Proto California Mormons?

Posted on June 27, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 6 Comments

John McWhorter [1] finished a description of the three consonant structure of words in Semitic languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic, with these words:

That is what makes a Semitic language. This system with the three consonants is very rare in the world. There are only a few other languages in the world that […]

Consider the Bacteria of the Petri Dish

Posted on June 27, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 5 Comments

Had your fill of olive tree husbandry and stones being raised up as seed to Abraham? Looking for new gospel analogy material? Maybe this NY Times article by Carl Zimmer will help:

This social behavior [swarming to hunt and forming spores to weather famine] costs Myxococcus energy that it could otherwise use to grow, […]

Gospel Analogies

Posted on June 24, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 12 Comments

In his Rhetoric, Aristotle taught that analogies such as metaphors and similes function as ways to “get at something fresh” (as one translation puts it). They have a cognitive, teaching function that could be used to instruct and persuade an audience if used correctly.

‘Les Miserables’ and Christian inspiration

Posted on June 23, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 17 Comments

I recently watched the 1978 made for TV version of Les Miserables with Richard Jordan as Jean Valjean, Anthony Perkins (Psycho) as Javert and Claude Dauphin as the Bishop.
I found myself weeping uncontrollably during the scene when the Bishop forgives Jean Valjean and allows him to leave with all of his silverware.
And then I began […]

Well, that’s one way to do it

Posted on June 20, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 17 Comments

Last week a man in my ward was driving with a coworker (the coworker was actually driving) between areas here at the military base where we live and work. They were driving a long stretch of road – straight, unpopulated, no stop signs. One of the security vehicles followed them closely for a […]

Mountain Meadows Massacre article in the Setpmber Ensign

Posted on June 19, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 13 Comments

At LDS.org, you can read an article on the Mountain Meadows Massacre to be published in the September 2007 Ensign written by Richard E. Turley Jr., the managing director for the Family and Church History Department.
September 11th marks the 150th anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Jon Porter’s Next Challenger

Posted on June 19, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 5 Comments

Next year’s potential candidates for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District are considered in a recent Congressional Quarterly piece. Republican Jon Porter has held the seat since it was created after the 2000 census. Last year his Democratic challenger was Tessa Hafen who ran strongly in her first race but came up short with 46.6% […]

Finally, I get a Father’s Day present at Church

Posted on June 18, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 13 Comments

My family piled into the Chevy Trailblazer early Sunday morning to drive down to Key West so that I could fulfill a High Council speaking assignment on Father’s Day.
It was worth it. I got the first Father’s Day present I’ve ever gotten at Church.

Richard Land on Mormons vs. evangelicals

Posted on June 18, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 17 Comments

This rather lengthy article on the comments of Southern Baptist leader Richard Land had some things that were interesting to me.
Among them:
Asked why Evangelicals believe Mormons — whose church is officially called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — are not Christians and what that says about Jews, Land says most Evangelicals, […]

Mormons in So You Think You Can Dance

Posted on June 15, 2007 - Filed Under Any | 23 Comments

I was going to put this over at Kulturblog but I wanted to bring up the Mormon angle. Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance has been on for a couple of weeks now. The first eliminations were last night. As with last year quite a few Mormons including several from Utah […]

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