Welcome back to the TBM Podcast! In this episode, MC and G talk about the challenges facing BYU.
At 4:34, G explains why he feels sympathy for the difficult position that BYU administrators tasked with navigating the current landscape. At 9:35, MC proposes a theory for why BYU professors tend to be more left-wing than Church members as a whole. (more…)
Jefferson would not have cared for Kirk’s mystical community of souls.
The saying attributed (probably incorrectly) to Otto von Bismarck, that there is a special providence for drunks, fools, and the United States of America, is nowhere better illustrated than in the fact that Jefferson was in France during the Constitutional Convention.
And it is a sign of our historical ignorance and confusion of terminology that a certain brand of right-winger idolizes Jefferson while calling himself a conservative.
A brutal takedown of the Obama clan.
Am I naive to think Obama’s opponent in the 2012 election was better?
The entire Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered in Rome, together with the Church’s First Presidency. Why? What did they wish to communicate with this meeting? To whom?
Also, I have never before seen a group portrait of these two quorums posing together. I have disliked the abreviation “Q15” that some use, mostly their detractors, but maybe I am behind the times. (Mormon Newsroom link)
Or, “Durn’d if ya do, and durn’d if ya don’t” as Pecos Bill might say.
The reporter of this story seems fair in giving both sides (actually three or four sides) of whether President Trump was acting appropriately in signing Bibles (at a church) at the request of the survivors of the recent tornadoes in Alabama. The Northern ministers/religionists were against it, and the Southern ministers were for it. And one said it’s awkward when people ask, but he does it because it’s meaningful to the people who ask.
Trump ain’t no saint. But he demonstrated respect to common folks. Regardless of his inner motives, he actually showed respect to the people to whom he went to comfort.
This story illustrates (in part) how/why Trump got elected, and that some elitists still don’t understand how/why he did.
Perhaps there’s a lesson in the story about how to minister.
Welcome to the return of the lightly rebranded TBM Podcast! Enjoy our new musical intro, courtesy of President Russell M. Nelson and Kolobyte.
We have a new participant! The humble jefe of the Junior Ganymede blog, G, joins Will and MC for a searching discussion of how to build masculine social groups among local church members. (more…)
I assume your Stake Conference is like it is here: two weekends a year, with a Saturday night session for the grown-ups, plus a Sunday morning session for everyone. (And a Saturday afternoon session just for those in leadership positions.)
In my opinion, the “best” session for me is the Saturday night session for adults. Whether the speakers are local rank-and-file members, local leaders, or visiting General/Area Authorities, the talks are generally more powerful, more direct, more tell-it-like-it-is, and often a tad more humorous (because it’s not the Sabbath, and a little levity can be appropriate at times).
The reason this is so, I assume, is because of the absence of children’s “tender ears and hearts” and the fact that it is mainly the hard-core or “inner circle” members who attend on a Saturday night. (more…)
