Movie/Book Reviews
LDS Film Festival 2013
While the Sundance Film Festival gets all the press, Utah County is also home to the LDS Film Festival. Â I reviewed the schedule, and thought I would point out a few films that sound interesting at the Scera Theater in Orem, Utah. Wednesday – Opening night
The Trials and Deaths of John D. Lee and Brigham Young
I wanted to continue Ken Burns’ discussion of the aftermath of the Mountain Meadows as part of his series, The West (available on Netflix.) In Part 6, he discussed the trial of John D. Lee. At the beginning of part 6, he begins with this introduction. By 1874, Washington had launched still another assault on […]
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: […]
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 […]
Holiday Violence
It’s been a rough few weeks. 1. Dec 1, 2012. (Left photo) Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Javon Belcher killed his girlfriend, drove to the Chiefs’ Stadium, talked to his coaches and then killed himself in front of them. 2. Dec 11, 2012. (Middle photo) Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, entered a crowded Portland, Oregon mall and […]
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 […]
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. […]
Mormon Heretic 