When in 2013 Elder Uchtdorf encouraged us to doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith, that was a call to self-awareness. If I’m doubting a gospel principle or a narrative of our sacred history, then what do I personally bring to that equation? Let’s explore things that all of us bring: assumptions, worldview, epistemology, and bias.
Continue reading “How to Doubt Your Doubts”How Brigham’s accusers use anchored narratives
Anchored Narratives is a 1993 book written by psychologists who were trying to understand wrongful convictions in courts of law. The authors examined 35 examples of dubious and clearly-wrongful convictions, trying to figure out how prosecutors manipulate judges and juries into accepting false narratives about people.
Continue reading “How Brigham’s accusers use anchored narratives”Let’s stop couch-fainting over the term “approved sources”
A note on “sticking with approved sources” to get “approved answers.”
In any field, there are sources that lead to specific answers that are considered valid because they represent reality.
Continue reading “Let’s stop couch-fainting over the term “approved sources””On the Hiring of Aaron Sherinian
What do hiring decisions indicate about the organizations that enact them? For many organizations, hiring decisions don’t carry any particular weight beyond measures of employee competence. For religious organizations, however, alignment with a religious mission is critical.
Latter-day Saints do not believe any of their leaders are infallible, and the same goes for church employees. However, there is a meaningful distinction in perceptions between called leaders who help direct the Church, and hired employees who execute the instructions of those leaders.
Continue reading “On the Hiring of Aaron Sherinian”2023 Memes I enjoyed, and a few I created
Below is a list of faith-related memes I enjoyed in 2023, followed by some I created.
Continue reading “2023 Memes I enjoyed, and a few I created”How not to sustain our leadership
In my presentation on following the prophet, I described what it means to me to sustain the people who are called to the governing councils and committees of the church.
For learning by contrast, below is a list of statements that indicate to me the opposite of what it means to sustain.
Continue reading “How not to sustain our leadership”Latter-day Saint Apocalyptic, and Visions of Glory as Case Study
There is controversy in the news with several former church members who have been strongly influenced by the book Visions of Glory. In this presentation, we explore some questions around that book and its genre, which is called apocalyptic.
Questions we explore:
Continue reading “Latter-day Saint Apocalyptic, and Visions of Glory as Case Study”John the Baptist, preeminent prophet
When Moses was called as a prophet, he had an extraordinary visionary experience where he saw God represented as a burning bush.
When Isaiah was called as a prophet, we read of a dramatic visionary encounter with smoke filling the temple, heavenly figures called the seraphim, and more.
When Ezekiel was called as a prophet, he offered an elaborate description of divine beings that defy any normal description.
But the prophetic call of John the Baptist, who Jesus labeled as greater than any prophet before his time, is described in only seven words that are found in a very short verse in the book of Luke.
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. (Luke 3:2)
That’s it. No sensational experience, just… the word of God came to John.
Continue reading “John the Baptist, preeminent prophet”Feeling God’s Particular Love
There’s a quote from Jonathan Haidt’s “The Happiness Hypothesis” that has haunted me ever since I read it many years ago:
As in Plato, Christian love is love stripped of its essential particularity, its focus on a specific other person. Love is remodeled into a general attitude toward a much larger, even infinite class of objects. Caritas and agape are beautiful, but they are not related to or derived from the kinds of love that people need. Although I would like to live in a world in which everyone radiates benevolence toward everyone else, I would rather live in a world in which there was at least one person who loved me specifically, and whom I loved in return. (emphasis added)
I have long and easily felt God’s love in the general sense, “stripped of its essential particularity”. I know that God is good, and because God is good He treats everyone kindly and patiently. Of this I have no doubt. But am I loved, in particular? I know the answer is yes, but I have long struggled to actually feel that love.
Continue reading “Feeling God’s Particular Love”Reverse CBT in the Church
This video points to a Triggernometry episode recounting a Gen Z woman’s experience with critical race theory and manufactured fragility:
The source video is from Tik Tok. The story is that a lesbian and her wife who use they/them pronouns walked into a gay bar and she melted down over being called a lady. So, the gay guys in the bar kicked her out. Notice that as she is whining and performing for the camera, she has an empathetic enabler reassuring her that the mean world has mistreated her.