More Islands and Atolls

Trying to Quit God @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  The year that I was 23 years old, I wrote in my journal that I had made some progress on...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 15 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Political Dysfunction Last week, Ezra Klein had a fascinating column in the New...

Metaphors in the Gospel of John @ Segullah
  -  John’s gospel bears testimony of the divinity of Jesus the Christ. The manner of his...

Ratings of Mormon Books on GoodReads @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  I wrote a post a couple of years ago where I looked at how Mormon-related movies were...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 14 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   A Regressive, Backward-Looking Philosophy If we look at the underlying philosophies...

Thou hast revealed thy gospel hobbies. @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -   The Church announced last month that second hour meetings should now begin with prayer....

Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part II): ChatGPT AI @ Josiah Reckons
  -  How would ChatGPT modernise the standard works? Would there be doctrinal changes or loss...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 13 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Guns With this past week’s 15-vote misadventure of the GOP in the House...

Nacle Notebook 2022: Funniest Comments @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  This post is my annual compilation of the funniest comments and bits of posts that I read...

Come Follow Me: Genealogies in Matthew and Luke @ Ben Spackman
  -   Arvo Pärt’s magnificent Magnificat, one of many songs based on the Latin...

Studying the New Testament: Cross-cultural Contexts @ Ben Spackman
  -   As we begin our year in the New Testament, we naturally start with the Gospels…...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 12 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   “Ultra”: Insurrection in America, Then and Now During the holidays, I’ve been...

Sacrament Service in Slippers @ Segullah
  -  When 2022 began, I never imagined that before 2023 arrived, I’d find myself in a...

Mary, did you know . . . you need to cover up? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  As part of the Church’s “Light the World” campaign this year, they...

Attending Church on Christmas @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -   The Church announced back in November that as Christmas falls on a Sunday this year,...

Parts I Like in the New For the Strength of Youth @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -   As you know if you read ZD at all regularly, I’m mostly a complainer when it...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 11 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Distrust of Science and Expertise in General   The COVID-19 pandemic not only...

Studying the Bible: On Strong’s Concordance and Biblical Languages @ Ben Spackman
  -  Let’s talk about languages, particularly, Biblical languages: Greek, Hebrew, and...

Gaudete @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  It has been such a hard fall. The weather is getting to me; it is so gray, and it feels...

Studying the New Testament: Top 5 Books @ Ben Spackman
  -  This is the first of several posts talking about studying the NT and resources to do...

Covenants and Kinship: Jesus as the Father? @ Ben Spackman
  -  I chat with a lot of missionaries, and have heard this question repeatedly recently. I...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 10 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Abortion There are many Latter-day Saints who are Republican for one reason only:...

In need of lesser gods @ Segullah
  -  Reading the Old Testament this year with its condemnation of useless idols and rituals, I...

Pet Projects GAs Might Endorse @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  Ronald A. Rasband recently dedicated a new campus of the American Heritage School, which...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 9 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Corporate Self-Regulation   If I could recommend just one book for you to read...

Promoting Unity through Interfaith / Interpath Efforts @ Segullah
  -  I have lived in nine different US States, which has afforded me the opportunity to meet a...

Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints— A Brief Review @ Ben Spackman
  -  I had elaborate plans for this review, and just don’t have the time. The Maxwell...

Come Follow Me: Amos @ Ben Spackman
  -  I really like Amos; so much, in fact, that I’m ignoring Joel completely today. I...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 8 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Government Is the Enemy   At a press conference on August 12, 1986, President...

Honor All Who Serve @ Segullah
  -  HONOR ALL WHO SERVE Veterans Day holiday – formerly known as Armistice Day (so...

Old Testament Gospel Doctrine lesson 34: Hosea @ Ben Spackman
  -  First off, my very old podcast and transcript on Hosea are here. The (old) manual...

Rough Stone Rolling: Daniel 2, The Church, and Joseph Smith @ Ben Spackman
  -  Today we focus on Daniel 2, a vision.  The story goes like this. In King...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 7 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Health Care   Among all developed countries and many un- and underdeveloped...

What types of questions might differentiate types of Mormons? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  I was intrigued by a guest post at W&T a couple of weeks ago where an anonymous...

Come Follow Me: Daniel 1,3,6 AND Esther 3-5, 7-8. @ Ben Spackman
  -  Obviously from the fact that the chapters I’m covering today don’t match up,...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 6 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Tax Cuts   For a variety of reasons, we are experiencing a bit of economic...

Parables Read from Multiple Perspectives @ Segullah
  -  When I encounter a hardship in my life, I benefit from turning to the scriptures for...

Conference Sisters Speak @ Segullah
  -  It’s October – that time when we think about pumpkins and goblins … and General...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 5 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Racism   Is the Republican Party racist? Is even asking this question out of...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 4 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   The Anti-democratic Party There was a time when the Republican Party was the...

Ripple and Blow @ Segullah
  -  Ripple and Blow I am feeling Too much these days Clients yell at me Too much! I yell at...

Do babies need a name to be blessed before the church? @ Josiah Reckons
  -  I can imagine D&C 20:70 being followed to the letter, but in a variety of different...

Return and report: My River Trip @ Segullah
  -  Last month I was nervous about my 5 day trip Salmon River trip in August. Since it was...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 3 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Global Warming In Salt Lake City, since temperatures have been recorded, there have...

A Time to Save, A Time to Toss @ Segullah
  -  Over the weekend, not at my house, I dumped 24 bottles of fruit juice down the drain and...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 2 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -  The Party of Disinformation Politics doesn’t have a reputation for honesty. Even when...

Latest from the New Blog at AriseFromtheDust.com @ Mormanity
  -  In late June 2022, Mormanity officially moved to Arise From the Dust at...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 1 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   In a newspaper interview in February 1974, Ezra Taft Benson, president of the...

Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees @ Josiah Reckons
  -  When I was a deacon, I sometimes passed the sacrament to older people whose hands...

Taking half the sacrament @ Josiah Reckons
  -  We were late for church on Sunday. We use public transport, and there is no direct route...

COVID, Motorcycles, Mormonism and Rebellion @ Small and Simple
  -  Our unnecessary and absurd over-reaction to COVID had a dramatic effect on me. In the...

Rights, Responsibilities, and the Case for Repealing the Second Amendment @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   This year we have once again been shocked by the endless string of mass murders of...

Mormanity is Moving to AriseFromTheDust.com @ Mormanity
  -   I've been wondering how to abandon the name "Mormanity" for a while. As a member of...

Will a man rob God? Tithing and temples @ Josiah Reckons
  -  "Paying a full and honest tithe leads us to the temple." - Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi

Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part I) @ Josiah Reckons
  -  Could we use the KJV and another version of the bible as training data, and create a...

Preparing for Inflation and Yearning for Zion: Thoughts From My Visit to Turkey @ Mormanity
  -  The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, on the Golden Horn at...

Lessons from Bulgaria: The Dangers of Censorship @ Mormanity
  -  During the Communist era in Bulgaria, the annual May Day parade was a major spectacle...

Spare the rod @ Josiah Reckons
  -  "I am persuaded that violent fathers produce violent sons." - Gordon B. Hinkley

What Day Was Christ Crucified? Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick Argues That the Book of Mormon Provides Valuable Information @ Mormanity
  -  An archaeologist and professor at BYU, Dr. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, published an article...

What to Make of "Plagiarism" of the Bible in a Purportedly Ancient Text? A Jewish Scholar Offers a Thoughtful Perspective @ Mormanity
  -  The Book of Mormon's frequent "plagiarism" of passages from the Bible is one of the most...

About That Burial Marker in Yemen for a Man Named Ishmael: Impossible That He Was a Hebrew? @ Mormanity
  -  In a November 2021 post, "Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part...

The Uchtdorfs visit Warsaw branch @ Josiah Reckons
  -  "Jesus was a refugee" - Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf

Prayers for China @ Mormanity
  -   A view from Xi'an, China, the beginning of the Silk RoadChina has been in my...

The Words of Gad the Seer: Thoughts on a "Lost Book" Preserved by the Jews at Cochin, India @ Mormanity
  -  The cover of the Hebrew edition ofMeir Bar-Ilan's The Words of Gad the SeerAn old Jewish...

News from Mount Ebal: An Ancient Hebraic Inscription on Metal, a Chiasmus, Possibly Dating to the 13th Century BC or Earlier @ Mormanity
  -  An ancient Hebraic text dating to the 13th to 14th century BC has been discovered by...

Dinner with One of Africa's Richest Women @ Mormanity
  -  My wife and I are friends with one of Africa's richest women, at least by her accounting....

Special Issue of BYU Studies Quarterly on Good Government @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   The new special issue of BYU Studies Quarterly (61.1) is, in my opinion, the best...

Ye shall not print any marks upon you @ Josiah Reckons
  -  Does scripture forbid tattoos?

"O Captain, My Captain": Walt Whitman's Surprising Role in the Ultimate Refutation of All Book of Mormon Evidence @ Mormanity
  -  Fond Memories from Before the BlastBack before a massive nuclear logic bomb wiped out...

Be Glad Trump Is Not President @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   As bad as things are right now, at least we can be glad that Donald Trump is not...

Preparing for War: The Folly of Trust @ Mormanity
  -  The Folly of Trust: A Medical Perspective Some of my more painful experiences in life...

Time and Thought @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -    Stephen C. over at Times and Seasons has a post this week on time and God that...

Jacob was a heel @ Josiah Reckons
  -  I apologise in advance, to all people named Jacob.

An Update on Maps of the Arabian Peninsula Showing Nahom-related Names @ Mormanity
  -  In 2008, James Gee published the results of his extensive search for the rare European...

Free Agency, Ezra Taft Benson, and the Republican Perversion of Freedom @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Freedom has become the rallying cry of the Republican Party, the one banner they...

Taliban Hackers Hijack Salt Lake Tribune Website, Call for Totalitarian Oppression of Unvaxxed @ Mormanity
  -  Thanks to certain contacts across Asia and the Middle East, I've heard off the record...

Do I Dare Join the Woman in the Boat? @ Mormanity
  -    "Woman Reading in a Boat" by Arthur Becher, ca. 1910. I just awoke from a dream,...

Science as a Faith: Do We Need Another Restoration? @ Mormanity
  -  One of our nation's leading bodies of scientific influence, the Center for Disease...

Many Questions about Dementia and Just One Answer So Far @ Mormanity
  -  An expert on senior care, Professor Thomas Kitwood, once quipped that "when you've met...

May We Follow the Science and Stand for Life @ Mormanity
  -  From The Chosen, "The Messengers"I began my Christmas Day by watching the "Messengers"...

The Downside of Fitness @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Comedian/actor Red Foxx once said, “Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday,...

Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part 1 @ Mormanity
  -  If you aren't following the journal Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and...

Exciting News about the Annual BYU Studies Poetry and Personal Essay Contests @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Increase in Prize Money To continue the tradition of outstanding poetry and...

Let's Have Some Compassion for Our Untouchables @ Mormanity
  -  If you grew up in a nation with a formal caste system, would you let society dictate how...

Institutional Bullying and the Question of Religious Exemption from Vaccine Mandates @ Mormanity
  -  I received a call this week from a father with two children facing intimidation and...

Zeal Without Data: Blaming the Church for Utah's Allegedly Low Vaccination Rates @ Mormanity
  -  Romans 10:2 speaks of those who "have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge."...

When You Can’t Trust Your Fellow Latter-day Saints @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   My relationship with the Church has been complicated for a long time now. I’ve...

Medical Tyranny? When Your Government Tells You to Abandon Freedom and Personal Choice, It's Time to Speak Out @ Mormanity
  -  Victory BoydThe mainstream media has largely ignored a chilling story about disrespecting...

A Google Earth View of a Candidate for Bountiful, Khor Kharfot on Wadi Sayq @ Mormanity
  -  Here is a beautiful view from Google Earth of a leading candidate for the Book of Mormon...

When Selfishness Masquerades as Freedom @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Sometime in the past 40 years or so, the Republican Party became myopically focused...

Thoughts on a Pandemic Year @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   It has certainly been a year to remember. I have to go back a few months before the...

Pyrric Victories @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  JSTOR on Pyrric victories and the origin of the term.

Jerusalem’s Economy in Second Temple Period @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  I’ve always had the assumption that the Jerusalem region was fairly poor — perhaps...

Chris on Religious Evolution @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  Chris Goble has an interesting Twitter thread on the emergence of monotheism in axial...

Getting the Blog Back Together @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  I’ve been posting regularly at Times and Seasons and plan on continuing with that....

To the People Defending the Church’s Decision to Ditch the “Mormon” Nickname @ Peculiar People
  -  First, I want you to know that I respect your decision to call yourself something other...

The Women Who Enable Abusive Men @ Peculiar People
  -  After the Kavanaugh hearing last Thursday, an image went viral that depicted a row of...

Joseph, Potiphar’s Wife, and the Truth about False Allegations @ Peculiar People
  -    In response to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh,...

Robert Kirby and Edgy Mormon Men @ Peculiar People
  -  Like many progressive Mormons, I’ve enjoyed Robert Kirby’s self-deprecating humor...

To the Men Who Grabbed McKenna Denson and Dragged her away from the Pulpit @ Peculiar People
  -  To the men who grabbed McKenna Denson without her consent and dragged her away from the...

Why Would a Feminist Keep her Father’s Name? @ Peculiar People
  -    Back in April I wrote about my experience with software systems and institutions that...

Mormon: The New Shibboleth @ Peculiar People
  -  Here’s hoping Lindsey releases a new, revised video: I’m a member of Church of Jesus...

Sorry to Bother You: The (Human) Body as Technology @ Peculiar People
  -  This review contains major spoilers for Boots Riley’s 2018 film Sorry to Bother You....

Do Married Mormon Men Understand Consent? @ Peculiar People
  -    Image obtained through creative commons. I was 28 years old when I got married – an...

Making Ministering Holy @ Peculiar People
  -  My priesthood lesson prompt was very open-ended: “ministering.” My mind leapt to the...

What Will Combined MP Quorums Mean? @ Small and Simple
  -  In a shocking announcement during the Priesthood Session of the 2018 March/April General...

How Can Anyone Remain a Mormon in the Face of All the “Facts”? @ Small and Simple
  -  One of the things that you will see sometimes in anti-Mormon forums is what appears to be...

About That Taylor Christensen Video @ Small and Simple
  -  There is a video making the Mormon facebook circuit by Taylor Christensen.  He starts...

The New York Times Thomas Monson Obituary and Fake News @ Small and Simple
  -  The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently died, and the...

Perfect College Football Playoff System: 2017 Version @ Small and Simple
  -  Several years ago I published to the world the perfect college football playoff system. ...

Moderate Worship Losing Ground @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  While it’s not really new news, Sociological Science had an interesting story on how...

Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Divine Hiddenness Argument @ Small and Simple
  -  The fourth week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion focuses on the...

Philosophy, Science and Religion: Friendly Disagreement, Testimonial Knowledge, and the Importance of Fellowship @ Small and Simple
  -  The third week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion addresses...

Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Conflict Between Science and Religion @ Small and Simple
  -  In the second week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion, professor...

Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Mind and The Religious Experience @ Small and Simple
  -  I am taking an online course through Coursera on Philosophy, Science and Religion.  In...

Bows, Arrows & the Book of Mormon @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  This is just a “holder” post for a discussion I was having over whether...

Salvation in Mormonism @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  Robert at Scriptural Mormonism does a good job discussing the place of grace in “old...

Terryl Givens on Mormons at the Forefront @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  Terryl Givens has up an essay at First Things called “Mormons at the Forefront.”...

God and Evolutionary Psychology @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -  Evolutionary psychology suggests God makes more sense than not. I’m not sure he sees...

PEL on Scientism @ Mormon Metaphysics
  -   “…[scientism] is contributing to a growing trend on the left, quite as ferocious...