Today, a three member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, by a 2-1 margin, that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional. The Court said that Prop. 8 “served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California.” This seems to be following the logic in Lawrence v. Texas which overturned laws restricting gay sex since such laws where not aimed at specific activities, but gays themselves. The... Read more
This post is extremely long. Consider yourself warned, and skim through quotations if you want. Or just read the final section. Here I will reconcile three seemingly paradoxical points: I love the doctrine of Atonement. I have difficulty believing in it literally. My (dis)belief does not remove the power of the Atonement from my life. (more…) Read more
It appears that Andrew Sullivan published something on Mormons yesterday. How do I know this without reading Sullivan? Because there’s a zillion Mormons responding to his comments at sites far removed. In fact, there’s a bumper crop of Mormon apologetics springing up all over the place and I’m detecting a bit of a common theme. It is, I think, something of a South Park approach. (more…) Read more
Sitting near York Minster in England is the statue of Constantine shown below. Notice the contemplative look on Constantine’s face as he examines his sword. You’d think he’d never really seen it before! Why? Look again, at where the tip of the sword should rest on the ground. As you can see, the tip of his sword is broken off. Although the sword could still cut, it’s utility as a weapon is pretty much gone. It is a cross now,... Read more
Wednesday Aug. 24 was the first day of school here in Casper. That means that on Tuesday night we had “back-to-school” father’s blessings. This has been a tradition in our house, as it is with many families. However, this year felt a little different. Todd, my oldest , was starting middle school. Geneva, my youngest, was starting full-day Kindergarten. It is a year of transition. Shem, the new 4th grader, went first. I will not go into the details of... Read more
Over on BCC, Steve P has posted a nice summary of an article in New Scientist which attributes the decline in scientific literacy in the US to three factors: relativism in the academy, unserious journalism, and the illiteracy of Congress. Amen to the third one! In fact, amen to all of them! However, speaking as someone who has taught both science and religion at the undergraduate level, there is at least one discipline in which student ignorance exceeds that of... Read more
So in this last week we, that is me and the 17-18 year old gentlemen I teach, were looking at the Tree of Life vision and Nephi’s interpretation. As you know, our goal is to read the BoM and look for foundational Christian doctrine – hence the title “Christianity 101: BoM Style.” This time we started with that mysterious man who pops up in front of Lehi and declares his intent to lead Lehi to the Tree of Life (1... Read more
Welcome! I am watching the SOTU address with my kids and thought that I might see if the bloggernacle wanted to join us. Feel free to share in the comments any thoughts you might have. Be nice. I will try my best. 🙂 The State of the Union address is a function required of the President by the Constitution.. Last year, I watched the SOTU with my Tuesday night class. No night class this term. I hope you will join... Read more
In 1971, Elder Boyd K. Packer gave a talk in which he stated: The gospel might be likened to the keyboard of a piano—a full keyboard with a selection of keys on which one who is trained can play a variety without limits; a ballad to express love, a march to rally, a melody to soothe, and a hymn to inspire; an endless variety to suit every mood and satisfy every need. How shortsighted it is, then, to choose a... Read more
One recent, sympathetic critic called the Book of Mormon “dull.” This is not a new accusation. Mark Twain famously called it “chloroform in print,” and I don’t deny the charge. Trust me, I’m quite aware of the boringness of the Book of Mormon. Mormons are aware that the Book of Mormon can be difficult reading, and often make jokes about it. It’s characters are one-dimensional, there isn’t much plot to speak of, only some of the content is occasionally moving, and... Read more
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