Mormon Bloggers

The rollout of the new Mormon Defense League website earlier this week couldn’t be better timed, and perhaps Bill Maher might want to visit it to upgrade his knowledge about Mormonism. The ascerbic Maher, most famous for his sleazy bathroom humor and his endless armada of “f-bombs”, has not only attacked Mitt Romney because of his Mormonism, but has also flagrantly lied about Mormon doctrine. The Blaze, operated under the auspices of Glenn Beck, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informs us that the incident took place during a recent appearance by Maher on the Ed Show. Guest host Michael Eric Dyson asked Maher if he thought the Republican base could put their faith in a candidate who is a Mormon. Maher said No, then responded thusly: That’s what’s going to be so interesting is when Rick Perry in sly and underhanded and no fingerprints methods starts putting out the idea, which is a true idea by the way, that Mormons are not really Christians.... Read the rest of this entry »

While your approach to dating needs to change when you are of an age and maturity to marry, your standards of personal morality should not. This video was made for teens, but it applies 100% to young single adults, too. Making yourself an exception to Celestial standards will likely make you an exception to those who live worthy to obtain Celestial life. Tweet  Read More →

In his address entitled “Priesthood Power” delivered during the Saturday evening Priesthood session of the 181st Annual General Conference on April 2nd, 2011, Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, noted a growing disconnect between LDS moral values and the values espoused by the greater American society as a whole. In part, President Monson noted: We have come to the earth in troubled times. The moral compass of the masses has gradually shifted to an “almost anything goes” position. I’ve lived long enough to have witnessed much of the metamorphosis of society’s morals. Where once the standards of the Church and the standards of society were mostly compatible, now there is a wide chasm between us, and it’s growing ever wider. A series of Gallup polls, known as the Values & Beliefs poll, taken during May 2011 supports his contention. Most notable was this telephone poll of 1,018 adults aged 18 and older, conducted May 5-8,... 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 »

In a recent article I read about Brandon Davies being dismissed from the team, the author stated that BYU’ honor code was even stricter than that of the LDS church and in his words described it as the LDS church on steriods.  He goes on to allude that BYU is ruthless and that if BYU wanted to help the basketball player, they would have kept him on the team and helped him with his issue.  Other people such as the broadcasters on Sportscenter the other day applauded BYU for upholding their standards in a time when many schools would not have, given all that was on the line. I feel that the first author could have had a valid point since part of the honor code at BYU is “trivial” things (in my opinion) such as if you have shaved that day, cheated on a test, had a cup of Joe, or was dressing inappropriately.  If Davies would have been removed from the team for a smaller violation such as one of these, I think that could have been justified, but it would have been much... Read the rest of this entry »

In various work environments have established safety policies and procedures. In my former place of employment, an employee had to be cognizant of his/her surrounding areas. If something went wrong, there are specific Lock Out Tag and Try procedures that must be performed in order to safely work on the machine, remove any fiberboard that [...]  Read More →

Be forewarned: This essay contains references to masturbation and other sexual acts.  Once again by assignment, I examine the social impact of a controversial book first published over forty years ago, at the height of the sexual revolution.  I’ve noticed a trend among most of the short stories and books that we have considered this year in our American Literature classes: many of them contain material that would be considered to be shocking or offensive to more conservative readers.  Portnoy’s Complaint is no exception.  In fact, if Ginsberg hadn’t broken the indecency barrier with his poem Howl a decade earlier, I am certain that Philip Roth would have been charged with breaking some sort of obscenity law.  As it was, attempts were made to prohibit the distribution of the book in some countries and many U.S. libraries banned the book as too vulgar.  Of course that was in 1969.  Today it is considered an American classic. I would like to address in this essay just what it... Read the rest of this entry »

Just in the case that someone got the wrong impression from my first edition of this. I’m presenting things in a little bit different manner, but essentially I’m saying the same thing: There are times when we need to go against the social pressure if we wish to obey the commands of our conscience.  Read More →

Moral courage: How do we define it? Simply, do what is right, even if it isn’t popular or otherwise easy.  Read More →