We had a seminar recently from an experimental economist out of the University of Chicago. He has done a variety of cool things using field experiments. Let me mention the one he presented. The experiment involved sending people door to door to do fund raising for a (real) charity. The fundraisers (who were college students) were paid $10/hour. Men averaged about $9/hour in donations. There was little correlation between their productivity and their appearance. Pretty women got about $17/hour in donations.
Year: 2005
The Real Reason
Matt Evans and I went a few rounds at one of those other blogs over the reason behind falling LDS birthrates. Turns out we were both wrong.
Wilfried: My conversion
I posted my conversion story before under the title Why I have a testimony. As part of “My conversion” week, I use it again here, adding a little introduction on my childhood.
Julie’s Conversion Story
[I’m reposting my conversion story here to round out our week of conversion stories.]
The Russian Word for Rain
My conversion has been a lot more like studying a language than being granted the gift of tongues.
Gordon: My Conversion
When I first learned that Joseph Smith had written more than one version of the First Vision, I understood completely. Like Jim, I have “any number of versions” of my conversion story.
Gina’s Conversion Story
[After I posted my conversion story, Gina sent me hers. I thought it was wonderful and asked her permission to share it with our readers. With her gracious permission, here is Gina’s story.–Julie]
God Does Not See Me When I Drink
Islam in Central Asia is nothing like Islam in the Middle East. But this is what I love about Islam. It has its own local flair everywhere you go.
The Four Types of Mormons
So my very bright friend in Wisconsin has come up with something that should get us light years beyond the tired old Liahona-Iron Rod business. Here it is, in his words, not mine.
Jim F: My Conversion
Thanksgiving seems a good time to think about my membership in the Church and my gratitude for the Gospel. In other words, it seems to be a particularly good time for me to reflect on my conversion.
More Thankful Every Day: Conversion Week on T&S
This week on Times and Seasons several of us will be sharing conversion stories, whether discussing our own conversion to the restored gospel or that of others. We figured that there are few things more appropriate to Thanksgiving week then to reflect upon those events for which many of us have cause to be deeply thankful.
From the Archives: Is there an LDS Thanksgiving Identity?
Is there a distinct LDS attitude, approach, or spirit towards Thanksgiving — an LDS Thanksgiving identity — or are we as church members merely hangers-on to the broad Protestant Thanksgiving tradition? (more. . .)
Choose Your Own Adventure
Let’s play a game. You can choose between two jobs. One pays $50,000 and the other pays $100,000. You know, or can guess, that if you take the first you will give about $5,000/yr in fast offerings and other gifts to the poor. If you make $100,000 you will give about $15,000. You will also pay several thousand more dollars in taxes, but we’ll set that aside. So in one case, you consume about $45,000 and in the other, you consume about $85,000. Which do you take?
Is the Church the Same Wherever You Go?
My husband and I had the good fortune to spend some time in a few small branches in the Middle East about 8 years ago while we were studying Arabic. While we spent most of our time in the Jerusalem Branch, we also visited branches in Cairo, Amman, and Irbid, Jordan.
Return of the Guest-Bloggers: T&S Welcomes Erica (Amira) Merrell
After a too-long hiatus, T&S is happy to announce that our guest-blogging machinery is slowly creaking back to life….
Two coalminers
Their story would have made an agreeable Ensign article were it not for that later development that ruined its beauty. Oh, believe me, I was tempted to censor the second part. But it would feel like cheating. Besides, the aftermath carries the morale of the story.
Go See “States of Grace”!
Dutcher captures the wrenching beauty of the struggle to follow Christ. “States of Grace: God’s Army 2” is really good. Go.
Priestcraft.com
As we move further into the information age, the possibilities for priestcraft multiply.
Is Mormonism Romantic?
A couple of excellent articles on C.S. Lewis’s life and work have appeared over the past few days–all part of the build-up to the release of the upcoming movie of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, of course, but still good articles nonetheless. In particular, the New Yorker piece, brought to my attention by Ronan Head, provides opportunity to think again about Lewis’s very magical, very romantic sense of the divine, and our own.
BYU and the Advancement of Mormon Studies
Should up-and-coming Mormon scholars go to work at BYU, if they are interested in doing some of their work in Mormon Studies? I can think of a few young and mobile people a lot of us would like to see teaching there. But there are pros and cons.
Where does the Bloggernacle live?
Bryce Inouye has created a bloggernacle Frappr page that shows you where our bloggernacle community lives. If you’re willing to share your zip code, add yourself! (Note that Frappr requires you to leave a short comment in the “shoutout” box. )
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Clearly, were there to be a famine, a one year food supply in the basement would look really good. What may be slightly less obvious is that the presence of food storage, even if nobody ever uses any of it for an emergency, can stop a famine from ever actually happening.
Out of the mouth of Mormon children
“I planted some [popcorn kernels] in the back yard, so we can have apricots.” Kace Wenger, age 6.
Mark Your Calenders!
The Third Annual LDS Law Students conference is coming up. The organizers have already put together a very slick looking website with lots of information about the conference. The scheduled speakers include Harry Reid (Senate Minority Leader), Thomas B. Griffith (U.S. Court of Appeals Judge), Robert F. Drinan, S.J. (Professor of Law at Georgetown and ordained Jesuit priest), Richard Bushman (Professor emeritus of History at Columbia), and others. There will also be panels on corporate law, public interest law, women and the law, and much much more. I attended the conference last year at Columbia and loved it. Interesting presenters, smart students, good times. The conference will be held February 17th & 18th at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC.
Holiday Books for Children
Continuing our series, I thought it might be nice to briefly bring up some favorite children’s holiday books of mine, as well as beg for additional suggestions.
Theology and Idolatry
Let me present a sketch–though only a sketch and a very broad one at that–of how one might think about theology, both about a problem with it and one of the possible responses to that problem.
The Geography of Mormon Monotheism
I don’t think that it is an accident that monotheism first come out of the desert. It is, I think, an issue of scale.
Nonfiction Books for Children
Most people don’t appreciate the wonderful world of children’s nonfiction books.
Fiction Books for Children
Despite appearances to the contrary, we here at Times and Seasons do not spend all our time debating the finer points of church doctrine, history, culture and theology. A lot of the time, we talk about our kids. And since raising kids–and in particular, finding good books to read to them and with them–is something a lot of our readers can relate to, we thought we’d open the blog up to some discussion and recommendations of that topic. First up, a guest post from my wife, Melissa Madsen Fox, who besides being a great consumer and critic of youth fiction, also maintains a blog where she reviews much of the same. Take it away, Melissa!
Theology and Early Childhood Education
Based on our theology, Mormons should lead the world in early childhood education. Why? Here’s one basic line of argument.