More Islands and Atolls

Ahora en español! And some other updates @ Ben Spackman
  -  A few quick updates of note: First, MasFe has begun to translate a number of my posts...

Unrelated people sharing GAs’ names who the Church will be condemning next @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  From this Vice News story published on Friday, it sounds like the Church is distancing...

You can be happy when you’re dead. @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  Photo by Alexander Milo on Unsplash I learned a pretty hairshirt version of Mormonism...

My Odd Book Habit @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -  As I’ve mentioned here before, I love books, and I prefer the printed kind to ebooks,...

Come Follow Me: 1 Corinthians Part 2 @ Ben Spackman
  -  Corinthians, continued The latter part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians has a...

Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part III): LDSBot @ Josiah Reckons
  -  In part II, I used ChatGPT to modernise verses from the LDS standard works. ChatGPT is a...

Come Follow Me: 1 Corinthians, Part 1 @ Ben Spackman
  -  This week, we’re 1 Corinthians, which is a smorgasbord of interesting topics,...

Missionary Slang @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  When I first arrived in my mission, back a few decades ago, I remember being struck by...

The Power of Good Historiography: Or, How Joseph Fielding Smith Unwittingly Undermined Joseph Fielding Smith @ Ben Spackman
  -  I’m deep in my third (and final, I hope) dissertation chapter, covering the period...

What questions do you have for Feminist Mormon Housewives? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  fMhLisa brought her blog back from hiatus a few days ago to say that over the next year,...

American Exceptionalism—Excessive Death @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   The New York Times’ David Wallace-Wells published a newsletter1 this week about...

Come Follow Me: Romans @ Ben Spackman
  -  Paul’s letter to Romans “has been the most studied of the apostle’s...

The Mark @ Segullah
  -  Since the 1990s, after therapy and feeling the ransoming love of the Savior, I have had a...

Ruin a hymn title by switching out one letter. @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -   I’ve often seen threads on AskReddit where commenters are asked to change the...

THE VOICE OF THE MOTHER IS WILD @ Segullah
  -  If you’ve ever attended a guided meditation class, one of the first journeys the...

Harm by Individuals, Harm by Systems @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  What makes a particular action a sin? A simple definition might be that it violates one...

Authoritarianism, American Style @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   As I’ve pointed out before on this blog, almost every business is an...

Covenant, Law, Grace, Works, and Faith: Understanding the Contexts of Scripture (updated) @ Ben Spackman
  -  Let me open by saying, this is a wide-ranging and complex subject. I may well prove to be...

Reflections on the LDS Sacrament (Part I) @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  This has gotten ridiculously long, so I’m going to just start with the first half....

Making Righteousness Easier @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  In a devotional for young adults a couple of months ago, Dallin H. and Kristen M. Oaks...

Five Ways We Can Misread Paul and How to Avoid Doing So @ Ben Spackman
  -  Since we’re about to start Paul’s letters, I thought I’d share this....

“Israel, Israel!” God is calling! @ Segullah
  -  “Israel Israel!” God is Calling Musings on my recent trip to Israel – by Linda...

Come Follow Me: Acts 1-5 @ Ben Spackman
  -  Today we begin something new that is neither here nor there. Acts is not a letter, like...

Go to the House Mansion of the Lord @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -  This guest post comes to ZD courtesy of Zatch. Zatch is a lapsed physicist living and...

What the First Presidency Said without Saying It @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   A letter from the First Presidency dated June 1, 2023, was sent out to Church...

Disavowing old teachings could reduce leader roulette @ Zelophehad's Daughters
  -   After Elder Uchtdorf introduced the new, more principle-based For the Strength of Youth...

The Republican Party's Real Game @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   If you are a conservative and are not wealthy and are supporting the Republican...

Acceptance @ Segullah
  -  Acceptance is the key to everything. That’s the mantra I typed into the reminders...

Summer Travels and Speaking, Recent and Future @ Ben Spackman
  -  It’s been quite a semester. I continued working on my dissertation, and finished...

Changes are in the Air @ Segullah
  -  Dear Segullah Sisters and friends – Our organization is in a period of sparkling...

Cooking After the Storm @ Segullah
  -  There many things I love in life. One of these things is food, and another is history. ...

A Pitchers’ Duel That Will Never Be Equaled @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Just for a change of pace from politics and religion, I want to reminisce in...

I'm a Mormon @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   I suppose I understand why President Nelson has placed such an emphasis on using...

Fractured Thoughts on the Holocaust @ Segullah
  -  On a recent trip to Amsterdam I signed up for a tour to visit the Holocaust Names...

Sabbath Speeches: Dirt and Dung – Salt of the Earth @ Josiah Reckons
  -  I gave a contracted version of this talk, in Polish, in the Warsaw Branch, in Poland on...

“Acting as a Man” and Other Less-than-Useful Frameworks for Talking About Prophets @ Ben Spackman
  -  I tend not to use the words “fallible” or “speaking as a man” or...

In the crosshairs @ Segullah
  -  So this is what it feels like in the crosshairs. As the grandmother of a transgender...

Takagi on Latter-day Saints and Capitalism @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   The most recent issue of the Mormon Studies Review (vol. 10) contains a couple of...

I don’t want to wear a party hat @ Segullah
  -  I don’t want to go to birthday party for Relief Society.   I mean…. I love...

I Don’t Believe in Faith Crises @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   Frankly, I don’t even know what “faith crisis” means. I understand that...

@ Segullah
  -    My husband Chris Kimball has a new book out called “Living on the Edge of the...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 17 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   The Isms If you’ve been following this series of posts, you might be thinking I...

Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 16 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
  -   The Debt Ceiling and Balancing the Budget Since the Republicans took control of...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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:...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

"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...

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

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...

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"...

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...

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."...

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...

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...