Now that Christmas has passed and we look forward to the new year, I am going through my usual list of personal deficiencies to try to establish my New Year’s resolutions for the coming year.  The scripture I’ve attached below is the best way I can describe my biggest challenge in life. 

Ye have heard that it hath been said; Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?
  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?
  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5: 43-48

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No, not THAT Council of Fifty, silly! We’ve started a new Mormon political group blog called Council of Fifty where we’ll discuss all things Mormon and politics. It should be good fun and hopefully divert much of the political talk that doesn’t necessarily belong here to a place where it fits right in. And if you have something to say about politics, submit a post at counciloffifty at gmail dot com.

Hope to see you over there!

I’m still in the middle of handing in final projects and taking final exams for school. I really don’t have time for this. Unfortunately, I heard a snippet of Lawrence O’Donnells Mormon rant on Mclaughlin group and cannot get it out of my head. For some reason the Bill Maher or Christopher Hitchens rants never seemed to phase me. I’ve heard it from various sources my whole life. School teachers, friends, relatives, total strangers. I’m not sure why O’Donnell got to me. It’s not because I respect him. It’s not because his words were totally untrue. Maybe its because he alters the facts just slightly to make it hard to argue against. Joseph Smith pro-slavery? Any legit historian will tell you otherwise. But yet he wasn’t a hardcore abolitiionist either. Its this sound-bite world we live in. There’s no time to dissect the complexity of an issue. No time to discuss context or hypocrisy. It has left me frightened to open myself up to people let alone talk about the complexity of my church.

So my question is: What do all of you do when your faith is challenged? What do you do when in spite of your unwavering conviction through real spiritual experiences, you realize that your churches history is nearly impossible to explain ?

There are so many Christmas traditions it’s hard to pick. Some from other countries are obviously different than the ones we might be familiar with. Have you adopted any?

My favorite would have to be….. (more…)

Why are so many in the church so nit-picky about the day we worship on, the mode of baptism, which hand to partake of the sacrament, what we wear on Sundays and them embrace pagan holidays, tradtions and rituals? (more…)

His opponent would get my vote. And most of the center would do the same. Mitt, Rudy, Fred, Obama and Hillary all have a reasonable chance of getting the middle, undecided voters (those who will determine the presidency). Huck doesn’t have a prayer.

I think we understand what the standards of modesty are in the church. Cover your garment if you wear one or dress like you wear one if you hope to some day. And when modesty is discussed at a BYU campus, it’s almost entirely framed within the context of the Honor Code — and the Honor Code Office’s delightful, quirky, and just a little creepy advertising.

But what is modesty? What are we trying to achieve?

It can’t just be about dress and appearance, can it? Sure it’s hard to not dress your daughter like a floozie — but is that the length and width of the issue? Aren’t we really just picking at the surface of a higher law — a body ethic?

What might that ethic include — what would it look like, how might it behave? And what would its scriptural underpinnings be — or would it come from somewhere else?

You no doubt know that Mitt Romney gave The Speech today. And no doubt this will be but one of many many many posts on The Speech. In fact, the speech hasn’t even been over for an hour yet and I’m sure you’re already sick of hearing about it. But I have posting powers and I’m going to use them. So here are my immediate thoughts: (more…)

By Bret, brother of Rusty, son of Don, friend to all

Many of you I’m sure have seen the hubbub surrounding the new movie The Golden Compass based on a book trilogy by the self-described atheist, Philip Pullman. I read all three books and immediately feel in love with them about three years ago. Both them and the new movie (which I saw in a sneak preview last Saturday) are brilliant. I consider them way better than the Harry Potter series and I love Harry Potter! The characters have great depth, the plot is fascinating and the themes are insightfully interesting. (more…)

Last Saturday my wife and I made our annual trek to Snicker’s Gap Farm about 16 miles west of Leesburg, Virginia to cut a fresh Christmas tree.  This usually marks the beginning of our holiday celebration and we enjoy the smell of a fresh cut tree in our house and the fact that it doesn’t dry out as fast as the ones you buy at the Christmas tree lot.  (more…)

This Thursday, Mitt Romney is slated to give an address at Texas A&M University where he will give an explanation of his faith.  Of course it is something that many people have been clamoring for throughout the weeks of the current campaign.  I am not writing this post to suggest support for Governor Romney or to suggest non-support.  I am simply raising the issue to suggest that Governor Romney’s best course of action, indeed the best course for all of us, is to be honest and straightforward about our religion and the things we believe. (more…)

My 13 year old son: “Mom, you gave the best testimony today. The best testimony…ever!” (more…)

We are usually afraid of someone if they have power over us or our situation. We are afraid of our parents because they can punish us. We are afraid of our boss because he/she can fire us. We are afraid of some people because they can control or influence others who effect us.

But what about Satan?

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