Wry Catcher’s question whether the notion of spirit world addiction reminded me of Jean Paul Sartre’s Les Jeux Sont Faits, which is particularly interesting to Mormons because Sartre’s description of the afterlife happens to coincide with commonly held notions of the spirit world. Les Jeux Sont Faits is a wonderful…
Forever family freak-show (conclusion of TW)
On Sunday morning, Rex and I went out to brunch with those people who weren’t going to church. Mom and Richard had been planning to visit the various local Christian churches that had LDS outreach ministries, but at the last minute the adorable baby motivated them to change their plans…
Sunday Around Outer Blogness
We really need to set up a “sideblog” around here to highlight interesting posts around our blogroll… For example, if we had a sideblog, here are a few posts I might highlight: Check out John R.’s Church Visit, in which he Is Taught to Show Love for Gays by Denying…
It’s Official: Mormonism is not a Protestant Religion
So says a court in Arkansas. I know lawyers are necessary, but since when do they believe they can determine the answer to longstanding theological, historical, and sociological questions? Oh well… I guess the next time someone asks if Mormonism is Protestant you can cite actual legal precedent when saying…
LDS Temple Rejects (TW continues…)
On the morning of the wedding, we determined to sleep in a little bit. We were planning to meet April and Susan at the Hobbs’ house, and we wanted to wait until we were sure that Brother and Sister Hobbs were gone to avoid crossing them and dealing with whatever…
How are the Mormons like the Jews?
It seems like whenever we talk about Mormons as a people and a culture, the first discussion point is always “How are we like/unlike the Jews?” It’s very natural for Mormons to see the parallel with this fellow tribe. It just hit me recently, though, that this connection might not…
The Dreadful Dinner (TW continues…)
When we got to Rex’s parents’ house, the three boys immediately rushed upstairs to put their backpacks in Jared’s room. Rex’s mother met us in the entryway and took my jacket. “Hello, Lynn,” she said, “It’s nice to see you again.” Then she yelled up the staircase, “You boys come…
We All Could Kill Children But What About God?
On the occasion of Ronan’s remembrance of the Coventry bombing, I am exploring theodicy with Jon and Right Trousers. I would agree with Right Trousers that the choices of the survivors can give meaning to the suffering of the victims. At least, we are taking responsibility for our actions. But…
Estimating the cost of bad investments, or how much did the Church lose on you?
The NYTimes recently mentioned the Fermi game of figuring “ballpark” estimates of real-world numbers for questions you, at first glance, think of as un-estimatable – for example, how many piano tuners are there in Chicago? Though I am generally bad at math (and shun it), I like this game, and…