NOM

I only saw a couple minutes of it this morning when I happened to notice it on Facebook and skimmed it a little to see what it was. It still appears to be circulating there . Note: I do not endorse creating a Facebook account just to see this. Social media is a poison that is ruining the Internet an...

Back in 2001, a group took a poll (at a university, I think) to determine qualities that people liked and didn't like in music. They then made a song that included all of the elements that people didn't like. For example, many of those polled didn't care for opera, rap, country, commercial lyrics, l...

There is a ton of great music being produced today, with and without modern technology. The things that become the most popular or win music awards (same thing) are absolutely the wrong things to focus on. They are always going to be boring. For most people, music seems to "peak" with their high sch...

I had a mission companion who insisted that every event and word in the temple presentation involving Adam and Eve was literal history. Even at my most devout, thought that it was plainly obvious that it was a vehicle to teach the audience. But of course I still believed in the creation and fall sto...

I suspect it's true that societies need belief in a higher power and will always reinvent religion. Science fiction stories about civilizations that have "moved past" that stage are never entirely convincing to me. But it's hard to imagine a lot of counterfactuals, so who knows. Maybe it has happene...

Since the last time I've been inside a temple, I've twice been the one to watch various kids outside while someone in the family was getting married. One mistake I won't make again is waiting in the temple's waiting room. It's very boring for kids and they kind of go crazy. I periodically have famil...

In the 2000s there were several popular comedy Web comics that talked a lot about video games. One of them was called Ctrl+Alt+Del. I never read it, personally, because I didn't like the writing or the art. At one point, the creator of that comic decided to have it take a sudden "serious" turn. That...

Experiencing anything similar to "this" for eternity sounds like hell to me. I've always liked the idea of the Telestial kingdom, because (insofar as it has any coherent definition at all) it's very similar to this life but without any disease, starvation, injury, death, and so on. How much would t...

Intellectually, I realize that I obviously won't care about no longer existing. But I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea. Maybe it's survival instinct, but I like the idea of continuing to exist. Maybe that's how religions get started. At some low points I guess I've entertained the idea...

It was only recently that I learned that the shelf analogy is generally credited to Camilla Kimball, wife of Spencer W. Kimball. Because of her family’s hospitality toward searching and studying, Sister Kimball says, “I’ve always had an inquiring mind. I’m not satisfied just to accept things. I like...

If you don't get that last one, then congratulations. You have not spent way too much time on the Internet.

I wonder if the temple experience consisted in sitting in an uncomfortable chair in an empty room for an hour, how many people would keep attending regularly and raving about how fulfilling and enlightening it is. I remember thinking at one point that I might enjoy visiting the temple more if I cou...

. . . let alone getting that special visit from a ministering angel that none of the self-righteous never-strayers so desperately desire but never get. Yes, one element of the Alma the Younger (or Saul) story that I always found interesting is the way he didn't have to "work" for his testimony by e...

I haven't been to a Sacrament Meeting in some time, but one nice thing about technological advances when I did was that I could bring my Kindle and no one would know whether I was reading scriptures or something else during the boring parts. (It was something else.) I agree that it's always better t...

I find myself sort of fighting against not caring to some degree. I recently started listening to Mormon Stories episodes again after not keeping up with them for a while (especially the recent John Larsen ones) and I even ordered a new academic-type book that I'm not sure I'll realistically read (t...

Unnamed Philosopher maintained that consciousness is a fundamental quality of nature, and that everything in existence possesses it to some degree. Are you sure this wasn't Brigham Young? I seem to remember him having said some very similar things about "intelligence" and how the elements are actua...

Here's my attempt: Religion: A set of ideas and stories that primates accept to help them feel meaning and purpose. Science: A methodology that helps primates comprehend and shape the world that they find themselves in. Both: Distractions from the realization that consciousness is merely a survival ...

The labels I have gravitated toward over the years are ignostic and absurdist . But I never really say these terms aloud because they wouldn't mean anything to most people. I've never referred to myself as atheist or even agnostic, regardless of whether those labels might fit, because of the negativ...

I've seen some younger missionaries without ties in my area (still white shirts, though). It was a little jarring, but maybe just because I'm an insider and used to the old traditions. I wonder if this type of change might break the illusion of authority a little. I'm thinking of how I've occasional...

I think some of Joseph's theology answered some questions better than traditional Christianity, like the Problem of Evil . . . . Yes, this is what comes to mind for me as well. Not just the definition of God, but the concept of premortal life and everyone being coeternal with God. But of course thi...