A friend of mine recommended a book by Kary Doyle Smout called The Creation/Evolution Controversy: A Battle for Cultural Power. Kary is an Associate Professor of English at Washington and Lee University, and specializes in rhetoric. I usually delve more into historical topics, so this was a bit of a change for me, but I enjoyed it.
Sunstone Recap 2010
I wanted to get this post up sooner, but I’ve been really busy correcting final exams. I really enjoyed the last day of Sunstone, since I was able to attend all day, rather than a session here or there. Don Bradley gave a presentation titled “Dating Fanny Alger”, a bit of a play on words. I remember he gave a funny line to the effect of “By all accounts, she was hot!” Anyway, Bradley tried to pin down when the “affair” happened. Apparently, Emma discovered Joseph and Fanny late at night in the barn. According to Bradley, Alger appeared pregnant. Emma threw a fit, and threw Alger out of the house. (Apparently Alger had been working as a sort of nanny.)
Hanging Out With Apostles at Sunstone
caption id=”attachment_1147″ align=”alignright” width=”150″ caption=”Apostle Paul Savage of the Church of Christ with Elijah Message”]
[/caption]
Sunstone has been going on since Wednesday here in Salt Lake City. It ends tomorrow, and I thought I would give a few words about the conference. I have been blogging at Mormon Matters for about a year and a half, and have never met any other bloggers here….until this week! It has been nice to nice BiV and Stephen Marsh. I hope to meet others tomorrow. It was also nice to meet with a few apostles.
If They Tarry…
D&C 137 records a vision of Joseph Smith “in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, January 21, 1836. HC 2: 380–381. The occasion was the administration of the ordinances of the endowment as far as they had then been revealed.” [Preface]. There are 2 important pieces of Mormon doctrine to consider here: (1) baptism for the dead, and (2) children that die before the age of accountability (and baptism at age 8 ) will inherit the Celestial Kingdom. Since it is a short section, let me quote it entirely. This section is only in the LDS version of the D&C, but other accounts of this revelation can be found in the History of the Church. Continue Reading »
Songs That Touch Our Hearts
Since yesterday was Pioneer Day, I thought I’d share my thoughts on one of my favorite Pioneer Hymns. Most of you are probably familiar with Come, Come Ye Saints. It was one of my sister’s favorite songs, and she requested that it be played at her funeral. While I always liked the song, I can rarely sing it without getting a bit emotional as I think of my sister.
The Mormon Myth about Alice Cooper
caption id=”attachment_1130″ align=”alignleft” width=”150″ caption=”Alice Cooper at the Scream Awards in 2007″]
[/caption]
If you’re Mormon, you’ve probably heard the myth that Alice Cooper was a Mormon. Most of you have probably dismissed the myth as complete hogwash. Well, it turns out there is an element of truth to the myth. For example, his father’s middle name is Moroni and his grandfather was an apostle! Yes it is true!
Defining Political Extremism
I usually don’t comment much on politics. When I do, it seems that my political posts don’t do so well, but here goes anyway. A few months ago, I got an email from a friend asking me about how the church defines political extremism. She had some relatives that were concerned about government conspiracies for population control, the New World Order, and a few other things.
Then I was talking to my sister a few days ago. She asked me what I thought of the Tea Party movement. In brief, I’m not a big fan. Anyway, I thought it might be time to put together some of my political thoughts, and quotes from former apostle Hugh B. Brown into a post. I considered waiting until closer to the election, but decided to go ahead and put this out now, since I was just talking to my sister about this issue. I have combined a few emails into this post.
The Moral Panic Causes Trouble in Zion
The Haun’s Mill Massacre. The Mountain Meadows Massacre. The Rwandan Genocide. Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia and Serbia. How do such terrible atrocities happen?
Kenny Ballantine is in the process of producing a documentary called Trouble in Zion. The documentary discusses the events leading up to the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. It highlights the Extermination Order and Haun’s Mill Massacre, as well as events leading up to these terrible events. Kenny showed a pre-release version of the film at the Mormon History Association in Independence, Missouri in May, and he is also showing the film at Sunstone here in Salt Lake City in August. I really enjoyed the film, and highly recommend it. I thought Kenny was pretty even-handed, and had experts discuss reactions by both Mormons and non-Mormons which escalated the violence.
A Horrific Tale of Forgiveness
I really miss my book club, but I am participating in the Stay LDS Book Club. The first book that we have decided to read is Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. It is her story of the Rwandan Genocide. I previously discussed the movie Hotel Rwanda, describing the events from Paul Russebagina’s point of view. Immaculee has an incredibly inspiring story as well. The book is intensely moving.
Religious Archaeology and Evidence
I don’t ever think I’ve done 2 posts in one day before, but I want to address this other issue that we have been discussing in the Strangite post. I’d like to discuss both Biblical and Book of Mormon archaeology. Most people believe the Bible is on solid archaeological footing, but that isn’t actually true. Many books have questionable authorship, and many places remain unidentified. In a previous post, I discussed Questions about the Exodus: there isn’t a shred of evidence that it actually happened. During Passover celebrations in 2001, Rabbi David Wolpe created international headlines in Israel by proclaiming to his Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, “the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all.”
Mormon Heretic 