Mormon Heretic

How do you write a Mormon-themed Halloween post?  Thanks to SamBee at StayLDS, I was reminded that Oct 27 marks the 173rd “anniversary” of the Extermination Order.  Even more gruesome is the fact that today, Oct 30, is the 173rd anniversary of the Haun’s Mill Massacre–a true horror-story fit for any Halloween tale.

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Tom Brokaw during a rehearsal, courtesy http://newsroom.lds.org/article/mormon-tabernacle-choir-tom-brokaw-remember-9-11

The past few days have brought a series of news stories remembering the terrible tragedy that happened 10 years ago.  I was curious to see if there would be any differences in our church services.  On the one hand, Music and the Spoken Word invited NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw to narrate a special tribute to the tragedy called Rising Above.  I watched the re-run of it Sunday night (since my church meetings were scheduled at the same time.)  I also note that President Monson wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post sharing thoughts about the tragedy.

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If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I really enjoy Mormon History, yet for some reason, I haven’t taken the time to become acquainted with the Martin and Willie Handcart disasters. I don’t have a good reason for that; I guess it is because other topics have more interest for me.

I was pleased to be invited to a screening of the film 17 Miracles (click the link to see a trailer). I had seen the billboards on my way into Salt Lake City every day, yet I really didn’t know what the movie was about. I could tell it looked like a pioneer movie, but really had no idea what to expect from the movie. I went with my wife and some friends Tuesday night and I wanted to give a review.   It was interesting to get their reactions to the film as well.  (If you want no spoilers, you should stop reading now.)

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It’s been an interesting week.  I was saddened to hear that Hall of Fame baseball player, Harmon Killebrew died Tuesday at the age of 74 of cancer.  Killebrew played for the Minnesota Twins in the 1960s and 1970s.  When he retired, he had hit more home runs in the American League than anyone except Babe Ruth.  I’m too young to have seen him play, but my dad told me he was the “Stormin Mormon.”  ESPN has some nice stories about Killebrew.

I was also saddened to learn that Margo Dydek suffered a heart attack on Thursday at age 37.  There aren’t many women I look up to, but at 7 foot 2 inches, Margo is definitely one of them!  I was a freelance sports writer, and covered the Utah Starzz back in the 1990′s when Margo played for the team.  Margo was a very nice, shy person to talk to.  She was born in Poland, and most recently coached in Australia.  Apparently she is in a medically induced coma in a Brisbane hospital.  I’m afraid of how things will turn out for her, and pray for a speedy recovery.

On a brighter note, I worked on the tv crew for the National Championships in Rugby on Saturday.  If you don’t want a spoiler, stop reading now. Read more…

My wife and I watched My Sister’s Keeper from Netflix this weekend.  Here’s the Netflix description:

A former defense attorney (Cameron Diaz) finds herself back in the courtroom when she and her husband (Jason Patric) are sued for medical emancipation by their 11-year-old daughter, Anna (Abigail Breslin), who is expected to donate a kidney to her dying older sister. The subsequent trial tests ethical boundaries and the limits of parental love. Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin round out the cast in this powerful drama based on Jodi Picoult’s novel.

My wife said the book is quite a bit different than the movie.  If you want to see it fresh, stop reading now.  Otherwise, I have some spoilers below to talk about some of the ethical dilemmas from the movie. Read more…

I just finished a book called Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom.  Mitch is asked by his rabbi to deliver his eulogy, and the book details his efforts to get more acquainted with the rabbi.  There is a wonderful message about gratitude and happiness that I wanted to share for Thanksgiving.

The rabbi was aging, and spent some time in the hospital.  Pages 97-99 detail an interesting insight into one of these visits. Read more…

This is a sad day for Mormon History buffs.  I have just learned that Richard Van Wagoner passed away on Saturday.  He has written several book on Mormon History.  I blogged about his Sidney Rigdon book, and he recently completed The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young.  Here is a list of some of his books.  I’ll try to add more information as it becomes available.

I just spoke with Tom Kimball of Signature Books.  Tom knew Richard very well since Richard had published several books  through Signature.  I understand Richard’s funeral on Saturday in Lehi, Utah.  Tom expects Richard’s obituary will be available in the Salt Lake area newspapers in the next few days.

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D&C 137 records a vision of Joseph Smith “in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, January 21, 1836. HC 2: 380–381. The occasion was the administration of the ordinances of the endowment as far as they had then been revealed.” [Preface].  There are 2 important pieces of Mormon doctrine to consider here:  (1) baptism for the dead, and (2) children that die before the age of accountability (and baptism at age 8 ) will inherit the Celestial Kingdom.  Since it is a short section, let me quote it entirely.  This section is only in the LDS version of the D&C, but other accounts of this revelation can be found in the History of the Church. Read more…

One of my big passions is sports, though I don’t talk about it much on this blog.  John Wooden died Friday night at the age of 99.  He was an amazing coach and an amazing man.  One person said Wooden was “more like a Methodist minister than a basketball coach.”  ESPN put together a tribute of former players, coaches, and announcers who know him well.

Wooden led UCLA to 7 straight National Championships, an 88 game winning streak, 38 straight NCAA tournament wins, and 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, before retiring in 1975.  He was known as the Wizard of Westwood (a nickname he didn’t like.)  Here are some excerpts from from that piece.  (I’m not sure everyone that was interviewed, so if you know, please tell me and I’ll update the post.) Read more…

Religion is supposed to be about peace, but often it is about war.  Some of the worst religious wars include Islamic Jihad, Christian Crusades, and Joshua’s Unholy War.  I wish Mormons didn’t have anything to be ashamed of, but I’ve been reading The Mountain Meadows Massacre by Juanita Brooks.

One of the things I didn’t realize about this shameful episode is the Utah War.  It wasn’t much of a war, but it was one of the leading causes of this tragedy.  In 1857, President Buchanon sent 5000 troops to Utah to put down a supposed rebellion in Utah.  Exaggerated reports of rebellion had come to Washington, DC.  The US had just finished the Mexican-American War in 1848, and Civil War rhetoric would boil over into war just 4 years later.

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Today is Joseph’s 204th birthday.  (He was born in 1805 for those of you curious about the math.)  Since Dec 22 is the first day of winter, and the day with the shortest amount of sunlight, I’ve heard people say that Joseph’s birth was symbolic.  Joseph was bringing light into the world after a period of darkness.  That’s interesting.

As most of you know, Joseph died June 27, 1844 in a hail of gunfire at the Carthage jail, leaving behind a pregnant wife and 3 young boys: Joseph SMITH III (age 11 1/2),  Frederick Granger Williams SMITH (age 8), Alexander Hale SMITH (age 6).  Emma gave birth to David Hyrum SMITH on Nov 18, 1844, 5 months after Joseph’s death .  (Emma gave birth to 10 children in all, though most of them died at or near birth.  Don Carlos SMITH lived just 15 months from 13 Jun 1840 – 15 Sep 1841.)

Three years after Joseph’s death, Emma married a man by the name of Lewis Bidamon.  Most astonishing to me is the day she picked for her wedding: Joseph’s birthday, 23 Dec 1847. Read more…

I just saw this movie last night.  I had never heard of it before, and literally knew nothing about it.  I told my wife to pick a movie, and I thought she would pick a chic flick.  She said she thought I might like it because it had something to do with numbers and predicting future events.  I don’t want to give away any plot lines.  It’s not the kind of movie that I typically like.  In fact, I’d say that for about 90% of the movie, I thought, “This is just a weird, creepy movie.”  Then the end came, and I really liked it (though my wife just thought it was a weird, creepy movie.)

Here’s what IMDB said about the movie, and a couple of trailers. Read more…