I love Halloween. I love dressing up, I love seeing little munchies dressed up, I love scary movies, I love the silliness of it, and I love–love–copious amounts of the bewitching substance known as chocolate. Love it love it love it.
But I’m a Mormon, so should I feel guilty? Is loving Halloween one more arrow in my quiver of badness and unorthodoxy? Is this holiday just too pagan for the saints?
T&S’s ever-excellent notes from all over linked to this article at Meridian. In it Robert Bork shares his thoughts on the culture wars with a conservative Mormon audience, a perfectly acceptable and admirable thing to do. Except….
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…kinda. As Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around, it’s time to face the same dilemma I’ve faced the last few years. I’ll admit up front, it isn’t the end of the world. Most people will tell me I’m being a big baby and that I need to grow up and face reality. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m sick of going to gargantuan family gatherings where I see people for the first (and last) time all year and am expected to exchange gifts with cousins who I’ve long since lost touch with.
In some ways I’m very fortunate in my relationship to the Church. Even though I’m really pretty radical on a lot of issues, for the last several years I’ve been very empowered within the Church both formally and informally. I’ve been to every PEC meeting and many Bishopric meetings in the last three years. Hardly a month goes by without me teaching a lesson in some class (it’s been Gospel Doctrine, Elders Quorum, and Institute most commonly). My voice is heard and my influence is felt in a large way. Never has a different view, shaggy hair and a beard, or even a vocal disagreement with the Bishop (even if, looking back, I can see that I sometimes handled it inappropriately) jeopardized that standing. And believe me, what I unleash on my fellow bloggers is nothing in comparison with the fiery and sometimes too-self-righteous indignation my Bishops have had to endure on occasion.
I don’t know if my ability to maintain this empowered status in the face of my unorthodox views and behavior is due to having very patient, understanding local leadership or because I’ve been in inner-city units that don’t have many choices for leadership positions. But whatever the reason, maybe I’ve been luckier than I realize. I say this because a few weeks ago I was talking with my parents (and Bob), and they haven’t been so lucky.
Here’s the story:
I asked a Catholic grad student colleague of mine to respond to a series of (somewhat boneheaded) questions that Mormons might ask of Catholics. Here is part one of our exchange:
Ronan: How would you respond to Mormons who say that the Catholic Church is the Great and Abominable Church of Satan?
Andrew: I would respond by telling them they are wrong–the Mormon Church is the Great and Abominable Church of Satan…!
Just last week, I wondered if she’d make it. After all, December 1 is the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal to get up and yield her seat to a white man. As it turns out, the day will be celebrated and remembered without her.
In her essay, "Women as Healers in the Modern Church", Betina Lindsey relates the story of a Mormon couple who struggled to find common ground in regards to administering to their child.
I have seen many opinions in the ‘nacle about the status of women and the priesthood. While there are many perspectives that I can understand, there are a few that I find untenable. This post will outline the justification for the answers to three questions.
[Prior entries] Slim pickings in D: physical death, spiritual death, debt, and divorce. Maybe we can just generalize and just say: Avoid things that start with D. Divorce is the most interesting of the four entries, especially in light of renewed emphasis on LDS family values in this, the post-Proclamation era. The Church is against divorce, of course; the only question is whether divorce is nevertheless allowed as an acceptable or at least tolerated option for those who find themselves in troubled or failing marriages. It is the exceptions to the general policy against divorce that deserve our attention if we want to understand the current LDS policy on divorce as briefly communicated in the TTTF article.
In Matthew 7:16-21, Jesus tells us how we can know "them." We know "them" by their "fruits":
"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth devil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
Who is "them"?
Wired magazine has an interesting, albeit brief article about the impact of God Bloggers, the nickname for christian and evangelical blogs.
My favorite quote:
Many bloggers are now writing about religious oppression, poverty and world hunger, instead of hot-button issues such as abortion, homosexuality and assisted suicide…"With blogging you tend to break out of those circles and you see other points of view," Carter said. "There’s a bigger world out there than gay marriage and abortion."
Yes, that’s my experience in the Bloggernacle thus far.
I’m always interested when I see rules being applied differently in different circumstances. At the Bloggernacle Times a while back I considered what I saw as the unfair critique of Joseph Smith by skeptics who would themselves never apply the same level of criticism to Jesus. In "Jettisoning Joseph but not Jesus" I was amazed at those Christians who use text-criticism, for example, to "unravel" Joseph’s claims but who do not seem to acknowledge that the same tools would strike a blow at the heart of the New Testament (about which they express no doubt).
It’s a little ironic, don’t ya think? (And hypocritical.) I noticed a similar, albeit subconscious double-standard at play this week. A few comments at BT expressed surprise that Joseph Smith was polygamous. Wasn’t it only practiced under Brigham Young and his successors?
I have been a subscriber to Newsweek for over three years and haven’t had the need to call customer service asking why I haven’t received a particular issue… until this week!
I attended Sunstone Northwest today. Because of an inevitable conflict, I had to
leave early. Aaron Brown also attended
and committed to posting on the topic, but we all know that the Lord’s return
is not yet at hand. I therefore offer a
few (non-exhaustive) notes for all of you who do not live in the Garden.
Sometimes, questions of doctrine arise where the scriptures have seen fit to remain silent. The Lord’s oracles have not pronounced on all issues, but the elect must forge on regardless. When such times arise and troubles stir around us, there is only one way to resolve our questions:
A blog poll.
We’ve talked about problems with the KJV Bible lately. Here’s a potential solution for the next LDS edition: the text-speak Bible. Here’s a sample verse from Genesis 1:1 — “In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth.” A quote from the linked RNB article notes that “the SMS Bible ha[s] proved particularly popular among young people.” Really? I would never have guessed. I think it could become a big hit in LDS youth Sunday School classes.
It gets even better at the official site for the SMS Bible. Another sample verse: “4 God so luvd da world …” And the site’s promise to the religious reader: “100% faithful to original text.” Well, I for one am relieved they’re not just making stuff up as they go along. In fact, the Bible Society president’s son spent six whole weeks translating the SMS Bible! Download your copy today.
Richard Bushman, Professor of History, Emeritus at Columbia University and Terryl Givens, Professor of Literature and Religion at the University of Richmond will conduct a seminar June 19-July 28, 2006 at BYU. The seminar is entitled “Mormon Thought, 1850 to 1920: Dealing with the Joseph Smith Legacy,†and aims to trace how leaders of the Church dealt with intellectual and spiritual issues following the death of the Prophet.
Further information can be found here; it looks to be a highly interesting event, led by two of the biggest guns in Mormon Studies.
I got an interesting email from the proprietor of Study It Out, inviting me to check out his site, which is an assortment of links on LDS topics, grouped by category. After trading a couple of emails, the proprietor finally divulged some biographical details, claiming to be an ordinary member of the Church and occasional reader of Sunstone and Dialogue rather than (as I suspected from the selection of links at the site) a Christian with an agenda. [And you know what I think of Christian do-gooders who fling their misguided zeal my way.] You can make your own judgment about the site; here is the site’s “About” page. If you visit, you might submit a few links; a variety of axe-grinders seem overrepresented in the present mix of links, although there are a number of good links (on both sides of the issues) to helpful LDS material and to articles by dissenting scholars.
This is the first week of Ramadan (Assalamu alaikum). What better time to reevaluate our perceptions of food than when a large portion of the world’s population is fasting.
As worldwide economics have ameliorated, a counterintuitive trend emerged in human health. The poor have higher rates of obesity than the wealthy. A recent article in Science News outlines the recent research which indicates that Food can be physiologically addictive.
Is it time for the English-speaking Church to let the venerable King James Bible retire to Bible-heaven? Why do we use the KJV in the first place? What other Bible translations do you read? I have questions, you have answers.
Blogging vs. Snogging [FN1]. Compare and contrast [FN2] and then you decide.
The final round of the round table was the most interesting and difficult. Lots of unanswered questions, but we enjoyed the conversation.
Rosh Hashanah begins tonight at sundown; hope you’ve got your shofar ready!
The contrast between the typical Western new year celebration and Rosh Hashanah is striking. Perhaps the attitude of worship and introspection is better suited to Mormons? It’s also a great day to celebrate the creation of the world, as we transition into Fall. In any event, maybe keep this in mind tonight during Family Home Evening:
Barukh atah Adonai, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe
she-hecheeyanu v’keey’manu v’heegeeyanu la-z’man ha-zeh (Amein)
who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season (Amen)
Hordes of our devoted readers have complained that they’ve been reduced to opining about General Conference at certain lesser stars in the Bloggernacle. We appreciate how troubling this is, and we’ve decided to make room over here for your profound insights and reactions. Most of us BCC folks have been so wrapped up in the talks, that we’ve been unable to find the time to start a thread. I guess that’s what happens when you’re as spiritual as we are. 
In any event, here’s a thread. Conference isn’t over yet. Penny for your thoughts.
Aaron B
