This essay has almost nothing to do with the September 11th attacks. If anything, the attacks that many of us saw only served as a …
Why I am a Tory
Perhaps it is the heretical imp in me, but I have often shifted in my seat uncomfortably as I sit in classes at BYU and …
From Black Panther to Mormon: The Case of Eldridge Cleaver
He’s the stuff of kitschy seminary teachers who like to make the Church hip to their edgy adolescents: Eldridge Cleaver. A real Alma the Younger …
The Larger-Than-Life Relics of Heritage, Part I: The Sweetwater Rescue
I’m not one of those “let’s prove popular stories incorrect so we can watch the orthodox-squirm” kind of fellows. You know the kind…they start …
The Almost-Right Place: Joseph Smith and the Texas Republic
By the time my FHE activity was over, I had the counselor in the bishopric grumbling about how I was on the high road to …
The Porter Rockwell Effect: Mormonism’s Soft Spot for Bad Boys
At BYU, I was a bit of a dabbler, at times, bordering on dilletantism.
What Darwin Could Teach Richard Dawkins and the Mormons
Man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to …
Why I Like the Correlation Committee
I am going to state what is bound to be a wildly unpopular opinion: I really like the Correlation Committee.
Sunday School As Ritual
“Read your scriptures” “Go to Church” “Watch Saturday’s Warrior” (heaven help the Sunday School who has a Saturday’s Warrior faction) “Sunday School answers” generally do …
In Search of the Historical Joseph…
If you think the title tips my hand, hold onto your hats. Indeed, I am consciously borrowing from Albert Schweitzer’s famed work, In Search of …
The Ghosts of Modernity in a Rural Mormon Town
The land of Star Valley is an almost mystical one, surreal in its environs and mystical in its origin. The last of the Mormon settlements, …
Blood Brothers: Mormons, Genocide, and the Nixon Administration
Charles Radford, a Navy yeoman, present some fascinating questions about Latter-day Saints’ relationship with the government, the law, and politicians. Charles Radford was serving as …
Thorns in the Side: Villains in the Mormon Mind, Part I
Everyone loves a good villain…the bellowing laugh with hands thrown up in the air utter triumph. As a child, I found Dr. Claw of Inspector …
Righteous Gentiles Part II
So methinks that we have a few clairvoyants on-board. That said, behold the top four “Righteous Gentiles.” A few caveats… A) No, C.S. Lewis fans…he …
Righteous Gentiles Part 1
So, in honor of the broad-mindedness that is Mormon Matters, I would like to suggest a list of the top ten “Righteous Gentiles.” In orthodox …
Stopping Time for the Unconverted
I had an interesting conversation with a woman today. Missionaries would call it a bash. I called it posing and answering meaningful questions. It prompted her …
The Gospel and Collective Memory
While I hardly want to be schmaltzy, I had a powerful experience this evening involving memory… this governing variable of my mind.
Tactical Morality
I revisit an old topic that is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in a culture where not only is bad called good and vice versa, but …
Eating Jell-O in the Ivory Tower: Scholarly Adherents and Adhering Scholars
So as one who utterly lacked a life, I did what most good, quality no-lifers do…go to graduate school. Traumatic. The structures that I had …
“The Glory of Jacob Shall Be Made Thin”: Mormons, Marriage, and the Cold Realities of Physical Attractiveness
Alas, one wanders through the BYU campus and simply cannot escape its pervading influence: romance. One visiting professor from the University of Minnesota‘s renowned family …