The chance to do an interview like this doesn’t happen too often. David Murphy is a kind, energetic young man who does promotions for Simeon “Young Sim” Lawrence‘s clean record label, Feel Good Music in Salt Lake City. On Friday, a 45-year-old man named Jeffrey Boyd Ackerman was shot and killed in Pleasant Grove, Utah, and a suspect with a weapon ran from the crime scene, pursued hotly by the police. David was working and witnessed the pursuit, in front of the business where he worked. What did he do? He ran out of his business and tackled the...
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Every exmember a missionary
And now, dear friends at Mormon Matters, is your regular report from the Dark Side of the Moon. I was reading a comment in another article here, and what Doug had said intrigued me: This board started out as a place for middle-way thinking people to discuss problematic issues with doctrine and history. It would now appear that anyone with an opinion different then the “current LDS view” is attacked as I and many others have been. On several other discussion boards, mormon matters is considered a pro LDS blog. Gentlemen, just say the word and I’ll find another...
My Struggle with Formal Prayer
NOTE: This post is a combination (with minor edits) of two posts that I wrote on my own blog this month, as I contemplated Matthew 6:5-13. If anyone is interested in the foundation post on those verses, it is titled, “Resolved to Pray: KISS“. I always have struggled to pray formally and daily on a personal level. For as long as I can remember, I have had a hard time kneeling alone and praying vocally. For most of my life I didn’t understand why, and, although I tried to recommit numerous times, I never could “conquer” that particular habit....
Brigham Young: Prophet, Pioneer . . . Radical Environmentalist?
Although Brigham Young is one of the most well-known Presidents of the LDS Church, perhaps second only to Joseph Smith, it seems most Mormons are completely unaware of his passionate beliefs about caring for the Environment. We owe Hugh Nibley an enormous debt of gratitude for collecting Brigham’s teachings about the Environment and publishing them in his 1972 essay, “Brigham Young on the Environment”. When a home teacher shared the essay with me several years ago, I was shocked to read statement after statement by Brigham Young that one would expect to hear from a radical environmentalist, and I...
The Stories We Tell
Joseph Campbell said: Read myths. Read other people’s myths, not those of your own religion, because you tend to interpret your own religion in terms of facts–but if you read the other ones, you begin to get the message. So, what are the myths of Mormonism?
The Almost-Right Place: Joseph Smith and the Texas Republic
By the time my FHE activity was over, I had the counselor in the bishopric grumbling about how I was on the high road to excommunication (“like those historians at BYU”). Why? Because I suggested that Joseph Smith might have actually temporarily imagined a different “right place” besides the Rocky Mountains. Where? Texas.
Dancing through the Sidebar
There are some fascinating articles we find occasionally and post in the sidebar, and then there are others that simply are too funny to ignore. Feel free to read and comment in a free-for-all style on any or all of the following articles – or anything else in the sidebar: RIP, Larry Miller – and all that Jazz The Parietal Lobe: God’s Footstool Dwight Shrute on Religious Persecution I forgot why I was supposed to hold my breath . . . The Oval Office Ain’t Sacrament Meeting The Consequences are Much Worse than Blindness
On the perfect smile
I really don’t know if it’s just me, but have you ever noticed that there are a lot of LDS dentists? I mean, sure, we’ve already heard from reliable sources that Mormons like professions, but what is the deal?
What is the Holy Ghost?
One of my favorite parts about BYU-Idaho, or rather, one thing I actually liked about BYU-Idaho, was the religion classes. Systematic, academic study of the Standard Works was something I’d never experienced before and I loved it. One thing that hit me like a ton of bricks in the middle of a religion class at BYU was this: I don’t know who the Holy Ghost is. Even my religion instructor admitted ignorance on the subject, though speculation abounded.
Virtual RS/PH Lesson #27: Beware the Bitter Fruits of Apostasy.
Since Hawkgrrrl does not offer Virtual RS/PH lessons anymore, I thought I’d try my hand at it this one time. My wife was preparing Lesson 27: Beware the Bitter Fruits of Apostasy, and I couldn’t help but think that this was a perfect bloggernacle discussion.
Born To Believe
A while back, some of us had an interesting discussion on my blog called “The Faith Gene.” We were examining the possibility that certain people were born with such a gene, while others weren’t.
Bad Apologetics, Meet Bad Polemics
polemics: The art or practice of disputation or controversy, especially on religious subjects; that branch of theological science which pertains to the history or conduct of ecclesiastical controversy. (Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1996.) Although I am often entertained by bad apologetics, I am equally amused by bad polemics. I find it simply fascinating when I see both camps use exactly the same faulty reasoning, but to prove exactly the opposite point.
Jesus for President!
Many view the Second Coming as a time when Jesus will personally and politically reign, not just host lamb & lion mixers. So what do you think? Will Jesus govern politically? Or is the notion that Jesus will govern politically more of the same wishful thinking that people had the first time around when they thought the Messiah would free them from political oppression by the Romans? (Weren’t they disappointed!)
More Unbridled Speculation — the Priesthood Ban
It seems like everyone likes to speculate about the priesthood. Who can resist?
Temple Recommend Questions? By Guest Aaron Reeves
This morning I was listening to one of the Mormon Stories podcast and there was a brief comment in it about some of the old Temple Recommend questions. This led to me to think about the Temple Recommend Interview and what its purposes are or were and what may change in the future: but first some preliminary comments.
Why Would God Create Ordinances?
LDS Church leaders have made it abundantly clear that the Church’s claim to be the “only true and living Church” does not mean Mormons have a monopoly on truth or divine inspiration; nor does it mean the LDS Church is the only organization through which God works to guide his children and accomplish his good purposes. To the contrary, LDS leaders have stressed that other religions and churches, and their leaders and adherents, receive God’s inspiration and are instrumental in accomplishing God’s work. (See here for numerous quotes.) What the “only true and living Church” claim does assert is...
The Porter Rockwell Effect: Mormonism’s Soft Spot for Bad Boys
At BYU, I was a bit of a dabbler, at times, bordering on dilletantism.
What is Truth?
When it comes to religion – can everyone know truth? Can anyone? Today’s guest post is from Justin Perry.