Category: Latter-day Saint Thought

1—As many people noted, the government really shouldn’t be involved in deciding who is or isn’t a Christian.

If we think about the basic model of communication, the inherent conflict in motivations is obvious. When any speaker tries to communicate an idea to a listener, the speaker is providing information from his/her perspective, while the listener is hearing the information from his/her own perspective. These can easily be in conflict and lead to…

Like it or not, the vast majority of those attending Church have no control over what happens there. We don’t control the speakers, or the music, or who teaches the classes, and certainly not what anyone says. This past week I frequently heard fears about the 5th Sunday lesson on the Constitution — fears that…

With my Zerah Pulsipher biography being published last week, and my next book manuscript off for some review and feedback, I’m turning my thoughts towards what to work on next. I have no shortage of ideas, but I also want to make sure I’m tapping into things that people are interested in. So, I would…

Is inattention a kind of addiction? If we can’t focus on what we want to, is it because we can’t help focusing on something else? Can we substitute an “addiction” to something positive — maybe actually thinking about what’s happening through the lens of the gospel? Addictions are sometimes physical, leading to urges that show…

Stephen C.’s most recent research roundup led to some discussion of Michelle Brady Stone’s article in the Journal of Mormon Polygamy (JMP), “Constructing Helen: Absences, Ambiguities, and Adjustments in the Historiography of Helen Mar Kimball.” Whatever status is conferred by peer review, and whatever reservations one might have about the journal, research publications ultimately have…

Are you distracted in Church? I look around and often it seems like distraction is a significant problem. If its not kids (yours or someone else’s), its your phone, which might well be called a portable distraction machine — if, like most people, you can’t get through a meal without picking up your phone, why…

Saturday night I attended a joint performance of the New York Philharmonic along with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. If you don’t know, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra plays Latin music, mostly salsa. As a result, the concert was not classical music. The concert was all salsa, played to a sold-out 3,500 seat 1920s era movie palace.…

One of the things the Covid-19 pandemic took from me was the chance to see the concerts and performances that my daughters would have had at the end of their freshman and senior years. One of the things I was given in their place was a chance to argue with vaccine skeptics online.

Over the past year I have read several parts of Rita Felski’s book, The Limits of Critique, a fascinating look at how the western world has constructed our form of critique. She argues, in part, that we assume that a critical distance is necessary from our subject, and that an adversarial and negative approach is…

In my post earlier today, with poetry for the Come Follow Me readings, I discussed the tension in our relationships between assenting and agreeing with others and differentiating from others (which sometimes appears as rebellion). This tension is a part of all of our lives—every relationship we have is about how much we agree with…

A frequently repeated Book of Mormon prophecy is often called the Native apocalypse, or the prophecy that “At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people…

LDS beliefs are firmly based in the idea of continuing revelation — both revelation to the Church as a whole, and personal continuing revelation to each of us. But sometimes we limit this idea by our assumptions. I think many of us assume that personal revelation comes at home, in personal prayer and contemplation. I’m…

LDS beliefs are firmly based in the idea of continuing revelation — both revelation to the Church as a whole, and personal continuing revelation to each of us. But sometimes we limit this idea by our assumptions. I think many of us assume that personal revelation comes at home, in personal prayer and contemplation. I’m…