Discussing Your Religion: Baptisms for the Dead
I ran across this an amusing pair of images on a Mormon Twitter account. It goes something like this: What Mormons think when you say “baptism for the dead”: What non-Mormons think when you say...
View ArticleCan a Slave Owner Be a Good Man?
In Solomon Northup’s biography Twelve Years a Slave, he documents a heartrending account of his experiences. Born free in New York, he married and started a family. Then tragically he was kidnapped...
View ArticleJon Huntsman, Sr: Tithing Isn’t a Charitable Donation
After reading some recent debates in online Mormon forums about whether paying tithing should count as giving to charity and/or count in surveys about charitable giving, I encountered an interesting...
View ArticleThe Givenses Contest the Teaching “My ways are not your ways”
One of the most well known verses of Isaiah goes like this: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8 This teaching is routinely used to...
View ArticleQuietly Celebrating the Civil Rights Victory of My Generation
At least since 2008, when Proposition 8 was storming through California and Mormons were heavily involved in its passage, I felt deeply troubled over my church’s injection into the politics of same-sex...
View ArticleWhy the Opening Prayer of the General Women’s Session Was Historical
Sister Dorah MkhabelaGeneral Young Women Board In the General Women’s Session this past fall (it’s officially classified an actual session now instead of just a meeting), Sister Dorah Mkhabela of...
View ArticleLearning How to Decipher Real Science from Pseudo-science
Are GMOs bad for you? Are vaccines safe? Is global warming caused by humans? How solid is the theory of evolution? Should we add fluoride to the drinking water? I’ve seen a number of friends and...
View ArticleDo Religious Truths Need to be Boldly Defended?
General Young Women’s President Bonnie Oscarson, in her recent conference address, challenged listeners to “boldy defend” the family proclamation. I’m not exactly a fan of the proclamation, but I don’t...
View ArticleSometimes Kids Learn the Wrong Lesson
My toddler was playing on her playhouse tonight. As she is wont to do, she performed increasingly risky physical stunts. Her inner Evel Knievel was breaking free to the surface. Hilariously, she began...
View ArticleLane Merging: You’re Doing It Wrong
Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned lane merge and the accompanying traffic backup? There are usually a number of different personality types that can be observed at every merger: The early mergers....
View ArticleThe Legalization of Gay Marriage: An Opportunity to Reinvent Ourselves
Aileen Clyde, former first counselor in the General Relief Society, described the preparation leading up to their October 1995 General Conference session: [O]ur presidency and board had been working...
View ArticleMormonism’s Heaven > Other Heavens
Heaven. It’s a lovely concept. Many different religions have conceived up some variant of a paradisiacal afterlife. What about the standard Christian version of heaven, though? Is it really that...
View ArticleAnnouncing My Preliminary Presidential Endorsements
So far, the lack of qualified, serious, trustworthy candidates running for president in 2016 is pretty notable. And yes, the election is still a year away. I will nonetheless announce my top two...
View ArticleBook Review: Patrick Mason’s Planted
Our church is struggling to deal with its non-traditional members. Whether they are heretics, disaffected, non-believers, or otherwise non-traditional Mormons, it can be very hard for them to find...
View ArticleReading Analysis for 2015
Having encountered a number of “reading challenges” such as this one, I thought it would be interesting to do some basic analyses on what I read in 2015. Because #nerd. I like the idea of diversifying...
View ArticleCasual Ex-Catholics vs. Strict Ex-Protestants
In The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates, distinguished primatologist Frans de Waal briefly contemplates some of the cultural/religious differences in his native Holland....
View ArticleThe Difference Between Science and Religion Isn’t the Individuals
In The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates, distinguished primatologist Frans de Waal considers whether there are any substantive behavioral differences in the way of...
View ArticleMoses Never Encountered Another Primate
In The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates, distinguished primatologist Frans de Waal offers an interesting hypothesis about why some religious traditions struggle with the...
View ArticleAntonio Banderas Speaks Out on the Need for Latino Unity and How the U.S....
Antonio Banderas (a.k.a. Puss in Boots, El Zorro, the bee in Nasonex TV ads…) received a Platino Award last year in a ceremony in Marbella, Spain. The actor took the chance to call for more Latino...
View ArticleWhat Research Shows About How Selfish We Are
Free market capitalism often assumes a high degree of selfishness, and competing systems, such as socialism, often assume a degree of cooperation. But what does the research show? Economist Richard...
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