Leider ist die Zeit des Jonathan Green zum blog mit uns zu einem Ende gekommen. Er war ein wundervoller Gast-blogger, der uns sehr viel unterhielt und unterrichtete. Danke so Jonathan und wir hoffen, dass Sie fortfahren, an Times & Seasons hier teilzunehmen!
Mitt Romney for President?
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has presidential aspirations.
History, Objectivity, and Stalin’s Toes
In times past, Mormon intellectualdom has been much exercised over the issue of objectivity and the writing of history. By and large, I think that these debates have focused on the wrong issues. Stalin’s toes help to illustrate one of the reasons why.
Sunday School Lesson 32
Lesson 32: Doctrine and Covenants 135
My School
I did not want to go to BYU.
Sunday School Lesson 31
Lesson 31: Doctrine and Covenants 131 & 132:4-33
The Real Handcart Song
My Pioneer Day wish for the day: let’s not forget the song as the pioneers themselves actually sang it:
Interracial Marriage
A commenter at Approaching Zion suggests that interracial marriage is wrong. The commenter, a critic of feminism, lists as one of the harms of feminism was that it “encourages single men to marry outside their race and culture.” What exactly is the status of church doctrine on interracial marriage, anyway?
John Roberts and Mormon Theology
For those who haven’t noticed, John Roberts has been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. The next obvious question is what does his jurisprudence tell us about Mormon theology.
The 12th Article of Faith and East Germany
“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” This statement of our belief never troubled me until I lived in the German Democratic Republic, otherwise known as East Germany.
Who I am, where I’ve been, what I’ve learned
I’m honored by Julie’s invitation to blog on this venerable site, amid such esteemed company. I thought I’d begin my introduction by mentioning my connection to several more regular T&S-ers. Julie Smith and I were housemates for two years at UT-Austin. She witnessed my courtship to my husband and attended my wedding. I’ve been grateful to continue my friendship with her in the meantime. I admire her tremendously on many levels, not least because she is probably the most organized, disciplined scholar I know.
Guest Blogger: Kirsten M. Christensen
I’m pleased to introduce Kirsten M. Christensen as our newest guest blogger. Kirsten has a PhD in Germanic Studies from UT-Austin and has taught at Mount Holyoke College and Notre Dame and is now at Pacific Lutheran University. She’s married to Ted Warren (who may have the most interesting job of anyone I know) and she has two adorable, smart, precious boys, Grayson and Hal.
HFPE
Griping about endless crafts at Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Meeting is a Bloggernacle staple. I’d like to try something different.
I was a Benson Scholar
Towards the end of my time at BYU, a friend mentioned to me that he knew some Benson scholars (today we would say Hinckley scholars, or more generically, presidential scholars), and that they were all stuck up and full of themselves. I told him, to his surprise, that I too was a Benson scholar, which goes to show that I can deceive even friends into thinking I’m a down-to-earth, non-snooty person. The Presidential Scholarship is the most prestigious academic scholarship granted by BYU to incoming freshmen. When I was a senior in high school, I spent many hours researching, writing, and formatting the written application. In the spring of 1989, BYU flew me and 29 other male finalists to campus (and 30 women the next week) for three days of interviews and evaluations.
I Shall Be Free
I got my bill today and it turns out that there really is something cheaper than a Germanist these days.
Three Generations of Mormon Legal History
Okay, it is time for another post on Mormon legal history. This one is on the state of the field and where we go from here.
When God became American
When God became American is the novelized biography of Joseph Smith by the French author Marc Chadourne: Quand Dieu se fit Americain.
The Adjunct Life
Two years ago, I came within twenty-four hours of abandoning my academic career before it started. None of the applications I had sent out had gone anywhere, I had completed my degree, and my department had no money to keep me around. We packed up and got ready to drive out of town and out of academia, but we had to stay an extra day because our car was still in the shop. It had only taken so long to fix because the factory had shipped the wrong replacement part. The night before we finally left, the College of Charleston called. Thirty-six hours later, after a telephone interview, they offered me a position. But for months afterwards, I wasn’t sure if I actually had an academic career or not. I was teaching full time, publishing articles and presenting papers, but I always wondered if perhaps I should correct my students when they addressed me as “professor.” Ever since, one year has been the longest time that I can confidently predict that my employment will continue, and with it my career. I am an adjunct, arriving unannounced to teach what I know for a year or two, and then leaving just as unceremoniously.
A Bloggernacle Beach Party
Boston area Bloggernackers, save the date: you and your families are invited to a beach party/barbecue at my house Saturday, July 30 from mid-afternoon (2-3ish) until whenever. Dinner around 6. We have room for weekend guests, too, if anybody wants to drive up from NYC or down from Montreal, or as one intrepid bloggernaclite is doing, drive out from Idaho in a U-Haul! E-mail me (Kristine at timesandseasons dot org) for directions.
Sunday School Lesson 30
Lesson 30: Doctrine and Covenants 2, 124:25-55, 127, 128, Joseph Smith — History 1:36-39
Sunday School Lesson 29
Lesson 29: Doctrine and Covenants 124: 1-21, 87-90, 97-110; Doctrine and Covenants 126
Swimming Lessons
My children have been taking swimming lessons. Naturally, this provides me with both motive and opportunity for asking self-indulgently angsty existential questions.
How Reed Smoot Restored what Winston Churchill had Preserved
It is hard not to admire Winston Churchill.
Taking Aim at Mormon Folklore
There has been some recent discussion of faith-promoting stories and other Mormon folklore, including its complex relationship to factual history, the difficulty of finding an original source, and the tension that skepticism can incite. My question is: if you can prove that a faith-promoting story is false, should you tell anyone? Is there any need for a Mormon Mythbusters? This is not a hypothetical question.