Mormon Bloggers

Last month, violent extremism struck Norway in the form of one Anders Behring Breivik.  A self-described “Cultural Christian” seeking the liberation of Europe from the supposed threats of Marxism, Islam and Feminism, Mr. Breivik unleashed the most destructive rampage that Norwegians had seen since the invasion and occupation of their nation by the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.  In a few short hours, Breivik detonated a car bomb in the capital city of Oslo, killing eight people, after which he traveled to youth camp on nearby Utøya island, where he shot some sixty-nine other young people to death.  His justification for this massacre was that in killing these young leftists, he hoped to spur Europeans to see the threats that left-wing governance and Islamic immigration posed toward the traditional homelands of Christendom.  Essentially he saw himself as a modern-day Crusader striking a blow for the preservation of the West. I will not dignify the ravings of Mr.... Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of the Boston Globe As someone who grew up in the greater Los Angeles area during the 1990’s, the current rioting in London seems strangely familiar.  Police brutality against an ethnic minority provides the spark which touches off longstanding social grievances between the haves and have-nots, and the situation promptly explodes into a series of riots for which the police response is either insufficient, or ineffective.  But, much like the L.A. riots, once the looting and burning starts, the whole mess goes off script. Have a look at these images of the rioters.  Sure, a lot of them are masked, but even then, it’s clear that there are a surprising number of white people participating in a riot that was at least initially sparked out of outrage for a racial injustice.  While the optimist in me would love to declare that this is clear evidence of a blossoming (at last!) of a post-racial society where all races, creeds and colors stand together to oppose tyranny,... Read the rest of this entry »

As sarcasm rarely translates well on the Internet I feel obliged to post this warning:  THE FOLLOWING POST IS INTENDED AS A WORK OF SATIRE.  Neither the author, nor the Editorial Board of The Loadstone Rock endorse the tenets of Social Darwinism, much less the extreme version of those tenets expressed here.  If you are easily offended, or do not enjoy satire or sarcasm, please do not read this post.  You have been warned. I’m done.  No literally I give up.  After years of resisting, arguing and attempting to advocate for a seemingly better way, I’m surrendering to the cold, unyielding grasp of reality.  That’s right, I’m converting to Social Darwinism.  As a gesture of good faith to my fellow brothers in the creed of “I deserve more because I’m better than you” I would like to offer the following “modest proposal” for the future of our nation.  It is my considered opinion that should the following recommendations be followed to the letter, life will be a lot simpler... Read the rest of this entry »

Someone please tell me how it came to this:  We are currently less than two weeks away from a national default on our debts.  How exactly is this possible?  How is it that the nation with the world’s single largest economy is about to default on its debts? On second thought, don’t bother answering me; I’m tired of the same old talking points.  You know the ones: The President’s spending is out of control! He’s presided over the largest deficits in American history! We have the highest corporate tax rate on earth! The President won’t agree to a deficit reduction plan that involves cutting spending, he’s determined to soak the rich, who are the only people who can create the jobs to pull us out of the recession! Do I really need to go on?  Or is this as tiresome to everyone else as it is to me?  First off, the deficits in the Obama Administration have been record-setting, I will gladly admit to that, but why? Come on folks, Unemployment benefits aren’t... Read the rest of this entry »

You don’t know me, but you think you do.  I am a public employee and frankly, I’m a little tired of the stereotype of me that is broadcast daily over the internet, cable news and talk radio.  Believe it or not my days are not filled with over paid gold-bricking while kicking back in my easy chair polishing off a frosty mug of your children’s future.  My work, such as it is, is often monotonous, but absolutely crucial for the education of said children. I am a Library Assistant in the Technical Services department in one of the Libraries of the University of California.  I realize that my job description doesn’t exactly ring a bell for you, so allow me to explain:  When your college-age son, or daughter needs, or will need, to do a research paper, write a report, or prepare themselves for a test, they tend to make use of the campus library, to get the books, electronic books, or other resources they need for their studies.  Those items need to be ordered, and... Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a sucker for eschatology.  For those of you who didn’t waste their youths with dictionaries and atlases, that unpronounceable term means “the study of the end times.”  This probably has something to do with being a member of, and growing up in a religious tradition that has a pretty strong apocalyptic/millennialist strain to it.  Hence, when I heard earlier this year that radio Evangelist Harold Camping had predicted the rapture for May 21, 2011, I couldn’t help but grin and chuckle a little. Lest you mistake me for the “Antichrist” (there’s not only one, by the by) my laughter at this concept does not involve a ghoulish delight in imminent cataclysm.  Nor, is it born of scorn and derision for the poor, misguided souls who are, at this very moment, eagerly awaiting their promised translation into celestial glory while the rest of us poor heathens (I have yet to meet a single Evangelical who thinks Mormons get counted among the raptured) roast in the great apocalyptic... Read the rest of this entry »

It isn’t really news until the editorial cartoonists get their hands on it.  Here are some of the best: While I am not usually a fan of Michael Ramirez’ work, I found this one to be particularly good: This one is titled “an eye for an eye”  It’s also rather well done. As noted, this one was originally printed on Sept. 16, 2001. And yet… And you knew it was bound to happen…. Filed under: Current Events, Editorial Cartoons, History, Politics Tagged: Current Events, Death of Osama bin Laden, Editorial Cartoons, History, Politics  Read More →

Osama bin Laden is dead.  I cannot tell you how long I have waited to hear those words.  In the early months of the now decade-long war in Afghanistan I listened constantly for the news of his capture or death, the capture or death of the man who had declared war on my homeland, murdered its people and left a section of one of our great cities in ruins.  I waited, we waited collectively as a nation, and we waited in vain.  For nearly ten long years we waited for news of the destruction of our most prominent avowed enemy.  And yet, despite our matchless military power and extensive intelligence capabilities, he evaded our grasp.  Like the “bogey man” of old, he taunted us from the darkness and left us no traces of his existence but shattered lives and cryptic taunts. Until yesterday, that is.  After a decade of waiting, after long having given up hope of the dead being avenged or justice being done, I sat dumbfounded, along with millions of my fellow countrymen as we heard President... Read the rest of this entry »

As is often the case in the spring, today at the UCR campus we had visitors, visitors who brought posters with them, posters that were gruesome, graphic and frankly rather disgusting.  They depicted death and dismemberment in a manner that even the most shocking purveyors of torture porn usually avoid.  The wielders of said posters?  Good, Christian folk out to put the fear of God into your sons and daughters. (But mostly your daughters I suspect.)  I speak of course of the Anti-Abortion placards that prominently feature the images of mangled fetuses.  I get the whole argument here.  Abortion is murder, sanitizing it just makes it palatable, it is better to show all the gory consequences of an act to the public to shock them out of their jaded stupor… etc, ad nauseam. Frankly, I find such arguments to be garbage.  I spent two years as a missionary spreading the gospel, including the inconvenient, and often unpopular doctrines of chastity, and temperance, and while I accept... Read the rest of this entry »

We spent an hour with Gary Lawrence last night. He was gracious enough to come up to visit our stake in Camarillo from his home in Orange County. Dr. Lawrence is an American opinion pollster who also happens to be a Latter-day Saint. He has been travelling around the church sharing the results of a poll he conducted in the spring of 2007 on American’s perception of Latter-day Saints in the United States. He published a book in 2008 with the findings of his poll, How Americans View Mormonism: Seven Steps to Improve Our Image. Dr. Lawrence received a PhD in communications psychology from Stanford University in 1972. He said that of over twenty doctoral candidates in his group, he was the only LDS, Republican, conservative hawk among them. So he knows a little about being in the minority. Lawrence Research Now if you know anything about recent events in California, you’ll recognize that Gary’s business, Lawrence Research was the opinion polling company that was heavily involved in Proposition... Read the rest of this entry »

Ah, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, always ahead of the curve.  Why else do you suppose we allow a state with less than 0.3% of the population of the Union to vote first during primary season, granting such a small number of voters such an inordinately large voice in choosing the final candidates for our elections?  Clearly such a right could not be the product of mere custom?  Indeed not.  We trust the citizens of the Granite State to exercise judgment that is, by its very nature, inherently superior to the 99.7% of the country residing in the other 49 states of the Union.  And why?  Well clearly, dear readers it is because of the uncanny ability of these sturdy New Englanders to place themselves in the vanguard of national trends.  As a shining example, consider this comment by William O’Brien, Speaker of the New Hampshire State House: Speaking to a local Tea Party group on a proposed bill to eliminate same-day registration for voting, which would also restrict the ability... Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been doing some critical thinking about a couple of recent statements made by J. Michael Bailey. He is the Northwestern psychology professor who has been the subject of so much media attention due to the live sex demonstration in his human sexuality classroom last month. You can Google the story if you want the details. What intrigued me was the challenging nature of the defensive statements he offered when the story became public knowledge. He said that he didn’t expect everyone to agree with his decision to allow the demonstration to take place and that “thoughtful discussion of controversial topics is a cornerstone of learning.” I happen to be enrolled in a critical thinking class right now so this idea caught my attention. While I don’t agree with his decision, I do agree with his statement. So I expected someone to take him up on his challenge, because he offered it as such. Maybe it is too soon but I have yet to see a serious response to his justification. An Argument... Read the rest of this entry »