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	<title>Mormon Matters</title>
	<link>http://mormonmatters.org</link>
	<description>Exploring Mormon culture in a balanced way</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Bednar Was Wrong About Facebook</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Last year, Elder Bednar gave a talk at BYU-I on a subject that weighed deeply on his soul. At the time, I read his words and felt a twinge of sadness.  How could he fear something as useful and worthwhile as online social networking?  Sites like Facebook have integrated themselves into the fabric [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/19/bednar-was-wrong-about-facebook/</link>
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		<title>The Relational Definition of Sin</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of my favorite experiences at the BYU Studies Symposium was listening to a set of two talks on the subject of sin.  That might not usually be such a fascinating topic!  But these had a twist which captured my interest &#8212; sin and its effect upon human relationships.  
Josh Probert, in his talk [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/17/the-relational-definition-of-sin/</link>
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		<title>A Marital Confession</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A recent visit at FMH and John Dehlin’s Mormon Stories interview with fmhLisa (Butterworth) has made me realise something about myself that I am not very proud of.  Therefore, in the spirit of a post I wrote for another blog, I want to confess something.  I am sexist.
It is not intentional.  In fact, I have, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/16/a-marital-confession/</link>
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		<title>Did God Create Evil?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
Watch Here
 
Isa 45:&#38; I form the light , and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the lord do all the things.
Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Lam 3:38 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/15/did-god-create-evil/</link>
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		<title>Ask Mormon Girl:  Glenn Beck is acting up again.  Should Mormons take responsibility?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Unless you’ve managed to craft a mass-media-free universe for yourself, you’ve probably heard that conservative media heavyweight Glenn Beck (who is Mormon) recently urged his listeners to “run” from any church that preached “social justice” or “economic justice.”  In response, some church groups have pushed back against Beck, calling for public dialogues, apologies, and even [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/15/ask-mormon-girl-glenn-beck-is-acting-up-again-should-mormons-take-responsibility/</link>
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		<title>You&#8217;re the Bishop #6:  A Poll</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Bishop Bill with a situation that happens to probably every bishop.  Read on.
You noticed that very few people are attending Gospel Doctrine Class. You have a pretty large ward, but the attendance in GD class is down to less than 15 people. The teacher has even complained that about how people are skipping class. They [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/15/youre-the-bishop-6-a-poll/</link>
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		<title>Bombshell at the BYU Studies Symposium</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A small crowd at the BYU Studies Symposium yesterday was on hand to receive Richard Holzapfel&#8217;s self-proclaimed Mormon history &#8220;bombshell.&#8221;  He presented the morning plenary session on Wilford Woodruff&#8217;s 1897 recorded testimony, the first sound recording made of an LDS General Authority.  The audience was treated to hearing parts of this recording, which is also [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/13/bombshell-at-the-byu-studies-symposium/</link>
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		<title>Time to Study the Old Testament Again Part 7 – Pearl of Great Price (PofGP) and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (JST)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I realize this may seem a bit late as we’ve studied the first part of Genesis which included the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham.  But, based on my own study and preparation for the first lessons, I have a few comments to make about the PofGP and the JST.
Selections from the Book [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/12/time-to-study-the-old-testament-again-part-7-%e2%80%93-pearl-of-great-price-pofgp-and-the-joseph-smith-translation-of-the-bible-jst/</link>
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		<title>Book of Mormon for Modern Minds?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Fascinating article from the New York Times about a new version of the Torah being released by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States.  Apparently, this Torah openly acknowledges the historical and archeological issues with the text &#8212; openly questioning things like whether or not [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/11/book-of-mormon-for-modern-minds/</link>
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		<title>The Virgin and the Whore: Thinking Beyond Dinah and Potiphar&#8217;s Wife</title>
		<description><![CDATA[OT SS Lesson #11
Lesson 11 in the Old Testament manual employs several stories from Genesis 34-39 to develop the theme of sexual morality. Joseph&#8217;s actions embody the &#8220;Lord&#8217;s standards&#8221; for morality and are contrasted with the actions of Shechem, Reuben, and Judah.  You may notice that the featured characters in the lesson are all [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/10/the-virgin-and-the-whore/</link>
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		<title>You&#8217;re the Bishop #5 (Poll)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Bishop Bill again, folks.  Now for one that has nothing to do with the ward.
As bishop you have had a hard month, lots of problems, meetings, etc.  that took you away from your wife and young family.  Last Friday you had a date night planned with your wife, even had a babysitter lined up, and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/09/youre-the-bishop-5-poll-2/</link>
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		<title>Ask Mormon Girl:  We&#8217;re struggling to give our kids the best of Mormonism. Help?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Readers, from the traffic in my inbox this week and other regions of the bloggernacle, the universe seems to be signalling that it&#8217;s time to talk about parenthood:
Dear Ask Mormon Girl:
 
My wife and I are smack dab in the middle of a crisis of faith.  We are struggling to give our kids the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/08/ask-mormon-girl-were-struggling-to-give-our-kids-the-best-of-mormonism-help/</link>
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		<title>Prophets, Seers and Bureaucrats</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I listened recently to a Mormon Expression podcast with John Dehlin, in which he comments upon the difficult position the Church leaders face.  He observes that their are times when they make particular decisions based upon a legalistic-bureaucratic framework that sometimes seem incomprehensible, even unchristian but that these decision are understandable. I would like to ask this question: Is there [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/08/prophets-seers-and-bureaucrats/</link>
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		<title>Dueling Wordprint Studies</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the 3rd post reviewing By the Hand of Mormon, by Terryl Givens.  I&#8217;ve taken a bit on an interest in wordprint studies.  Givens explains wordprint studies on page 156.
Computational stylistics is based on the premise that all authors exhibit subtle, quantifiable stylistic traits that are equivalent to a litereray fingerprint, or wordprint.  The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/06/dueling-wordprint-studies/</link>
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		<title>Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, my Mom and Dallin Oaks, a Convergence</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Joseph Smith found language terribly important, and was clear that no translation into English could be perfect because of the limits of the language.  Brigham Young expounded on the theme a number of times, that all revelation that came through prophets, all scripture and all records had flaws because of the weaknesses of the language, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/04/joseph-smith-brigham-young-my-mom-and-dallin-oaks-a-convergence/</link>
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		<title>Jacob&#8217;s Ladder: More on Faith Vs. Works</title>
		<description><![CDATA[OT SS Lesson #10
Though it&#8217;s only an &#8220;additional teaching idea&#8221; in Lesson 12, Jacob&#8217;s ladder has captured my imagination due to some conversations I&#8217;ve recently had with Christian evangelicals.

Jacob&#8217;s Dream woodcut, Lubeck Bible 1494
The theme of the ladder to heaven is often used by the Early Church Fathers. Their interpretations of Jacob&#8217;s symbolic dream in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/03/jacobs-ladder-more-on-faith-vs-works/</link>
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		<title>You&#8217;re the Bishop #4 (Poll)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[OK, Bishop Bill here again with a really difficult situation.
One Sunday you notice the missionaries have brought a woman they have been teaching.  You notice right away that she looks very masculine.  The missionaries ask to meet with you during the week and tell you that the woman they brought to church is a transsexual, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/02/youre-the-bishop-5-poll/</link>
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		<title>Ask Mormon Girl:  Why do Mormon women rule the blogopshere?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear Ask Mormon Girl:
 
What is your take on Mormon women’s domination of the blogworld? (I’m thinking about Dooce, Nienie, and Taza and a few others…) I find myself totally addicted to their blogs as well for reasons I can’t quite articulate.
Signed,
JJZ

It’s true, JJZ, that Mormon girls are dominating, well, if not the whole blogworld, at [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/01/ask-mormon-girl-why-do-mormon-women-rule-the-blogopshere/</link>
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		<title>Church as a Social Network</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There are those among the disaffected who would like to reap the benefits of the church as a community although they may no longer share the belief system that is the foundation of the church.  For some, this works very well; for others, it&#8217;s an endless source of frustration.  I recently read a great book called Connected:  [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/03/01/church-as-a-social-network/</link>
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		<title>Memorialising the Holocaust: Post-memory and the Latter-Day Saints</title>
		<description><![CDATA[According to Arrington and Bitton, “most individual responses of modern Mormons involve a kind of tie with the past”[1] . History is central to the Latter-day Saint faith. Stories from Latter-day Saint history reverberate out from their local settings and have a global impact in the lives of many, for both good and ill. How [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/02/28/memorialising-the-holocaust-post-memory-and-the-latter-day-saints/</link>
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		<title>Are Mormon Academics Winning the Debate with Evangelicals?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been reading Terryl Givens book, By the Hand of Mormon.  While acknowledging archaeological data isn&#8217;t as strong as other aspects of the Book of Mormon, Givens seems to feel Mormon academics have made some impressive contributions.  I posted a longer version of this on my blog.  Givens starts with Hugh Nibley on page 118:
No [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/02/27/are-mormon-academics-winning-the-debate-with-evangelicals/</link>
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		<title>Grace vs. Works: An Oar With Your Name on It?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I just loved John Dehlin’s latest interview with Shawn McCraney.  I’ve followed both of their work with great interest for years. They bring up the age-old grace vs. works issue, which always compels me to speak, because I don’t ever hear my point of view quite verbalized.  I’m interested in the thoughts of this very [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/02/26/grace-vs-works-an-oar-with-your-name-on-it/</link>
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		<title>Bad, Worse and Worst</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I would like to use Genesis 12 (and an interesting post by Aaron B from BCC) to examine the inverse of Elder Oak&#8217;s famous talk &#8216;Good, Better and Best&#8217;.  Simply stated Abraham was married to Sarai (who was apparently pretty hot!) and Pharoah was going to want to marry her.  His choice: either die as her [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/02/25/bad-worse-and-worst/</link>
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		<title>Putting an Edge on Abraham</title>
		<description><![CDATA[OT SS Lesson #9
This story is so very, very familiar to us that I think it&#8217;s important to look at it with a fresh perspective.  So in this post I am including some pieces from media and the arts that force us to think about Genesis 22.  I promise you in advance that some of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/02/24/putting-an-edge-on-abraham/</link>
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		<title>Wired World Views: Preserving the Other&#8217;s Truth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a February 2, 2008, cover story in New Scientist, Jim Giles asked whether political leanings were genetic:

"Across the land, liberals and conservatives are slugging it out, trying to convince each other that their way of thinking is right. They may be wasting their breath."]]></description>
		<link>http://mormonmatters.org/2010/02/23/wired-world-views-preserving-the-others-truth/</link>
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