Mormon Bloggers

Some others may have read the August Ensign, and noted the pages dedicated to celebrating 400 years of King James Bible. I was sort of inspired to put my 2 cents about the Bible in ordered bits as if someone else were interested in my thoughts. Feel free to criticise/correct me; but my hope is [...]  Read More →

On June 30th, 2011, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the site of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre is among 14 new sites designated national historical monuments. The inclusion of the Mountain Meadows site, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was with the active blessing of the Church; LDS Church officials actually nominated it for inclusion, beginning their efforts back in March 2008. The designation imposes no additional regulatory requirements on the Church. The site was already on the National Register of Historic Places. The St. George News lists all 14 new sites designated for inclusion. Access a complete list of all national historical landmarks HERE. Secretary Salazar issued a statement: “Each of these landmarks represents a chapter in the story of America, from archaeological sites dating back more than two millennia to historic train depots, homes of famous artists, and buildings designed by some of our greatest architects. By... Read the rest of this entry »

“The problem with history was that it was written by the survivors, and they usually wrote it in sunshine, or harvest day, from victory stands.” -Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time  Read More →

Filed under: Apologetic Article, Youtube Video Tagged: Apologetics, Book o, Book of Mormon, Christ, Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of … Continue reading »  Read More →

“Not My Will be Done, But Thine, be Done”         New Testament Lesson #25 Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46   … Continue reading »  Read More →

It’s interesting to notice how easy it is to misunderstand/misinterpret history. Historical “facts” arise from different sources, and it is the historian’s job to sift the documentary evidence and see what kind of balance comes out in the end. And the balance doesn’t necessarily come from the volume of the documentation. Popular lies get reported [...]  Read More →

LDS Church Examiner and founder of Society for the Prevention of Anti-Mormonism Gregory West posted a discussion at S.P.A.M about a recent event. This event happened at Pastor John Hagee’s Church – Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Pastor Hagee … Continue reading →  Read More →

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 »

This piece of history is from a Primary Lesson: Soon after the Church was organized, some of the members began to apostatize, or leave the Church. They quit attending Church meetings, opposed the Prophet, and persecuted the Saints. People apostatized for various reasons. For example, one man left the Church because his horse died while he was traveling to join the Saints in Missouri. Another man apostatized after he saw Joseph Smith playing with children. He thought a prophet should be too serious to play with children. One man saw that his name was misspelled on a Church document and thought that meant Joseph Smith was not inspired by God. Other people left the Church because they did not receive the help they expected with their financial problems. Some members left the Church because they could not forgive other members for actions that had offended them. After leaving the Church, these offended people often became the Church’s worst enemies. Ezra Booth joined the Church in 1831 after... Read the rest of this entry »

I love food, which may explain my fascination for one of my favorite research books–”Plantation Life at Rose Hill: The Diaries of Martha Ogle Foreman, 1814-1845.” Catchy, eh? But really, it is a great book in that Martha Foreman wrote an entry almost every day of her married life giving us a fascinating glimpse into what she and her contemporaries ate, how they prepared it, how they preserved it, and the quantities of food they put up each year. Amazing! Eating required hard work, and lots of it. Really stop and think about the effort required to have a jar of jam on hand, or the bread to slather it upon. Think about a nice breakfast and imagine the time and prep involved in preparing such favorite menu items as sausage, bacon, biscuits, ham, pastries. No wonder eggs, bread and oatmeal often topped the list. I was really fascinated by the quantities of food a plantation had to produce to feed everyone. Rose Hill was run using slave labor, albeit well-treated slave-labor,... Read the rest of this entry »

While conducting research for my books I come across some really wonderful finds. The best are almost always the actual accounts people have left behind–their journal entries, or snippets from personal correspondence–underscoring the critical nature of keeping paper records, which is fast becoming a lost art in our electronic world. There is a wonderful site called “Eyewitness to History” that is a priceless collection of true accounts of great historical moments and events. Every adult will enjoy these true-life glimpses and every student will need at least a few of these as they prepare papers on ancient kingdoms or US history. The site and it’s accounts will enlighten us on some topics, showing the incredible elegance and ingenuity of people who managed great feats without all our modern technology. It also blasts holes in romantic myths of courtly behavior during Medieval times, displaying the atrocities that occurred in those stunning castles, illustrating... Read the rest of this entry »