Mormon
Mapping Elections and Mormonism
“Maps are powerful tools”, said John Hamer at the 2011 John Whitmer Historical Association meetings. His remarks have be published in the latest issue of the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal (Fall/Winter 2012). He goes on to say Beyond their capacity to dazzle, maps allow historians to organize information in a completely different way than […]
Q&A with Terryl and Fiona Givens
What a week! I had the pleasure of attending sessions with both Ron Paul and Terryl Givens. Now I have to choose whether to write about Ron Paul, or Terryl Givens. Tough choice. Given that political discussions often devolve into ideological (and often irrational) arguments, I’m just not in the mood for Ron Paul this […]
Romney's Lighter Side
Mitt Romney and President Obama spoke at Al Smith’s dinner tonight, put aside politics for a night and told some jokes. Mitt brought some pretty good Mormon jokes to the dinner. I thought I would share a few, as well as a Sesame Street joke immediately after. “Of course this isn’t a night for serious […]
Realistically Curtailing Abortion
“Many laws permit or even promote abortion, but to us this is a great evil,” Elder Oaks said in Saturday afternoon’s session of General Conference. Oaks is just one of many religious leaders that call abortion evil, but are there more effective ways to curb abortions than to simply stand on a soapbox? A recent […]
The Sacred/Secret Temple
I had the pleasure of attending the closed-circuit dedication of the Brigham City Temple this afternoon. Â My family was able to walk through the temple a few weeks ago. Â While the architecture seems somewhat reminiscent of the Salt Lake Temple, it is one of the newer, much smaller temples that the church now builds. Â Boyd […]
Acceptable Use of Cult/Not Christian
Well, I thought my Carthage post was long dormant, but it has received a burst of activity lately.  One commenter has decided that it is acceptable to refer to Mormonism as a cult.  I find this HIGHLY objectionable, but he continues to derail the discussion over there.  So, I am going to create a new conversation […]
Questions for Mormons
Most of the people who come to my blog are Mormons, but there are some that aren’t. Â I have been surprised that my 3-year old post on the Trial of Joseph’s Assassins has suddenly developed a spirited discussion. Â I want to keep that post on topic, so I have decided to move some of the […]
The Purpose of Fasting
Our ward doesn’t start until 11. In our family, we’ve encouraged our children to fast once they are baptized. My oldest son is ten, and my daughter is eight. One morning, after the deacons came to our house to collect fast offerings, I caught my son crouching in the kitchen trying to hide a yogurt […]
Abraham: Breaking the Cycle of Child Abuse
The Biblical story of Abraham is an interesting story for me on several levels. In the past, I’ve talked about different academic perspectives of him, my personal discomfort with how he mistreated his wife Hagar, and I have also compared the Book of Abraham to Islamic texts. Tresa Edmunds has her own blog, and is […]
Mormon Heretic 