Dave's Mormon Inquiry

Romney Talk

A Mormon Times columnist reviews recent Romney talk. [I'm sure I could find other columns on this topic if I tried.] I like Hewitt's summary of "Romney's M's" (message, money, Michigan, and Mormonism), but basically it's all a variation on the "he'd be a great candidate except for the Mormon thing" theme. Quoting the column: "For some, Romney's faith is an attraction, but for many it remains a negative." More directly, quoting a political commentator's observation: "In addition, Romney's Mormon faith was an issue for some evangelical Christians in the primaries."

Massacre is Just Around the Corner

The Deseret News just ran a lengthy article giving some details on the long-awaited but soon-to-be-released book Massacre at Mountain Meadows, by three LDS historians.

Comments and Mormonism

Nothing like riding shotgun on comments at a Mormon blog to learn that people either love us or hate us, and they're not shy about broadcasting their opinions on the subject. Thus in the recent "Commenters, can't live with 'em ..." post at Get Religion, the best example the author could come up with of the ubiquitous difficulty of managing comments on a busy website was the GR posts on Mormon media stories. Well, at least someone out there understands the challenges of Mormon blogging. My admiration and gratitude to the GR bloggers for their excellent coverage and discussion of Mormon stories in the media.

Modern Responses to the Problem of Evil

In a previous post I summarized biblical explanations for the problem of evil or the existence of suffering in the world as presented in Bart Ehrman's latest book, God's Problem. In this post I'll continue with additional explanations from modern and LDS sources.

Excommunication in the News

The Newsroom just posted "Why Is a Mormon Excommunicated?", apparently in response to extensive media coverage of Calendar Man (see stories in the SL Trib, DesNews, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and AP, for example). Why is this story considered global news?

Arrival of the Scripted Marriage Comment

As on display at T&S here. This virus seems to start at Focus on the Family here. Blog comments are for visiting humans to express their own thoughts, not for comment bots, ad spam, or viral marketing campaigns, whether commercial or political.

Theology and Memory

It has been awhile since I posted links to an online essay, so here goes: The Theology of Memory: Mormon Historical Consciousness, by Steven L. Olsen from a 2007 FARMS Review. It's an easy read and raises some interesting questions.

War in Heaven in California

Meridian Magazine has an article up by a veteran LDS pollster likening the upcoming battle over Prop 8, the proposed marriage amendment, to the War in Heaven. This takes demonizing one's opponent to a new level. I'd be tempted to call the article a new low for Meridian Mag.

Going for Gold | Olympic Moments

Mormon Times posted a list of LDS athletes who are headed to the Summer Olympics. An impressive group -- I hope they all make their respective teams and countries proud in coming weeks.

So what are some of the Olympic moments that you remember seeing or attending? I'm sure there are some true sports fans out there who have dozens of memories, but here are two of mine.

BCC Featured in BYU NewsNet Story

Maybe it was just a slow news day. The last three paragraphs of today's story "Church Members Blog to Defend Church" consisted of quotes and comments about BCC. Here's what the story said:

Still Pushing LDS-Evangelical Dialogue

I don't know who's doing the pushing, but the stories just keep coming. The latest: "Mormon-Evangelical dialogue could clarify misperceptions of doctrine" at the SL Trib. Really? Given how systematically some Evangelicals misunderstand or even misrepresent LDS doctrine and history, I doubt there's much demand for clarifying misperceptions. And given the comfortably undefined status of many LDS doctrines, I doubt much clarification that would actually satisfy a skeptical Evangelical is possible. And why is it always Mormons that have to do the explaining, given 500 years of Protestant disagreement and confusion?

New Featured Book: On Zion's Mount

I posted a review of Bart Ehrman's new book God's Problem, then promoted a new book to the coveted Featured Book spot: Jared Farmer's On Zion's Mount. I've already read half of it — I can guarantee it is worth your time if you are a fan of Mormon history. Of the Big Four themes in the New Western History (environment, race, class, and gender), Farmer explores in depth two of them (place and race) as they relate to Mormon-Indian relations in Utah Valley. You'll never look at Timp the same again after reading this book.

Why We Suffer

I recently finished Bart D. Ehrman's latest book, God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer (HarperCollins, 2008). Like all Ehrman's books, it is both informative and troubling.