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38 responses
The feel and smell of kangaroo fur is a central part of my understanding of Mormonism. Read More
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56 responses
Weimar Germany was a tremendously sophisticated and creative place. Read More
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16 responses
It happened last night, around midnight, on a near-empty gym floor, after I took a break from grading exams to go work out for a while. I’ve found that I can’t control these things, really — I just take them where they fall, and sometimes, wonderfully, they fall on me. Read More
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31 responses
Lesson 21: 1 Samuel 2-3, 8 Read More
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10 responses
I don’t really believe in coincidences since my last visit to Palmyra, New York, where I learned of the deep relationship between jello and Mormonism Read More
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15 responses
This morning the five-year-old was first, in the kitchen just before nine. Read More
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35 responses
“Utah has the nation’s highest rate of depression among thirty-seven-year old ambidextrous Battlestar Galactica fans named Zeb.” (That’s based on rock-solid statistical statistickizing.) However, “Utah [also] has the lowest rate of Tuesday afternoon divorce of any mountainous state located west of the Mississippi.” Read More
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151 responses
I think that motherhood and priesthood are parallel; I know that many of you don’t. And one argument against my position that I see frequently is that you need the cooperation of the opposite sex (not to mention the blessing of fertility) to be a mother but not to be a priesthood holder. I’ve never found that argument persuasive, but until now, I haven’t been able to articulate why. Read More
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82 responses
My wife and I read The Da Vinci Code two years ago. Describing the book on T&S, I used "clumsy," "tedious," and "implausible" in one sentence. When I saw that the film was getting panned by the critics, I was not very excited about seeing it, but Friday is "date day" for my wife and me, and we decided to judge for ourselves. I thought the movie was better than the book. Much better. Read More
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30 responses
There are a few passages of scripture that, it seems to me, get surprisingly little play in Mormon discourse, despite the fact that they speak clearly and forcefully about issues of interest. Read More
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40 responses
Earlier this week the Utah Supreme Court issued its opinion in State v. Holm. If you are interested in Mormonism, law, history, or (best of all!) Mormon legal history, you ought to read it. Read More
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16 responses
Lesson 20: Ruth; 1 Samuel 1 Read More
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12 responses
Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson once famously remarked, “We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” Does this adage apply to the church as well? Read More
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10 responses
Suppose that you splurged for the $6 version of the Church’s scriptures on CDROM. It has various ancient language toys that I am in no position to evaluate but am happy to play with. It also has a fun little tool such that when you do a search, you can click on a tab “Sort by Neighbors”. Ever wonder what that did? Read More
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22 responses
Lesson 19: Judges 2; 4; 6-7; 13-16 Read More
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3 responses
Yesterday saw an interesting thread at BCC on the question of what sorts of procedures could we imagine for creating better feedback from members to leaders within the Church. Read More
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19 responses
Lesson 18: Joshua 1-6, 23-24 Read More
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66 responses
To a large degree Mormonism is about the recapitulation of the past. Read More
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81 responses
If you’ve had any cooking training, you almost certainly were told to salt the water in which you cook vegetables. It turns out that, objectively/scientifically, it doesn’t matter whether you do. Read More
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40 responses
How prepared should a person be before being baptized? How long should this preparation take? Recently the permabloggers had a brief e-mail exchange on this topic. The participants found it interesting to submit it to our broader forum. Read More
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15 responses
How do we know that Jael, Heber’s wife, was very righteous? Read More
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118 responses
Maybe it is time to turn correlation over to the market. Read More
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23 responses
Balaam is often mentioned as a fallen prophet, but the main description of him (in Numbers 22-4) doesn’t obviously support this. Read More
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24 responses
Maybe we should spend more time thinking about how the ancient Romans dealt with the problem of globalization. Read More
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224 responses
A comment from my introduction: #2 I hope you feel inspired to blog on your unique perspective on polygamy. That would be fascinating, I think. Read More
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40 responses
What is the precise nature of Mormon liberalism? Read More
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38 responses
Consider the following two scriptures about the scriptures: Read More
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34 responses
I’ll admit it: I really am more likely to bring my scriptures to church if I know I’ll get a cookie for it. Read More
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9 responses
I’ve been thinking lately about a few conference talks. For a variety of reasons, Elder Nelson’s talk from last fall, Jesus Christ, the Master Healer, has been especially on my mind this Easter season. Let me share a few snippets. Read More