In 1995, the LDS Church issued a statement called “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” This Proclamation was recently the topic of study in LDS Sunday School classes. I believe many Latter-day Saints misuse this Proclamation to push a politically conservative agenda. What are LDS “Proclamations”? The Church has issued six Proclamations throughout its … Read more
There is an old quip that says, “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” This hypothetical court case is usually presented as a challenge to professed Christians to step up and actually LIVE according to the precepts taught by Jesus Christ. It is one thing to … Read more
In a democracy, a wannabe tyrant is just a comical figure on a soapbox unless a huge wave of supporters lifts him to high office. Bob Altmeyer Much has been written about autocrats and despots. At whatever scale, home, school, work, or an entire country, these people rule as dictators using fear and the threat … Read more
In Sacrament meeting recently the speakers were a young couple fairly new to our ward. They both spoke on the topic, “From small things come that which is great.” What caught my attention, though, was that neither of them wore protective face masks. The practice in our ward has been for speakers at the podium … Read more
When I was young, I thought (like all children) that rules limited my freedom. I was told when and what to eat, when to sleep, what to wear, and how to behave. I was powerless in the world of the tall people and sometimes I rebelled the only way I could — by crying, yelling, … Read more
Republicans frequently employ the informal fallacy. This category of faulty reasoning includes such problems as ad hominem (personal) attacks, begging the question, equivocation, false dilemma, faulty analogy, inconsistency and more. (Here is an interesting list). Informal fallacies are not fallacies of logic (those are called formal fallacies). Rather, they are fallacies caused by faulty premises … Read more
The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall towards the earth’s center. Winston Smith (in the book 1984 by George Orwell) As an amateur rock climber in my younger days, I can tell you from personal experience that climbers are highly aware of gravity. The … Read more
Words are important. They not only record and explain reality, they actually create reality. In fact, words are so important that “the Word” is actually one of the names of Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The same was in the beginning with … Read more