I’ve recently been asked to review the latest salvo in the ethical war over the propriety of human enhancement technology (particularly those that involve modification of the genome or manipulation of human cells at the embryonic stage). I realized that I have essentially never discussed these issues with Mormons before and am curious to hear what self-identified Mormons think a) generally, and b) as refracted through Mormon theology and culture.

Some of the proposed enhancements include (more…)

Just recently an acquaintance by e-mail happened to mention that when he got divorced, he lost his job with CES. Then today I read this interesting article by Peggy in the SL Tribune about Phil Barlow (a gentleman and a scholar he), and he talks about how he was fired by CES when he got divorced, to devastating effect. (more…)

The missionaries came over for dinner. One of them is from the Antipodes and so I regaled them with useless facts about Australia, including the origin of the Aborigines.

Elder: I wonder what they did to be cursed.

RJH: ?

Elder: Well, to account for their dark skin and all…

Part One:
On Sunday, our MTC Branch President will ask the departing district to stand. He will say something like, “These missionaries will be leaving tomorrow. We want to thank them for their service in our branch and we certainly wish them well on our missions.” (more…)

In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; and if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.

(D&C 131:1-4; see also this discussion.)

Discuss.

On a typical Sunday my Young Women are asked to imagine how they would act when a non-member encouraged them to participate in any one of the stock activities – drugs, underage dating, or parental disobedience – that we Mormons find outside our fold.  These conversations are often surprisingly enjoyable, serving as moments when the Young Women solidify their bonds with each other as they contrast themselves to various others.  But inevitably these conversations take a turn into the more disputed aspects of Mormon culture.  From minor debates over a topic like the Mormon stance on Coke emerge spaces where a variety of Mormonisms emerge that disrupt the group solidarity our role-plays foster. 

Out of these moments of rupture often comes the suspicion that our deepest threats to our “Mormon” identity come not from the world without but from within.  What these stories of Mormons v. the world mask is that the deepest challenges to our faith, in other words, often spring from the members we wish to support us or assume censor the version of faith we practice. (more…)

In discussing women and healing in the early church, one of the most commonly asked questions seems to be, “How could this have happened? Why did things change?” (more…)

Yesterday on the radio I heard a reference to the musical Grease and for the last twenty four hours I have been recovering from the post-traumatic stress I suffered as a result.  Ten years ago, due to my calling with the young men in the ward, I was partially responsible for the success of the ward road show, and it was awful.  My task was to induce understandably recalcitrant deacons, teachers, and priests to get on the stage in the cultural hall in front of the ward members and to walk backwards and forwards and left and right while making hand motions and singing Go, Greased Lightning. (more…)

At the last priesthood session of General Conference (April 2007), President Monson spoke about a tender experience during his military service. (more…)

I noticed today that the world is full of beauty. (more…)

It was a beautiful late summer day today. The sun was shining, 78 degrees. So I overcame the inertia of sitting on the couch watching football and went for a walk. (more…)

In August, Kris Wright flew me up to her place in Canada to see where she lives, to meet her family and to celebrate my upcoming blessed event because she wouldn’t be able to come down in September. At customs, the guy asked me what I was doing there. Visiting a friend, I said. How did you meet this friend, he said. Church camp, I quickly replied. I hadn’t prepared that almost lie (we did meet in person at an Exponent II retreat) but it was like I was full of the Holy Spirit and knew just what to say. He let me through immediately. Usually those Canadian customs’ employees are tough. (more…)

And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually—

(D&C 1:30)

Discuss.

I, as many of us, have laughed with the outside world at the thought that there are Mormons, presumably in the expanses of rural Utah, who routinely refer to Jews as Gentiles. The observation that in Utah a Jew is a Gentile seems to adorn most current journalistic treatments of Mormonism. Never having met a live Mormon guilty of such a gaffe, I have long assumed they existed historically. The more work I do in early Mormonism, the less certain I am that such Mormons ever existed. (more…)

I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on a scripture that has helped me understand Christ. As I thought about it, the same idea kept coming to me: John 8:1-11, the story of the woman taken in adultery (aka Pericope Adulterae).
 
What strikes me is the focus on mercy and the charity and patience with others that the atonement requires of us. We focus on the issues of obedience (which are necessary) to the degree that we forget about the quality of mercy that this story reinforces. I’m deeply moved as I contemplate Christ offering mercy to her and by extension, me. I like the idea of seeing ourselves and others in the way that Christ and the Father do: defined not by our sins, but by our potential to be like Him because of the Atonement.
 
But there’s a complication: (more…)

We are all familiar with young Joseph Smith’s partiality for Methodism. Joseph even conceded in his now-canonized history that he was “partial to the Methodist sect, and…felt some desire to be united with them.” This affinity for Methodism is reflected in the organization of his nascent Church. Priesthood was made up of the offices of Teacher, Priest, and Elder. Missionaries weren’t required to be educated and preached itinerantly. Even words like “General Conference” stem from early Methodism. By the end of his life though, Joseph’s perspective had changed, and there was a new tradition in which to find parallels. (more…)

It isn’t impossible that Mitt Romney will become the next president of the United States. But if I were a gambler, I would invite any bets from BCC readers who find his prospects at all positive. (more…)

I have realized from time to time over the past three years that my views on ecclesiastical authority differ greatly from the views that many of you hold.  This is a cause for some concern, because I have a lot of respect for many of you who participate here.  This blog post is an attempt to sort out my thoughts and to allow those of you who think I’m off my rocker to say so.  (more…)

Recently someone very dear to me let me know that although he has a strong testimony of God, he has been questioning his ability to participate in the Mormon church, because many of his beliefs in God and experiences have lead him to perspectives that contradict some of the cultural ideas in the church as well as what authorities have said. My purpose in the next few blog posts is not to blame him, but rather to hypothesize that many Mormons can deeply sympathize with his positions. I want to respond to him in these posts by looking at the various concerns that he raises and asking what we as church members can do both to make our church more open to questions and when we face our own doubts. Today, I want to begin to think about the process through which church truths emerge.

(more…)

Recently, I had the privilege of becoming the confident of a Church member who is struggling with extreme doubt about his faith. This man is the husband of a friend of mine, and both husband and wife come from old-line Mormon families. He found me through the blogs, and he and his wife approached me one Sunday with questions.

This opened up some serious dialogue that was better moved from the Church foyer to our living room. Ignoring the fact that I feel totally unqualified to offer spiritual advice, I was able to offer a sympathetic ear and a forum free of judgment. (more…)

What to do with Ram Setu? (more…)

Amy Dickinson (who, along with Dan Savage, is my favorite advice columnist) in her Ask Amy column in today’s Chicago Tribune ran a series of letters about things in your possession you wouldn’t want your family to find after you die. (more…)

( “Chapter 18: Honorable, Happy, Successful Marriage,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball)

Let us make two assumptions and one rule.

Assumption 1: Marriage is important for Mormons.

Assumption 2: Marriage is hard work.

Rule 1: In promoting the perfect ideal of the happy celestial marriage, we must not neglect to confront certain realities, viz., that some people will never marry, that some people have endured a failed marriage, and that some people live in unhappy marriages. Tact and humility are vital in any discussion of marriage among Latter-day Saints.

Given these rather obvious assumptions, and not wishing to gild the lily nor alienate some among us, let’s get straight to the point of this lesson and suggest some practical and realistic ways to improve marriages. Anyone who offers vapourish admonitions to “be honest,” or “enjoy wholesome recreational activities,” will be taken outside and shot. (more…)

As I’ve been working my way through Brooks Hollifield’s fascinating Theology in America, several themes in my own thinking have come more clearly into view. Hollifield writes that with few notable exceptions (Lutherans, the transcendentalists, some Catholics, some mystics, and Horace Bushnell) American Christians strongly embraced the notion that Christianity was above all reasonable, that no sacred truth could be contrary to the exercise of Reason. One major theme in this rational Christianity is the evidences, both internal (OT prophecies of the NT, the Bible, despite its complexity is harmonious) and external (witnesses actually saw people rise from the dead or experience successful exorcism or be fed from the scraps of loaves and fishes). According to this “evidential Christianity,” American Christianity (evangelicals and Catholics used the evidences in conflicting but similar ways) was irrefutably true. I won’t bore you with all the details (though if you’re interested in these themes, Hollifield’s book is well worth the time), but I am fascinated by how Joseph Smith entered the fray. Both Hollifield and Terryl Givens (Viper on the Hearth ca. 80-85) have begun the discussion on this topic, but part of Joseph Smith’s religious power was that he caught mainline Christians in a convenient but pious fiction, a surprisingly tenuous accommodation to Enlightenment ideals. Miracles prove the truth of evangelical Protestantism, you say? Well what about miracles right now, before your eyes? Holy scripture contains the witness of Revelation to guide Reason, you say? Well what about holy scripture and revelation right now?

It has occurred to me while reading Alexander Campbell’s angry response to Mormonism in 1831 (widely considered the first anti-Mormon tract, though the story is somewhat complex), that finding recognizable Christianity in the Book of Mormon serves a similar purpose.

(more…)

And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire. And it came to pass that they took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of martyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire.

And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames. But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

(Alma 14: 8-11)

Discuss.

My interest in Alchemy began before I knew much about church history beyond the traditional treatments. I was just looking for a hobby subject to relax my mind from the rigors of my chemistry research, and I figured that at least alchemy would inform me about the history of my science. After very little exposure to alchemical literature, however, I felt inundated with Mormon/alchemical correspondences. There were mysterious illusions to a ‘Book M’ in the Fama Fraternitatis. There was a book in the written by Petrus Bonus called the New Pearl of Great Price, and on the inside cover of The Golden Age Restored, James 1:5 is written out word for word. The verse is also prominently displayed in The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians. These scattered items were coupled with what felt like were fundamental connections between the alchemical theories and my own understanding of Mormon thought. (more…)

Mormon history often has an “I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it” quality for faithful Latter-day Saints. So much, it often seems, depends on the interpretive strategy of the historian that readers’ own perspectives are hard to change with anything other than direct reference to surprising or under-considered primary sources. Indeed, during the aftermath of the Hofmann forgeries, even primary sources — especially surprising ones — were suspect for many Mormons. Fortunately for us, that time of historical nihilism is largely past, but the broad skepticism of many Mormons that things were ever substantially different than they are today seems to persist. (more…)

Author’s note: this isn’t about the endowment or the sacred nature of garments or anything like that. Comments that I gauge as inappropriate will be deleted with glee.

It was with delight that I noticed Beehive Clothing now offers BOXERS in the Men’s Authorized Pattern. Anxious to return to a semblance of my undergarments of yesteryear, I ordered an evaluation pair of the Men’s Bottom Boxer DriLux Jersey (Short). (more…)

When my father joined the church in Chicago in 1966, he was confident he was the first and only Mormon in his family. Much later, while doing family history research, he discovered his great grandmother was born in Tooele, Utah; and her mother was a wife of William Henry Harrison Sagers. (more…)

When I was a teenager, a bunch of my friends went together to the Egyptian Theater in DeKalb, Illinois, where I grew up, to see a new movie that had just come out, called Enter the Dragon. I had never heard of kung fu before and had essentially no exposure to the martial arts at that time. My friends insisted on sitting on the first row, and in this case it was a good choice. Bruce Lee in all his catlike glory seemed to be two stories tall. I had never seen anything like this and was completely mesmerized by it. (more…)