Riches for the Righteous
I overheard a conversation the other day about the connection between wealth and righteousness. The consensus was that people could be wealthy or poor regardless of whether they were good or bad. But then someone brought up the Book of Mormon promise that “inasmuch as...
The desolation of the middle
I have been told in the past that I am something of an empath. I think that may be part of what drove me to my career. A lot of empathetic people go into medicine. A lot of them have it stamped and squashed right out of them by the pressures of the job for which...
The Old Ladies Who Taught Me the Gospel
I never quite appreciated the older members of the wards I had attended as a child or a teen. I started graduate school a few years ago and we were placed in a student ward with both young single adults and married couples still attending school. The lack of older...
A Mormon in the Dance Department
It was easy to hate homosexuals before I met one. And I met a homosexual for the first time on a city bus in Austin in the fall of 1982. I was a freshman in the dance department at the University of Texas, having recently returned from a mission to Japan. I was very...
Leaving Eden
About a year ago I began my quest to better know Heavenly Mother. Frankly, I haven't made it very far, but I have thought a lot more about Her, and I have thought more about mother Eve. Today I want to honor two women. I don't know much about either, but I believe...
41: Science! – The Big Bang
As Mormons of the late 20th and early 21st century we live in an age surrounded by technology borne of scientific inquiry. Many Mormons go on to study in a variety of scientific disciplines (at least enough to staff a few universities) though depending on an...
Noah, Same-Sex Marriage, and Citizenship
The church offers materials in 105 languages on its website. At least portions of the website are available to be viewed in at least 73 languages. The Gospel Topics section, which has gotten a lot of attention for its essays on controversial topics, is available in 10...
Absurd Moments in Mormon Art: The Second Coming
The Second Coming by Harry Anderson is a beautiful, inspiring depiction of the return of Christ in the Last Days. He is shown in strength and majesty with arms outstretched, and surrounded by concourses of beautiful maiden angels that are triumphantly heralding...
A Lack of Knowledge
by Michelle Wiener Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” In...
Kate Kelly
As I look back on the Mormon roller coaster that was 2014, I think of my family and my transition out of church activity. It was a tough year for me theologically and personally. 2014 was a year of real ups and downs but, one milestone sticks out clearly: this year...
![40: “Seek ye out of the best [podcasts]”: Charity 101](https://RationalFaiths.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Grandmother-Grandchildren.jpg)
40: “Seek ye out of the best [podcasts]”: Charity 101
Starting on Oct 21, 2014 the group of Rational Faiths bloggers initiated a fundraising effort for the Liahona Children's Foundation. We pledged to support a LCF "stake", which means we needed to raise $6,000 from our own pockets and from our generous readers and...
Celestial Hair Contest
1Genesis 1 26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Beards and Mormonism have an interesting history. Most prophets...
Some Choice Mormon Top Ten Lists for 2014
Looking back over 2014, many deeply significant things happened in my life. Of course, I won't talk about those here. Instead, below are a few semi-personal, half-true, completely insubstantial top 10 lists I cobbled together that are vaguely connected to 2014,...
Mormonism May Be Made Up…But It’s Still True
Do you know how embarrassing it is to be caught crying during a kids movie? Let me tell you about it. Besides being one of the top movies of 2014, the LEGO Movie is—if you’re paying attention—kind of a deep philosophical examination of truth. (Warning: Spoilers ahead...
Dear Father and Mother God
It is Sunday. March 17, 2013. I have just arrived at church. Sacrament meeting is about to start. I settle into my family’s customary pew with my wife and 16-year old daughter. The bishop comes over. He asks me to give the closing prayer. I agree automatically. No big...
The Council of YTFIF (50): The Embryo Kingdom of God
The Council of Fifty, A Documentary History edited by Jedediah S. Rogers is a veritable treasure trove of quotes and references regarding the Council of 50 currently outside of the LDS Church’s closed archives. It includes many of the writings of my...
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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