My latest post at M* considers the possible ramifications of God being comprehensible. Here is a preview:

Is that a laudable goal, to try to comprehend God? Is God even comprehensible? Please note, I do not mean to ask if God is comprehensible to current mortal man. No, I am asking if God is comprehensible at all.

What does it mean to comprehend something? Try to define that for yourself for a moment to get a feel for the difficulty in doing so.

I would like to propose a fairly simple definition for your consideration. I propose that “to comprehend” something is merely the ability to describe it in terms of the laws the govern it — to algorithmically compress it, if you will. If we comprehend how the world goes around the sun, this surely must mean we understand the laws of physics that cause it to do so. Therefore comprehensibility is equivalent to explanation and description.

I’m so confused.   (more…)

Over the Falklands.  (more…)

Seems to be the rule with sex offenses. (more…)

A new post at M* comparing Mosiah 15:1-5 and D&C 93. Here is a preview:

Do Joseph Smith’s own writings count as counter evidence if he explicitly tells us what he means?

If we take Joseph Smiths’ revelations as historical documents and as “his” writings, then I’d have to say D&C 93 completely undermines the Swedenborgian interpretation of Mosiah 15:1-5 in favor of a Representational Modalism / Divine Investiture interpretation instead.

When women see a Husqvarna chainsaw or dirt bike, they will often let the men in their company know that Husqvarna sewing machines are high quality products. But just think how the market for sewing machines could possibly expand if Husqvarna put two-stroke engines on some instead of electric motors.

We just had a very fruitful discussion (in my opinion anyhow) about many subjects near and dear to my heart that address certain deep concerns I hold.

I really appreciate everyone that participated and, amazingly, I don’t feel any of the frequent posters in that thread lost control or did anything but add productively to the conversation.

I was just reading Popper in Myth of the Framework that it’s a fallacy that you have to hold the same framework to have a fruitful discussion. But what really impressed me was his thoughts that the “Myth of the Framework” came into existence because people misunderstood the difference between “pleasant” and “fruitful.” True fruitful discussions are never pleasant. They are an attempt to bridge gaps between frameworks that seems unbridgeable at first, and may never be fully bridgeable, but can be substantially bridged for those that try. (more…)

If the Mormon Review ever gets around to publishing my essay on The Great Divorce, you’ll find that Overstreet’s definition of what’s important about fantasy is what I was trying to get at. (more…)

Yeah, I pretty much agree. We should cut out college for everyone except the teetotalers, and them only if their parents don’t pay for it.

I recently made a post on M* about H.P. Lovecraft and I forgot to put a link on Jr. G to it. Here is a preview:

Joyce Carol Oates suggested that Lovecraft’s “gothic tale[s] would seem to form psychic autobiography” apparently inspired by his own religious views, commonly called Maltheism where one “achieve[s] the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.”

I had a long conversation with J. Max recently about just why I generally like NOMs and even agree with a lot of what they say and do and feel they (potentially anyhow, if not in practice yet) could do the LDS Church a real service.

But there is one thing about that culture that has bothered me a lot, and it creates a huge divide that I don’t believe is bridgeable until addressed by them.

NOMs widely accept that it’s okay to hide (or worse, lie about) what they believe from Believing Members while actively undermining the faith of others through criticism. I have numerous documented cases of this now and it seems to be a very wide spread problem within that community. (more…)

Via the invaluable Manolo.

From an interview:   (more…)

Gates donates handcuffs to the Museum of African American History and Culture. (more…)

War by other means.

I can’t say enough about this threat. From my perspective at Death Star, Inc., this is just the tip of the iceberg.