This article in today’s Wash Post makes an interesting argument: it may be possible to get stem cells without destroying embryos. Why is this important? It may make the whole ethical issue involved in creating embryos to latter destroy them unnecessary. It’s worth pointing out that the research is preliminary but it looks promising.

I get a key lesson out of this development: if we use the respect for human life as a guiding principle, some of our most intransigent moral questions may be resolved for us.

I’ve touch on the stem cell issue and the important role that LDS Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is playing in it before here. It seemed to me this article was a worthy update.

My dad filled my youth with little bits of counsel that somehow stuck with me long after I’d expect them to have faded. Once, in my early teens, I became entranced by a world of astonishing musical genius (yes, in 1990 I truly was the first person to discover Paul, John, George and Ringo– or at least the first to recognize the limitless depth of their heavenly gift), and began to spend a great deal of time hidden behind headphones or deafened by a car stereo.

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Note: The following post contains discussion of things that happen in Episode III. If you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to be spoiled, consider yourself warned.

Normally, I’d try to keep my geek-ness to myself until you know me better, but alas, this has been on my mind, and I’d like to discuss it. So, embrace your inner geek (really, it’s a lot of fun), and join me in this discussion.

Was Darth Vader’s redemption after his death-bed repentance justified?

His arrogance led him to the dark side. He thought there was no way he could be wrong, but of course it made sense (to him) that everyone else was wrong. When Palpatine told him that, yes, he was the Sith lord they were all after, at first Anakin said (paraphrasing), “Hey, you’re the bad guy we’ve been after!” but then he promptly joined him. It took hardly any effort on Palpatine’s part, but then again, he’d been gaining Ani’s trust for years.

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Click on the title of this post to find the newest entry in online LDS writing. Segullah bills itself as “a journal designed to encourage literary talent, provoke thought and promote greater understanding and faith among Latter-day Saint women.”

I’m impressed with how these people have pulled together various strands of words that contain Mormon resonance– Seagull, Sego lilly, and Mullah, to form the name of their magazine. Wait, actually, it’s just some Hebrew word. Anyway, check out Segullah and see whether it lives up to the hype.

by Brent Winn

My parents are from SLC. My mother joined the church when she married my father, basically to please him. Mom served in the Church for several years and, ironically, Dad stopped going to church. After figuring out what was wrong with that picture, Mom joined the Unitarian Universalists. Soon after that, the family relocated to California and Dad started back to church since nobody else was going to take the kids (myself, older brother, younger sister). Dad never did become terribly active (he was painfully shy), but he kept taking us to church. Dad never “pushed” us to go to church – as far as I can remember, we just went along willingly.

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