Saturday night found me — where else? — on a crowded dance floor, surrounded by fourteen-year-olds. (more…)

Submitted by Fake Elder Wirthlin. Fake Elder Wirthlin is most definitely not an apostle.

When Latter-day Saint home teachers go to visit Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve, they usually do not take The 5 Browns to perform live in a family’s living room.

But for Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve and his home teacher, Skip Daynes, visits like these are common occurrences.

Daynes has shown up at Elder Wirthlin’s Salt Lake City home with musicians The Crimson 4, Josh Wright and The Call Sisters. (more…)

While reading Helaman Pratt’s Journal of his mission to Mexico in 1884, something struck a resonance within me.  It brought to the surface memories of my own mission and thoughts about the mission experience in general. 

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Dr. Warner Woodworth, Utah Educator

On June 8, 2008 I made the drive to Temple Square from Provo to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the restoration of the priesthood to all worthy Black males in the tabernacle. It was a thrilling event and the day brought back rich and painful memories. I want to share a bit of personal history from my experiences with Black Mormonism in Utah and Brazil, and then raise a few concluding issues. (more…)

Deep below the City of David outside of Jerusalem’s southern walls runs Hezekiah’s tunnel, the tunnel that saved Jerusalem.

In 701 BC the writing seemed to be on the wall for Hezekiah, king of Jerusalem. The Near East in the 8th century BC was dominated by the Assyrians, and every year the Assyrian king marched out of Nineveh in northern Iraq to survey his empire. In 701, Sennacherib headed west to subdue numerous rebellions which had erupted in the western provinces. As the ring-leader of one particularly dangerous rebellion, Hezekiah was top of Sennacherib’s hit-list. Once loyal to the Assyrians, Hezekiah had taken the opportunity afforded by the death of Sennacherib’s father, Sargon II, to break the yoke of the Pax Assyriaca. (more…)

A partial list of things the Old Testament teaches or suggests about sex, marriage, and relationships:

1. Kidnapping and rape are perfectly acceptable ways to find a wife. (Judges 21: 16-23; Deut. 22:28-29)
2. Don’t underestimate the benefits of visiting prostitutes. (Joshua 2) (more…)

All good things come to an end. Lots of mediocre things, too.

This is the last of them, and it’s a doozy. Considering the date there were other frontrunners, but this is the mother of all firestorms. In the weeks to come I’ll look back and see if there are any conclusions to draw. But for now… enjoy this long but oh-so-fiery post. (more…)

I received some complaints, in comment and email, about my previous Griswold post. Evidently the title raised hopes of something related to a certain movie franchise, and readers were disappointed to learn it was boring lawyer stuff instead. So I’d like to use the last post of my stint as a BCC guest blogger to make amends. This is a meaningless post about Family Vacations.

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I first saw this picture about a week ago. I cannot stop looking at it despite the sense of melancholy it keeps invoking in me.

The picture is of Gladys Keighley and Harold Bradley. It was taken somewhere in England, some time in the 1930’s.

I am drawn to the happiness of youth that shines in their faces. I think they are beautiful.

I knew Gladys and Harold — they would later marry and have a daughter, my mum — but my own memory of them sits uneasily with this picture. My last memory of Grandpa was of a sad old man whose brain had been wrecked by a stroke. Grandma died a few years ago, deaf, blind, and skeletal. (more…)

Usually, the most educational part of Sunday for me is the drive home from church.

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As most BCC readers will know, I have fielded a pilot survey on people’s experiences of the Book of Mormon over the last several days. Thanks to all who have participated!

I want to comment briefly on an unexpected aspect of this survey. I’ve administered a number of surveys before, all in South America. For each of those experiences, very few respondents contact the project administration team to ask for additional details or to complain about the survey instrument. For this survey, by contrast, a little over 5% of respondents have emailed me, usually to complain. (more…)

This post started life as a comment at Chino Blanco’s TPMCafe blog. However, the comment never cleared moderation there, clear evidence of a conspiracy to keep Mormons out of the discussion wacky technical glitch. Given the conspiracy glitch, I thought I’d post a slightly modified version of the comment here. In it, I try to address Jason’s suggestion at TPMCafe that the church’s published statements against same-sex marriage shows “blatant hypocrisy and shameless disregard for Mormon history.” (more…)

My great grandparents’ wedding portrait seems unusual to me for the late nineteenth century. So many portraits from that time are stiff. The bride and Groom either stand rigidly beside one another, staring stoically at the camera, or lean away from each other as if to assure everyone of their chastity. But Maude Elizabeth Brunt and John Enoch Groberg lean towards each other. Her smile has always reminded me of the Mona Lisa. There is no stiffness, no fear in either bride or groom. I imagine that John Enoch has his arm around Maude’s waist, beyond the view of the camera lens. There is a tenderness in the portrait, a quiet pronouncement of “We belong together!” (more…)

Often when pondering the joy it is to have my two beautiful children, I think of the cast of characters who were responsible for bringing them into the world. I’m sharing the list here because I think it says a lot about LDS communities–how they are structured, how they function, roles, responsibilities, formal and informal authority, stewardships, power, gender roles, balance, reciprocity in relationships, dependence and interdependence, status, family vs ward family vs global family. I don’t want to overshadow the events with too much analysis in this post itself, but those are some of the ideas I have in mind while I write this. I am interested in hearing your thoughts about these themes and discussing it in the comments.
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On September 13, 1845, four Mormons acting at the call of the prophet James J. Strang went to a certain hill near Burlington, Wisconsin, and, at a spot beneath a great oak that showed no signs of having been disturbed, they dug and found an earthenware box containing a set of three plates of brass. Beyond the four witnesses, the plates were viewed by hundreds of curious spectators including a local non-Mormon newspaper reporter. (more…)

The Church’s opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment (the ERA) in the 1970s and early 1980s periodically comes up in discussions of the Church’s involvement in political or social issues. For those of us who were in pre-school in 1980, the substantial paper insert contained in the March 1980 issue of the Ensign (posted below) is instructive about this episode in the history of the Church. I stumbled upon it while browsing through old Ensigns I came across at my ward building a couple of weeks ago and figure that many members have never seen it even though they might occasionally be confronted with questions about the Church’s involvement in opposing the ERA. (more…)

What is the LDS doctrine justifying a shift from seeing moral issues as a matter of individual conscience, and hence merit, to requiring morality as a matter of law? In other words, how does the gospel apply to society?

We have seen in recent decades an increasing involvement of religion within the public sector both in the US and abroad. This includes the rise of the religious right within the US, an increasingly politically engaged Catholicism, an Islam deeply concerned with the structure and organization of global society, and a political Hinduism. They have challenged the simple modernist notions that religion must be separated from the public sphere, especially government, and that religion is in essence private and individual not public and collective.

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No tea, no stodgy Yankee cooking…

Rumor has it that Mark IV will be in Boston next weekend, which is more than enough excuse for a party! Lots of nerdy Mormons, Tennessee barbecue, fried green tomatoes, sweet potato biscuits, peach/blackberry cobbler. Y’all come!!

My house, Saturday the 28th, 4ish until whenever. E-mail me for directions, etc. kristinedothaglundatgmail.

My two weeks of guest blogging is about over. I wanted to thank you all for invigorating discussion and thought that you have spurred me to during this time. I want to thank Steve Evans for inviting me to join you. I’ve had a good time.

So for my last blog consider this scripture: (more…)

This from Peter LLC.

Our ward had a convert baptism today. A worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder performed the ordinance by (more…)

For the first half of my adult life, my default calling at Church involved teaching. I was constantly teaching EQ, and I did stints as GD teacher in three different wards. And then I started teaching Institute. (more…)

This month’s Sunstone contains an absolutely awesome reader letter explaining the relationship between Republicans, Democrats, politics, and righteousness. It goes like this: (more…)

Let’s go back to robots (as all theological discussions ultimately must). In Dan Simmon’s SciFi masterpiece, Hyperion, one of the main characters Sol has a reoccurring dream in which he hands over his daughter (who has been aging backwards due to Merlin’s disease) to a spatial and temporal shifting mechanical creature called the Shrike. (more…)

Fifty-two Firestorms. Fifty-one are known. One will be revealed.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

(Mark 16: 17-18)

Discuss. Or, discuss.

I am a generous person. You want my money, my time, my love. I’ll give it to you. I’m not stingy. I am not one to look for the rational reason not to give. Will this bum use this money for alcohol or drugs? He might, but I’m not one to care. He looks like he needs money, so I’ll give it. Someone wants my time in some inefficient, bumbling but good-hearted project? Sure. My time’s all yours. You’re annoying or mean or weird? I’ll still love you. I may not always be smart or logical, but I am generous.

That is, until Iquitos killed it. (more…)

As you may know, we at BCC are big fans of the liturgical calendar. So I wanted to give a big shout-out to St. John’s Day, or as it is known in Finnish, Juhannus. It is celebrated here this year on the 21st, the Saturday closest to the June equinox. For, as you may already know, St. John’s Day is basically the celebration of Midsummer, the longest day of the year. (more…)

I am currently seeking respondents for a survey of people’s experiences with and connection to the Book of Mormon. Many BCC readers have already probably received a link to the survey in one way or another, but I would ask those who have not to consider participating. It will be even more helpful to the usefulness of the project if you can pass a link to the survey along to friends, neighbors, and family members who don’t participate too regularly in the Mormon internet. All that’s necessary to participate in the survey is some present or historical connection to Mormonism; the perspectives of active Mormons are essential, as are the points of view of inactive Mormons, ex-Mormons, and even members of other denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement. The survey can be accessed at http://nelsonseawright.bookofmormon.sgizmo.com (more…)

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” Zora Neale Hurston

When I was younger, and thought I understood things, I yearned for Answer years. Of course, I was up to my collarbones in Asking years- immersed in the joy and luxury of contemplating life’s Big questions. In my naiveté, I often wondered what was more difficult- asking or getting my answers. Occasionally I would catch glimpses of an Answer- a fleeing shadow, the dry shaded rustle of the unknown on the edge of my vision. But like a child playing with matches who hasn’t yet seen fire, there was no framework to comprehend those Answers. (more…)

I’ve heard many a tale of negative first experiences in the temple. They range from surprise or confusion to outright horror. I can very much sympathize with these stories, and want to emphasize that I believe attributing them to any fault of the individual is wrong. And I think it is important for us to continue to revisit the issue of first temple experiences from time to time and think about how we can ease the transition for newcomers. So I offer up my story as a data point in the discussion.
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This week Steve and Ronan dream dreams, sever feet, and peddle beer. (more…)