Dear Bro. and Sis. Bloggernacle,

Thanks for rearranging your schedules to let us into your home. Ronan just got back from his Montana trip (cough*Brokeback*cough), so we really appreciate getting in to see you on the last day of the month. We don’t care about the statistics, mind you — we’re just honestly glad to share a brief message with you once a month. (more…)

The Church’s recent statement on the proposed federal marriage amendment has spurred threads at M* and a lengthy one (well over 300 posts at the time of this writing) at T&S. A lot of this discussion has focused on the politics of the proposal and the legalities of federalizing the definition of marriage. (more…)

Dear Mr. Kelly,

Considering your recent comments about Mormons (whom you describe as “morons” and “buffoons”), I thought you might be interested in a recent visit I made to Martin’s Cove, Wyoming. The Cowboy State may not seem to have much in common with Paisley, but the vicissitudes of history can surprise us. I hope a brief glimpse of a tragic tale might temper your feelings about the Mormon faith. (more…)

You’re interested in Mormon studies and in literature, personal essays and great content…. and you’re also a cheap sort. Solution: Dialogue is currently offering a free sample issue to those who have never subscribed, or who haven’t for two years. See here — it’s a terrific offer and a chance to read today’s best independent journal of Mormon thought. Additionally, those BCC readers interested in the free issue will receive a green discount card in their copy for any new reader wanting to subscribe, for a $25 introduction gift subscription offer.

BCC has been partnered with Dialogue for about nine months now. We’re really pleased with the depth of thought and quality of sentiment we’ve found in our new friends, and we’re honored to be affiliated with them. Kathleen’s latest is just one of many wonderful posts. I hope you’ll take the time to check out Dialogue and experience it for yourselves.

I flew into Denver yesterday, and was supposed to have a connecting flight to Casper. But it was a hot day, and with Denver’s high altitude and the plane being a prop, they put a weight restriction on the plane and kicked 10 of us off of it. So I had to rent a car and drive (a little over four hours at 80 mph). (My friend Sue Schwendiman had a similar thing happen to her on Wednesday, and so she ended up renting a car and driving the last leg up to Casper, too.) (more…)

This is Kathleen from Dialogue. A young woman teaching in Relief Society mentioned that sometimes when she is trying to get her reluctant twin sons into the bath tub she distracts them by offering them a choice: “Would you like to play with? The red duck or the blue duck? The frogman or the bathtub chalk?” She pointed out that these are really false choices, because the boys have no choice about the issue at hand: the bath. Similarly she offers them choices about what clothes to wear when there is really no choice about getting dressed. She said what she is doing is like Satan’s plan. I suppose it is, if you think Satan’s plan is to make us think we have choices when we don’t, as opposed to offering no choices, period. I think her analogy is more like predestination, which would say everything we think we are choosing to do will have no final effect on where we will end up. (more…)

It’s the day before Memorial Day weekend, and I’ve got something on my mind (besides making the spinach salad we’re taking to the Ward’s barbeque). Does God need a Press Secretary? (more…)

Kate Holbrook is married to Sam and is moving with him to Salt Lake City. Kate is working on her PhD in religion and literature at Boston University and is raising two of the most smarty-pants, good looking girls I’ve ever met. Kate lets me cry over ex-boyfriends and then cooks me food that heals any ache. She is also the best person to watch TV with. This is her sacrament talk, her goodbye to Cambridge:

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about mortality–meetings and partings and human frailty. The poet Geoffrey Hill is retiring from teaching at Boston University this year, and a few weeks ago I heard of him saying that life gets easier when you accept the fact that you’re living in a fallen world. Jackson (a member of the bishopric) furthered the development of my thought on this topic during that wonderful fifth-Sunday April meeting when he reminded us that we’ve left Paradise. We’re not in Paradise, it’s gone, so we’re going to suffer, get sick, sin, and die.  The important thing, Jackson reminded us, is to be on the right path so you can return to Paradise. (more…)

This is a guest post from SMB. Who turns out to be my brother Sam. He and his wife Kate are moving from Cambridge MA to Salt Lake City UT in a couple of weeks and this is his sacrament meeting talk in farewell to Cambridge. I really liked it and am sharing it with y’all.Sam is very busy but writes me letters when I feel depressed. He makes his little daughters laugh for hours by making voices for inanimate objects: dolls, figurines, utensils. He’s a doctor and he’s very good at it. He also really likes Mormon History and he Loves his wife. Sam’s talk: (more…)

Alas, this Mormon cannot even vote in the US, so my support of Mr. Gore is about as useful as a hanging chad. But I can cheerlead from afar. You see, in Britain or Bangladesh, the American presidency matters, and this Briton thinks Al Gore should be the next President of the United States (again). Question is, will he run? (I hope so.) (more…)

Now that The DaVinci Code has finally hit theatres, everyone and their dog is discussing whether or not Jesus Christ was married. Of course, Dan Brown’s book is just a work of fiction, but this hasn’t stopped various religious groups from weighing in on the heretical notion advanced therein: That Jesus Christ took Mary Magdalene to wife and bore children with her. The LDS Church has decided to join the party, putting forth its own statement as to Mormonism’s doctrinal position (or lack thereof) on this supposedly interesting question. And it’s not hard to see why. Unlike most (all?) other modern branches of Christianity, Mormonism has had various leaders who have sometimes advanced this notion. Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt are probably the most well-known examples. Yet the Church doesn’t appear inclined to accept the pronouncements of these men as “Church doctrine.” (more…)

The expression “only begotten” with reference to Jesus Christ as the Son of God occurs five times in the KJV New Testament (all in the Johannine literature: John 1:14 and 18, 3:16 and 18, and 1 John 4:9), nine times in the Book of Mormon (beginning with 2 Nephi 25:12), 13 times in the Doctrine & Covenants (beginning with D&C 20:21), and a remarkable 25 times in the Book of Moses. (Joseph also added the expression to 1 Timothy 2:4 in the JST: “who is the Only Begotten Son of God.”) The New Testament preserves four other uses of the word where it is not predicated of Jesus: a widow’s son (Luke 7:12), Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:42), the son of an unnamed man in a crowd (Luke 9:38), and Isaac, as the son of Abraham (Hebrews 11:17). It also appears a number of times in the Septuagint, and in classical literature beginning with Hesiod. (more…)

Tobacco came into my life early. We lived with my grandparents during the Depression–my parents, my brothers and I. The women and children in this household were church-going Methodists, the men, Jack Methodists. The small house was cramped, but times were hard; people did what they had to do. Gramps brewed his own beer; Mom worked as a practical nurse; Dad saved money by rolling his own cigarettes. At five, I learned how to operate the little machine that produced his smokes. (more…)

Last night, May 22, I attended a lecture by Elie Wiesel at Snow College in Ephraim, UT. I thought that, perhaps, you all would be interested in a report. (more…)

Today at Popcorn Popping I published a short story about some Girls’ Camp goings-on: pot-smoking, cat-fights, weird skits, rituals, and bitter tears. Some friends who’ve read my story have questioned whether the tale is realistic. I believe it is realistic — in fact, I’ve learned that when it comes to Girls’ Camp, truth is stranger than fiction. (more…)

I was browsing through some of our cuneiform tablets and spotted this otherwise unexciting receipt. The last two lines are kind of cool though.

The tablet is dated to the 5th day of the month of Addaru in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon = 585 BC. This is only a year or two after the final fall of Jerusalem and the deportation of the Jewish elite. (more…)

BYU NewsNet recently released a story entitled, Of Masons and Mormons: “The Solomon Key” offers controversial sequel. The article seems to pick up where Peggy Fletcher Stack left off in the Salt Lake Tribune. Peggy starts with the unsubstantiated rumor that Dan Brown’s next book “might deal with Mormonism” as a lead into a nice write up on the intersection of Mormonism and Masonry. Kimberly McLean, author of the BYU story, takes Peggy’s speculation and raises it to certainty, replete with speculative analysis of Dan Brown’s forthcoming release: “With Brown examining the mysteries of the Masons and their connection to Mormons, codebreaker fanatics anticipate another gripping ride.” (more…)

J. Daniel Crawford is the blogger formerly known as John C., now known as HP, and likely known here as JDC. He is affiliated with the blog known as Faith Promoting Rumor. He is a graduate student somewhere back east, although he currently lives and occasionally works in Utah. He is the proud father of the two best children in the world and the humble husband of the reason that is so. (more…)

Denizens of the Bloggernacle will no doubt be aware of the Snarker, a mysterious entity whose raison d’etre seems to be to serve up doses of caustic snarkiness to the Mormon blogs. Things seem to have heated up (again) and perhaps it is time for the Bloggernacle to offer its own thumbs-up or thumbs-down to the blue smurf and his/her friends. By turns both hilarious and mean, Snarkernacle has both delighted and dismayed. Fans say the ‘nacle needs a loyal opposition — a Daily Show — to offer a vital needle to the inflated egos that float about ’round here; others feel hurt (either personally or empathetically) by below-the-belt snarks and obsessive witchhunts that seem to target only certain blogs or bloggers. (more…)

I had originally planned to follow up on my earlier “Holy Kiss” bit with a series on courting and marriage tips, but since my claims to romantic experience now have been exposed for the fraud that they are, I’ve decided to approach these topics with an appeal to biblical authority, rather than to my own questionable credentials. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should also state that, well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I got married I actually gave up dating–I just didn’t have the time for it anymore. So even my own marginal courting experience is … dated. (more…)

I’m too poor to work out at the snooty athletic clubs near my house, and too old and pudgy to work out at Bally’s or Gold’s, so I go to the YMCA with all the other middle-aged mommies trying to sneak in 30 minutes on the stairmaster while their kids take swimming lessons. The particular YMCA I go to is also home of the legendary 9:00 am MWF Aquacise Class.

The median age of the women in this class is, I’d guess, around 75. All of the women are pretty spry, still fit enough to get themselves to the pool and into the water for 45 minutes of foam-floating-device-assisted water aerobics. I often end up showering and changing at the same time as they finish class–in fact, lately I’ve been working out longer than I usually would to make sure I’m in the locker room when they are. I love watching and listening to them. (more…)

What Da Vinci Didn’t Know: An LDS Perspective
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Andrew C. Skinner, Thomas A. Wayment

Page one of The Da Vinci Code boldly declares, “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate” (The Da Vinci Code, p. 1). Though admittedly other factors play into the success of this book, one might wonder how well it would have done without this opening assertion.

At this point, such speculation is neither here nor there. Just as many other critics have already sprung to the task of debunking The Da Vinci Code, Holzapfel and Co. have released “An LDS Perspective” just ahead of the movie opening this weekend (even references to the movie are made in the book). (more…)

The phrase “Speak Truth to Power” has become something of a cliche among people on the political left. Street protesters, urban activists, and environmental organizers often think of and talk about their work in these terms. Implicit in this phrase, I think, is the idea that the truth (about poverty, the environment, the morality of abortion, civil rights, etc.) is self-evident to anyone who is willing to look. Furthermore, authority figures are probably willfully blind to this truth. So, protest and social communication are not only justified but, perhaps, mandatory: people in power need to be made to see the truth. Once they recognize the world for what it is, the social truth will overwhelm leaders’ decision to disregard a given problem and force them to take righteous action. (more…)

It’s been raining heavily in Boston for three days now. The lilacs, dogwoods, and magnolias have lost their flowers and now I tread on them. That delicious smell of cement that is just wet by new rain is drowned by the extra foot of water. I sat through another Mother’s Day talk for Singles yesterday. The bishop told us that any blessing we weren’t getting now we would get, at some future, undisclosed time. 75 hours it’s been raining and I am lonely. Loneliness tastes to me like really burnt chocolate chip cookies.

I remember when I was 10 years old and it had been 22 hours since I had seen my dad. (more…)

In May of 1926, Anna Lewis Evans was washed and anointed in preparation for her upcoming birth. This was the first documented time that she would receive this blessing from women in the 31st Ward, Park Stake. She would go on to experience this sacred ritual another five times — on September 13, 1927, January 9, 1930, July 12, 1931, January 16, 1936 and finally an unspecified date in 1937. (more…)

A real prize this time (an unworn Bible Society T-shirt!). What are Nine Moons Rusty and BCC Steve saying? (Bonus: who is the pseudonymous blogger in the background?)

Always on the look-out for ways to improve my prayers, I found this charming suggestion from the Church of England website: (more…)

Several years ago I fell asleep reading Nibley’s Abraham in Egypt, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Volume 14, and had the following dream that appeared to be a future FARMS press conference, circa 2063 AD. [1] I hope it is prophetic. (more…)

Elouise Bell, a well-known force to be reckoned with in Mormon letters, has accepted our invitation to guest blog at BCC. While celebrated as a Mormon humorist and godmother to those aspiring to that calling, her essays cannot be constrained by any category other than extraordinary writing. (more…)

I’m stealing the title for my post from this article in the NY Times, because it captures what I’ve been thinking about and where I want to explore. I recommend that you read the article, if you get the chance — it’s brief but intriguing — as a precursor to discussion.

The topic is money and our social relationships within the Church. (more…)

So I’m getting ready for church Sunday morning and I get a call from the ward mission leader. He tells me that the stake has set up a new uniform system for handling splits. They want guys to have a designated day during the month (say, second Tuesday), and to split-off with the missionaries every month on that evening. There will be an alternates list for those months where the brother is traveling or otherwise cannot make it. The idea is to do splits every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of every week of every month. (more…)