It was kind of ironic. I was assigned to teach the lesson on obedience this Sunday. The word obedience makes me cringe in any context, but especially in a Mormon one. I still remember that mission conference where our leaders told us, “If you don’t want to be obedient to that which the brethren have […]

I’m no different than any other Mormon. I’ve been actively following the conversation around Richard Dutcher’s announcement that he’s moving on from Mormonism -
But of course, that’s only one way of putting it, a way that a whole bunch of people would take issue with. They would prefer me to say he’s spiraling downward, that […]

Last Sunday the stake installed a new elder’s quorum presidency in our ward. When the outgoing president said his farewell words he told us that during his tenure hometeaching stats had plummeted to an all time low. I thought it was odd that he would admit to such a thing, but I admired his candor.
I […]

In the most recent Sunstone there’s an interesting little story in Jeff Burton’s Borderlands column. It’s about a husband and wife who are finding their way back into activity in the Church. They talk about going on a pioneer trek reenactment with their daughter:
“The feeling of the Spirit was tangible at that trek. It occurred […]

Reading Robert Rees’s “The Cost of Credulity: Mormon Urban Legends and The War on Terror,” in the most recent (and very hip) Sunstone, made me realize what a gullible kid I am.
The article dissects some of the Mormon urban legends that have been popping up during America’s invasion/liberation of Iraq, including tales of a battalion […]

In November of 2006 a new publisher, Zarahemla Books, launched its first title, Brother Brigham by D. Michael Martindale. It’s a fast-paced novel about Cory Horace, a young married guy stuck in a dead-end job, who starts receiving visitations from his great-great-great grandpappy Brigham Young. It turns out that Brother Brigham has a few commandments […]

OK, I admit it, despite what I wrote in my post Against Spiritual Inoculation, maybe I have been inoculated after all. But I wonder what kind of inoculation it was.
During my last year of undergraduate work I took a Mormon literature class from Eugene England. It was a pretty wild experience for everyone involved. For […]

When I encountered D. Jeff Burton’s inoculation metaphor in the September 2006 issue of Sunstone (“Coping With A Deadly Pandemic,” pg. 60), I admit to getting a little hot under the collar.
Burton tells the story of a man who has been a faithful member his whole life, serving in high positions. Then one day […]

All that money and no place to spend it? All those weird relatives and no gift ideas in sight? Never fear: Sunstone (which has always believed that capitalism and consumerism CAN be reconciled) has suggestions with very helpful links directly to the places you can buy them!

During the last half of my mission the cold Toronto winter started melting into spring. While it was still cold, my companion and I made it a habit to go to the bus stop on a busy intersection to contact people. I had a coat that had no good place to clip a nametag. So […]