various points from Clark Goble and Daniel Bartholomew (aka Danithew).
We’re using plugins developed at Mt Dew Virus and Rebel Pixel Productions, as well as the WordPress Blacklist developed by Laughing Lizard and based on the MT Blacklist of Jay Allen (with a slight modification by Kaimi). We’ve also benefited greatly from the tips at The Girlie Matters and ScriptyGoddess. The revolving theme is based on an idea Kaimi first saw at a now-defunct blog, not affiliated with T & S, called Tainted Law. All errors and/or bad coding are due to our own boneheadedness.
What does Times and Seasons mean?
The Times and Seasons was the periodical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the early days of the church. It was published in Nauvoo, Illinois, from November 1839 until February 1846. Various issues of the newsletter were edited by Joseph Smith and John Taylor, among others. The Times and Seasons carried the so-called “Wentworth letter” of Joseph Smith, explaining basic LDS beliefs, which has since been canonized as the LDS Articles of Faith. Further information can be found at various historical sites (not affiliated with this blog) such as here.
Origins: why, when, or how did we start this blog?
In the early days of the bloggernacle (before the Mormon blogosphere was even known as the bloggernacle), there were three main Mormon-oriented blogs — Dave’s Mormon Inquiry Blog, A Soft Answer, and the Metaphysical Elders. Nate and Kaimi each operated separate law-oriented blogs that sometimes discussed LDS issues. (Matt wrote for a popular law and politics blog that seldom discussed Mormon issues. Another blog, Legal Guy, was also a law blog that sometimes discussed LDS issues).
Nate also operated the LDS-law e-mail list. On that list, some extensive discussions took place. We talked about law, SSM, abortion, politics, SSM, abortion, academia, SSM, abortion, doctrine, SSM, abortion, plus SSM and abortion. It was a lot of fun. Four of the major participants were Nate, Matt, Adam and Kaimi. (Some future blog commenters, like Lyle, Randy, and Kevin Barney, were also frequent LDS-law participants). After an extended discussion on abortion (or was it SSM?), the founding four decided to start a blog. It was November 18, 2003, and T & S was born. Even before the first post, we had also assimilated Greg and Gordon. We were overhyped from the start: Dave’s Mormon Inquiry dubbed us “a great disturbance within the force” early on. Our happy family has continued to grow since then, as we’ve added Jim, Russell, Kristine, and Julie. In the process, we’ve changed blogging software twice: We started out on Blogger (see here) but switched to MT within the first week; in September 2004, we switched again to WordPress, since we had outgrown MT.
And the rest is history.
We love our blogchildren!
A list of blogs and bloggers who have stated that they were inspired to start blogging after reading Times and Seasons, and/or who have stated that they modeled their blogs (in whole or in part) after T & S:
A Bird’s Eye View
A Motley Vision
By Common Consent
Let Us Reason
Let Your Mind Alone
Probative
Sons of Mosiah
Testimonials: What Others are Saying About T & S
“Where else can you go to get at least an intelligible, much less charitable, exchange between an intelligent LDS republican and an intelligent LDS democrat? Where else can you go to get such a lovely jumble of academics, lawyers, and poseurs like myself? Only hell, I imagine, so in the meantime thanks to all, and that includes you bastards on the Left.”
Kingsley.
“Times and Seasons is addictive. If each blog in the ‘Nacle were a drug, Times and Seasons would be crack cocaine.”
Wump Blog
“A great disturbance within the force.”
Dave’s Mormon Inquiry.
“A marvelously successful forum for online interaction.”
Dave’s Mormon Inquiry.
“The exceptional Times and Seasons (where liberal and conservative Mormons including a bevy of top-notch Mormon scholars blog together).”
Philocrites
“Always stimulating . . . the site that put the fire in our bellies.”
Sons of Mosiah
“The Behemoth of the Bloggernacle”
By Common Consent
“I don’t think you could find a larger cross-section of Mormon Misfits :-) than inhabit the cyberspace around T&S.”
Feminist Mormon Housewives
“The principal bloggers are educated and well written and the subjects they post are thoughtful and stimulating.”
Virtual Theology
“Times and Seasons, across the Tiber and high on the mountaintop of Deseret . . .”
Aurochs and Angels
“Times and Seasons has some very good threads.”
Clark Goble
“Reading T&S is like watching ballet. Beautiful, enjoyable, somewhat useless, and I know I’m missing the finer points due to my own ignorance. Sometimes I’m envious of an ability I don’t have, then I shake my head and think, ‘I would *worry* about myself if I could do that.'”
Janey
“Another great LDS Blog, Times and Seasons, is a collective of some of my favorite bloggers, starring Kaimi, Nate (already of A Good Oman, The Metaphysical Elders, and The Kolob Network), Adam, Gordon, and Matt, and Greg. In less than one week they have already have several interesting discussions ranging from tithing to environmentalism, all within the LDS context. It’s a great idea. . . . I like Times and Seasons.”
A Soft Answer