Movie/Book Reviews
Sealed Servant?
This past weekend, I had occasion to attend an unusual sealing ceremony. One of my wife’s co-workers is in her 70s. Her husband passed away last year. Yesterday she was sealed to her dead husband. Her son served as proxy for her deceased husband. (Incidentally, she has been married and divorced to 2 other men […]
The Mormon Church & Blacks
February is Black History Month. I recently finished Matthew Harris & Newel Bringhurst’s most recent book, The Mormon Church & Blacks: A Documentary History. The black priesthood ban has been a pet topic of mine; I have written nearly 60 posts on the topic over the past 8 years.
Reviewing Religion of a Different Color
I finally finished Paul Reeve’s book Religion of a Different Color. Paul highlights the strange evolution of Mormons, once seen as not white enough, now seen as too white. From page 270, …as late as 2012 the perception persisted in some corners that Mormons were racist and that there were few or no black Mormons. […]
War on Christmas? Blame Christians
Starbucks got a lot of flack because they used plain red cups this year instead of ones decorated with snowflakes as in years past. Steven Colbert had a funny bit about it. But did you know that from a historical perspective, it was Christians who don’t like to celebrate Christmas?
Lester Bush Looking Back 40 Years
Lester Bush gave the McMurrin Lecture at the University of Utah on Oct 8, 2015. These are my notes from his lecture. He discussed the changes over the last 40 years since he wrote his groundbreaking article Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine. Paul Reeve introduced Bush. (I tried to make this as readable as possible–some parts may […]
Church for Saints and Sinners
I really enjoyed an interview a few weeks ago with Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is a Lutheran Pastor who founded The House of All Saints and Sinners, and she prides herself on literally welcoming the outcasts to her church. These people include junkies, drag queens, and transgender. Here are some excerpts from the interview. How is she […]
Sanders Appeals to Conservatives
Bernie Sanders is a socialist. Yup, I said it. Apparently Karl Marx thought that Socialism leads to Communism (as is the USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republic) or Naziism, which was headed the the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. But the opposite seems to be true. Both Naziism and the Soviet Union have died, although certainly […]
Why They Don’t Need Heavenly Mother
“Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose”, so states the Proclamation on the Family. “ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.” Many feminists want to talk about her. The funny thing about this, […]
Birth of the Devil
Abraham is known as the father of monotheism. Growing up in a culture of polytheism with both good and bad gods, Abraham declared that there was only one god, YHWH. Egyptologist Kara Cooney has narrated a Discovery Channel series (now on Youtube) has said that archaeological evidence has shown that ancient religions have always been […]
Sunstone Testimonies 2015
I’m a few weeks late with my recap of Sunstone. The one thing about Sunstone is that you can find all kinds of different sessions, both pro and anti church. People seem to concentrate on the anti-church presentations, but there are some others I would like to talk about. The people I have highlighted below […]
Mormon Heretic 