Emma Watson, the actor who plays Hermione in the all-too-popular Harry Potter films, is on record as an advocate for modesty. Here’s the quote:

I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me – dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder.

Of course, Emma Watson’s attire wouldn’t always be modeled in the New Era, and she hasn’t always been a good example of modesty, but she is often more modest than Hollywood actors typically are.

Thoughts on Emma’s approach to modesty?

Yesterday, a friend of mine named Taylor passed the sacrament for the first time. He was baptized into the church six months ago, and was ordained to the priesthood two weeks ago. As the sacrament coordinator for the ward, I’m in charge of supervising the preparation and administering of the sacrament. Last week, I felt prompted to ask Taylor to help with the ordinance, and so I did. Watching him reverently act on behalf of the Savior was an honor.

President Hinckley has said,

Every new convert needs three things:

1. A friend in the church …
2. An assignment. Activity is the genius of this church. … Every convert deserves a responsibility. …
3. Every convert must be ‘nourished by the good word of God’ (Moroni 6:4).

I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen people baptized into the church, only to never receive a calling or be given a responsibility. I can’t count the number of times recent converts were neglected when it comes to home teaching. I can’t count the number of times that recent converts have sat alone in meetings. And much of the time, I’m ashamed to admit, I’ve just sat back, watched, and criticized, rather than take responsibility for my complicity in our failure to retain those we bring to Christ. The truth is, I shouldn’t have needed to wait until I was prompted to invite Taylor to help. It should have been my first thought, the moment he was baptized and the moment he was ordained. It should have been a reflex.

Never again. No one is going to slip through the cracks on my watch anymore, if I can help it.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about my own combative habits online. I’m attracted to controversy, and I love picking a fight with people who disagree with me. Arguing politics on Facebook is a particular weakness of mine, and after an argument, I’m often tempted to blog about the dispute, present my opinion, and look for allies among my readers to help bolster my opinion.

However, I’ve realized that philosophy, reason, and argument can be used to rationalize almost any ideological or philosophical system of thought. This leads to at least 2 implications: (1) reason is often not a conduit to truth, but simply a tool we use to rationalize the actions and beliefs we’re already committed to, and (2) reason is not always a reliable way to persuade others of our beliefs, since it can be used to justify other’s beliefs as well.

So, sure, I could potentially persuade someone to adopt a libertarian worldview using reason. However, using the same tool of persuasion, I could just as easily defend an entirely contrary system of thought. In the same way, I can present a Mormon worldview using reason and logic, and possibly convince others. But that isn’t going to bring others to truth, and certainly not to Christ. Continue reading →

In this post, I don’t want to draw any conclusions or argue in favor of any political party, ideal, or platform. I don’t want to take sides philosophically. Rather, I just want to draw some clarifying distinctions in terminology. In other words, I want to invite us all to be a little more precise in the way we use some terms, so that we can avoid confusion and make better arguments. In the words of a friend, I hope that this article will help us all to disagree with each other a little more accurately.

The phrase “the rule of law” gets thrown around a lot, and I don’t think all of us are using the phrase in the same way. Many of us use the phrase quite differently than it has been used in philosophical circles. In the history of the world, political authority has generally been the rule of the strong over the weak. Those who are politically powerful can exercise dominion over those who are less powerful. People have consistently abused the coercive force of government to their own advantage.  Kings, potentates, and legislatures have generally been unrestrained in their use of force against their fellow beings. This has generally been termed in philosophical circles as “the rule of man.” Continue reading →

“America the Beautiful” is one of my favorite songs, and we sang the hymn in sacrament meeting this past Sunday. One line jumped out at me: “Oh beautiful for pilgrim’s feet, whose stern, impassioned stress a thoroughfare of freedom beat across the wilderness!” In my mind, I saw an image: thousands of nameless, forgotten pilgrims traveling along a trail in the wilderness, and with each step widening and leveling the road a little more for those who would follow. Each footstep stresses the ground, making the path a little more permanent and a little more sturdy. However, it is only in the aggregate that a difference can be seen.

According to Dale Carnegie (in his famous book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”), the “deepest urge in human nature” is the desire to be important. We’ve all aspired to be known, to be important, to be needed, to be wanted. I’ve touched on this recently in a post I wrote about a shift in my own values. The idea of being a pioneer, of being the first person to walk a trail, has a massive appeal. Being a pioneer means that you’ll be remembered by name. Being simply one of the subsequent crowd that widens and levels the trail likely leads to anonymity, as far as the history books are concerned. And it’s hard to be anonymous and feel important at the same time. Missionaries will often measure their worth in how far up the chain of command they move while in the mission field. In the same way, Latter-day Saints will sometimes measure their importance by how public their callings are. Continue reading →