Last week my bishop encouraged us to read M. Russell Ballard’s talk “Pure Testimony” from last General Conference. I did, and it has caused me to reevaluate how I share my own testimony. Read More

I recently returned from what may turn out to have been a very important job interview. (Then again, it may not.) When my wife mentioned this interview to a friend via e-mail, the friend wrote back, asking if I’d received a priesthood blessing before I’d gone. I hadn’t. Read More

Next fall my firstborn will start kindergarten. As such he has the choice between the local elementary (4 blocks from home) and the charter school (Freedom Academy). He has other choices but he isn’t going to exercise them, so we’ll ignore those. Read More

For those interested, here is the final schedule for the LDS Law Students’ Conference Read More

The Book of Mormon has a number of not so complimentary things to say about contention. Generally speaking, I have heard this interpreted as an admonition to be nice and change the subject if anything controversial comes up. My problem with this, of course, is that I am not especially nice, and I like controversy. Read More

Karl was a stutterer and he had to say the sacrament prayer. Read More

In honor of Valentine’s Day, a love simile: If married love were chocolate, it would be have to be a bittersweet dark, because no chalky milk or bland white could adequately convey the depth, complexity, and challenge of fidelity in marriage. Read More

For those in the New York City area this weekend, you have a chance to come and heckle Kaimi and I in person. Read More

My wife just mentioned this to me, and it has me wondering. If the church really wants mothers to stay at home, then why do many full-time church employees seem not to be paid enough to make that happen? Read More

Yes, Pink. Apparently the color scheme of at least one bloggernacle site is enough to deter workplace browsing. John F. writes that he cannot visit Feminist Mormon Housewives while at work, because “ I feel nervous about a fellow associate walking in (or a partner, for that matter) and seeing the hot pink and knowing what they are wondering.“ Read More

Here’s a verse for the poor slaves and servants to that vile master, p0rnography. Read More

This evening, my wife (aka She Who Must Be Obeyed) and I were having an interesting discussion about the topic of her forthcoming Relief Society lesson. I thought that I would improve the average quality of the posts here by passing on her thoughts and questions. She writes: Read More

Today in Priesthood we studied Lesson 3 in the Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay. Rarely have I felt so out of sync with the lesson. Read More

In an interesting editorial in today’s Chicago Tribune (reg. req’d), my friend Professor David Skeel of the University of Pennsylvania Law School discusses the use of faith as a defense to criminal charges by several prominent CEOs, including Bernard Ebbers of WorldCom Inc., Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth Corp., and Kenneth Lay of Enron Corp. David wonders, “How did it turn out that the leaders of three of the most scandal-ridden companies all publicly professed their faith?” Read More

Two weeks ago I caught a few minutes of a story on NPR about the Church’s Indian Placement Program. Read More

Consider two different Mormon reactions to state-sponsored repression: the anti-polygamy crusade and Mormons in East Germany. Read More

The topic of media bias comes up regularly on Times & Seasons. Read More

Some of us like to throw in some Latin from time to time. Read More

The idea of Ash Wednesday is to mark a period–a period of mourning and chastening, discipline and devotion–of 40 days before Easter. The significance of the 40 days goes without saying. But why ashes? Read More

Mardi Gras is early this year. Now I am scrambling to find a King Cake in Madison. I lived in Louisiana for one year, and I was fascinated by the Christian calendar. So how many of you, besides Kristine, are looking forward to Lent? Read More

We’ve all enjoyed the posts by Eric James Stone, who has been our guest blogger for the past weeks. All good things must come to an end, however, Eric’s guest-blogging stint among them. Fortunately, you can still read Eric’s posts over at his own blog. And you can read some of his stories in print (1 and 2) as well. Read More

The University of Wisconsin takes great pride in its tradition of academic freedom. As a new professor, I was told repeatedly the story of Professor Richard T. Ely (watch the video), a labor economist who was accused by Oliver E. Wells, Wisconsin’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction and a member of the Board of Regents, of providing a moral justification for strikes and boycotts. Read More

When my professional life is going well it consists of reading and writing appellate briefs. Fortunately, this is not nearly as pathetic as it sounds. Read More