Ben tells me that a few words of personal introduction are in order, both to introduce myself (since up to this point I’ve been a stranger to the blogosphere) and hopefully to contextualize some of what I’ll write over the next couple of weeks. Read More

My children are getting ready for Father’s Day, and this involves practicing that primary song about fathers of the home, the ward, and us all. So tonight we had an interesting dinner-table conversation, about whether the same structure applies to mothers. We have a mother of our home, and we have a mother of us all. Is there a such thing as the mother of the ward? Read More

I mainly read history because it is fun. I do, however, occasionally have other reasons. Read More

I love Elder Oaks’ talks. Read More

There are a small but growing number of gay Mormon men who comment regularly on T&S and other bloggernacle blogs. Read More

When I was a child, I tasted sour cream, and I immediately wondered, “why on earth would anyone willingly put that stuff into his mouth?” Read More

Nightline‘s first segment tonight focused on gay Mormons. Read More

Don’t miss this discussion (over at another blog) about just what the Bible has to say on homosexuality. Read More

There are two ways to eat out, broadly speaking: You can order a pre-set meal from the menu, or you can order a la carte. Do we have the same options with religion? Read More

Yes, today is 6/6/06. And apparently, some folks are celebrating it in Hell, too. We won’t go quite that far, here. However, in honor of the day, let me post this, from an e-mail that’s been circulating for a while: Number of the Beast: 666 Next door neighbor of the Beast: 668 Social Security Number of the Beast: 666-66-6666 Read More

Here is my personal legal analysis of the “Marriage Protection Amendment” that is pending before the U.S. Senate. Read More

In the sacrament we experience, as the hymn would have it, “communion sweet.” Why does that communion require bread and water, or analogs to them? Read More

I am not longer an attorney. Read More

The nacle has been around for some time now, and a culture of inside jokes and insider language has sprung up with terms like monkeys, peaches, fondue, chupacabras (chupacabrim?), and Bannergate. Nacle newcomers may find the local patois a bit off-putting. This post, intended as a basic field guide, may serve as a starting point for newbies. Read More

There have been some very strong posts of late in the bloggernacle. Two of particular note: -Guest-Eve at FMH* has a very thought-provoking post on Forgiving the Church. She begins, “the Church has brought me both the most profound and beautiful and some of the most heart-wrenching experiences of my life” — and it gets better from there. Don’t miss it! -Deborah at X2** writes “Making Sense of Sunday,” a post about love and loyalty and judgment and compassion (and as a bonus, it discusses SSM too!). Yet another don’t-miss. (Other strong recent offerings come from Serenity at LDSLF about… Read More

We have tentatively turned on comments for the past month’s posts, and those posts only. We hope that this will limit the spam and keep the database running. We’re keeping a close eye on the server. If it gets unstable, though, we will close comments again. (So if you’re posting a 32-paragraph novel in comments, make sure to save it as a Word doc first.) We’re looking into other possible technical solutions, and welcome feedback and suggestions. Read More

Eons ago in blog time, I did a post called “An Open Letter to the Dialogue Editorial Board.” Read More

A week ago, I spoke in church on the subject of charity. My talk focused on some questions from 1 Cor. 13 and Moroni 7. Read More

Maria, a seventy-five-year-old widow, member of our tiny Mormon branch, had asked me to meet her at a Notary’s office. She wanted me to be the executor of her will. I reluctantly agreed, remembering the council of a friend to avoid that kind of responsibility. But since I was the branch president… Read More

A few posts that I’ve noticed of late: -Bob Caswell at BnL asks how we tell the difference between doctrine and history. E.g., why is the Word of Wisdom doctrine while polygamy is merely history — and how are these decisions made? -Kathleen at some-other-blog writes on free agency and choices: How does our situation influence our choices and our agency, and how does that combination influence the consequences of our choices? –Lynette at ZD asks what it means to translate Christ’s life into our own actions. “I don’t think the question, ‘what would Jesus do?’ is always all that… Read More

Letter from First Presidency of the Church to Church Leaders in the United States We are informed that the United States Senate will on June 6, 2006, vote on an amendment to the Federal constitution designed to protect the traditional institution of marriage. Read More

The feel and smell of kangaroo fur is a central part of my understanding of Mormonism. Read More