More Islands and Atolls
The Twelve Days of Temples @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Photo by Isabella Quirino on Unsplash
On the first day of temples, my Nelson gave to me...
Book of Mormon Questions (Introduction 4) @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Observations and Ground Rules
The past two posts were intended
to spell out as clearly...
Book of Mormon Questions (Introduction 3) @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Chapter 5
Frau
Richter and the Cure for Cognitive Dissonance?
Published in...
Think Celestial: A hymn @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- A bunch of years ago, I wrote a post where I converted a particularly memorable...
Book of Mormon Questions (Introduction 2) @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Frau Rüster and the Cure for Cognitive Dissonance
Published in Dialogue: A...
How well does a mortality table predict Q15 member lifespan? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- This is a question people quite reasonably often ask when I blog about which Q15 members...
Book of Mormon Questions That My Teacher . . . Never Asked (Introduction 1) @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- With this post, I am beginning a
long, intermittent series that will cover...
America: The Land Where the Unfit are Elected by the Uninformed @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Okay, I admit “unfit” is far too
weak a word to describe Donald Trump. He would...
Announcing Segullah November 2024 Edition @ Segullah
- Please join us for our November 2024 Edition of Segullah, an online literary...
November 2024 Edition @ Segullah
- Editorial My mother-in-law passed away last week, and to the end of her 89 years there...
Paige Crosland Anderson – Featured Artist @ Segullah
- Paige Crosland Anderson’s magnificent triptych artwork “Again, Glorified” was...
Poetry Editorial November 2024 @ Segullah
- Yesterday I dropped off a congratulatory “Yeah, you got a job!” treat at a friend’s...
She @ Segullah
- what if She was alwaysdeathless woman who wombed the earthstringing the stars like tinsel...
While Adam Slept @ Segullah
- When rib became womandid he wake immediately to see his love?Or while Adam sleptdid Eve...
Confluence @ Segullah
- Surrender of rockMercy of flood Muddy red cascadesthrough bone-laced canyonyank leaf from...
Containing Universes @ Segullah
- When I think of my Mother GodI do not picture slender wristsand a concave waist. Surely...
They Cannot Make Me Small @ Segullah
- If you fear they have locked me away, repressed my image, restricted my power, reduced me...
High Priestess @ Segullah
- for Crystal She had come to fold my mounting laundry—the Relief Society, embodied—on...
The ABCs of Trump @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Well, let’s have a little fun with the alphabet before what
is certain to be a...
Republican Devotion to Authoritarianism @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- This post won’t be just about the
Republican devotion to autocrat Donald Trump....
Is It Climate Change or Global Warming? Both. And the Republicans Are Still in Denial. @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I came across an interesting
statistic in the New York Times this week. In the year...
How does Trump embody Latter-day Saint values? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
-
I read a comment recently at W&T about Church members in Arizona being split on...
What If Trump Wins? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Adam Gopnik’s New Yorker
article from October 14, “How Alarmed Should We Be if...
Go to the Smarthouse of the Lord @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- This guest post comes from Zatch, who last year also shared “Go to the House...
Trump? Never! @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- If you are entertaining even the remote possibility of
voting for Donald Trump or know...
A Heretic Reviews General Conference, October 2024 @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Fastest hymn: “On This Day of Joy and Gladness” (Sunday morning) and...
Facial hair is growing on the saints @ Josiah Reckons
- I recently went to a barber for a haircut and a beardcut. My beard was about the longest...
To the Criminals Who Support a Criminal @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- If you look closely at this photo, you’ll see two empty wire
sign holders just...
Church President Probabilities: 10,000 Possibilities @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Frequent commenter DaveW used the results of the Monte Carlo simulation from my last post...
In Defense of the Free Press @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Welcome, Facebook friends (and my
regular readers). I’ve invited my Facebook...
Church President Probabilities, Updated for President Nelson’s Birthday! @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Russell M. Nelson turned 100 this week, so it seems like a good time to look at...
Possibilities for a Surveillance Church @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- You’re familiar with surveillance states. We all live in one, to one degree or...
Project 2025 Summary @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Perhaps you been hearing about Project
2025, like I have, in bits and snippets,...
Deciphering Spiritual Feelings Is Devilishly Difficult @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The book I described a few posts
ago, Jonathan Rauch’s Constitution of Knowledge,...
Connection or Control? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
-
Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash
In her book, You’re Wearing That?:...
A Tale of Two (or Maybe Three or Four or Five) LDS Politicians @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- In a July 10, 2024, interview with
CNN, Utah Governor Spencer Cox stated that he...
Debt and Inequality @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Whenever a Democrat is in the
White House, Republicans get all hot...
Church Finances, Corporate Values, and Trust @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Several months
ago, I posted the following to this blog. Shortly thereafter, I was...
The Constitution of Knowledge: How to Identify Reliable Sources of Information @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- This past week, my daughter has
had a frustrating correspondence with a friend who...
Come Follow Me: Notes on Mosiah 7-11 @ Ben Spackman
- First, a summary.
Mosiah 7:1 Mosiah sends a much later follow-up team to the group that...
My BYU Story @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I retired on the
last day of April, after almost 18 years as editorial director at...
Come Follow Me: Mosiah 4-6 @ Ben Spackman
- I’d remind you of the book on King Benjamin’s speech (paper here), and the...
Come Follow Me: Mosiah 1-3 @ Ben Spackman
- To open, we need some big picture structural discussion.
Mosiah 1 is not Mosiah 1. In...
Come Follow Me: Jacob 5-7 @ Ben Spackman
- The previous lesson covered Jacob 1-4, and this one the lengthy allegory of the olive...
Come Follow Me: Jacob 1-4 @ Ben Spackman
- A candle inside Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher
Jacob marks a distinct and important...
An Invitation to Disillusioned Republicans @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Earlier this month, I did my civic
duty and attended my neighborhood caucus, a...
Sabbath Speeches: Authenticity @ Josiah Reckons
- This talk was delivered in a sacrament meeting in the Summer Hill Ward, in Palmerston...
Come Follow Me: 2 Nephi 6-10 @ Ben Spackman
- Joseph Spencer’s book on typology and the Book of Mormon appears to be back in...
Come Follow Me: 2 Nephi 3-5 @ Ben Spackman
- First, if you haven’t read my post on 2Ne 1-2, you need to; it establishes that the...
Come Follow Me: 2 Nephi 1-2 @ Ben Spackman
- Today we enter into 2 Nephi, which immediately raises the question, why is there...
Joseph Fielding Smith, 2 Nephi 2:22, and “Death Before the Fall” in Church History @ Ben Spackman
- As many of my readers may know, President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972) considered...
Putting My Money Where My Keyboard Is @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- There’s an old saying that you
should “put your money where your mouth is.”...
Donald Trump and the Corruption of Christianity @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Conservative evangelical columnist
David French has written often about how Donald...
Come Follow Me: 1 Nephi 13-14 @ Ben Spackman
- For those of you who are new to the blog (and the stats suggest there are a few), check...
Jesus the Anointed @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Just a bit of trivia today from
some research I was doing this week in my editing...
What Is the GOP and Where Is It Going? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Over the past few weeks, we’ve
been treated to a circus in the House of...
Dealing with the Debt @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Because Kevin McCarthy finally
ignored the extremists in his party, we narrowly...
Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part III): LDSBot @ Josiah Reckons
- In part II, I used ChatGPT to modernise verses from the LDS standard works. ChatGPT is a...
Sabbath Speeches: Dirt and Dung – Salt of the Earth @ Josiah Reckons
- I gave a contracted version of this talk, in Polish, in the Warsaw Branch, in Poland on...
Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part II): ChatGPT AI @ Josiah Reckons
- How would ChatGPT modernise the standard works? Would there be doctrinal changes or loss...
Do babies need a name to be blessed before the church? @ Josiah Reckons
- I can imagine D&C 20:70 being followed to the letter, but in a variety of different...
Latest from the New Blog at AriseFromtheDust.com @ Mormanity
- In late June 2022, Mormanity officially moved to Arise From the Dust at...
Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees @ Josiah Reckons
- When I was a deacon, I sometimes passed the sacrament to older people whose hands...
Taking half the sacrament @ Josiah Reckons
- We were late for church on Sunday. We use public transport, and there is no direct route...
COVID, Motorcycles, Mormonism and Rebellion @ Small and Simple
- Our unnecessary and absurd over-reaction to COVID had a dramatic effect on me. In the...
Mormanity is Moving to AriseFromTheDust.com @ Mormanity
- I've been wondering how to abandon the name "Mormanity" for a while. As a member of...
Will a man rob God? Tithing and temples @ Josiah Reckons
- "Paying a full and honest tithe leads us to the temple." - Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi
Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part I) @ Josiah Reckons
- Could we use the KJV and another version of the bible as training data, and create a...
Preparing for Inflation and Yearning for Zion: Thoughts From My Visit to Turkey @ Mormanity
- The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, on the Golden Horn at...
Lessons from Bulgaria: The Dangers of Censorship @ Mormanity
- During the Communist era in Bulgaria, the annual May Day parade was a major spectacle...
What Day Was Christ Crucified? Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick Argues That the Book of Mormon Provides Valuable Information @ Mormanity
- An archaeologist and professor at BYU, Dr. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, published an article...
What to Make of "Plagiarism" of the Bible in a Purportedly Ancient Text? A Jewish Scholar Offers a Thoughtful Perspective @ Mormanity
- The Book of Mormon's frequent "plagiarism" of passages from the Bible is one of the most...
About That Burial Marker in Yemen for a Man Named Ishmael: Impossible That He Was a Hebrew? @ Mormanity
- In a November 2021 post, "Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part...
Prayers for China @ Mormanity
- A view from Xi'an, China, the beginning of the Silk RoadChina has been in my...
The Words of Gad the Seer: Thoughts on a "Lost Book" Preserved by the Jews at Cochin, India @ Mormanity
- The cover of the Hebrew edition ofMeir Bar-Ilan's The Words of Gad the SeerAn old Jewish...
News from Mount Ebal: An Ancient Hebraic Inscription on Metal, a Chiasmus, Possibly Dating to the 13th Century BC or Earlier @ Mormanity
- An ancient Hebraic text dating to the 13th to 14th century BC has been discovered by...
Dinner with One of Africa's Richest Women @ Mormanity
- My wife and I are friends with one of Africa's richest women, at least by her accounting....
"O Captain, My Captain": Walt Whitman's Surprising Role in the Ultimate Refutation of All Book of Mormon Evidence @ Mormanity
- Fond Memories from Before the BlastBack before a massive nuclear logic bomb wiped out...
Preparing for War: The Folly of Trust @ Mormanity
- The Folly of Trust: A Medical Perspective Some of my more painful experiences in life...
An Update on Maps of the Arabian Peninsula Showing Nahom-related Names @ Mormanity
- In 2008, James Gee published the results of his extensive search for the rare European...
Taliban Hackers Hijack Salt Lake Tribune Website, Call for Totalitarian Oppression of Unvaxxed @ Mormanity
- Thanks to certain contacts across Asia and the Middle East, I've heard off the record...
Do I Dare Join the Woman in the Boat? @ Mormanity
- "Woman Reading in a Boat" by Arthur Becher, ca. 1910. I just awoke from a dream,...
Science as a Faith: Do We Need Another Restoration? @ Mormanity
- One of our nation's leading bodies of scientific influence, the Center for Disease...
Many Questions about Dementia and Just One Answer So Far @ Mormanity
- An expert on senior care, Professor Thomas Kitwood, once quipped that "when you've met...
May We Follow the Science and Stand for Life @ Mormanity
- From The Chosen, "The Messengers"I began my Christmas Day by watching the "Messengers"...
Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part 1 @ Mormanity
- If you aren't following the journal Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and...
Let's Have Some Compassion for Our Untouchables @ Mormanity
- If you grew up in a nation with a formal caste system, would you let society dictate how...
Institutional Bullying and the Question of Religious Exemption from Vaccine Mandates @ Mormanity
- I received a call this week from a father with two children facing intimidation and...
Zeal Without Data: Blaming the Church for Utah's Allegedly Low Vaccination Rates @ Mormanity
- Romans 10:2 speaks of those who "have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge."...
Medical Tyranny? When Your Government Tells You to Abandon Freedom and Personal Choice, It's Time to Speak Out @ Mormanity
- Victory BoydThe mainstream media has largely ignored a chilling story about disrespecting...
A Google Earth View of a Candidate for Bountiful, Khor Kharfot on Wadi Sayq @ Mormanity
- Here is a beautiful view from Google Earth of a leading candidate for the Book of Mormon...
Pyrric Victories @ Mormon Metaphysics
- JSTOR on Pyrric victories and the origin of the term.
Jerusalem’s Economy in Second Temple Period @ Mormon Metaphysics
- I’ve always had the assumption that the Jerusalem region was fairly poor — perhaps...
Chris on Religious Evolution @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Chris Goble has an interesting Twitter thread on the emergence of monotheism in axial...
Getting the Blog Back Together @ Mormon Metaphysics
- I’ve been posting regularly at Times and Seasons and plan on continuing with that....
To the People Defending the Church’s Decision to Ditch the “Mormon” Nickname @ Peculiar People
- First, I want you to know that I respect your decision to call yourself something other...
The Women Who Enable Abusive Men @ Peculiar People
- After the Kavanaugh hearing last Thursday, an image went viral that depicted a row of...
Joseph, Potiphar’s Wife, and the Truth about False Allegations @ Peculiar People
- In response to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh,...
Robert Kirby and Edgy Mormon Men @ Peculiar People
- Like many progressive Mormons, I’ve enjoyed Robert Kirby’s self-deprecating humor...
To the Men Who Grabbed McKenna Denson and Dragged her away from the Pulpit @ Peculiar People
- To the men who grabbed McKenna Denson without her consent and dragged her away from the...
Why Would a Feminist Keep her Father’s Name? @ Peculiar People
- Back in April I wrote about my experience with software systems and institutions that...
Mormon: The New Shibboleth @ Peculiar People
- Here’s hoping Lindsey releases a new, revised video: I’m a member of Church of Jesus...
Sorry to Bother You: The (Human) Body as Technology @ Peculiar People
- This review contains major spoilers for Boots Riley’s 2018 film Sorry to Bother You....
Do Married Mormon Men Understand Consent? @ Peculiar People
- Image obtained through creative commons. I was 28 years old when I got married – an...
Making Ministering Holy @ Peculiar People
- My priesthood lesson prompt was very open-ended: “ministering.” My mind leapt to the...
What Will Combined MP Quorums Mean? @ Small and Simple
- In a shocking announcement during the Priesthood Session of the 2018 March/April General...
How Can Anyone Remain a Mormon in the Face of All the “Facts”? @ Small and Simple
- One of the things that you will see sometimes in anti-Mormon forums is what appears to be...
About That Taylor Christensen Video @ Small and Simple
- There is a video making the Mormon facebook circuit by Taylor Christensen. He starts...
The New York Times Thomas Monson Obituary and Fake News @ Small and Simple
- The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently died, and the...
Perfect College Football Playoff System: 2017 Version @ Small and Simple
- Several years ago I published to the world the perfect college football playoff system. ...
Moderate Worship Losing Ground @ Mormon Metaphysics
- While it’s not really new news, Sociological Science had an interesting story on how...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Divine Hiddenness Argument @ Small and Simple
- The fourth week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion focuses on the...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: Friendly Disagreement, Testimonial Knowledge, and the Importance of Fellowship @ Small and Simple
- The third week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion addresses...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Conflict Between Science and Religion @ Small and Simple
- In the second week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion, professor...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Mind and The Religious Experience @ Small and Simple
- I am taking an online course through Coursera on Philosophy, Science and Religion. In...
Bows, Arrows & the Book of Mormon @ Mormon Metaphysics
- This is just a “holder” post for a discussion I was having over whether...
Salvation in Mormonism @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Robert at Scriptural Mormonism does a good job discussing the place of grace in “old...
Terryl Givens on Mormons at the Forefront @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Terryl Givens has up an essay at First Things called “Mormons at the Forefront.”...
God and Evolutionary Psychology @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Evolutionary psychology suggests God makes more sense than not. I’m not sure he sees...
PEL on Scientism @ Mormon Metaphysics
-
“…[scientism] is contributing to a growing trend on the left, quite as ferocious...
