I find the universal love of mankind a little creepy.
Year: 2005
Cyril’s tie
Cyril doesn’t know how to dress, except for his tie.
Gossip is Good
So says the New York Times.
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
David O. McKay presented a dramatic contrast to his predecessors: an athletic, movie-star-handsome, clean-shaven figure who often wore a white double-breasted suit; contrasted to the dark-suited, bearded polygamists (or, in the case of George Albert Smith, son of a polygamist) who preceded him as Church President ever since Joseph Smith. In an age prior to professional image-makers, he instinctively grasped the importance of appearance, and coupled it to the substance of a professional educator to become an icon of Mormonism whose persona did much to change the negative image of the Church in much of the world.
Welcome Gregory Prince
We are excited to welcome Gregory Prince, coauthor of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (published March 2005 and already in its third printing; reviewed here). Welcome, Greg!
So I Married an Intellectual
I didn’t really know it at the time. When we met, he was well disguised as a dirtbike racing, country music fan that was six months off his mission.
Complicity and Consequences
I know some people who assiduously avoid buying Nike shoes. The moral logic of this position, however, is tricky.
Thank you, Sister Murdoch
Sister Murdoch did not want to go on a mission, but she went anyway.
Book Review: The Book: A History of the Bible
I should warn potential readers: there’s a real danger that you will drool on the pages of Christopher de Hamel’s new book.
DC Get Together Tomorrow
If you are interested, email [email protected].
What Not to Wear Part 2
Back by popular demand, here is the second installment of the Sacrament Meeting Edition of “What Not to Wear” – Women’s Edition.
An Open Letter to the Dialogue Board
August 11, 2005 To Whom It May Concern: I hope that you will not find an unsolicited letter presumptuous, but I wanted to give you my thoughts on what I see as Dialogue’s problems and some things it could do to improve.
The dog
It happened in the back of the former living room we called our chapel. The church itself was an insignificant Flemish rowhouse. Thirty-six chairs crammed the room. Six rows of six. When half of them got filled, we boasted on the Church’s growth in our city.
DC Get Together Reminder
This Saturday at 5pm in Springfield, Virginia. If you are interested in coming, please email me at [email protected]. I will send details and directions via email.
Dating, Jane Austen, and the Virtues of Chastity
Like most rugged and red-blooded American men I have long enjoyed the work of Jane Austen.
Breaking my back just to know your name
Those of us who live a peripatetic (peripathetic?) life come to know the Elders’ Quorum Moving Company pretty well.
Leaving Jonesboro
This past Sunday was our last in the Jonesboro ward. We’re moving to Illinois on Saturday, and while we’ll have a chance to say goodbye at greater length to some of our closer friends over the next few days (to say nothing of when the elder’s quorum shows up to help pack the truck!), for the most part our partings on Sunday were final. (At least in the short term, that is; in the long term, who knows? We may well find ourselves visiting or even living in Jonesboro again someday, a prospect which I wouldn’t mind one bit.)
Thank You, Kirsten
It’s time to say goodbye to Kirsten and thank her for being an oustanding guest blogger. I appreciate the way that she formulated potentially-explosive and oft-discussed topics in a fresh, creative way that led to great discussions. Thanks, Kirsten, and we hope you’ll continue to stop by and comment.
Kim Clark and the Book of Mormon
A couple quick thoughts on recent prophetic moves.
Mormon T-shirt Kitsch
I am sure most of you are familiar with the types of “Mormon t-shirts” like these, these, these and these. To me, they are beyond kitschy and have entered the realm of horribly tacky.
Searching the Scriptures
Several weeks back, I posted a short thing on Conglomerate and Blogcritics about my search for Harry Potter & The Half-blood Prince.
Manners, Race, and Respect
I have always thought that one of the most telling and subtlety vicious aspect of segregation was the fact that a white person regardless of age or economic status could always call a black person, regardless of age or economic status, “boy” or “girl.”
Visions–Medieval and Modern
I had just completed the oral defense of my admission-to-PhD-candidacy exams, which emphasized the writings of medieval visionaries and mystics. My advisor extended his hand, and with his typical wry smile, said: “Congratulations. You passed. Now, go home and have a vision!” We all had a good laugh, but for different reasons. They all laughed because they don’t believe visions are possible. I laughed because I knew how much it would unsettle them to know that I do.
Hiroshima
It happened. From pictures and testimonies we can grasp somehow what happened.
From the Archives: Mormon Lawyers
Despite Brigham’s frequent attacks on the profession, there are a lot of Mormon lawyers. Some LDS thinkers have posited all sorts of troubling reasons why this is so. Nibley sees it as a symptom of moral decline, and I have repeatedly seen it used as evidence of excessive Mormon materialism or anti-intellectualism. However, today I realized that it might be about something else entirely: book binding. (more…)
“Costly Apparel” or Just Good Economics
Being in the fashion industry, I have always been bothered by the constant references to “costly apparel” in the BOM and its link to pride and the downfall of nations.
No more foreigners
Our worldwide missionary effort is plurilingual. The Church has always been involved in outreach efforts to other tongues, now translating material into 185 languages. There are wards and branches, led in the local idiom, in 165 countries.
Lincoln on Blood Atonement
Today on my way to work, I passed by the Lincoln Memorial where the great man’s sermon on blood atonement is inscribed in marble.
What Not To Wear Part 1
By popular demand, here is the first installment of the Sacrament Meeting-Men’s edition of “What Not to Wear”
Using our Mormon Brains
This post has two main parts — both involve being Mormon and engaging one’s brain. I think they’re still two distinct issues, but I’ll bring them up together, nonetheless, not least because my guest-blogging days are quickly drawing to a close. (Thank goodness — I feel as if I’ve been sucked into some fascinating and time-swallowing vortex that could be impossible to get out of if I didn’t soon…. How I admire [I think… :-)]all of you permanent bloggers.)