And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? Genesis 4:9 When caught in an infraction, our first human tendency is to make an excuse and/or to blame someone else. As parents we see this in our children and soon realize that … Read more
“Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good.” C.S. Lewis The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has begun to roll out its “New Approach” to Children and Youth, which will officially begin on January 1. 2020. This new program “is designed to be personalized and … Read more
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam … Read more
Recently in my Elder’s Quorum meeting, the Instructor asked us to look through 4 Nephi, Chapter 1. The chapter describes a society that, following Christ’s visit to the Americas, had 200 years of peace and prosperity. The Instructor asked us to point out the defining characteristics of that society. I immediately noticed verse three. And … Read more
The Latter-day Saints have a unique form of knowledge we call “testimony.” And a testimony, when expressed, is a particularly strong statement of belief. And yet, a testimony is expressed humbly, quietly, gratefully. It is not an expression of personal superiority. To an outsider, a Mormon testimony may appear to be a self-delusion or a … Read more
Early Mormon Apostle Parley P. Pratt taught that Theology includes “all other sciences and useful arts.” This puts the religion of the Latter-day Saints squarely on the side of science and advanced learning. There is no room for dogmatism, provincialism, or narrow-mindedness in the Church of Jesus Christ. [Theology] is the science of all other … Read more
How sure are you about your beliefs? Did you know there is an inverse correlation between certainty and accuracy? People who hold false or mistaken ideas are often absolutely certain they are right. This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people mistakenly … Read more
Donald Trump represents an authoritarian movement and a cultural force. Trumpism is not merely or just a set of political policy preferences. Like other authoritarian cultural movements Trumpism promises a national-cultural transformation, psychological uplift, group superiority, personal salvation, and a sense of membership and belonging in an exclusive community for its members and other supporters. … Read more