Movie/Book Reviews
Using Scriptures to Debunk the Priesthood Ban
Alma Allred wrote a chapter in the book titled Black and Mormon. On page 37, he states: I don’t believe that LDS scripture allows for a restriction against blacks’ holding the priesthood. Nor do I think that LDS theology can reasonably maintain that today’s blacks are descendants of Cain or that ancient intermarriage with Canaanites perpetuated […]
Scholarship History of the Priesthood Ban
The Priesthood ban for black members of the church is a pet topic of mine. I have previously discussed Early Black Mormons who held the priesthood, as well as a long 10,000 word article discussing events leading to the ban. Newell Bringhurst and Darron Smith have put together a list of 9 essays highlighting different […]
Revelation that Warren Jeffs is not a Prophet
BiV at Wheat and Tares has an amazing 4 minute video of Warren Jeffs in prison stating that he “never was a prophet.” I decided to make a transcript of the video. He speaks in a slow, deliberate fashion, indicating he is receiving and dictating the revelation during the filming of the prison video. Here’s […]
Development of LDS Temple Worship
I received a wonderful surprise in the mail a few weeks ago. I received an advance copy of The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History from Signature Books. It will be released on March 24, and I just added it to my Books and Movies page. If you pre-order, Amazon is offering it […]
Was Henry Ford a Socialist?
On January 5, 1914, Henry Ford announced that he was paying workers on his famously productive Model T assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan, $5 per eight-hour day. Â That was almost three times what the typical factory employee earned at the time. Â In light of this audacious move, some lauded Ford as a friend of […]
Squeezing the Middle Class
Last week, I discussed a bit about Marriner Eccles, prominently featured in Robert Riech’s new book Aftershock. While most people believe the problem with the Great Recession and Great Depression was the fault of Americans relying on too much debt, Reich believes the reason Americans went into dept is the symptom of a much larger […]
A Mormon Rescue From the Great Depression
caption id=”attachment_1455″ align=”alignright” width=”300″ caption=”Eccles, FDR, and James Roosevelt (FDR’s son)”][/caption] The Great Depression lasted from the stock market crash in 1929 until World War 2. In the middle of this economic crisis, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Utahn Marriner Eccles to become the Fed Chair. Robert Reich has high praise for Eccles in his […]
Stapley/Wright Discuss Healings by Mormon Women
Last October, I wrote a post titled, Mormon Women Blessing the Sick, as a follow up to my post on Women with Priesthood in Ancient Christianity. Jonathon Stapley was the first to comment, saying Equating early Mormon female healing with evidence of female priesthood is folly. Kris’ and my paper on female ritual healing is […]
Who was St. Valentine?
That’s a really good question, because very little is known about him. He seems to be a real person, because archaeologists have discovered an ancient catacomb in Rome and church dedicated to him. In 496 Pope Gelasius set up his feast day as February 14 (along with other martyrs) “… whose names are justly reverenced among […]
Mormon Heretic 