\u201cDeath of a post-theist shepherd: The unorthodox faith of Bishop John Shelby Spong\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I have to confess that I was never much impressed by the quality of his thinking; I thought he was an intellectual lightweight.\u00a0 There seem to be a few, though, who would like the Restoration to go in more or less the direction he went.\u00a0 His denomination didn\u2019t precisely prosper, though, as his kind of thought came to be more and more on the ascendant.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
My blog\u2019s leading resident atheist commenter today described Utah as a \u201ctheological compound.\u201d\u00a0 I assume that he was attempting humor, but I\u2019ve heard the claim seriously<\/em> advanced.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The relevant definition for the noun compound<\/em> that is provided by Merriam-Webster will serve my purpose here:\u00a0 \u201ca fenced or walled-in area containing a group of buildings and especially residences.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even when deployed metaphorically or polemically, the concept of being \u201cfenced\u201d or \u201cwalled-in\u201d seems essential to the concept of a \u201ccompound.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Utah is hardly \u201cwalled-in\u201d or \u201cfenced.\u201d\u00a0 I flew in from the very different world of Newport Beach, California, just a few hours ago.\u00a0 There were no barriers.\u00a0 Airports here function freely.\u00a0 And there were none a week or so ago when I flew down<\/em> to the OC.\u00a0 Amazon ships books into Utah in the same way that it ships them into Massachusetts and into the People\u2019s Republic of Berkeley.\u00a0 (There is no Index of Forbidden Books.)\u00a0 Hollywood and foreign and independent films play here as they play elsewhere.\u00a0 So do scores of television and radio programs.\u00a0 Faithful and committed Latter-day Saints work and walk alongside non-Latter-day Saints just as they do elsewhere.\u00a0 Several drivers each day can testify to having driven into and out of the state with entire freedom.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I chuckle mildly when I hear Utah humorously described as a \u201ccompound.\u201d\u00a0 When the claim is made seriously, though, I\u2019m far less amused.\u00a0 It can only be seriously advanced on the basis of some combination or other of ignorance, arrogance, and bigotry.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 *** \u00a0 Here\u2019s a new piece that went up on the Interpreter Foundation website a couple of days ago: \u00a0 \u201cBook of Moses Essays #75: Noah (Moses 8): The Sons of God and the Sons of Men (Moses 8:1-21)\u201d \u00a0 Here is how to order a copy of the conference edition of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25568,25589,56,25571,1809,25565,9922,6165,25586,2905,1812,788,55,1667,25577,3697,25580,25583,25574,782],"class_list":["post-92882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-agatha-christie","tag-bishop-spong","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-christie","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-compound","tag-deseret","tag-hale-centre-theatre","tag-john-shelby-spong","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-mousetrap","tag-musical","tag-sandy","tag-spong","tag-the-mousetrap","tag-utah"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"The](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2018\/01\/Sandy-Sunset-photo.jpg\")
<\/a>