Big Bird is a big topic this week, since Mitt Romney said he would stop funding PBS. Lots of demagoguery going on here, but let’s look at the history and hopefully a better understanding of these things.
American Public Television began in 1961, and was a key component of the National Education Television (NET). The concept was to promote quality television in a time when there were few choices. Continue reading
Nibley’s An Approach to the Book of Mormon, “The Pioneer Tradition and the True Church” ch 12
In this chapter, Nibley discusses the concept of the Church fleeing into the wilderness. The Lord has always separated the righteous from the wicked. Either the righteous or wicked are moved from the other. Here are my thoughts on some of his statements.
“”The desert has always had two aspects, that of refuge and asylum on the one hand, and of trial and tribulation on the other; in both respects it is a place where God segregates and tests his people.”
Lesson 40, on 3 Nephi 16; 20-21 is now available on my blog.
http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2012/10/book-of-mormon-lesson-40-then-will-i.html
Read there / comment here.
Nibley’s An Approach to the BoM chapter 11, The Flight Into the Wilderness
“To appreciate the setting of much of Book of Mormon history, it is necessary to get a correct idea of what is meant by “wilderness.” ”
I agree with this concept. He notes that in the Arabian wilderness, Lehi is dealing with a desert. Continue reading
Panel of Jana Riess, Philip Barlow, Jan Shipps, with Kathleen Flake as moderator.
How much of Mormon past is necessary to understand its present in 21st Mormonism? Also on anti-Mormon literature focuses on LDS past, how will it be affected now?
Philip: That’s a typical Dr Flake question to ask. You made a good point in the Smoot hearings on how JF Smith faced in forgetting Joseph Smith’s last revelation (polygamy). We make meaning from the discipline of half-amnesiac and half historical teaching. We choose which strands to use, even if we have total recall. We construct identity through selecting what we choose to omit. My real answer is, I don’t know. But a usable history has to be selective, so it isn’t too much information. Continue reading