Christopher Browning, an historian of Nazi Germany, has heretofore resisted calling Donald Trump a fascist because he felt it was an imprecise use of the term. However, he is worried about the future. I still deny that Trump’s presidency was fascist; but I’m concerned that if he wins another trip to the White House, he could … Read more
As long as I can remember, I have been hearing in church about how we know we are living in the “last days” because the world is getting “increasingly wicked.” Obviously, we thought, the end times were imminent because there were so many “bad” people in the world doing such “bad” things. And, of course, … Read more
Sunday school lessons on the final chapters of Genesis typically discuss the story of Joseph and his brothers and then skip ahead to the blessings Jacob (Israel) gives to his sons before his death. Perhaps more pertinent to our time is the story that often gets passed over — the story of the increasingly severe … Read more
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
If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. Abraham Lincoln, 1838 2021 was supposed to be the year things returned to normal. A highly qualified, easy-going, gentleman was entering the White House and, with the … 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
The United States of America was founded on three moral principles: 1. the rule of law, 2. the power of truth, and 3. the right of equal opportunity for all. The American Republican Party, at the behest its billionaire masters (and the right-wing media controlled by those billionaires), has been chipping away at all three … Read more
The First Russian Revolution of 1905 failed (though it did lead to some reform). Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (better known as Lenin) called it the “The Great Dress Rehearsal.” In 1917 Lenin came back from exile and founded Soviet Russia, which eventually became the Soviet Union in 1922. Adolf Hitler’s 1923 “Beer Hall Putsch,” an attempted … Read more