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 in the road. The man was clearly in distress. Dummar offered to help him, at the man’s request, and drove him to the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the ride to the Sands Hotel, the man identified himself as Howard Hughes, the industrialist. After Dummar left the Sands Hotel in December of 1967, he never again had contact with the man who had identified himself as Hughes. Continue reading…
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 question. For I, too, have an obsession: How do Mormons survive? My blog posts often deal with this theme, and I love to observe the many different ways my LDS brothers and sisters and I struggle to make sense of our place in and our relationship to the Church. As I watched the film adaptation of Sendak’s book, I saw insights into the human psyche which are particularly noticeable in Mormon wards and stakes. Continue reading…
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 Continue reading…
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 him that I did. With some effort, I tried to explain redshift and galaxies and the Second Law of Thermodynamics as best as I could, but he didn’t buy any of it. To him, the Big Bang was some smart-ass scientist’s attempt at replacing God with some natural mechanism.
The Big Bang didn’t create the Universe. God did.
* * * *
Continue reading…
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 the money I received from her estate to THAT Church. And she made it quite clear she was not interested in being Baptized a Mormon after she died. Even though I tried to explain the idea of having the right to choose to accept the ordinances performed for our deceased, she was still adamantly against it.
So, I always wondered what I would do after they were gone. Would I respect their wishes and not do their Temple Work or do it anyway? Continue reading…
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? Continue reading…
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. Continue reading…
I saw this interesting photo in the Deseret News today, and just had to share.
Air Force Acadamy at Utah football game 10/24/2009
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 News article from Dec 2, 1867. Continue reading…
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 [1]. 
This interesting anecdote raises the question: Who are the LDS Church’s chosen litigators? Continue reading…
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 only glad she had not heard the story we heard in sacrament meeting.
Continue reading…
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. Continue reading…
Published in General Conference,
LDS,
Mormon,
Mormons,
Word of Wisdom,
accountability,
baptism,
blacks,
doctrine,
doubt,
faith,
mormon,
obedience,
plan of salvation,
prophets,
questioning,
race,
religion,
revelation,
righteousness,
salvation,
spirituality and
testimony .
“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) Continue reading…
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? Continue reading…
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 in power to protect the weak. I believe that is part of the heritage that Christ has given us. Continue reading…
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 a private letter to express a concern.
I must say that I am one of these people who believe that private communications don’t work very well. However, I have tried hard to improve my communications (though I’m not always successful.) A few months ago, I decided to give Andrew’s option #3 a test to see if it would do any good. I was quite surprised at the positive result.
Continue reading…
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