The Baron
All posts written by "The Baron"
By: The Baron
Lisa Simpson: A rose by any other name smells as sweet
Bart Simpson: Not if you call them 'Stench Blossoms'!
The great big elephant in the room with California Proposition 8--which both sides seemed determined to ignore—is that California has had a domestic partnership law on the books since 2005, and which remains unaffected by Prop 8’s passing.
By: The Baron
…as theorized by a statistical analysis here (mentioned in this thread at T&S) How should one react to that?
By: The Baron
There are two kinds of "false doctrine". Don’t confuse them:
1) Statements or teachings that are false.
2) Statements or teachings that are not known to be true.
By: The Baron
One of the constant battles of the Internet age has been between adult content and filtering software.
One idea that has been tossed around for years--and revisited this year by ICANN as part of a general domain name expansion--is the creation of an .xxx domain, specifically for sites with pornographic material. The theory is that having a 'porn domain' would make it much easier to (a) find, for those who are interested, or (b) filter out, for those who are not.
By: The Baron
Every ward has one. (Oftentimes, more than one...)
Charity 'black holes'.
Just like real black holes that suck in all forms of light and don't release anything out again, a "charity black hole" in the Church is a person or family that constantly consumes resources, charity, and service from other church members without ever offering anything back.
By: The Baron
Many personal and online conversations about the Church involve the phrase “One True Church”. Here’s an important consideration.
The key word in the phrase “One True Church” is not “One”, and it’s not “True”.
It’s “Church”...
By: The Baron
[Wrap up of this brief series about movie content and ratings. Links to earlier posts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6]
Imagine this situation: You are heading back to your apartment one evening after work/school when you run into a friend from next door.
By: The Baron
There’s no question: Church members like seeing other Church members become famous.
Having famous Church members in the news in a variety of professional fields--business, sports, singing and dancing—provides a certain comfort to Latter-Day Saints who can see fellow Saints be successful on a national stage, even beyond the simple “good PR for the Church” standpoint.
By: The Baron
[Part 6 in a brief series about movie content and ratings. Links to earlier posts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5]
“You know, if the Bible (or Book of Mormon) was a movie, it would be rated R…”
A commonly heard phrase…notwithstanding they HAVE made movies based on the Bible and the Book of Mormon and most of them were not rated R...
By: The Baron
[Part 5 in a brief series about movie content and ratings. Links to earlier posts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4]
Editing movies for content has been a controversial idea from the beginning...
By: The Baron
[Part 4 in a brief series about movie content and ratings. Links to earlier posts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3]
Originally, there were four ratings for movies: G, PG, R, and X.
Then came Steven Spielberg...
By: The Baron
[Part 3 in a brief series about movie content and ratings. Links to earlier posts: Part 1 | Part 2]
Conventional wisdom says the US—and particularly the conservative watchdogs who discuss movie content the most— are far more tolerant of violent content than sexual content.
Before we discuss whether this should be the case or not—is one of either sex or violence worse than the other?—first let’s see if this is, in fact, true. Are movie ratings in the US more ‘lenient’ for violent content than they are for sexual content? Let’s do some research…
By: The Baron
[Part 2 in a brief series about movie content and ratings. Links to earlier posts: Part 1]
The movie rating system has taken a lot of abuse over the years, most of it deserved. However, it’s worthwhile to try to look at the current movie rating system objectively—considering both the pro’s and con’s—and see what the alternatives are, if any.
By: The Baron
[Part 1 in a brief series of posts about movie content and ratings from an LDS perspective]
Question: Why are Church members encouraged to keep standards when selecting movies to watch?
Answer: Because many movies contain profanity, sexual images or dialogue, and violence.
Question: Okay, but why avoid profanity, sex or violence (PSV) in the first place?
By: The Baron
Imagine a particular type of congenital heart defect that strikes children from birth and dooms them to an early death, usually before they are a year old. Suppose every year throughout human history about 100 children worldwide are born with this defect and pass away within a year, with really nothing anyone can do about it.
By: The Baron
Kaimi asks whether it's hypocritical for the Church to oppose same-sex marriage on a 'marriage = one man and one woman' basis, given its polygamous history.
Is it contradictory to oppose gay marriage while allowing (in principle) for polygamy? Not at all: polygamy does not, in fact, violate the 'marriage = one man and one woman' principle.
By: The Baron
"Milk before Meat" is how the axiom goes--see 1st Corinthians 3:2. Not so in the blogosphere, where largely we view ourselves as full-fledged carnivores looking for the juiciest steaks we can find.
Or perhaps not. It came to me one day as I was sitting in a recent Sunday School class...
There is no 'meat' in the gospel.
Or rather, rephrasing: the milk *is* the meat.
By: The Baron
"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith..." (Ether 12:4)
"O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things?" -- Korihor (Alma 30:13)
Question: what's the difference between a real hope and a false (or 'vain') hope?
By: The Baron
On August 6th, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan--quickly followed three days later by another on Nagasaki. This bombing essentially ended World War II in the Pacific front, as Japan surrendered to the Allies immediately after.
The use of atomic bombs to end the war—causing over 200,000 deaths within the first year, and many more following due to radiation exposure—was and is, to say the least, a controversial decision. Was dropping two atomic bombs on Japan a ‘mistake’ by the US? Something that, in hindsight, was highly regrettable, and shouldn’t have happened?
By: The Baron
Recently, I received the following spam email from a local member:
I am contacting as many Mormon bloggers as I can to spread the word about my petition, “LDS Financial Disclosure.” As you know, the Church does not disclose any of its financial records. Financial disclosure is an easy way for any organization to do right by its supporters and publicly declare that it is ethically managed and putting its funds to good use. Further, this will enable the church to clear the air of any detractors and demonstrate how it is using Church funds to bless lives.
This is a oft-heard complaint, and one of the classic 'no-win' situations for the Church...
By: The Baron
(Continuing on from Part 1 & Part 2)
Discussing the question of whether gay marriage should be legal involves asking the right question in the first place.
Many gay marriage supporters ask, “Why shouldn’t there be legalized gay marriage?” That’s the wrong question...
By: The Baron
Continuing on from Monday's analysis of the gay marriage issue…
It’s important to note that the pro-gay-marriage side is no less susceptible to arguments that are weak, irrelevant, and/or mistaken as the 'anti-'s are. Let's look at the arguments from the other side of the debate.
What the arguments for legalized gay marriage are NOT:
By: The Baron
With the recent California Supreme Court decision regarding gay marriage thrusting the issue back into the spotlight, it’s understandable that many inside and outside of the Bloggernacle are taking sides.
For the record, I don’t support legalized gay marriage, although I also don’t support many of the common arguments made against gay marriage by opponents. Those who oppose gay marriage inside and outside of the Church would be wise to recognize which arguments against legalized gay marriage are weak, irrelevant, or downright false, and not muddle their case by making things easier for the other side to refute.
Let’s look at what the arguments against gay marriage are NOT:
By: The Baron
The debate comes up regularly among our member friends from around the country (and the world): Is it better (by whatever definition we choose) to be a Church member in the “Mormon Corridor”--Utah, Idaho, and areas of Nevada and Arizona--or in the “mission field” (everywhere else)?
[Note: I don’t personally support the use of the phrase “mission field” to describe every other part of the world, but that’s the colloquial usage around here…]
By: The Baron
It’s been a while since we’ve used mathematics to discuss gospel subjects, so let’s introduce two common problems in computer science:
Problem 1: Imagine a lake, which due to an amazing geological miracle happens to be shaped in a perfect rectangle. On the lake are N boats, each at their own unique (X,Y) locations on the lake. The task is: Find the two boats that are closest in distance to each other.
By: The Baron
[Part 10 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9]
As a side note to the general science vs. religion discussion, let’s take another aspect of science and see how it could apply to some religious principles in general, and story in LDS history in particular.
Here’s a simple example to introduce some of the concepts of dimensional theory.
By: The Baron
“Defending marriage” is an oft-discussed topic both in the LDS world, and elsewhere. Few General Conferences go by without the topic being raised in some form--albeit often in vague and unspecific terms.
In the US today, divorces are mounting—an estimated 10% of the US adult population is now divorced, up from 8% in 1990, and 6% in 1980--and along with them come the wide variety of serious social problems they can cause.
By: The Baron
[Part 9 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8]
In the previous section, we looked at how evolution may be reconcilable with creationism in general. Now let’s look at some specifics regarding the Biblical account of man’s creation: Adam, Eve and the Garden of Eden.
By: The Baron
When it comes to religious stumbling blocks--issues that believers of any religious tradition find hard to reconcile together with current teachings or policy--the 'inaction of God' is a common one. Basically, the idea that God has the omnipotent power to overcome any large or small problem we face in mortality...but chooses (for some reason) not to do so. Many people just can't accept the idea that a living God is compatible with the prevalence of evil in the world today, where God appears to remain passive.
Answers to the problem of God's inaction (meaning, of course, not answers answers, but rather alternative ideas to help reconcile the problem) generally include: free agency and a higher view of ultimate purpose of mortality (as discussed a number of times on this site and elsewhere).
I believe, paradoxically, however, the bigger stumbling block to those who doubt God's existence is not heavenly inaction, but heavenly action.
By: The Baron
[Part 8 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7]
Before hitting ‘evolution’ proper, we should first define and discuss some additional terms that are relevant to the debate.
(1) “Creation”
What does it mean to be ‘created’, or for something to have a ‘creator’?
By: The Baron
[Part 7 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6]
When identifying the primary points of conflict between science and religion—the areas where most debates seem to start and stop—the top two are almost certainly: (1) evolution and (2) Noah’s flood.
Saving evolution for later, it is remarkable the amount of attention that Noah and his ark receive, only because of how insignificant that story really is from a religious perspective. (The story itself contains nothing directly or even indirectly related to what we would call ‘doctrines of salvation’—if it were removed from the Bible altogether, Christianity as a religion changes hardly a bit…)
By: The Baron
[Part 6 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5]
Before we address some specific elements of the science vs religion debate, let’s first identify the idea of ‘reconciliation’.
“Reconciliation” happens when someone is faced with two ideas and/or bodies of data that seem to contradict, despite some amount of evidence that suggests both are true. When this happens, there are a number of possibilities:
By: The Baron
[Part 5 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4]
Imagine a university with both math and literature classes. (Okay, maybe that's not that hard to 'imagine'…)
By: The Baron
[Part 4 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3]
“Faith” is almost universally considered to be a religious term…and not without reason, as there are 368 sections of scripture throughout the LDS standard works that discuss it.
Often, to a person on the science side of the debate, “faith” is not only a religion term, but a derogatory term at that. “You (a religious believer) depend on ‘faith’“, you might hear, “while we (the science side) rely on fact”.
Is ‘fact’ really the opposite of ‘faith’? Would it surprise anyone to learn exactly how much science depends on those so-called religious pillars of ‘faith’ and ‘testimony’?
By: The Baron
[Part 3 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2]
One of the primary characteristics of working with incomplete ‘explanation-schema’ is that speculation becomes a fundamental part of the process. One takes what one knows, places it within the framework of existing theories, and then makes guesses as to what the rest of the picture might look like. They are usually educated guesses, of course--not random--but speculative guesses nonetheless.
By: The Baron
[Part 2 in a multi-part series on Science & Religion from an LDS perspective. Previous entries in the series: Part 1]
For the next step in analyzing the relationship between science and religion, let’s look at how the search for truth is accomplished in both. To do this, we need first to define a word that gets thrown around a lot in science vs. religion discussions: “Theory”
By: The Baron
[Part I in a series of articles exploring the ‘conflict’ between science and religion, particularly from a LDS perspective. I do not have a pure scientific background, so this series will not be a deep analysis of scientific evidence in regards to religious beliefs or doctrines—you might try LDS Science Review or Clark’s site for that—but rather an exploration of the concepts of science and religion and how to relate and reconcile them together from a more abstract, philosophical perspective.]
A key question in modern society is how to judge the relationship between science and religion. No one questions that they are different, but are they different in the sense that they fundamentally oppose and conflict with one another, like oil and water? Or perhaps complement each other instead, like peanut butter and chocolate?
By: The Baron
On a certain street in a certain (imaginary) town there are two houses that lie directly across from each other. Within each house lives a different LDS family, although as it happens the local ward boundaries travel down the middle of the street in front of them, thus these two families happen to belong to separate wards despite their close proximity.
By: The Baron
Among famous Mormons with high name recognition (excluding recent presidential candidates), retired QB Steve Young probably still ranks near the top, even among non-football fans.
During his Hall of Fame NFL career, Steve Young was widely celebrated both for on-the-field accomplishments, and additionally for being an 'ambassador' for the Church--someone who achieved great (secular) success without (to my knowledge) seriously compromising his LDS beliefs.
Well, other than the 'working on Sundays' thing, that is...
By: The Baron
"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!" -- Homer Simpson
There's little evidence that the Superman character was originally visualized as a Jesus Christ-substitute of sorts by his original creators in the 1930's--since in his initial form Superman couldn't fly, nor was he completely invulnerable to weaponry.
Nevertheless, in his later incarnations—especially in movie form starting with the original
“Superman” in 1978 to the recent 2006
“Superman Returns”--Superman has been ‘re-imagined’ as a “Christ-figure” with many (undoubtedly intentional) parallels. (Not least of which is his father Jor-El who watches Earth from afar, and sends his "only Son" there to be the "light that shows others the way".)
By: The Baron
Defenses of apathy are few and far between in the gospel. (See D&C 42:42, and 88:124 for counter-examples...) Here's one 'defense', however, for doing absolutely nothing.
The debate over illegal immigration has continued all over the US, especially in Utah where Church authorities have started to weigh in on the matter...
By: The Baron
The word "sin" is defined as: 'a transgression of divine law'
By: The Baron
Within Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life (1st Nephi 8), he outlines four distinct groups of people (see verses 21 through 33 specifically)
- Those that make it to the Tree of Life by holding onto the Iron Rod and who stay faithful ever after.
- Those that make it to the Tree of Life, but fall away later, being "ashamed".
- Those that start on the path to the Tree of Life but become lost in the mist of darkness and "lose their way".
- Those that never start on the path at all, but head straight to the 'great and spacious building'.
It is that fourth group that will be the subject for today...
By: The Baron
If everyone is able and willing to take a break from thinking about and discussing the somber events of the last week...
The Book of Mormon (and scripture in general) is meant to be pretty serious, however there are still a few passages here and there that can be viewed in an amusing light. (Not necessarily to an 'laugh-out-loud funny' extent, but can bring a smile to your face)
By: The Baron
Geoff at New Cool Thang discusses the problem of evil, linking back to the original discussion here a couple of months ago.
Rather than post a lengthy comment there, here's some continuing thoughts:
By: The Baron
Imagine we have a guy named "Ken". One day, out of the blue, Ken murders "Fred" who lives down the street from him.
Let's suppose YOU are called upon to decide Ken's fate, with absolute authority to hand down any sentence deemed appropriate, including the death penalty. Let's say also that before you were called upon to do this, you had never met Ken nor Fred before (just to remove any non-rational influence one way or the other towards either man).
By: The Baron
“I’m going to ask my boyfriend to marry me tomorrow,” our friend announced to us suddenly during dinner.
“The Baroness” and I exchanged furtive glances. This proclamation was not immediate cause for rejoicing.
By: The Baron
I've always wondered why--pagan and secular influences aside--Christmas turned out to be the major Christian holiday of the year rather than Easter.
By: The Baron
Many LDS bloggers such as myself have long wondered if and when the Church would ever address Church blogging in an 'official' capacity.
On December 15th, we now have the most 'official' statement on the matter to date (that I'm aware of...): Here's a link to the LDS newsroom article on Elder Ballard's BYUH commencement statement, addressing "new media" and blogging specifically.
By: The Baron
Everyone knows Church members can't actually choose which ward they attend--you go to the ward which covers the geographical location where you live , and you just deal with it.
That is, Church members except for *me*...
By: The Baron
Suppose, one day, you hear about a tragic car accident. The car was driving along the highway, hit a wet patch on the road, the driver lost control, flipped the car and then died in the resulting crash. Suppose this driver was a 25-year-old temple-worthy returned missionary man in the prime of his life, leaving a wife and young infant without a husband and a father.
By: The Baron
Once upon a time (...in a far away land) there were two LDS missionaries who played basketball. One day, they contacted a teenage guy about their age who also played basketball, and regularly met up together for pickup games with he and his friends.
By: The Baron
Deep in the mountains, lives the Troggle clan—short humanoid creatures who live peacefully together in a small village.