Category: Cornucopia

Three years ago, I related how Caitlyn, our second daughter, imposed a new ending upon the story of “The Ten Young Women,” in which, after the foolish women who’d left to refill their lamps returned to find the door to the wedding feast closed, the Bridegroom returned, opened the door again, admitted everyone, and everything…

“Mother’s Day is an equal opportunity [very bad] day,” writes Kristine at VSOM.

So what was it? What did your ward pass out to its mothers/all women on Mother’s/Every-Woman-Over-18 Day?

Markets are a big deal in my intellectual life. For a living, I teach and think about the law that makes markets possible. By and large, I think that markets are really cool. I think that they are probably the single greatest engine for the material betterment of the human race. Poverty causes a great…

[1] Now updated with footnotes!

I’ll bet all of us with sizable book collections have heard this question from time to time.

I. This morning, driving Daughter to school:

I’ll start this book review with two anecdotes of my own, from a Mormon ward in Belgium. Last Sunday, in church, the bishop’s sister told us that her little boys were so excited because they were looking forward to the swimming party in the afternoon. The bishop’s own family and the families of his siblings…

In October conference, President Hinckley made an interesting statement about marriage, education, and equality between spouses.

I love Mormon folk songs.

Reader Rebecca V. points out a fascinating new church newsroom statement intended to clarify the meaning of church doctrine.

In doing research on 19th century church courts, I recently came across a legal issue that I haven’t seen before: What exactly is the evidentiary value of speaking in tongues?

This may be the best thing you ever read in the Bloggernacle.

“Global nomads” is apparently how marketing demographers refer to people who make a practice of living outside their native country. I imagine it’s supposed to make the expatriate experience sound adventurous, upscale, and fashion-forward, but mostly the phrase strikes me as a bit silly and pretentious. That being said, it’s remarkable how perfectly suited Mormonism…

I consider my brother-in-law to be a twisted genius (in a good, vaguely Wierd-Al-Yankovich sort of way). I am happy to say that the fruits of his desire to be a rock star, his labors as a scriptorian (his favorite Book of Mormon character is Teancum), and his calling as a road show director are…

According to the pronoun counter at the He/She Ratio website (hat tip: Feminist Law Profs), Times and Seasons uses a female pronoun 43% of the time and a male pronoun 57% of the time. For comparison purposes, here are some other websites, with corresponding percentages of female pronouns:

All right — let’s hear everyone’s thoughts and reactions on evening two of “The Mormons.” (Or are we all watching Law & Order instead?)

Just in case 141 comments and counting on this thread aren’t enough for you, there are discussions of “The Mormons” up at Mormon Mentality, Mor-Mormon Mentality, Faith Promoting Rumor, Feminist Mormon Housewives, Dave’s Mormon Inquiry, Millennial Star, Mormanity, and a few threads over at The Blog of Satan ™. All this commentary leaves me with…

On the “Mormons” thread, reader Kevinf notes his own surprise and chagrin at the fact that his 29-year-old daughter didn’t know about Mountain Meadows. I’m less shocked; when I was 29, I really didn’t know much about the topic, either. Here’s a question for our readers: At what age, and through what avenue, did you…

Well . . . what did you think?

We have never suffered a shortage of outside experts who would explain us to ourselves and the world.

Bribery.

That was me. Snapping. Wanna know why?

How much do ideas about modesty, decency, and obscenity depend on cultural context? Consider that recently, actor Richard Gere was widely criticized in India for publicly engaging in a vulgar, lewd, obscene, immodest, and indecent act. He was burned in effigy, and a warrant issued for his arrest; he was called a sign of decaying…

I haven’t a clue.

Only only time I’ve ever been arrested for civil disobedience, or held up a sign during a protest, or marched and chanted in the name of a political cause, was when I was an undergraduate at BYU. Go figure.

Is Nephi an eponymous ancestor? Well, clearly, yes.

It may not have been the worst thing I ever did, but I regretted it the longest.