- Chad Nielsen on The Bronze Threads of Fate: A Handbell Journey: “Jonathan, it’s a great aspect of handbells. I’ve been collecting stories of how each ensemble that exists in Utah came to be, and there is a lot of that. A couple of those stories even involved teenagers going out and doing fund raising by selling sandwiches or candy bars to be able to purchase a set of bells. It’s fun. Thanks, Mom! You’re definitely one of the heroes of this story.” Oct 11, 20:46
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “@PWS: “The gift of testimony is deeply personal. It is received in the intimacy of our relationship with God and shaped according to our unique experiences, circumstances, and needs….Your testimony may be different from mine or that of other family members or fellow Saints. Please trust it, nurture it, and bear it, because it is uniquely yours.” –Elder Gérald Caussé (last week) “Preserve, then, the freedom of your mind in education and in religion, and be unafraid to express your thoughts and to insist upon your right to examine every proposition. We are not so much concerned with whether your thoughts are orthodox or heterodox as we are that you shall have thoughts.” –President Hugh B. Brown There will always be voices calling for orthodoxy in the Church as well as voices that value differences. That’s rooted in human nature and some of the fundamental ways people differ. At the leadership level, it feels like those who value differences are ascendant, or at least ascending, perhaps because exposure to the global Church makes them realize the gospel doesn’t make everyone the same. But your ward may vary. I hope you’ll insist on participating in your ward whether you’re welcome or not. It’s your Church too. And in my experience, if you contribute to the community you’ll eventually convince people you really do mean well and will be accepted. As someone told Eugene England, “Gene, you’ve got to keep your hair short and always do your home teaching, to show you’re really OK despite your liberal ideas.” (I’m not endorsing the hair part.) Sing in the choir if you can. Not only is it a good way to contribute; you’ll find good people there. @Lion of the Lord: Seems to me that as the mainstream right has lost its way in the United States it has become easier to see that the Church was independent of it all along. You’re absolutely correct that it doesn’t work to try to fit the Church onto the left/right spectrum. The pluralism that President Oaks endorsed in his recent speech on the Constitution used to be a bedrock of the American creed, but now it doesn’t really fit in either party.” Oct 11, 20:42
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “Jonathan Green: Keeping Elder Cooks words in mind from GC, I would like to kindly push back on some of what you said. Though the Church has moved more to the center, I still see it as more conservative then the Republican Party on certain issues, such as sexuality. From where I am standing, I mostly see Trump and the Republican Party as moderate, with its stance on immigration being one of the only things that is Right of center. If I’m being honest with you, I only agree with about 50% of Republican policies, mainly because I don’t see them as being all that conservative, it having acquiesced on many social issues, along with it being weded to big business. As for Bishop Caussé’s environmental talk, from the blog post you shared, I am probably one of the few right of center members that didn’t hate it, but actually saw it as being conservative in nature. I mainly get this view because I’m a conservative in the vein of Russell Kirk, who wasn’t a raging capitalist, and cared about the environment. I personally hate how anti environment the Right has gotten, but that’s mainly because the Left has gone bonkers. Defacing Stonehenge, along with a Van Gough painting did not help. Anyway, sorry for being so long winded, and I truly hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.” Oct 11, 18:20
- on The Bronze Threads of Fate: A Handbell Journey: “You did not mention how much you practiced the piano,the organ, then the bells. I think you helped the nudges along the way by your diligence. This article made me tear up several times, thank you for sharing it.” Oct 11, 16:16
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “So if just finished listening to the whole podcast, and I actually think this particular podcast was great vis-a-vis the Church. It was brought up with a light enough touch but in a favorable enough light that it was about as good as could be hoped for, even coming from a nonbeliever :) (Incidentally, it’s interesting that everybody got hung up on the issue of his beliefs which I didn’t mean as any kind of attack or jab, but nobody commented on the last sentence which I did very much mean as a bit of a jab).” Oct 11, 15:21
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “If I said or wrote something that made someone wonder about my belief, and that person asked me about it, then providing a clear witness would be an urgent and crucial obligation. As much as someone in mourning or in need of comfort, answering questions about our faith is something we do for the person in front of us, especially if we have plausibly raised those questions. LotL: No, as I have argued for a while, the Church is consciously choosing center-ish positions and rejecting far-left and far-right views. In many cases, it’s because our political extremes have collectively lost their minds and the Church is not interested in following along. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I like our centrist Church a lot and I think moving towards the center is the right move.” Oct 11, 15:16
- on The Bronze Threads of Fate: A Handbell Journey: “I love the examples of people wishing for something they lacked (in this case, handbell choirs), then just creating it on their own, with the result that countless people’s lives are enriched by it over the space of decades. We need more people who do things like that.” Oct 11, 14:48
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “I more or less agree with Stephen and Israel Gonzalez about McLellan and his supposed “data”. If I’m being honest, they are actually being very fair and just too him, or to use scripture, they are judging him with righteous judgement. To those splitting hairs about data being different from ones opinion, I would like to remind you that they are very interconnected and often inform each other. Depending on what data or information you use, you either become more right or left wing politically, morally, etc. Lastly, the disunity and contention currently found within the church has mostly been the Church’s own doing. Up to the presidency of President Monson one could clearly see that the Church was more or less right of center when it came to most social and political issues. (Prop 8, most GC talks, etc.) Under President Nelson, the Church became very moderate, and in some ways Left leaning. This middle of the road approach has upset both sides. Both wanting the leadership to agree with them, and both disliking the milk toast social takes. Put simply, as found within Revelation 3: 15-16, they want to be told if their views are either hot or cold, and dislike not being told. Personally, I want the Church to choose a side and let the chips fall where they may.” Oct 11, 13:40
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “Being openly Mormon in academia and social media circles means paying twice, in skepticism from colleagues and listeners and in suspicion from members, and it’s fair to be frustrated when someone with standing in both worlds seems to skip the hard part. But I think these comments assume more than they show. Describing what the data show isn’t “putting weight on the side of doubt” unless faith depends on the data coming out a certain way. And “refuses to explain anywhere” is a strong claim. Has he declined to talk about his faith, or just not given the specific account you’d want? I’d also read the Mosiah 18 comparison differently. Mourning and comforting are things we do for people in front of us. Being a witness means bearing testimony of Christ, and that can take many forms. It doesn’t clearly include a duty to publish a theory of how scholarship and devotion fit together, on demand, to an audience that will grade the answer.” Oct 11, 09:00
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “I agree with RLD that I want people to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I used to believe that meant inviting them to participate in worship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It honestly kind of breaks my heart that I don’t any longer feel safe in issuing that invitation. These posts and discussions are a pretty good example of why I can’t encourage anyone to participate—I can’t know which church I will be inviting them to. The gospel is vitally important. The path of discipleship leads us to be better people. And the meanness, judgment, and shunning are real. I’m a lifelong, committed member. I have all the “spiritual credentials” marking me as being successfully on the covenant path. Yet one of the few things I’m certain of is that I’m not welcome at church. It doesn’t matter how sincere my testimony is. All that matters is that it’s not the right kind of testimony. This post reinforced that conviction.” Oct 10, 15:55
