- TexasAbuelo on Judging in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 9/20: “Alma—- don’t ever recall a fellow bishop using discernment as a “trump card”. Sorry you had that experience… ones I’ve worked with used it to guide them to members needing a word of encouragement or help or strengthening… not asca gotcha card or some tool of superiority… anyone doing the latter sure as shooting clearly has lost their way re: what spiritual gifts are for —- to bless and comfort and help” Oct 2, 15:56
- on A Review: Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador: “Not a Cougar, Haws shies away from anything that might put Richard Bushman in a negative light, so he discussed what Bushman was trying to achieve (i.e., innoculation through introducing information) and focused on times that succeeded, though he mentioned general authorities being concerned about it. (And I don’t feel like this is a thread jack to talk about it! I would be interested in what Packer thought too, though I believe he was a driving force in shutting down the history department after encountering Bushman’s earlier work on Joseph Smith.) Dave, I have not actually read I, Claudia yet. It’s on my to-do list, but the book came out when Greg Kofford books was going through a transition of its publicists, and getting me a copy fell through the cracks. I haven’t bought a copy yet, but hope to get to it someday.” Oct 2, 14:20
- on A Review: Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador: “I am rereading RSR with my teen age sons and admire the author and his work even more than when I read it when it came. He is a great man and a giant for the faith. Arrington, Bushman, LTU, and Givens are on my Rushmore of faithful post WW2 LDS historians. Grant Hardy is my 5th and Mauss my 6th. Happy to live in an era of faithful and smart academics.” Oct 2, 14:11
- on A Review: Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador: “Thanks so much for this review, Chad. Have you read Claudia Bushman’s memoir (I, Claudia)? I’ve begun it, and if you’ve read/reviewed it, interested on your take given the gap mentioned above. On the previous comments on the impact of some of RL Bushman’s books, I can imagine the impact going both ways: some people losing testimony because of Rough Stone Rolling and other people feeling like maybe the Church has space for them if someone writing like Bushman feels comfortable within the institution. (That was my experience, and I’m still in the Church, many years hence.) One could imagine that Bushman agreed with Packer’s principle that some things are true but not useful but disagreeing with Packer’s particular judgment as to which things fall into which category. I found Bushman’s diary on the year after publishing Rough Stone Rolling (entitled On the Road with Joseph Smith) to be quite insightful, with different leaders of the Church both praising the value of the book and others indicating that it was faith demoting.” Oct 2, 14:05
- on A Review: Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador: “Ben, oh most definitely. Would love to know what President Packer would have had to say of RSR (and apologies to Chad for straying a bit from the post’s main theme).” Oct 2, 13:25
- on A Review: Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador: “I think that depends on how one defines “utility.”” Oct 2, 13:12
- on A Review: Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador: “Chad, thanks for sharing this. Brother Bushman certainly stands tall among the faithful scholars of the Church. Perhaps J.B. Haws addressed this in the book (or Brother Bushman did himself somewhere else), but I would be interested to hear one of them discuss discuss the impact of his books on the greater Latter-day Saint community. I’m well acquainted with a few people who point to reading Rough Stone Rolling as the point in their lives when they stop believing the Church to be true. Does Brother Bushman feel any responsibility for that? Certainly he seems to have disagreed with President Packer’s assessment that there are things that are true that are not useful.” Oct 2, 13:05
- on Are Handbells Appropriate for Sacrament Meeting?: “Haha! That actually made me laugh out loud. Though, you’re not wrong.” Oct 1, 20:18
- on Are Handbells Appropriate for Sacrament Meeting?: “What I assume Chad is thinking during every ward musical performance: I have a fevuh! And the only prescription… is more handbell.” Oct 1, 19:14
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, September 2026: “Christianity and evolution. It is very simple. Genesis recapitulates the first 200k years of the human species. We lived in the Garden of Eden as hunter/gatherers. We did not have to labor or plant or harvest. We just lived off the goodness of the earth. It was women who selected for intelligence in their mates who brought about the modern world. It was women who created the calamity of choices and the curse of knowledge.” Oct 1, 14:58
