Monthly Archives: October 2009

Remembering the Howard Hughes “Mormon Will”

October 31, 2009
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Remembering the Howard Hughes “Mormon Will”

Back in 1976, it looked like the LDS Church was going to enjoy a $156 million windfall. The reason? It was the death of billionaire industrialist Howard Hughes, who apparently executed a will leaving one-sixteenth of his estate to the Mormon Church and another one-sixteenth to a man named Melvin Dummar. The claim, which was ultimately rejected by a court in Nevada, went like this. During the last week in December of 1967, Dummar was driving in the late evening in rural Nevada. He pulled off of the main road for a short rest and found a man lying...

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Where the Wild Mormons Are

October 30, 2009
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Where the Wild Mormons Are

I took my 10-year-old and 2 friends to see the movie “Where the Wild Things Are,” and I watched enthralled as they yawned, ate candy, threw popcorn, and cheered when it was finally over. Apparently the film didn’t contain the action required to capture their attention. But I found much to ponder and enjoy. “I have only one subject. The question I am obsessed with is: How do children survive?” –Maurice Sendak Beside my admiration for Sendak and his storybook, which was read to each of my children at bedtime for over 15 years, I can relate to his...

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Book Review: Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons

October 29, 2009
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Book Review: Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons

Those who know me understand that this book would be of interest to me.  My experience reviewing it led to some trains of thought that I’d love to explore with others here.  In posting the below review, I’m hoping to spur some discussion along the following lines: Discussion of the book and/or the review Discussion of the relationship between Freemasonry and Mormonism Discussion of the current state of LDS apologetics Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons Matthew B. Brown, Covenant Communications, Inc., 2009

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The Church of the Big Bang

October 29, 2009
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I remember a remarkable conversation I once had with another Elder when I was a missionary.  He and I had been talking about the relationship between God and science, which was a notoriously hot topic in my mission.  Darwin is a dirty word in West Texas, and words like “radiometric dating” and “natural selection” aren’t necessarily swear words, but shouldn’t be used in polite or mixed company.  In the course of our conversation, I mentioned in passing the Big Bang.  He was quite taken aback.  “You don’t actually believe in the Big Bang, do you?” he asked. I told...

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A Baptism for the Dead Dilemma

October 28, 2009
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A Baptism for the Dead Dilemma

Last January 2009, I wrote a piece “Stop Baptizing Our Dead.” I spoke about groups who objected to the LDS Church baptizing the dead that identified themselves with their own religious group, mainly Catholics and Jews. I faced my own personal dilemma after my Mother died in March of 2007. While she and my Dad did not disown me for joining the LDS Church, they were not happy about my decision. My Mother, in particular, made sure that she voiced her opinion strongly from time to time. She told me once that she was afraid I would give all...

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Ghosts: What Are They?

October 27, 2009
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Ghosts: What Are They?

Do you believe in ghosts?  Have you ever had a ghostly encounter?  If you do believe in ghosts, what do you think they are doing?  Why are they hanging around?

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De-centralising the Spirit: Between Charisma and Bureaucracy

October 26, 2009
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In a lecture entitled ‘A Historian’s Perspective on Joseph Smith’, Richard Bushman shows an interesting trend in religious cultures that surrounded Joseph Smith.  This trend centers around the tension between the Charismatic gifts and the Bureaucracy which contain them.  I had an experience six months ago that made me realise that there is, in my view, a centralised view of the Spirit in the LDS Church that may restrict the spirituality of our local meetings.

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Pres Monson Accepts Honor From “School of the Prophets”

October 25, 2009
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Pres Monson Accepts Honor From “School of the Prophets”

I saw this interesting photo in the Deseret News today, and just had to share. In the paper edition of the Deseret News, President Monson was “honored as the distinguished University of Utah fan of the game.”  Pres Monson’s attendance may have been a deciding factor–the Utes won 23-16 in Overtime over the Air Force Falcons.  Meanwhile, BYU suffered a loss without Pres Monson, getting crushed 38-7 at home in Provo to TCU (Texas Christian University.) I recently learned that the University of Utah was designated as “the School of the Prophets” by Brigham Young, according to a Deseret...

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The Church’s Litigators

October 24, 2009
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The Church’s Litigators

Remember Kenneth Starr? He was the former judge-turned-special-prosecutor who tried to drive Bill Clinton out of office with tawdry tales involving the President’s dalliance with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The LDS Church hired Starr, now the dean at Pepperdine Law School, more recently to promote their equities in the California state skirmishes over same-sex marriage. The Church simultaneously relied on a less well-known Salt Lake City lawyer (and 1993 BYU Law grad) named Alexander Dushku, of the law firm of Kirton & McConkie . This interesting anecdote raises the question: Who are the LDS Church’s chosen litigators?

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The stories we tell

October 22, 2009
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In sacrament the speaker told a story about a young man who stood up, eventually, against his friends for a disabled schoolmate. That made me think about my oldest child, sweet and mild mannered.  She did the same thing, though on the first event when her social clique was planning a nasty trick. Unlike the boy in the story, whose friends came around, her group threw her out and then hounded her mercilessly. For a young girl, in a new town, two years after the latest death of a sibling left her an only child, it was devastating.  I’m...

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1968-1970: The Civil Rights Movement Comes to BYU

October 21, 2009
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1968-1970: The Civil Rights Movement Comes to BYU

The 1960s was a time of turmoil in the United States. This turmoil extended to American college campuses. It focused on the Free Speech Movement and civil rights in the south, and gradually extended to the U.S. involvement in the war in Southeast Asia. Some American colleges remained unmolested by the times. One was Brigham Young University. This would not last. In the late 1960s, BYU became the focus of protests at its athletic competitions, over the LDS Church policy of barring blacks from the priesthood.

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Vagueness as a Gospel Principle

October 20, 2009
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Vagueness as a Gospel Principle

“For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.    Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;” (D&C 58:26 – 27)

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Was Jesus a Buddhist?

October 19, 2009
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Was Jesus a Buddhist?

The NT doesn’t give much insight into Jesus’ life between age 12 and 30. Did he encounter Buddhism and seek personal enlightenment? Or are these ideas just inherently the best ones humanity will continue to stumble upon in our spiritual lives?

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Egon Friedell and the Christian ‘Bad Conscience’

October 18, 2009
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Egon Friedell and the Christian ‘Bad Conscience’

This photograph was taken by Sebastiao Salgado at a gold mine in Brazil.  I first saw it in a room at the University I attend.  As an idealistic and aspiring academic I felt moved by the raw power of the worker as he resisted the guard.  Ever since then I have had a copy of this picture in my study areas.  It reminds me that my life is not just about doing good, but that I have a moral duty to alleviate as much suffering in this world as I can.  It reminds me that sometimes I need to resist those...

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It Is Possible to Effect Some Changes in Your Stake

October 16, 2009
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I’ve enjoyed Andrew Ainsworth’s recent posts on (1) being a loving critic of the church, (2) in a way that doesn’t get you excommunicated.  I thought they were very insightful.  I also enjoyed Stephen Marsh’s post asking if we want to be an improver.  In Andrew’s 2nd post, he mentions the option of privately expressing concerns to a letter via letter or email.  I think it is difficult for many of us to express differences of opinion in a way that will not cause defensiveness in a church leader, so many of us never consider the option of writing...

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How to Provide Critical Feedback to Church Leaders Church Without Getting Excommunicated

October 15, 2009
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If you didn’t happen to read the February issue of Ensign Magazine in 1987, you missed some valuable instruction about how to provide critical feedback to Church leaders. Luckily for you, this post provides a second chance to get up to speed on what all would-be “improvers” in the Church should know about how to seek improving the Church without crossing any line that will forfeit your eternal exaltation and doom you to an eternity of teeth-gnashing with a TK smoothie.

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Are You an Internet Addict?

October 14, 2009
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As church members, we have been cautioned about the internet:  ease of access to porn, its mind-numbing addictive qualities, the lack of high quality content, the need to monitor teen and child internet usage.  We have also been told to participate in online forums so that we can represent our own beliefs, and the internet has been likened favorably to a modern-day equivalent of a printing press.  So, when does internet use become internet addiction?

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Can Mormons Be Fair Judges and Jurors?

October 14, 2009
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The task was simple. Get a list of the area’s religions and invite them to a Cobb County Planning Commission meeting. The clerk went to the Yellow Pages and did her job, with one exception. She intentionally passed over three entries in the directory: the Muslims, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Mormons . The Muslims, we might understand. The Jehovah’s Witnesses? They don’t serve in the military, salute the flag, or vote, and there is a rumor they are not supposed to serve as jurors. But the Mormons? They pride themselves on being good American citizens. Why would they...

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Shlomo: A Key to Peace

October 13, 2009
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Shlomo: A Key to Peace

In today’s economy, you have to be really sharp to stand out over all those other applicants competing for the job you want. For example, I’ve heard that the following was a question used as part of a job application, designed to test good judgment: “You’re driving down a winding, rain-slicked road on a dangerous, stormy night. You pass a bus stop where three people are waiting for the bus. One is an elderly woman who appears to be very ill. The second is someone you recognize as a friend who once saved your life. The third is someone...

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Approaching Isaiah 58: Fasting as a Spiritual Practice

October 12, 2009
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Sometime ago Jana Reiss wrote a column for Sunstone entitled ‘Mormonism as Praxis’ in which the writers attempted to explore what Mormonism means in terms of ‘spiritual practices’.  Jana, in a Sunstone podcast with Dan Wotherspoon, has explained that one of her main interests is trying to understand how these spiritual practices can become effective through a Mormon context.  This post is a feeble attempt to think in that same vein.  I wanted to try and understand how fasting is a spiritual practice.

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