A Definition of Maturity

Some parents never grow up. For one reason or another their emotional development stops somewhere. When a child is crying, other children usually ignore him, but his mother will come to his aid. But not all mothers. Young mothers or those whose emotional development was retarded for some reason will not. They never outgrow their [...]

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The Peace Giver

There is a subtle self-deception going on in all of us. It is an absence of love, real love. Being the victim, putting ourselves “above” another simply because our weaknesses, or the way we manifest them, are different. We all mistreat each other at times. Sometimes without even knowing it. We lack judgement, fail to [...]

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Ghost Writers

A review of the book Who Wrote the Gospels? by Randel McCraw Helms. The author produces many juxtapositions of texts from within the gospels and other ancient sources to make a case that the gospel writers were only rehashing older and unrelated accounts into the Christian story and theology. I think one can prove almost [...]

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What Did Paul Really Preach?

In the book What Paul Meant by Garry Wills, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book Lincoln at Gettysburg, I got an unusual interpretation of the writings of this early Apostle. At times Wills seems to go a little too far with surmises based on very little evidence. However, Paul is sometimes controdictory to a [...]

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Notes on “What Happened to the Cross?”

These are the notes I took while reading the book What Happened to the Cross: Distinctive LDS Teachings by Robert L. Millet. They are my interpretations and thoughts and are not specifically a recounting of what is in the book, nor may they be exactly what Brother Millet intended. However, I tried to stay faithful [...]

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Interesting Facets of a Complex Man

The unconventional approach taken by the authors of the book40 Ways to Look and Brigham Young makes for convenient and informative reading. They take an aspect of his personality, a particular way he was viewed by others, or simple hard data and put each into a series of 40 chapters. These chapters are not necessarily [...]

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Fanatically Unstable

Truman G. Madison once quoted a definition of religious fanaticism as “Someone who doubles his speed when he has lost his direction.” This is an apt description of Sidney Rigdon as portrayed by Richard S. Van Wagoner in his book, Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess. This book primarily deals with Rigdon’s relationships and [...]

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Unfulfilled Potential

I just finished reading Red River by Lalita Tadamy. This book is a fictional account of her forebears from the last events of Reconstruction after the the Civil War down to the early adulthood of her father. This book focuses mainly on the men of the family. I understand her previous book, Cane River, was mainly about [...]

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Each “Way” has Merit

In my last post I tried to spotlight the silliness of the “Utah versus the East” bantering I get so tired of hearing about in the Mormon Church. Well, I really stuck my foot in it this time. After a dozen or so temper-flared comments back and forth with some worthy opponent down in Texas, I’ve come to the [...]

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“Cultural” Mormons

I was talking with my sister from the “Arrogant East” the other day. She said she would never move back to Utah because we’re all just a bunch of “Cultural” Mormons. Not like the Mormons (like herself) back East who have to fight for their beliefs and such. I have to disagree. Yes, it’s easier [...]

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