I don’t want to write about a mass shooting every month. Twenty-six more people were killed Sunday by that same AR-15 type assault rifle that had once been banned. The Republicans, once again, are dismissing the need to deal with this growing crisis. They are spinning the same old story about how “mental health” is … Read more
“Every conversation about gun deaths should begin by recognizing one blindingly clear fact about this problem — the United States is on its own planet. The gun-related death rate in the United States is 10 times that of other advanced industrial countries. Places such as Japan and South Korea have close to zero gun-related deaths … Read more
This past Sunday, I taught a lesson on the martyrdom of Joseph Smith to the Gospel Doctrine class in my ward. Rather than use the manual, I created a timeline using the History of the Church, Volume 6, as my primary source. (I have added this timeline, and the related class resources I compiled, to … Read more
“And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; And they were thrust … Read more
In my late teens I read some essays by Leo Tolstoy (“On Patriotism” and “Patriotism and Government“). I learned that patriotism is a tool the powerful use to control the masses, and that patriotism leads to war. For some time afterward, I was leery of patriotic displays and skeptical of patriotic expression. Now, of course, … Read more
“That which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments of men; … Read more
One interesting thing about prophets, if you truly believe in them, is that not only can a current prophet see into the future, but past prophets have seen our present. This is the situation in Mormon Chapter 8 when Moroni says, “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are … Read more
“A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence, used in the classical sense of trust. A confidence trick is also known as a con game, a con, a ripoff, a scam, a grift, a hustle, a bunko (or bunco), a swindle, a flimflam, a gaffle or … Read more