One of the things we hear a lot at church is that the gospel brings meaning to life. It answers the questions dealing with who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. And, of course, faith, the gospel, church, religion, or whatever you call it can bring meaning to your life. But …
As a college student, I had my ear pierced with second holes. Not too long after that, a talk given by President Hinckley indicated that multiple ear piercings were unacceptable. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve have declared that we discourage tattoos and also “the piercing of the body for other than …
Does Your Past Self-Righteous Behavior Haunt You? Read More »
A few days ago, I witnessed cognitive dissonance occur in real time. We all have moments of cognitive dissonance in our lives. As humans with complex brains and thinking processes, it’s part and parcel of our experience. But I’ve never seen 180s occur so quickly. When the leaked screen shots of the new handbook policy …
If This is What it Takes to Be Wheat, I Think I’d Rather Be a Tare Read More »
It’s been a while since I had time to work through the Mormonism in Context course by historian Brian Whitney. But now that things have settled down a little bit, I’ve gone back to reading The Mormon People and reading the lessons from Brian. Lesson 3, which deals with the Nauvoo period and the martyrdom …
Mormonism in Context Lesson 3: Nauvoo and the Martyrdom Read More »
Not too long ago, I made an appearance on the Rational Faiths podcast. Rational Faiths is an interesting website with a lot of thoughtful commentary on religion, particularly Mormonism. This particular podcast episode focused on non-scriptural ways we fill our spiritual cups. I talk a little bit about how the brain is wired for God …
I Talk Fantasy and Sci-Fi on the Rational Faiths Podcast Read More »
For some reason, we have this idea that if you love something, if you really love something, you’ll never, ever try to change it. To a certain extent, I agree with this assessment. After all, you probably love your significant other even though s/he has attributes you don’t like. And, in fact, there is a good …
Don’t Like Something? Just Leave! Progress and the Institutions We Love Read More »
