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Will Huntsman split the Mormon vote with Romney?

Posted by Mormon Heretic on January 24, 2011 in Mormon, Politics

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Apparently it is not too early to start speculating on the 2012 election.  Ambassador (and returned missionary) to China, Jon Huntsman organized a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday.  Even the Wall Street Journal is curious about Huntsman’s presidential aspirations.  Asked about Huntsman’s presidential aspirations,

“I’m sure that him having worked so well with me will be a great asset in any Republican primary,” said President Barack Obama, flashing a broad smile, as laughter broke out in the room. (Deseret News)

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LDS Film Festival 2011

Posted by Mormon Heretic on January 19, 2011 in Mormon, Mormon Culture, Movie/Book Reviews, Movies

There’s just 1 week until the LDS Film Festival.  I love to go.  Once again, there are too many films I would like to see, and not enough time off work.  To see the full schedule with descriptions, click here.  Here are some movies that sound interesting to me, though I won’t be able to see them all.

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If God Looks Upon the Heart, Why do Leaders Look at Grooming?

Posted by Mormon Heretic on January 16, 2011 in Culture, Mormon Culture, Subjective

1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Why do LDS leaders spend so much time looking at white shirts, beards, and short hair?

Apparently, General Authorities really care about how we look, even if some of the local leaders don’t want to make a fuss about it.   Continue Reading »

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Ethical Dilemmas: My Sister’s Keeper

Posted by Mormon Heretic on January 10, 2011 in Death, Euthanasia, Health Care, Mormon, Movie/Book Reviews, Movies, Right to Die

My wife and I watched My Sister’s Keeper from Netflix this weekend.  Here’s the Netflix description:

A former defense attorney (Cameron Diaz) finds herself back in the courtroom when she and her husband (Jason Patric) are sued for medical emancipation by their 11-year-old daughter, Anna (Abigail Breslin), who is expected to donate a kidney to her dying older sister. The subsequent trial tests ethical boundaries and the limits of parental love. Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin round out the cast in this powerful drama based on Jodi Picoult’s novel.

My wife said the book is quite a bit different than the movie.  If you want to see it fresh, stop reading now.  Otherwise, I have some spoilers below to talk about some of the ethical dilemmas from the movie. Continue Reading »

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The Wentworth Letter

Posted by Mormon Heretic on January 2, 2011 in Articles of Faith, Book of Mormon, Early Mormon History, History, Mormon, Mormon Culture, Movie/Book Reviews, polygamy, Tech Answers

I posted my initial impressions of the Kindle over at Wheat and Tares.  One of the coolest “books” I received at Amazon for free was the Wentworth Letter.  For those of you who don’t know, Joseph Smith wrote a history of the church to John Wentworth, the editor of a newspaper called the Chicago Democrat in 1842.  (I guess Joseph was more open to Democrats than most Mormons today.)  🙂  The letter is an important piece of history because it contains the 13 Articles of Faith that are now part of the Pearl of Great Price.  It was fun to read the letter.  You can download it for free whether you have a Kindle or not.  If you don’t have a Kindle, download the Kindle App for your pc (or iPad, iPhone, etc).   Continue Reading »

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Why Isn’t Sacrament Meeting More Spiritual?

Posted by Mormon Heretic on December 26, 2010 in Early Mormon History, Mormon, Mormon Culture, Movie/Book Reviews, Theology

I listened to an interview of Jana Reiss on Mormon Expression a few weeks ago, titled “Why Mormon Meetings are So Dull.”  She discussed a book called Sundays in America by Suzanne Strempek Shea. Shae is a novelist in Massachusetts who attended 52 church services over a year.  This author attended a Mormon Sacrament meeting.  Jana paraphrased Shae’s book: Continue Reading »

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A Letter Written by Jesus

Posted by Mormon Heretic on December 19, 2010 in Apocryphal Stories, Canon, Christian, Early Christian History, History

No writings have ever been attributed to Jesus in the Bible.  However, there is an ancient manuscript that claims to be letters written between Abgarus, King of Edessa, and Jesus.  It’s a very short “book”, so I will quote it entirely.  But first, here’s a bit of background.  The official name of the document is The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abrarus King of Edessa.  Lost Books of the Bible gives some background on this document.

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Stories about Jesus’ Childhood

Posted by Mormon Heretic on December 12, 2010 in Apocryphal Stories, Canon, Christian, Early Christian History, History, Movie/Book Reviews, Scripture

Ever wondered what kind of a child Jesus was?  Well, The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ tells us that Jesus was part healer, part genius, part brat.  It starts out with some interesting stories about happened to the holy family in Egypt (following Herod’s edict to kill all boys age 2 and under), and then goes on to tell that Jesus often miraculously killed adults and children that ticked him off.  This gospel has some interesting stories, and some really weird stories— definitely not the sort of Jesus most Christians would expect to see.

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The Untold Story of Joseph and Mary

Posted by Mormon Heretic on December 5, 2010 in Apocryphal Stories, Canon, Christmas, Early Christian History, History, Mormon, Movie/Book Reviews, Scripture, Women

The biblical account of the interactions between Joseph and Mary is very small.  To me, it almost makes Joseph and Mary appear 2-dimensional, and I never feel like I know them very well.  When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant before their wedding, we know that he considered cancelling the betrothal.  An angel intervened, and Joseph decided to continue with the wedding.  Many of us have imagined that this must have been very tough to deal with, but the details in the Bible of the interactions between Mary and Joseph have been quite sparse.

The Protevangelion fills in many of these details.   Continue Reading »

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Gospel of the Birth of Mary

Posted by Mormon Heretic on November 27, 2010 in Canon, Catholic, Christmas, Early Christian History, Movie/Book Reviews, Theology

A few months ago, I picked up a book called Lost Books of the Bible by William Hone on the clearance rack at Barnes and Noble.  It is one of the coolest books I have ever picked up.  There are 26 ancient books included in the compilation, dating to the earliest centuries after Christ.  These ancient writings include books such as The Gospel of Nicodemus, The Apostle’s Creed, the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, the Letters of Herod and Pilate, to name just a few.

The first 4 books deal with the childhood of Jesus.  With the Christmas season approaching, I wanted to share some of these really cool stories about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  I think you’ll enjoy learning some of the extra-biblical stories.  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve read so much cool stuff about the life of Jesus.  I want to start with the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, and discuss some of these other ancient writings in coming weeks.  Some of these stories overlap, and I think it will be interesting to see the different, sometimes conflicting accounts over the coming weeks.

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