Mormon Blogs

I woke up this morning to find armies of people decrying the apocalypse which he-whose-name-will-not-be-spoken set alight last night.  Normally, I would be content to let others more versed in the art undertake the rhetorical war against political wrongheadedness, rather than add redundancy to the obvious. But we are past the point of political wrongheadedness.  [Read More...]

These chapters (and 39) are all focused on Corianton, who gets quite the paternal talk. Assuming that these chapters aren’t using Corianton merely as a framework to talk doctrine (i.e. why would this all be recorded, or is Mormon expanding it?), we can guess that Corianton hadn’t understood some things, such as the resurrection, justice, [Read More...]

A welcome break from the Trump/Clinton drama. This ad agency, founded by Mormons is creative, very funny, and has captured a niche in the advertising world  like none other. Unicorns at no extra cost! Read last week’s article from the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/the-art-of-advertising-things-people-find-gross/2016/07/20/0eae80fc-3c6f-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html

As noted earlier, Jerry Bradford is stepping down as director of the Maxwell Institute, and BYU has chosen a committee to select his successor.  (http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/now-accepting-nominations-and-applications-for-next-institute-director/)  Unfortunately, the mandate of the committee has not been made public, but let’s take a look at what the composition of that committee can tell us about the staying power [Read More...]

Over the weekend I became aware of a piece written by Stephen Smoot at the Interpreter that reminded me the Book of Mormon Wars are unfortunately alive and well in some quarters. Uncompromisingly, Smoot declares BoM historicity to be an all or nothing affair and identifies those who promote an inspired fiction theory as not only intellectually compromised but [Read More...]

(This is a talk I gave at this year’s Women’s Conference at Brigham Young University.) For Thanksgiving each of us in the family has to make a pie—because you can never have too many pies—and this year I tried for the second year in a row to make a banana cream pie. My pie the [Read More...]

“When someone places faith in the Bible, they place it in the direction of evidence, not against the evidence.” D.M. Johnson and I are back in this second-to-last podcast on the authenticity of the Bible. Today, we discuss undesigned coincidences. Undesigned coincidences are events or things in the Bible that could be coincidental, but there [Read More...]

Shortly after Nathan and I married we were enjoying a family evening for two. He was about 12 years old at the time (#kiddingnotkidding) and had literally just come home from his mission. He’d had a wonderful mission and he was determined to start our marriage on the right Mormon foot by setting set up [Read More...]

Today’s guest post is written by Lori Bolland Embree. Opinions shared on guest posts may not completely reflect the positions of the blog’s author.   Lori Bolland Embree is from Parker, Idaho, raised by a Lutheran father and an LDS mother. She was a high school teacher and debate coach for many years, and now teaches [Read More...]

(This likely represents my last post here.) Update- some of the text of this long post disappeared when I first posted it, but it’s been reinserted and set off. Part 1 of the series and Part 2 My note-taking mechanism consist of two things*:  Evernote and  a pocket notebook. I’ll explain what they are, and [Read More...]

In the wake of a Republican National Convention that has left many shaken – including many conservatives, particularly among conservative Mormons – there’s a teensy bit of glimmering hope for bookworms who don’t want a man who deliberately incites mob violence to take the White House: according to one study, Harry Potter may be part [Read More...]

To begin with, you have to know that I’m not a Donald Trump supporter. I’m not even a Trump sympathizer. I’m unimpressed with his character and his background, and I think he’s poorly suited for the Presidency. I’m troubled by his ugly rhetoric, and by its popularity. I think he’s doing real harm to our [Read More...]

    “If there is no God, nothing matters.  If there is a God, nothing else matters.”  (H. G. Wells, 1866-1946)   Posted from Newport Beach, California    

Larry Walters, my home teacher, stopped by the house Sunday evening for a chat. We talked for at least an hour on our front porch, though I know that Larry was anxious to get back to his family. He had grandchildren coming in from out of town last night, but he made more than a [Read More...]

Join the Round Table for this special holiday edition where we discuss favorite family traditions and memories, navigating family dynamics during the stressful holiday season, and how we can teach our children more about gift giving. Plus, a bonus challenge that includes great gift ideas from the Round Table! Check out these free gifts offered for [Read More...]

Trump University is accused of fraud. Hearing the case is U.S. district Judge Curiel, an American born in Indiana. Trump objects because Curiel’s parents were Mexican immigrants. But does it matter who his parents were? Of course not: this is the only possible American response. The whole point of America is supposed to be the [Read More...]

A look at the film previously known as Heart of Africa. This is what we’re doing.  We have raised well over $100,000. through donations and are now seeking investments. This project has been my personal opus of love. I didn’t design the “Look Book,” and would probably have deleted the soldier pictures had I done [Read More...]

I love a good Jewish book. And I’m especially fond of Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen’s beautiful work, My Grandfather’s Blessings. Even though Dr. Remen is not-LDS, she shows an awareness and fondness for one of the Exodus stories in the Book of Mormon. And in her assessment, she offers a profound observation. This posts goes [Read More...]