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15 responses
The October 2004 New Era was a special issue dedicated to marriage and dating. As a member of a singles ward, I was encouraged to read the issue, so I did. Frankly, it was to me more a source of hilarity than inspiration– probably at least in part because I was almost twice the age of their target audience. One of my roommates and I amused ourselves for a couple of hours reading our favorite passages aloud and laughing our heads off. Read More
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29 responses
Last Friday and Saturday, I participated in a panel at the Miller-Eccles group, on the topic of Mormon blogging. Read More
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69 responses
So yesterday I was hanging out after church waiting for my Elder’s Quorum President to finish his business so my companion and I could home teach him. Read More
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23 responses
We are pleased to present to you John David Payne as a guest blogger. Read More
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15 responses
When we are not in our “Mormons are not weird”-PR mode, Read More
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21 responses
Do historians also need to be credible witnesses in the evidentiary sense? I think they do. Read More
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71 responses
Yes, really. Actual fun–even laughing. With feminists! Read More
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Book of Mormon, Church History, Cornucopia, General Doctrine, Latter-day Saint Thought, Law, Life in the Church
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32 responses
Not too long ago, I stumbled across the PBS presentation of Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs, and Steel (2d ed. 1999). It reminded me of dealing with the book at college and enjoying the ideas presented and the sweeping take of world history that it offered. But while watching the presentation and contemplating the message of the book itself, I was reminded about how much Diamond’s whole analysis depends solely on inference from extremely scant historical evidence.[1] Read More
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29 responses
Thanks to The Atlantic, I’m in the middle of reading the book From the Hook of Holland to the Horn of Constantinople. When the author was in his late teens in the early 30s, he decided on a whim to walk across Europe and this is his memoir. Read More
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19 responses
Lesson 14: Exodus 15-20, 32-34 Read More
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47 responses
Mermaids illustrate the problems faced by non-Mormon readers of Mormon histories Read More
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44 responses
So maybe I missed something, but I’m pretty sure that one genre the Saints haven’t touched is black comedy. I’m not much of a narrative writer, though, so think of the following as sitting on little scraps of paper on a rickety table in my front yard with a hand-lettered cardboard sign next to them reading ‘Free to a Good Home.’ Read More
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46 responses
Why does Mick Jagger’s observation ever come as a surprise, to any of us? Read More
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19 responses
Lesson 13: Exodus 1-3, 5-6, 11-14 Before looking in detail at the scriptures for this week, consider these parallels between the story of Moses’s life and the story of Israel’s experience: Read More
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7 responses
Cheryl White, an amazing artist who lives in Central Texas, was kind enough to open her home and studio to me (and my three rambunctious boys) for a tour last week. This is what we saw. Read More
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20 responses
For Boston-based Naclers: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich will be speaking this Sunday in a panel discussion addressing the question “Where Have All the Mormon Feminists Gone?” Other panelists are Maxine Hanks, Kate Holbrook, and me. The event will be at Quincy House at Harvard University at 7:30 p.m. (The answer? Gone for bloggers, every one. When will they ever learn…?) Read More
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32 responses
Mid-march is the season of the burning bush: the crocuses are done, the daffodils are almost on, but for now it’s the forsythia that owns the day. Read More
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98 responses
I have a confession. I am an Elders’ Quorum instructor and I like the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church manuals. Really. Read More
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62 responses
Recently, at Feminist Mormon Housewives, a few relatively heated comments focused on church contact with ex-members. Read More
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6 responses
I apologize in advance for writing about a topic that is at least closely related to, if not the same as Nate’s. But it is his fault. He made me start thinking about the question of freedom and its relation to justice. Read More
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39 responses
Lesson 12: Genesis 40-45 Read More
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16 responses
Our latest guest brings a Fowles mouth and even more Fowles reputation. Read More
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16 responses
Born 11 days ago, Jacob is happy and healthy as is his (sleep-deprived) mother. A picture of him in the hospital is available here for a few more days. Read More
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25 responses
“Ama-ar-gi,” a Sumerian word, has the distinction of being the oldest written instance of the concept of freedom or liberty, appearing on a clay tablet from about 2300 B.C. The word itself has something to say about the vexed question of the relationship between Mormonism and liberty or freedom. Read More
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40 responses
This will be my last post at T&S. I’d like to thank those who gave me this opportunity and those who have participated on my posts. It’s been fun. We appear to be a top-down institution, the higher-ups telling those below them what to do, but my experience indicates to me that we work from the bottom-up. An example: Read More
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64 responses
Nate posted recently about the “Gentile Boogie” — that is, things people do or say when they don’t think a Mormon is around. Nate’s post suggests a world of subtle exclusions and small slights. There is a much darker side to the Gentile Boogie, though — one that I caught a glimpse of, a decade ago. Read More
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13 responses
Here’s a systematic approach to preparing a lesson on a passage of scripture. Read More
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13 responses
Jared Ludlow has been at BYU-Hawaii since 2000 and is an assistant professor in the History and Religion Departments. He earned his PhD in a joint program in Near Eastern Religions from the University of California-Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union. He is the author of Abraham Meets Death: Narrative Humor in the Testament of Abraham. Read More
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9 responses
I was browsing through my mission journal a bit ago and decided to copy a few excerpts for your reading pleasure (or boredom). A few observations: 1) I was extremely moody/emotional. 2) The first half of my mission all I talked about was Shelley, my pre-mish girlfriend who I wanted to wait for me, who was there when I got back, who I didn’t marry. 3) 95% of what I wrote is embarrassing to read. 4) I was a little kid. 5) I grew a lot. 6) The mission isn’t nearly as romantic when you’re going through it as it… Read More