Texas Governor Rick Perry is dropping out of the presidential race. This is not a surprise. His poll numbers quickly crashed after his initial splash in August. This was largely due to disastrous debate performances. As the high profile governor of a large state with both social conservative and Tea Party cred, it was assumed that the well-financed Perry would be a strong contender against Mitt Romney and an otherwise apparently weak GOP field. Particularly given that he had money,... Read more
I thought about sharing “Pride (In the name of love)” with you today because it is about Martin Luther King, Jr. However, I think Silver and Gold might be more in the spirit of Rev. King. I also love to hear Edge play the blues. Read more
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17 ESV) “What doth... Read more
In a 9-0 decision the U.S Supreme Court has declared that the government may not second-guess a religious community’s decision about who should serve as ministers, teachers, or leaders even when employment discrimination issues are at stake. Why did the government even try this? Beats me. The unanimity of the decision, though, shows just how unreasonable the Court found the Obama administration’s argument. Now you might ask, “Why do you care, Mogs?” Well, I teach the sole religion class my... Read more
This is the audio of my 2010 SMPT presentation back in March. It might be good for putting your kids to sleep. I think I sound nicer in audio than I do in my comments on the ‘Nacle. I am introduced by Blake Ostler. Listen: Rawlsian Themes in Mormon Thought Read more
We have reached a certain milestone in our history and it has been for us a cause to celebrate and reflect upon what we’ve done here, what we’ve learned, and a bit on who we have become in our nearly 7 year history. When we reached 500 posts a few years ago, we posed the following question for our current bloggers: How has your decision to pursue academic research in religion or ancient history affected your faith? This is an... Read more
As a left liberal Democrat, it does not really matter who I want to win the Republican primary. However, I am also following this election closely as a student of political behavior and Mormonism. One of the reasons I am rooting for Mitt is that I strongly feel that the parties should put forward good candidate, if not the best candidate possible. I am not sure if Mitt is the best candidate for the GOP, but he is clearly the... Read more
Another little doorway into Christianity lies, I think, in the second of the three enumerated purposes of the BoM and particularly in the phrase I have underlined: that [the remnant of the House of Israel] may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever As I was looking into this, I discovered something interesting: in many web citations this particular purpose is completely missing or truncated, as you see here: http://www.jefflindsay.com/BOMIntro.shtml#2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon I think that... Read more
I love Tim Tebow. Partially because I have recently converted to being a Denver Broncos fan. I am a Washington Redskins fan by birth. I was born in Washington, DC. The glory days of the Redskins was during my K-12 years in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. However, I can no longer take the last 20 years of pain that have come from being a Redskins fan. I may reconsider when Daniel Snyder sells the team. I now live... Read more
Tis the start of the New Year, and therefore the start of a new lesson cycle for those of us who serve as teachers in church. What to do, what to do, we think. A class participant who is 48 years old may have heard the lessons we are supposed to present some ten or so times! And this year the Sunday School lesson cycle is the Book of Mormon, which most people can actually read if they try, so... Read more
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