I updated my Now Reading list (three clicks down the sidebar), adding a slot for Christian books. My first will be John Polkinghorne's The God of Hope and the End of the World (Yale Univ. Press, 2002), which should provide several posts during March. Does anyone have any suggestions for the next book? I'm amazed at the number of general interest Christian books that cycle through the New Books shelves at the local library.
Dave Banack : February 2009 Archives
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Add to StumbleUponFriday February 27, 2009
Categories: Law
No aphorisms for Utah city park
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously against a New-Age sect that sued to force the town of Pleasant Grove, Utah to place a monument inscribed with the 7 Aphorisms of Summum in a city park, complementing a monument already in the park that displays the 10 Commandments. Full story in the NY Times, "Court Denies a Religion Its Monument in a Park." Wow, there are just so many angles to cover here.
Filed Under: free speech
Thursday February 26, 2009
Categories: Politics
Missionaries might give Utah an extra seat
Politics makes strange befellows, as the saying goes. See Salon.com's post, "Will trade: One black Democrat for one Mormon Republican," reviewing the pending legislation that will give Washington D.C. "actual voting representation in the House" and, at the same time, grant Utah one additional seat in the House of Representatives.
Wednesday February 25, 2009
Categories: Blogs and blogging
A truth-seeker's guide
At Mormon Matters a couple of weeks ago, "A Truth-Seekers Guide to the Bloggernacle and Beyond," relating a few rules for sifting reliable posts and comments from the not-so-reliable stuff one reads. I know college profs stuggle to teach undergrads that "a reliable source" does not mean anything one finds via Google. A few of the suggestions from the post: Does the writer cite any sources? Are the supposed "experts" actually qualified? What's the rest of the story (the other side of the argument)? Have you given opposing viewpoints a fair hearing?
Monday February 23, 2009
Categories: Interfaith
Trendy Wiccans
No one gets too worked up about witches anymore. They've gone mainstream, even in the fairly conservative world of Mormonism. Check out this FMH post and its comments, for example, or this weblog. US Army chaplains now apparently get training in basic Wicca beliefs. Beliefnet even added A Pagan's Blog to its wide-ranging blog lineup. So ... is this a good thing or a bad thing? Progress or decadence?
Filed Under: wicca
Friday February 20, 2009
Categories: Christianity
Radical Evangelicals?
While cleaning out the highlighted posts in my overstuffed Google Reader, I came across "Two Streams of Evangelicalism in the 21st Century" at The Scriptorium. It reviews the emergence of a post-conservative brand of Evangelicalism that tries to find a...
Filed Under: evangelicals
Thursday February 19, 2009
Categories: LDS doctrine
What if the Mormons are right? An alternative view of baptisms for the dead
A pleasantly entertaining op-ed piece from the Belfast Telegraph: "What if Mormons are right and Catholics and Protestants are wrong?" Not only does the writer cover in short order the ancient Christian tradition of baptism for the dead and why...
Wednesday February 18, 2009
Categories: Politics
Free speech or threat to public safety?
Driving around town late last week, I heard a spirited BBC discussion (carried by my local NPR station) about Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parlaiment who produced a film suggesting the Koran incites violence. Get Religion posted on...
Filed Under: free speech
Wednesday February 18, 2009
Additional Prop 8 disclosure info
Here is a follow-up to my earlier post on this topic. The LDS Newsroom put up a second post regarding financial disclosures in connection with in-kind contributions to the Yes on 8 campaign by the LDS Church (as opposed to...
Filed Under: Proposition 8
Monday February 16, 2009
Categories: Interfaith
Mormon scripture
This is the long overdue second post on Craig Blomberg and Stephen Robinson's How Wide the Divide: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation. [See the first post.] This post talks about the Mormon view of scripture, with reference to the...
Filed Under: How wide the divide?
Saturday February 14, 2009
Categories: Essays and articles
"Jesus and I Broke Up"
If you're the type who's not really that into Jesus anymore, go read the clever little essay by Owen Egerton, "Jesus and I Broke Up," reposted here. [Hat tip: comment #3 at this Mormon Matters post.] In fact, go read...
Friday February 13, 2009
Categories: LDS places
A reporter's account of an LDS Sunday service
It is always helpful to try and see yourself through someone else's eyes. So it's worthwhile to read a British journalist's account of attending an LDS Sunday meeting (a monthly testimony meeting, not the usual weekly sacrament meeting) at the...
Thursday February 12, 2009
Categories: Politics
Is there a future for theocons?
I recently read Damon Linker's The Theocons: Secular America Under Seige, a book that chronicles the author's view of the rising influence of the religious right in politics. I suppose I'm late to the party, but it's still an informative...
Tuesday February 10, 2009
Categories: Apologetics, Evolution and science
A Christian look at Intelligent Design
I was clearing out highlighted posts from my too-full Google reader (does anyone else have this problem?) and came across a series of posts on ID at Tough Questions Answered: A Christian Apologetics Blog. The two fellows who run the...
Sunday February 8, 2009
Categories: Politics
More on Obama's faith-based initiatives
Following up on my earlier post, see this fine post at First Things: "Obama and the Faith-Based Initiative." The post is a short but informative review of what Pres. Obama is likely to do with his new Council on Faith-Based...
Thursday February 5, 2009
Categories: Politics
Faith-based initiatives 2.0
At the LA Times, "Obama broadens Bush's faith-based programs." The same mainstream media that saw President Bush's faith-based initiative as a threatening breach of the metaphorical wall between church and state seems to think Obama's faith-based initiative proposals are just...
Wednesday February 4, 2009
Categories: Prop 8
Getting the Prop 8 contribution story straight
The LDS Newsroom released a statement correcting media misstatements regarding the recent filing of its final report of financial assistance to the Yes on 8 campaign. On Friday, 30 January, the Church filed the final report of its contributions (all...
Wednesday February 4, 2009
Categories: Blogs and blogging
Slow food, slow blogging
Great ideas ... but who's got the time? This morning I touched the bases on "slow blogging" by reading Emily Jensen's column, then the LDS Media Talk post "Slow Blogging," then the New York Times piece "Haste, Scorned: Blogging at...
Tuesday February 3, 2009
Categories: Evolution and science
Darwin Week at BYU
As reported at the Mormon Organon, Brigham Young University is hosting Charles Darwin Bicentennial Week, running February 9 through 13. A schedule of the presentations, including one by the Dean or Religious Education, is posted at the site. This highlights one...
Monday February 2, 2009
Categories: News
President Monson: One year at the helm
The Salt Lake Tribune did a short one-year review of the tenure of Thomas S. Monson as President of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The article notes that "impetuous acts of kindness are the hallmark of Monson" and...
Monday February 2, 2009
Categories: Politics
LDS Church defends legislative meetings
The Salt Lake Tribune allowed managing director of LDS Public Affairs Michael Otterson to publish a reply defending the LDS Church's practice of meeting with Utah state legislators once each year. There are actually two meetings, one with Republican leaders...
Sunday February 1, 2009
Categories: Mormon culture
Tough choices for Mormon athletes
At SI.com, "When choosing where to play, Mormon recruits face unique issues," discussing the challenges faced by a couple of high-profile LDS athletes as they consider which four-year sports program to enroll in. [Yes, I realize there is a four-year...
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About Mormon Inquiry
This blog is no longer updated and is closed for comments. We welcome your comments about Mormonism in our Latter-day Saints forums.
David Banack is an attorney living in Jackson Hole. He joined the LDS Church at age 15 and later served a two-year LDS mission to France and Switzerland. He has lived up and down the West Coast, as well as in Fiji, Samoa, Sweden, Utah, and now Wyoming. Dave has been running the Mormon Inquiry site discussing LDS and Christian issues since 2003. He is a website editor for Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and also participates at the LDS weblog Times and Seasons. The views expressed on this blog are his own.Search This Blog
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Now Reading
- Nauvoo Polygamy - The latest book-length treatment of the controversial early LDS practice of plural marriage. This book focuses on the beginnings of the practice in Nauvoo, Illinois under Joseph Smith, before the migration of the main body of Mormons to Utah in 1847.
- The God of Hope and the End of the World - Theologian and scientist John Polkinghorne takes a hard but hopeful look at "end things" as viewed by science and by Christian theology.
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