When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that... Read more

June 27, 1844 marked the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Artist Andrew Knaupp’s depictions of this event are my favorite, though you won’t see them in official church publications. For instance, here’s one of Joseph firing his weapon: Andrew also includes youtube video commentary of his pieces:   I’ve written elsewhere about complaints regarding the historical accuracy of church art. I appreciate Knaupp’s attention to detail, and his somewhat unique style. I also thought Seth Adam Smith did a nice job... Read more

I can’t remember if this clip made the bloggernacle rounds back when it first hit the web, but in case you missed it, here’s a local traffic reporter in Utah reporting under the influence of cold medication: FM100 Holiest Traffic Report Read more

With the announcement of Huntsman running for president and all the focus on Mitt and his Mormonism…I think there needs to be another Mormon in the 2012 mix. Of course, I am not running for POTUS. Right now, I am deciding which race to pursue. My primary interest is in one of the Congressional races. Today, I spoke with the executive director of the state Democratic Party. Things are now rolling…slowly…but rolling. Read more

Being a father is a lot harder than I ever would have imagined. However, it is also more fun than I ever would have guessed. A few days ago, I was in my front yard playing catch with my two boys. My daughter, also my youngest, came running out with a baseball glove that was way too big. The glove did not work (partially because it was too big, partially because she is a left-hander), but she was able to... Read more

Worried about the possibility of a Romney presidency, evangelical writer Warren Smith recently labeled Mormonism “a false and dangerous religion.” He is worried, among other things, that Mormons do not affirm the Trinity as described in the Nicene Creed. I can’t help but wonder how many past presidents would have been disqualified on this ground. Deists such as Thomas Jefferson flatly and openly rejected the Creed, and I would bet that many subsequent presidents knew little of the Creed, let... Read more

During my recent perambulations through various sacred texts searching out how major spiritual traditions claim to handle violence I ran onto a short report on a Japanese Buddhist ritual called mizuko kuyō. This is something of a memorial service for aborted children. There are about a million abortions each year in Japan. For purposes of comparison, I think there are about 1.5 million abortions each year in the U.S., while our population is about double that of Japan. Since most... Read more

My lips…or should I say my finger tips…have been with much guile. I need to change. I do not think that this will mean that I will be more agreeable. I still think that certain views should be marginalized rather than engaged. Some arguments, left and right, are stupid. However, I do not need to be the one who points it out. Instead, I would like to focus more of my energy on creating a positive vision of where I... Read more