If you want to change the world, help a child
As you might have heard, the Rational Faiths community has adopted a Stake through the Liahona Children’s Foundation. This means that we’re collecting donations to help children in Cambodia have food...
View ArticleBook Review: Richard Davis’s The Liberal Soul
As my dad drove me home from some activity or other when I was a teenager, I asked him a question that had been weighing on my mind: “can Mormons be Democrats?” I didn’t really follow the news very...
View ArticleThe Liberating Form of Government Intervention
Some Mormons who fall on the right of the political spectrum like to suggest that government intervention does nothing but restrict freedom. They argue that the government should provide national...
View ArticleA March Madness Metaphor
A certain woman was a big fan of her Alma Mater’s basketball team. The team had many winning seasons and were regularly invited to participate in the post season. The woman loved the coach. She trusted...
View ArticleOf Pride and Prophets
People like me get called prideful all the time by our fellow Mormons. It gets old, to say the least. This accusation came up again in the discussion of a blog post titled “How to stay Mormon when...
View ArticleBack and Forth about Prophets
Here’s my response to ldsphilosopher’s response to my response to his response to this “how to stay mormon” post. I’m going to do my best to respond to the core point of ldsphilosopher’s response:...
View ArticleA Modest Clarification
It has come to my attention that some Mormons have had “questions” regarding prophetic priorities. I’ll break it down so that even a child can understand: if the Prophets and Apostles are talking about...
View ArticleReligion and Politics: 10 questions for 2016
I believe that we all have an obligation to make sure our moral and ethical beliefs inform our politics. The Christian magazine Sojourners says it well: We envision a future in which Christians put...
View ArticleDoes my church support a hate group?
Being gay and loving gays is normal. Beating gays and killing gays is a crime! So says the sign held by the man, Dmitry Isakov, in this image. You can’t see it in the picture, but approximately 1,000...
View ArticleTop Post-Conference Newspaper Headlines
General Conference is the Super Bowl of Mormonism. It’s news making and newsworthy for the entire Mormon world. Here are my best guesses for next Monday morning’s headlines: “Family,” “Sabbath,”...
View ArticlePublic Morality vs. Private Morality
The World Congress of Families is setting up camp in Utah, marriage equality is the law of the land, the Church’s new essays on Mother in Heaven and the priesthood are still hot off the presses, and...
View ArticleExcuse Me While I Destroy Your Agency
It’s politics season again in America, which means that discussions are heating up on Facebook, in living rooms, and in ward foyers around the country. As someone who has had a fair number of these...
View ArticleHe Will Place you on His Shoulders and Carry You Home
I was asked to talk in church about on President Uchtdorf’s April 2016 talk titled He Will Place you on His Shoulders and Carry You Home. The following is an adaptation of my thoughts. This talk was...
View ArticleWhat to say to a friend who is leaving the Church
Note: this post follows up on a previous post about how to respond when a friend or loved one struggles with their testimony and a related post from ldsmissionaries.com. I highly recommend both. It...
View ArticleLoving My (Trans) Neighbor
Love your neighbor as yourself –Jesus The Savior’s teachings were clear, but their applications are not always so clear. One thing I do know, however, is that the first step in loving someone is to...
View ArticleCafeteria Morality
This post was originally published on MormonPress. Too many conservatives today practice cafeteria morality. They boldly stand in defense of moral issues when they feel like it, and send “thoughts and...
View ArticleWhy Mormons and Trump Just Don’t Get Along
This post originally appeared on MormonPress. There are so many reasons Donald Trump should not be president. In fact, this list outlines in brutally efficient fashion a few of the ways Mr. Trump is...
View ArticleCheck your Privilege: Count your Blessings
When people talk about “privilege” — as in “white privilege” or “male privilege” or “straight privilege” — it can be easy for some people to tune out. Here’s another social justice warrior telling me...
View ArticleI’m a Democrat Because I’m a Mormon
Brother Harry Reid’s statement about the intersection of his faith and his politics has become one of the most powerful rallying cries for Mormons who are not fans of the Republican Party or...
View ArticleThe Mormon Ethic of Political Correctness
The terms “politically correct” and “political correctness” have appeared in a number of recent general conference addresses, and come up frequently in some Mormon circles. Political correctness is...
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