Awards
Lists of Brodie award winners:
X-Mormon of the Year 2012: David Twede
X-Mormon of the Year 2011: Joanna Brooks
X-Mormon of the Year 2010: Monica Bielanko
X-Mormon of the Year 2009: Walter Kirn
A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.
Those BYU Volunteers
Since McKay Coppins reported about the Romney campaign’s efforts to energize the South Carolina primaries with volunteers from out of state Mormon colleges, which has been linked by Profxm, I thought that a quick note to put the event into context might be in order. Every campaign is trying to swell its volunteer force by bringing in people from out of state. When I was the co-director of the Obama campaign in Prince Georges Coutny, MD, for example, we depoyed over 3,000 volunteers to Virginia Read more [...]
Posted in Uncategorized
Criticism, Power, and Validation
If a subordinate gives you negative feedback, it often implies a bigger compliment. It means that people trust you because you conduct yourself with integrity. Otherwise, your subordinates wouldn’t dare to speak up. Good for you. Of course, I would rather be praised than criticized but when somebody over whom you have power is honest with you, you ought to feel good about yourself. It confirms that you are living the good life. Recognizing the humanity of your subordinates, you conduct Read more [...]
The Other Great Commandment: Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
I found this open letter on Facebook. It is a courageous and inspiring effort to protect our gay children and neighbors in the BYU community. Since it is doubtful that the Daily Universe will publish it, I am taking the liberty to disseminate it on Main Street Plaza. It might be a good idea, if you share it on your own pages and blogs as well, not because you or I agree with it 100% but because it is a thoughtful contribution that deserves consideration. A response to the hateful and deceiving Read more [...]
Posted in Uncategorized
Respect versus Idolatry
When Republicans read the United States Constitution in the House of Representatives, they censored the embarrassing passages of the document, you know, the part about slavery and African American being 2/3s people in Article I, Section 2. I am glad that people are ashamed of slavery. On the downside, the efforts to depict the Constitution as perfect strike me as idolatrous. I admire the founding fathers because they were human beings with warts and flaws that achieved an extraordinary feat. Covering Read more [...]
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Religious Right, Women
Thinking About You
I got into trouble in fifth grade and I think about it every week. It was in the beginning of the school year. We had just switched from elementary to prep school. Except for three of us, everyone else was new. While we were waiting for the next teacher, some boys had taken Stefan T.’s gym bag and passed it from one to another. Stefan was maniacally running back and forth trying to recover his bag. Other children might have been frantic but he was maniacal. Although Stefan felt the ridicule, Read more [...]
Connected Mormonism
It has become a platitude among journalists to refer to Internet communities as echo chambers that induce confirmation bias. In the good old days, goes the reasoning, everybody had to watch the same three network news and we were all on the same page, at least, with regard to the facts. I am sorry but the proponents of the echo chamber hypothesis suffer from nostalgia. One need only to remember the turmoil over civil rights, the riots and police brutality at the Democratic convention in Chicago, Read more [...]
Posted in DAMU, excommunication, FLAK, Freedom, Further Light and Knowledge, History, World
Apologies
I deeply regret for driving my friends at By Common Consent into a corner. I relied solely on logic when I should have been kind. I also regret suspecting the wrong people of ending the discussion. Views: 2150
Posted in Uncategorized
Making Your Opponent’s Case
If you have to ban somebody over religious differences, it is probably a good idea to wait until the debate about what constitutes a bad religion is over. When you argue that religion provides a special path to the truth, you are not helping yourself by prohibiting your rhetorical opponent’s speech. You see, people who have a measure of truth can defend their position on the merit of the argument. So when you shut them up with prohibitions, you demonstrate your ignorance more conclusively Read more [...]
Posted in Bloggernacle, civil discourse, Main Street Plaza, Power, Reason, Truth
Happy Birthday, Deutschland!
On a sunny winter day of 1985 or 86, I was waiting in the entrance of the Nuremberg train station when an elderly gentlemen with an Austrian accent addressed me: “When I see how beautifully Nuremberg has been rebuild, I feel encouraged that one day our Germany will be united again too.” That was an extraordinary thing to say in 1986, especially to a perfect stranger. Clearly, the gentleman had been a supporter of the Nazi regime and yet I couldn’t hold the sentiment against him. He was so sincere, Read more [...]
Liberalism, Authoritarianism, and the Mormon Experience
Since Chris was lamenting the marginal role of liberty in Brighamite Mormonism, I might as well share some thoughts about Mormon authoritarianism. There appear to be three hypotheses about the authoritarian nature of Brighamist Mormonism. First, an orthodox Mormon might say that authoritarianism is the organizational manifestation of Mormon theology. Since the prophet reveals the will of God, only the spawn of Satan would refuse to follow the leader. Second, when I point out that our Church Read more [...]
Posted in Authority, correlation
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