Category: Cornucopia

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.)

Who before 1830 was anticipating the Restoration? For many cases we like to cite, the evidence consists of quotes that have been in circulation for a century or more, and that often rest on a fairly shaky foundation. Musings of poets require much interpretation, and what deists expected was nothing like what Joseph Smith provided.…

We saw March of the Penguins on Thursday. It was great.

Recent weeks have seen stimulating (and occasionally heated) discussion of a July Ensign article on the life of Bathsheba W. Smith. The article, meticulously parsed by Justin Butterfield, omits, together with other biographical material, all references to Bathsheba Smith’s sister-wives and any reference to the polygamous families of her husband, George A. Smith. This conspicuous…

Here is an empirical question that I don’t really know the answer to:

We are commanded to mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. And so, in the aftermath of tragedy and terror in London, we all join together in saying “I am a Londoner.” Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the brave citizens of London and of…

Ed Firmage, for many years the token Mormon at the U of U law school, is an interesting apostate.

A little while ago, Times & Seasons was pleased to announce that Jonathan Green–scholar, master of trivia, academic vagabond and world-class T&S commenter–had agreed to grace our blog with a guest stint. Since his initial post, however, he’s been on the move, taking his family from Charleston, South Carolina (where he had a visiting position…

When the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake were being announced, I remember how in our priesthood meetings in Provo exciting plans were forged to turn the event into a massive missionary opportunity: we would fill the streets with members passing out copies of the Book of Mormon and taking referrals.

A fascinating op-ed in the New York Times discusses the idea of “judicial activism.” The authors suggest that one measure of activism is the amount of times a judge votes to invalidate legislation passed by Congress. Using that measure, they write that: We found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional…

Here’s a sentence I wouldn’t have expected to find in a Deseret Book: If Emerson was right that a stubborn insistence on consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, then Paul’s place among the larger intellects of Western thought must be reckoned as secure.

Early last year, I discussed an idea that I called “the Iago problem.” I argued that one answer to the question “why are there no Mormon Shakespeares” was that church members may lack the skill to breathe life into a truly evil character like Iago. Recently, I rethought the question. And now, I’m not sure…

very very very very late. I do, at least. It’s 11:41 presently, and I’m still planning to finish this post, fire off some comments, do my sit-ups and read the new Adam Gopnik in this week’s New Yorker before I turn in.

Danithew is wondering when we’re going to begin idle speculation about who might replace Justice O’Connor. We’re happy to oblige him.

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.

Very roughly and tentatively, but good enough perhaps for the purposes of a blog discussion or an introduction to philosophy, one could say that there are two basic metaphysical positions, with a third that is a variation of one of those two.

To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum Smith the Patriarch. They were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th of June, 1844, about five o’clock p.m., by an armed mob — painted black — of from 150 to 200…

Due to an unmentionable poop incident (click on the link if you’re very brave), FMH Lisa may be needing a new washer. At the very least, she could use a few new cleaning supplies. So if you’ve got a spare dime, consider sending Lisa a Paypal.

This is an odd post, to be sure, but so that no one wonders: since there are no scriptures associated with this lesson, I’ve not prepared any study questions for it.

Or maybe what I really want to know is: Who am I ? Am I a feminist?

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.

Two weeks ago today I fell off the high step during my aerobics class. Distracted by other thoughts, I miscalculated the height of the step and came down hard on an inverted ankle. It wasn’t pretty. Within seconds my ankle ballooned to three times its normal size and I was immobilized.

We are encouraged to study and ponder the nature of God. Spencer W. Kimball wrote that “to know God, one must be aware of the person and attributes, power and glory of God the Father and God the Christ.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle at 86). Along those lines, this post proposes a theory on the…

A friend just forwarded me this one, a little discussion (rhyming, no less) about the intersection of law practice and exaltation. Some of the theology may be a bit speculative, but the last line is quite accurate.

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,…

Heber J. Grant’s insomnia may have been the best thing to happen to the study of early twentieth century Church history.

Today is Sister Rachel Frandsen’s twenty-fourth day in the MTC, her fourth Friday and, right about now, probably something like her sixty-eighth meal in the cafeteria.