If you are a religious and political conservative, be careful to bridle your tongue or you might end up writing a massive tirade attributing an extreme environmentalist, anti-family message to a movie that was actually written to promote a Christian theme.  Sadly, if the only tool you possess is the hammer of conservatism, everything that bothers you will take the shape of the nail of liberalism, and you might, as seen in the M* post referenced above, end up doing damage to the Church by publicly projecting evil intentions onto the work of good people of other faiths. Read more »

A little while ago, I contributed a few thoughts to this discussion on the Old Testament.  For a long time, I have had feelings about the OT that are similar to the ones Kaimi expressed, that among the valuable stories and lessons taught in the book, there are also passages that are simply batty. Read more »

During the mid-nineties, I had long discussions with my friend Tagore about what it meant to be a sensitive nineties man, a form of manhood demonstrated in Bill Clinton’s seemingly bottomless capacity for appearing to understand and empathize with people in low places.

This was a confusing time to be a man, if you couldn’t recite Maya Angelou and cook couscous.  And with the end of the Clinton presidency, gender trend-setters made a serious error in trying to promote metrosexuality as the next iteration of American manhood.

Given the success of Shrek and the recent emergence of highly successful cable shows Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, Tougher in Alaska, Ax Men, Black Gold, and others, many observers are seeing a backlash against the trend of metrosexuality that swept U.S. pop culture a few years ago. Read more »

I found this column from Gail Collins today, commenting on the Twilight series.  I have not read these books, but I have heard from numerous women about them, and I find it really puzzling how women who decry pornography for conditioning men to have unrealistic views of the opposite sex seem to have no problem with the Twilight series’ portrayal of males.  Read more »

I have long believed that the Word of Wisdom asks us to have a mostly-vegetarian diet.  For years, I found this extremely difficult to adhere to, for two reasons: 1) meat tastes very good, and 2) so much of our convenience food has a strong meat component.  I always said that if I were in a situation where vegetarian eating could meet those two criteria, I would try it, and eventually the right circumstances emerged when I went to work in Iraq. Read more »

In response to mfranti’s post at FMH on bike commuting, I have decided to join with her in promoting bike commuting among the fine publications of the bloggernacle.

Read more »

I should say from the outset that I like Sen. Obama and will probably be voting for him in the fall. Tonight I watched the press conference where he discussed his separation from Trinity United after video has surfaced of his church welcoming and cheering on a nutty, pandering white preacher named Rev. Michael Pfleger. Read more »

There was a recent post at Times and Seasons about the California gay marriage decision, and like the discussions of Pres. Beck’s “Women Who Know” talk 2 conferences ago, this conversation about gay marriage was lamentable in that it often degenerated into a back-and-forth of Who’s on the Lord’s side, Who?

I would submit that there are several reasons why some of us are not happy with gay marriage and the Church’s approach to it.  Blake and others in the Times and Seasons discussion decry the California Supreme Court’s “creation ex nihilo” of a right to gay marriage, but what is our insistence on monogamous heterosexual marriage, if not a system created “ex nihilo?” Read more »

and everyone else, for that matter, to offer your best legal opinions and/or satire.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080423071943AAWAwJY

For those of you who haven’t seen the Northern Lights blog, it’s a blog devoted to faithful LDS first-person perspectives on same-gender attraction. Several of the guys over at Northern Lights have posted on their interactions with the production staff of Helen Whitney’s The Mormons, and there are some interesting items to note there.  The decision to make Trevor Southey the film’s sole example of same-gender attraction in the context of our faith was a head-scratcher for me, since our basic position regarding same-gender attraction is mostly verifiable:

Notwithstanding your present same-gender attractions, you can be happy during this life, lead a morally clean life, perform meaningful service in the Church, enjoy full fellowship with your fellow Saints, and ultimately receive all the blessings of eternal life…
Same-gender inclinations may be very powerful, but through faith in the Atonement you can receive the power to resist all improper conduct, keeping your life free from sin.

Read more »

mfranti is an FMH friend of ours who drops in from time to time, and she asked me to pass this along for comment:

My husband and I rarely talk about the Church. He’s happy to be half Mormon (the other half Lutheran) and he’s willing to accompany me to church on occasion as long as it’s not a powder day; we are there on time and I agree to iron his shirt-In that order, but we just don’t discuss my religion unless it has to do with YW’s, mutual or why I missed Sacrament-again. Read more »

I have chosen to edit this post because I do not want it to be controversial in any way- that is not my intent.  I originally posted in the form of a letter to Sen. Obama, explaining that as Mormons, we have experienced things similar to what Obama is experiencing with his spiritual leader, Jeremiah Wright. Read more »

Hi everyone,

Time to make room for a new voice in the Bloggernacle.  Tagore and I have this friend, Jeff Bennion, who has been one of our favorite intellectual sparring partners over the years.  Actually, sparring partners is not an accurate metaphor, because he runs circles around us on pretty much any issue and has read vast amounts of books by authors we’ve never heard of.  At times, we have even speculated that he’s more than human.  In any case, to paraphrase Trent Lott talking about making legislation with Ted Kennedy, if you want to discuss Gospel or any other issues with Jeff, you better bring your lunch because you’re going to get an education.

Jeff is in Salt Lake City, but through the wonder of the Internet, he is also everywhere at once.

I don’t think I ever thought seriously about the sacrament until my mission, when I received a letter from my grandfather. Grandpa had a long history of service in the Church, and so I regarded him as one who could enlighten me on the “mysteries of the kingdom” through our correspondence during my mission, and looked forward to what treasures his letters might hold for my understanding of spiritual things. Read more »

Entertainment weekly has posted a list of their top 25 love songs ever:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20047752,00.html

One of my favorite Provo bingo events is listening to hear the inevitable playing of a Howard Jones song on the radio or in a store when I’m shopping. I don’t understand the Howard Jones nostalgia in Provo; he is to Provo what the Bee Gees are to Brazil or what Lionel Richie is to the Middle East, never fading in relevance no matter how far the rest of the world moves on. Read more »

Check out this Church response in Fox News’ “21 questions” article:

Q: If so, does the Church believe that God lives on a planet named Kolob?
A: ‘Kolob’ is a term found in ancient records translated by Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith did not provide a full description or explanation of Kolob nor did he assign the idea particular significance in relation to the Church’s core doctrines.

Read more »

For those of you unfamiliar with the late Andy Kaufman’s comedy, Kaufman had one of the most unique comedy acts ever seen.  Watching him perform, it was often hard to see the line between which of his antics were part of his act or whether he was honestly out of his mind.  Read more »

Heber C. Kimball is quoted as saying the following in 1856:

The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. If you do not have it, how can you stand?

Read more »

Consider this a follow-up to Devyn’s fantastic post on The Lottery of Spiritual Experiences.  In that post, Devyn refers to hiking in the mountains as a context for spiritual experiences, which really resonated with me.  I have come to believe over time that a lot of the pride that keeps us from having spiritual experiences is made possible and/or facilitated by brain chemistry. Read more »

1.  We need to leave Iraq because thousands of innocent people are dying. Read more »