An Apolitical Discussion about Mormons and Politics and Ethical Literature

I posted a version of this blog entry on the blog for the Association for Mormon Letters:

I recently had an extended political discussion on Facebook. The person I was talking with, also a practicing Latter-day Saint, disagreed with me on pretty much every current issue. But my point in continuing the discussion was not to finally persuade him that I was right, but to help both of us see that taking a different political position does not mean we need to question each others’ commitment to the Church or to our country. And to help us both understand that good dialogue can lead to greater understanding and more trust.

An Imperfect Brightness of Hope

A talk I gave back in March of this year:

After admonishing his people to follow Christ and be baptized, Nephi said, “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Ne. 31:20). I see a paradoxical tension between the concepts of “enduring” and “having a perfect brightness of hope.” The word “endure” connotes little in the way of pleasure; its etymological root is “hard.” In French the word dure, which comes from the same Latin root, means “difficult,” “harsh,” “severe,” or “stern.” On the other hand, the words “perfect brightness of hope” connote light and optimism, warmth and peace. The two concepts don’t seem to go together.

Now Zina would be the first to tell you that having “a perfect brightness of hope” is not something I’m terribly good at. Depression does not just run in my family, it gallops.

What I Learned about the Universe from my Mother

My mother passed away last week after a short but valiant battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Here are my remarks from the funeral:

When my father passed away three years ago, I spoke about what I had learned about life from his words and example. Today I would like to do the same for my mother. As you have heard from my wife, Zina, Mom was a capable and creative woman. She was not, however, a woman of science. Some of the things I learned from her just do not stand up under scientific scrutiny, but I find myself passing on the same wisdom to my own children.

Glenn Beck, Social Justice, and the Morality of Government Intervention

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Glenn Beck, Mormonism, Social Justice

Only someone living on the moon could have missed the controversy that erupted after Glenn Beck admonished his listeners of his March 2^nd show to “look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can.” Evidently, Beck believes these terms are code for communism and Nazism and that religious leaders who use these terms are subliminally persuading congregants to accept an evil ideology. Commentators and bloggers have raged against Beck’s seemingly heartless attack on the poor, his ignorance of Christian theology (the term “social justice” dates back to nineteenth century Catholic thought, has been codified in Papal encyclicals, and is used widely in Protestant and Catholic churches to the present), and his lack of understanding of how Catholic diocese function (Catholics, like Mormons, do not shop for a congregation but are assigned one based on geographic region).

A Letter to My Sons’ Principal

Dear Dr. X:

After reading the statement on the Provo School District web page essentially endorsing our children seeing President Obama’s speech this week, I was thrilled that my two children would be able to see the President speak to them in the classroom despite the rancorous public controversy. I was also thrilled when our governor and even many of our state legislators came out in favor or letting children hear the President’s words. However, when my children came home and I discovered that they had not heard the speech, I was flabbergasted. I understand you were likely dealing with many angry parents, and I know first-hand how difficult this decision must have been to make. However, I believe that, when faced with the easy/wrong choice or the difficult/right choice, you opted for easy and wrong. And you sent a powerful negative message to our children and our neighborhood.

The Morality of Politics: The Challenges of Mormon Tribalism

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Talk given at UVU Mormon Studies Conference 4 April 2009

Last year, I did something no sane person would do. I ran for the state legislature. In Utah county. As a Democrat. I knew going into the campaign that only five percent of the district was registered Democrat, and that Utah county is often referred to as one of the reddest counties of one of the reddest states in the union. In 2004 Bush won Utah county 86% to Kerry’s 12%; statewide, Utah gave Bush his largest margin of victory, and Utah County gave Bush the largest percentage of any county its size. The fact that I knew all this going into the campaign and still proceeded proves, I suppose, just how mentally unstable I was. But I also knew that within my district, a larger percentage of voters were registered as “unaffiliated” than Republican, 49% to 43%, so I thought it might be possible to win over these voters. And I was running as a socially conservative Democrat; my most radical position is supporting public schools and the PTA. We had seen a referendum on vouchers go down to defeat the year before, in my district vouchers failed by a strong majority, and I was running as an anti-voucher candidate. I was hoping the voters would consider the election Vouchers Part II: Revenge of the Voters.

I discovered, however, that in politics things are just not that simple.