With four excellent reviews here on T&S, as well as other discussions around the bloggernacle, you may think you’re covered as far as initial responses to Rough Stone Rolling.
Merry Christmas
and happy holidays.
RSR: What Hath Bushman Wrought?
Richard Bushman has written a fabulous book, and in so doing he tells us a great deal about the limits and possibilities of Mormon studies.
Book Review: Sister Eternal
Thank you, Elder Uchtdorf and Ben Sowards, for creating the first LDS children’s book that deserves to transcend the LDS market. .
Richard Bushman Responds: 12Q on RSR
Richard Bushman was gracious enough to respond to twelve questions about Rough Stone Rolling.
Yet another tech support bleg
An SQL problem of sorts has arisen, that is beyond our limited capabilities. Bryce to the rescue, once again. I say we double his T&S salary.
Rough Stone Rolls Into Times and Seasons
Since its release, Richard Bushman’s Rough Stone Rolling has been the subject of conference sessions, media reports, bloggernacle essays and academic conversations far and wide. Seeking to engage Bushman in a sustained and interactive conversation about this compelling new biography of Joseph Smith, we are pleased to announce a symposium running this week at Times and Seasons. Watch for a new review of the book to appear every day with a response from Bushman to follow. To introduce the symposium and provide a contrast to the coming reviews we thought it might be of interest to offer a window into what sorts of questions Rough Stone Rolling is raising for some non-LDS scholars. Last month at the annual meetings of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, one session was entirely devoted to responding to Bushman’s book. Here is the gist of what these scholars had to say.
Everyday Life in the Bishkek Baby House
For my last post, I wanted to write about the baby house (orphanage) I visit often.
Credit where credit is due
We have regular cause to be grateful to our tech-savvy readers who provide us with technical advice. Most recently, we’ve gotten some helpful tips from the blogger otherwise known as Miranda Park Jones David King Landrith.
Meanness
Though this horse is not dead yet, it still needs a good flogging.
Religious Holidays
One of my family’s favorite things is to celebrate religious holidays from around the world.
The Greatest Virtue on Earth
Last general conference, our prophet spoke the following sentence: ” I think X may be the greatest virtue on earth, and certainly the most needed.” What is X? Perhaps you remember it from the talk. If not, and if you wish to humor me for a minute with some participatory blogging, then try this for an exercise: Think over the sentence for a minute, and write down your three or four best possible answers for X. Think you’ve got it? Click through for further discussion.
St. Nicholas’ Day
When I was growing up, we always celebrated St. Nicholas’ Day (December 6th). As I child, it was all about my glee in getting my stocking filled weeks before my friends would get any holiday loot. But as a parent, I’ve found this to be a wonderful holiday to celebrate–one that provides a counterpoint to the Christmas hoopla.
Conversion, Culture, and Buying Members
The mufti here in Bishkek spoke at a conference on religious tolerance a few days ago. He has recently returned from a trip to the United States and said that if Muslims want Islam to be more respected in America, Muslim countries need to allow religious freedom in their own countries.
Twelve Questions with Greg Whiteley
Greg Whiteley, the director of the very well-received new movie New York Doll, has kindly agreed to answer questions from our readers.
Progress Report
So we’re supposed to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. That’s not so hard. In fact, I read the first chapter today. One down, eight to go. Now what’s so difficult about that?
Lessons on Suing the Church from Commodity Traders
People often get upset with members who sue the Church. Why? As you might expect, I think that the answer lies in contract disputes between commodity traders.
Give to the Beautiful
We had a seminar recently from an experimental economist out of the University of Chicago. He has done a variety of cool things using field experiments. Let me mention the one he presented. The experiment involved sending people door to door to do fund raising for a (real) charity. The fundraisers (who were college students) were paid $10/hour. Men averaged about $9/hour in donations. There was little correlation between their productivity and their appearance. Pretty women got about $17/hour in donations.
The Real Reason
Matt Evans and I went a few rounds at one of those other blogs over the reason behind falling LDS birthrates. Turns out we were both wrong.
Wilfried: My conversion
I posted my conversion story before under the title Why I have a testimony. As part of “My conversion” week, I use it again here, adding a little introduction on my childhood.
Julie’s Conversion Story
[I’m reposting my conversion story here to round out our week of conversion stories.]
The Russian Word for Rain
My conversion has been a lot more like studying a language than being granted the gift of tongues.
Gordon: My Conversion
When I first learned that Joseph Smith had written more than one version of the First Vision, I understood completely. Like Jim, I have “any number of versions” of my conversion story.
Gina’s Conversion Story
[After I posted my conversion story, Gina sent me hers. I thought it was wonderful and asked her permission to share it with our readers. With her gracious permission, here is Gina’s story.–Julie]