2013 General Conference Survival Guide
It’s the week before General Conference. Latter Day Saints all over the world are preparing to hear the word of the Lord through his prophets, apostles, and lots of other people whose names we can’t remember or pronounce. This weekend we will be edified with talks...
Brother Jake Explains Himself
Hi! I’m Brother Jake. Truthfully, I don’t have a specific origin story for how I came up with the idea to create my (ongoing) YouTube series. But when I think back, it does remind me of an experience I had on my mission in Peru. In my final exchange, my missionary...
The Gays, the Blacks, the Atheists, and the Feminists: Why Women Will Get Priesthood Before Gays Have Total Inclusion
The Gays, the Blacks, the Atheists, and the Feminists: Why Women Will Get Priesthood Before Gays Have Total Inclusion in the LDS Church By Michael Barker In May of 2013, I listened to John Dehlin interview Dr. Ryan Cragun, an expert in the sociology of religion. In...
Homeless Youth in Utah
I am often asked if there is any way to help homeless youth. “Yes, please,” I usually say, “they need clean socks, new underwear. When it is cold, they need handwarmers. They also need sleeping bags, blankets, and if you have one, a wooden pallet so they don’t...
Caffeine and Church Leaders
I was teaching my youth sunday school class about the commandments and Word of Wisdom came up. As per usual, I told them that there was nothing in the word of wisdom (or since then, officially) about caffeine. I pointed to the caffeine blip in the newsroom last fall where it was specifically mentioned. Anyway, the RS President’s daughter is in my class and I got an email tonight about me “saying it was okay to drink caffeine.” You know this stuff. What else is there out there that talks about the word of wisdom and caffeine?
The Red Herring of Religious Freedom
In light of the news that the LDS Church has shifted gears in its opposition to marriage equality it has also given heightened attention to the promotion of religious freedom. This was emphasized in a letter dated September 15, 2013 from the Hawaii Stake Presidency to...
When Someone You Love Loses Someone They Love: Addressing Some LDS Means of Comforting
This week I was talking to one of my good friends about adding to our respective families. She is considering trying for a fourth child. She said one phrase that I, and all people close to me, now know all too well. “There are no guarantees”. I feel like I’ve ruined...
“Parallel” Conference Sessions? Fox News, A Press Release, and the Dictionary
So, it looks like Fox News has picked up yesterday’s press releases on the church’s decisions to both broadcast priesthood session live for the first time and deny entry to the women who will be standing at the door asking for admission. “Male-only Conference Session...
Gospel truths in Les Miserables Part II-Jean
"Les Miserables has had a more profound influence on my life than anything else I have ever read other than the scriptures." Vaughn J. Featherstone, The Incomparable Christ Our Master and Model, p. 186. This is part II of a II part series. Part I was published on...
Please bless the food that it will nourish and strengthen our bodies…
“…Why do we bless the food? Can the prayer change the elements of a donut and make it healthy for our consumption?” Paul Barker talks about the language we use to “bless” the food.
A Review of Rock Waterman’s “Why I’m Abandoning Polygamy”
Recently I was asked to respond to a Saturday June 26, 2010 blog post the entitled: “Why I'm Abandoning Polygamy” by Alan Rock Waterman. Having been inundated with anti-Mormon, anti-polygamy, anti-Joseph Smith emails, messages, and blog posts since the publication...
The Truth of Untrue Storytelling in Mormonism
By Konden R. Smith "But it didn’t happen that way! Why is the Church lying to me?” A common point of frustration many Mormons have found concerns the inconsistencies and contradictions between the official stories being told and the actual history behind those...
By the Hand of Mormon – A Book Review
This year I have set upon a journey to do an in-depth study of the Book of Mormon. I, like many others, have so many questions about this fascinating book and “keystone” of the religion I follow. One of the books that stood out in my search for material was Terryl...
Marriage Equality – It Is Time
(This post was originally published HERE on March 26, 2013.) Listen, I’m not sure about the title of this post. I know that I was just thinking, it is about time I stop being a coward and write the post that has been rattling around in my head for more than a...
The Challenge of Honesty: Essays for Latter-Day Saints – A Book Review
The Challenge of Honesty: Essays for Latter-day Saints by Frances Lee Menlove Frances Lee Menlove was a founding member of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, holds a PhD in psychology, and also has a MDiv degree from the Pacific School of Religion. The Challenge...
The tortured soul
My name is Jeremy Timothy and I suffer from depression. It's taken me a while to get to where I can say that easily. I blogged my experience years ago when the pain was all very fresh here, here, here and here. I had some friends and family who felt they couldn't...
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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