Death
Pre-Halloween Mormon Massacre
How do you write a Mormon-themed Halloween post? Â Thanks to SamBee at StayLDS, I was reminded that Oct 27 marks the 173rd “anniversary” of the Extermination Order. Â Even more gruesome is the fact that today, Oct 30, is the 173rd anniversary of the Haun’s Mill Massacre–a true horror-story fit for any Halloween tale.
Ten Years after 9/11
The past few days have brought a series of news stories remembering the terrible tragedy that happened 10 years ago. I was curious to see if there would be any differences in our church services. On the one hand, Music and the Spoken Word invited NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw to narrate a special tribute to […]
17 Miracles: The Faithful and Foolhardy Willie Handcart Company
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I really enjoy Mormon History, yet for some reason, I haven’t taken the time to become acquainted with the Martin and Willie Handcart disasters. I don’t have a good reason for that; I guess it is because other topics have more interest for me. I […]
4 Sports Stories You Should Know About
It’s been an interesting week. Â I was saddened to hear that Hall of Fame baseball player, Harmon Killebrew died Tuesday at the age of 74 of cancer. Â Killebrew played for the Minnesota Twins in the 1960s and 1970s. Â When he retired, he had hit more home runs in the American League than anyone except Babe […]
Ethical Dilemmas: My Sister’s Keeper
My wife and I watched My Sister’s Keeper from Netflix this weekend. Here’s the Netflix description: A former defense attorney (Cameron Diaz) finds herself back in the courtroom when she and her husband (Jason Patric) are sued for medical emancipation by their 11-year-old daughter, Anna (Abigail Breslin), who is expected to donate a kidney to […]
Thanksgiving and Happiness
I just finished a book called Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. Mitch is asked by his rabbi to deliver his eulogy, and the book details his efforts to get more acquainted with the rabbi. There is a wonderful message about gratitude and happiness that I wanted to share for Thanksgiving. The rabbi was […]
The Passing of Richard Van Wagoner
This is a sad day for Mormon History buffs. I have just learned that Richard Van Wagoner passed away on Saturday. He has written several book on Mormon History. I blogged about his Sidney Rigdon book, and he recently completed The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young. Here is a list of some of his books. […]
Songs That Touch Our Hearts
Since yesterday was Pioneer Day, I thought I’d share my thoughts on one of my favorite Pioneer Hymns. Most of you are probably familiar with Come, Come Ye Saints. It was one of my sister’s favorite songs, and she requested that it be played at her funeral. While I always liked the song, I can rarely […]
John Wooden: More Like a Methodist Minister Than a Basketball Coach.
One of my big passions is sports, though I don’t talk about it much on this blog. John Wooden died Friday night at the age of 99. He was an amazing coach and an amazing man. One person said Wooden was “more like a Methodist minister than a basketball coach.” ESPN put together a tribute […]
War and Prayer
Religion is supposed to be about peace, but often it is about war. Some of the worst religious wars include Islamic Jihad, Christian Crusades, and Joshua’s Unholy War. I wish Mormons didn’t have anything to be ashamed of, but I’ve been reading The Mountain Meadows Massacre by Juanita Brooks. One of the things I didn’t […]
Mormon Heretic 