Ethics
Abortion and Crime
I originally posted this on Wheat and Tares in August 2011, but wanted to add it here since I just talked about a Freakonomics podcast on Baptism for the Dead. A friend of mine introduced me to the Freakonomics podcast that you can download from iTunes. Two Steve’s (Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt) put together […]
The Worth of $ouls
“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (D&C 18:10). But how much is a soul worth? Freakonomics tries to answer the question. For those of you unfamiliar with Freakonomics, it was originally a book written by two Steves: Dubner and Levitt. Levitt is an economist for the University of Chicago […]
Re-Evaluating Gay Scriptures
Reverend Dr. Laurence C. Keene, Disciples of Christ, “When people ask questions about homosexuality, almost always they follow with, ‘and what does the Bible really say about it?’ The preceding quote comes from an interesting documentary on Netflix called For the Bible Tells Me So. The documentary discusses traditional and liberal Christian beliefs about homosexuality […]
Jana Riess: Truth Doesn't have to be Empirical
Jana Riess has recently published a book called Flunking Sainthood in which she decides to spend 1 month participating in various spiritual rituals. For example, she spent one month fasting from sun up to sun down as a pious Muslim would do during Ramadan (though she picked the month of February because it had the […]
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 […]
Balaam: Prophet, Wicked One, Both, Neither?
I finally got around to one of my requests! Tara and I have been discussing several topics, such as the Priesthood Ban, Polygamy, and Abraham, and the story of Balaam always seems to come up. She takes the position that Balaam is a fallen prophet, but I think he never was a prophet. Here’s my […]
Mormons and Indians in the Great Plains
I have some good news, and some bad news. First the good news–I got a new job! Now the bad news–my new job will interfere with my frequent blogging, so there will definitely be a decrease in activity. My book club has been reading a book called Establishing Zion by Eugene Campbell. I couldn’t find […]
Sidney and Joseph – A Strained Friendship – Part 4
With Sidney running the church in Quincy, Joseph and others were still in the Liberty Jail. Through the first 10 years of the church, Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith seem to be in lock step with each other. However, the Nauvoo period seems to show a few cracks in the friendship. Were they serious? Well, […]
Larry Miller, Right to Die
It’s not often that my 2 loves (religion and sport) combine in a way for me to write about both. Here in Utah, the death of Larry Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz, is big news. Outside this area, it’s not a big story.
Mormon Heretic 