From The Inheritance of Rome by Chris Wickham, p. 35:

But given the weight of tax, and the endemic injustice that marked the Roman system, it is not surprising that corruption should focus on it. Social critics, more numerous as the empire went Christian and and a radical fringe of moralists gained a voice, very frequently stress fiscal oppression in their invective; only judicial corruption and sexual behaviour were as prominent. This would last as long as the empire.

Something to think about if you were wondering how long certain current conservative concerns, mixed with Christian religion, have been and will be with us.

At Mormon Mentality, bbell asked “What lessons have you learned from LDS immigrants in your wards and stakes?” His own reponse and that of others seemed to center around the idea the life is harder—poorer, less free, more violent—in some other parts of the world. The immigrants that people had learned from had all lived through some sad, undesirable experience. No one had learned anything from anyone from a prosperous village where citizens loved and nurtured one another.

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You may have heard of the obituary Tuesday in the Review-Journal in which Charlotte McCourt’s family asks for votes against Harry Reid in lieu of flowers.

I knew Sister McCourt from the time I was baptized and became a member, not only of the Church of Jesus Christ, but also of the Las Vegas 34th Ward. Read the rest of this entry »

“A clause in the bill likely would allow most Amish families an exemption from the insurance requirement, but the bill could still create sticky issues for the young people who have not formally joined the church.” (link)

A disturbing aspect of laws with religious exemptions is the notion that religious beliefs are the only legitimate kinds of personal preference. Something matters so much that we pass a law or ruling to make that the way things are, yet there are exemptions for members of religious bodies that don’t think that’s the way things ought to be? Kind of lousy for the person who also disagrees with the law, but for non-religious reasons.

Liberty has to be upheld for everyone. Any law that can justifiably have a religious exemption is a law that shouldn’t exist at all. A person shouldn’t have to belong to a church to get relief from laws running his life. If religious people are only defending religious liberty, and that becomes the only liberty left, then soon enough it will be curtailed as well.

Solomon Nunes Carvalho (1815-1897) was a Sephardic Jew born in Charleston, South Carolina who was invited to join John C. Fremont’s 1853-54 expedition as an artist and daguerreotypist. In February at Parowan, Utah, he separated from the expedition due to illness; the expedition had passed a rough winter in the Rockies, surviving off the flesh of their horses for fifty days. From Parowan, “I left for great Salt Lake City, in a wagon belonging to one of a large company of Mormons, who were on their way to ‘Conference.’” After three months convalescing, he traveled to Los Angeles, California with a party “consisting of twenty-three Mormons, missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, under command of Parley Pratt.”

Hoping all enjoyed a delightful Nevada Day this past weekend, here is a portion of Carvalho’s account of May 30, 1854 during their stay in Las Vegas:

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