Mormon
Ken Burns on the Context of the MMM
I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ 1996 documentary series on The West. Â It’s a 9 part series, so it takes a bit of effort to get through. Â Of course Burns spends some time discussing the Mormons, and I found his treatment of Mormons within the context of the western United States very interesting. In Part 4: […]
Failure of Leadership
We are down to crunch time.  I can’t believe that our Congress is so dysfunctional.  There’s plenty of blame to go around.  Where should I start? Let’s start with everyone in the photograph!  D&C 38:27 “I say unto you, be aone; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.” Obviously, they’re not handling this […]
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 […]
Magi from China
A few years ago, Revelation of the Magi was first translated into English. I’ve wanted to blog about it for a time, but now seems appropriate. According to ABC News, An ancient text called the “Revelation of the Magi,” has been rediscovered and tells a very different version of the Three Wise Men’s journey to […]
Reassessing the Birth of Jesus
In a 2010 article in BYU Studies, Professor Jeffrey R. Chadwick of BYU made the case that Jesus was born in December of 5 BC. In the most recent issue of BYU studies, professors Lincoln Blumel and Thomas Wayment review Chadwick’s article and make the case that his handling of certain ancient sources, including the […]
Mormon Misconceptions about Sex
After highlighting a Muslim couple dealing with sexual problems, the TLC channel showed a Mormon couple with their own sexual problems. I was frankly astonished at how the couple portrayed Mormon beliefs, because it seems quite outdated. In the show (available on Netflix), Nate and Monique state that are members of the LDS Church, and […]
Honeymoon Problems
Samira and Firas are a Muslim couple married in August 2009. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been watching the TLC program, Strange Sex (also available on Netflix.) For Firas and Samira, it was love at first sight. One week after meeting, Firas asked Samira’s father for permission to marry. Muslims have even […]
Is Gender Really Eternal?
The Proclamation on the Family states that “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.† We know that gender is related to genitalia, but sometimes that can be a bit confusing. I talked previously about Intersex individuals, and TLC has a show (also available on Netflix) called Strange Sex. […]
Conjoined Twins: Lori and George Schappell
Lori and George Schappell are the oldest living craniopagus (joined at the head)Â twins. Â The twin girls were born in 1961, and it was believed that they not only shared blood vessels in the brain, but also had a fused brain. Â They share the frontal lobe of the brain, and scientists wondered if they might share […]
Mormon Heretic 