60: The Council of 50 – A Documentary History
Ever heard about a Council of 50 men in the Mormon church that was discussing an invention of liquid fire that could destroy an army or a navy? Did you know there was a Mormon Council that sometimes wrote its minutes in code, and its members took oaths of secrecy...
From Amici to ’Ohana: The Hawaiian Roots of the Family Proclamation
“Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to September 3, 1991; location, Honolulu, Hawaii, where a local court is hearing the state’s first same-sex marriage case, Baehr v. Lewin.” As we join Mr. Peabody and Sherman on their journey back in time, we remind ourselves what was...
The Increasing Divide Between Church Leaders and Members
While living in Reno in 2010 we got an exciting announcement in our ward: L. Tom Perry was coming to speak to us in our next Stake Conference. We were all excited to hear from an Apostle. We were told that it had been many years since an apostle had visited and that...
Missing Grace
Salvation by grace is all over the Book of Mormon like white on rice. And by grace, I don’t mean the modern Mormon misconception of a little dollop doled out by God after we have done everything we can possibly do. I mean the superabundance of grace God gives us to be...
Religious Freedom (The Remix)
We can build happy ecumenical communities by focusing on truly allowing people to worship the Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that includes defending those who have to worry about how and who they worship on our own turf.
— Azul Uribe wonders what religious freedom could look like
59: Top Ten Books on Mormon History – Massacre at Mountain Meadows
A more disturbing week in Mormon History cannot be found to replace the second week in September of 1857. The 9/11 attacks have given us an eerie reminder of fanatical violence with religious ties. The Mountain Meadows Massacre is a topic we generally ignore on Sunday...
The Woman Taken in Adultery in History and the Gospel of John
The question of what is original and what is not to the earliest version of any book of scripture can be a very sensitive subject. This is compounded when you are discussing a section of one of the Christian gospels that deals specifically with a well-known story in...
“Hearing the Other Side” in Political and Religious Communities: Deliberation vs. Participation
In her 2006 book Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy, political scientist Diana Mutz makes an intriguing argument: in contemporary American politics, political deliberation and political participation are to some extent mutually...
The Mormon Church’s Angelic Problem
The early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is filled with inspiring stories of angelic visitations. Joseph Smith testified of appearances by Elijah, Moses, Noah, and the Apostle John. A golden statue of the Angel Moroni sits atop LDS temples...
The Bias is Strong With This One
Confirmation Bias: Confirmation bias, also called myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses. It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning. People...
General Conference Metaphors
Analogies are powerful things. They can make abstract concepts relatable, even familiar feeling. The wrong analogy can be harmful (see: object lessons about sexual purity). Part of the challenge of symbolic language is that it is difficult to contain and can mean more...
Tithing Donations Should Be Confidential
Money is a touchy topic. I remember feeling really uncomfortable towards the end of graduate school when a classmate of mine would openly ask recently hired employees of various chemical companies what their starting salaries were. I understand his interest for I too...
58: Confirmation Bias: You Tend to Learn What You Already Know
Continuing our series "The Human Mormon Mind," we had the chance to gather a wonderful panel, consisting of Brian Dillman, Laurel Sandberg-Armstrong, Brian Kissell, and Paul Barker in order to discuss the topic of confirmation bias. We discuss the bias in a general...
Being Barren on Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is approaching, and for me this means an annual pilgrimage through memories of past Mother’s Days. I’ve never really been able to grasp the celebration of the day, because all I can remember is how painful it once was, and how painful it is for many other...
All Are Alike Unto God
Over the last weekend, I attended the third annual All Arizona conference in Mesa, a conference for promoting greater love and understanding of LGBT/SSA Mormons. While I’ve been aware of the conference since its inception, this was the first year I was able to...
Moses, The Sound of Music, and Storm Troopers
As the lights dimmed in North Medford High School's Sjolund Auditorium, my nine year daughter put her little hand in mine and with my other I held my wife's hand. Captain von Trapp blew his whistle for the youngest to step forward. "I'm Gretel!" My daughter looked up...
LGBTQ Mormon Crisis
Two Printable handout for bishops and stake presidents that talks empirically about LGBTQ suicides:
The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide
Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis
The Barker Brothers’ Projects
These videos were created for Latter-day Saint parents and allies to voice their love for their LGBT brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They want to give a message of comfort and support to other parents who are navigating the difficult conflicts that can arise in families around this issue.
“Cogito!” (“I think!”) follows the intellectual adventures of a recovering academic outside the walls of academia.
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