I love baseball. There is nothing better than playing ball with my kids or watching the Giants on TV with them. I love hearing my boy say that he just “crushed the ball like Buster Posey.” Growing up I spent hours in my front driveway playing baseball with my friends. We had some cardboard set up for the strike zone and...
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As a young LDS child, I loved flipping through the scriptures in search of the pictures. I would imagine the prophets and key players in the scriptures as I saw them- unhumanly buff, thick jawlines, Anglo-Saxon, sword wielding demigods. We can all thank the late, and very gifted Arnold Friberg for these wonderful depictions of...
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Is Feminism in the Future of Mormonism? By Father Tom Roberts, PhD “Feminism” is really a loaded term. It extends from conservative religious practices under studies such as A Women’s Strategic Place in the Church. Even evangelical feminists like to show just how powerful women were throughout church history into modern...
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Note: A few weeks ago I was asked to teach a lesson to the 14-15 year old youth Sunday School class about the Great Apostasy. I reached out to Dr. Greg Prince for advice on how to approach this subject. His response was so helpful, I thought it would be worth being a post itself. Greg gave us permission to post his private...
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…the stories we tell: Licked cupcakes A rose that has been passed around Used shoes Chewed gum Handled doughnuts Bent nails Licked twinkies Used q-tips -STORYLINE: Nobody wants you “used” or “damaged”. …and what our leaders have said: “Your virture is worth more than your life, please young...
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I couldn’t imagine not having family and friends at a wedding. For many UK members the icing on the cake is the sealing in the temple, but feel wonderful that all family members whether LDS or not can enjoy and take part in a civil ceremony ! For me, it was lovely having all those people in our life that mean a lot to us,...
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At 16 I went to Camp Helaman. It was given the name to evoke thoughts of the 2000 stripling warriors. Many comparisons were made between the young men of which I was a part and the stripling warriors. Its purpose was as a missionary preparation camp. I had just missed the cutoff the year before, because my 16th birthday was in...
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“Atticus” returns to talk about war and law. Because he is an active member of the military, we decided it would be best to keep his real name private. Enjoy his post! The Book of Mormon is full of war stories, strategies and bloodshed. I’ve heard lots of people say that it’s proof the Book of Mormon was...
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It always seems that whenever I set out to write about something specific it changes and I feel inspired to go in another direction. This post will be no different. For those not familiar with the concept of Deus ex machina, it is a plot device wherein everything works out in the end. This can either be by divine intervention (god...
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Note: This is a talk given in my Sacrament Meeting about two weeks ago by my friend Sam Tomlinson. Sam is a young man I used to teach when he was in Priest Quorum and we used to be hometeaching companions. I hope you enjoy his talk as much as I did. – Mike Barker, rationalfaiths.com The Expansiveness of the...
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This term I began studying Biblical Hebrew. Languages do not come easily to me. I devised a plan to motivate my study- rekindle my love of Judaism. I have been amazed by how much my heart sang within the richness of Jewish thought and the scriptural and life lessons that have filled my reading. The books have...
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By Dr. Walter Van Beek We have rituals in the church, many rituals. We call them differently, though, as we prefer to speak about the sacrament, about blessing, anointment, ordination, or more generally about ordinances – preferable priesthood ordinances – or sometimes we call them rites, as in temple rites. Rituals is what...
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