Mormon Heretic

Here in Utah, during the week of the Utah-BYU football game, also known as the “Holy War”, fans on each side and get downright fanatical.  Being the church school, many mormons pretty much bear testimony that BYU is “the Lord’s school”, and that God wants BYU to win.  Fans of Utah get quite upset about this, and complain about BYU fan’s haughty attitude.

It’s always refreshing to me when I discover similar attitudes in other religions.  This article on MSNBC:  Does God care who wins the Super Bowl? even references the Holy War…  Here are some quotes from the article I found particularly interesting.

Read more…

After Lehi’s family left Jerusalem, they traveled in the Arabian Peninsula on their way to the “promised land.”  In 1994, an archeaological discovery in Yemen has the same name as mentioned in 1 Ne. 16: 34, “And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.

Critics of the LDS church have often chortled at the fact that there is no archaeological evidence in support of the Book of Mormon.  Well, that is now changing, and I would like to discuss what we know about an archeaological site called “Nahom.”

Read more…

In my wanderings across the bloggernacle, I’ve seen a few comments saying, “wouldn’t it be nice to go to church online?”

Well, for those of you who desire to join in an online Sunday School class, a friend of mine started a website a few years ago called LDS Sunday School.  He was good at updating it a few years ago, but has been having a hard time updating it.  It is a wiki, similar to a Wikipedia, so anybody can edit so long as they register at the site.

Read more…

While there is much ado about the Sundance Film Festival, here in Park City, Utah, there is another film festival which starts today in Orem, called the LDS Film Festival.  I went last year, and loved some of the movies.  The festival runs through Saturday.

Certainly, many of the movies here are not up to Hollywood standards, but they can leave some lasting impressions.  I thought I would review some of last year’s favorites, and add some that I hope to see this year.  Unfortunately, I have to work, so I can’t see all the ones I would like to see.

Read more…

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King game his famous “I have a dream speech.”  He said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

There has been much ado with Barack Obama’s skin color and his upcoming inauguration.  While this is certainly a historic event, I do not believe Mr. King’s dream has been fully realized yet.  Certainly President Obama’s election is a noteworthy event, and he will be the answer to trivia questions for the next several hundred years.  Obama’s election is a wonderful step, but I don’t believe King’s dream has been fully realized yet.  Comments?

Sometimes I can be a little controversial, as in my previous post.  If you will notice my About page, you will see a painting of Galileo, my favorite heretic.  It seems the vatican is trying to show that faith and science aren’t always opposing.  Check it out here.

So is it possible to be a faithful scientist?  What happens when it seems threatening to your church?

There was a great post over at Mormon Matters on whether God can tempt us above that which we are able.  In short, I think that it is possible for us to be tempted more than we can bear,  Does it come from God?  I’m undecided.  But if you want to weigh in on that topic, click here.

I did engage in somewhat of a threadjack, and want to post some of the comments regarding the concept of perfection here.  What does perfection really mean?  Here are some of the comments there.  The formatting is a little goofy, but here is the essence.

Read more…

A few months ago, I posted a topic about Marriage Fitness.  This has become my New Year’s resolution.  I went ahead and bit the bullet by purchasing the Lone Ranger course.  The author is Mort Fertel, and he makes no illusions that his method is a quick or easy solution to a better marriage, but he does guarantee it works, if followed.  Part of the package includes a book with the same name.

He has an interesting perspective on the Biblical story of Rachel and Leah.  As we all know, Jacob (who later changed his name to Israel), greatly loved Rachel.  After working for 7 years to marry Rachel, he was duped into marrying Rachel’s sister Leah, and then had to work another 7 years to marry Rachel.  Fertel makes an interesting note that Jacob didn’t complain that he married Leah, and was satisfied to know that he could still have Rachel.

Read more…