LYMA's New Features

Well, according to data taken from the recent "Questions of the Day" we have exactly 9 people who participate on LYMA. (By the way, congratulations to Chris and Janelle, our undisputed "Blogger Daddies").

Anyway, I've added 2 new features to the blog (courtesy of Ebenezer Orthodoxy over at BloggerHacks which I found through Kaimi's plug at T&S).

In the left column I've added links to the 5 most recent comments made at LYMA. Hopefully this will assist anybody who scrolls through the blog several times per hour looking for new comments.

Secondly, posting comments is now easier than ever. If you decide to comment on a post, you will now be able to see the previous comments (an improvement on Blogspot)as well as the original post (an improvement over HaloScan). In addition, anybody who pleases may comment. Hopefully this will attract would-be contributors who shy away when Blogspot asks them for a password. The only difference is that the author's name will now be posted AFTER the comment.

Hopefully this will increase regular traffic through LYMA and foster an even new level of discourse.

Finish reading post.

Is this the end of the world?

My co-workers and I were debating yesterday whether the world is worse now than ever before. Most of them are religious and expressed their concern that the world is getting worse and worse and that the apocalypse is fast approaching. One of them said, "just look at CNN for crying out loud." I did, and this is what I found:

Hurricanes do more damage

Mount St. Helens is grumbling again

California suffers major earthquake

Trial of man who buried 14-yr old alive

Bird flu virus now feared communicable between humans

15 killed by rocket attack in Israel

I have to admit, it's quite a collection of stories, and would feed almost any end-of-the-world frenzy. But I'm skeptical. I tend to think that the world really isn't that much worse but that we are more aware of our surroundings, that natural disasters, disease, and other calamities are not more abundant, but that 24-hr access to cable news disproportionately affects our perception.

One example: the concern about avian-flu (which I've been following closely since Katrina and I will be moving to Thailand in 7 days) is that it will wreck the same havoc that the Spanish Flu pandemic (also a bird flu) of 1918 to 1919 did, which is believed to have killed an estimated 20 million to 100 million people.

I remember reading an article once in the Ensign which said that a number of youth were polled and an overwhelming number said they thought the end of the world would happen in their lifetime. (The article was referencing the faith-promoting lie of the "chosen generation.")

Are we really in the last days of the world? Are stories on the evening news really the signs of the times?

Finish reading post.

“Real” Duty-Free Dating

I've been married almost 2 years now. Two of the best wedding gifts that I received were a one-way ticket out of my singles ward Elders Quorum and the expiration of my pass to single, young-adult firesides. Please don't get me wrong, I have no hard feelings toward my fellow comrades in Mormondom's generation-X. I am relieved, however, to have escaped the constant fustigation from bishops, stake presidents, seventies, and even apostles against the single men for not dating more "nice young ladies in your ward." While I was able to blow off my parents' passive-aggressive, back-handed comments about my dating habits, I often felt that my church leaders went too far.

For instance, three years ago my stake president visited our EQ to “raise the spiritual bar” and told us that dating was a priesthood responsibility and that if we didn’t date at least once a week, we shouldn’t consider ourselves worthy to enter the temple. Yikes…

I think this mentality is the very thing which has led singles ward bishops to implement an increasing number of ward-sponsored social events. Unfortunately, the criticism continues against single LDS men, even those who use these ward events to get to know the “nice young ladies” of the ward (see Chris Potter’s post).

Well, for all of you brethren who are tired of the drama, the chastisement, the flak, I offer you the "real" duty-free dating program: the Perpetual Dating Fund (PDF). To every bishop, concerned parent, stake president, and Institute director, it's time to put some money where your mouth is.

The program is simple: Turn in all of your receipts to the bishop for remuneration up to $50 for each first date. If you ever end up marrying the girl, you both pay the church back that $50. The church would just add another row to the tithing slip and anybody who feels that the young single adults should be dating more can contribute to the fund in order to finance this duty-free dating program.

Young, single MoBros, UNITE!

Finish reading post.

Religious Reconciliation

Last week my wife's brother got engaged. I celebrated this moment as it marked the end of numerous phone calls and e-mails from him asking me how I "knew" my wife was the one for me. Aside from being grateful that I don't have to pepper myself with that question anymore, this experience got me to thinking about my decision-making process and how it compares to others, especially those in the LDS church. All too often I feel that members of the church rely too heavily upon a spiritual confirmation and become paralyzed from action and almost obsessive in their frantic quest to "do what Jesus would do." (This is obviously not unique to the LDS church, but this is where I personally see it the most). To be quite honest, I just don’t understand this line of reasoning. I have always believed that God judges us by the decisions that we make, NOT by the decisions that he makes for us.

I realize that the Book of Mormon admonishes us to “counsel with the Lord in all thy doings” and to “let all thy doings be unto the Lord” (Alma 37:37,36), not to mention praying over everything from our families to our sheep. This school of thought is often championed by general authorities who teach that the Spirit is involved in the intricacies of our lives.

However, I’ve always subscribed to the scripture which says "it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is slothful and not a wise servant" (D&C 58:26). As a result, I approach the aforementioned scriptures from Alma as metaphorical references to the omniscience of God and the insignificance of man. Consequently, I find myself discounting (often unfairly) those who accept a more literal reading of these verses and hesitate to act sans divine approval. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to reconcile these schools of thought more evenhandedly.

Obviously, this is not the only subject that requires reconciliation. I find a similar tension between the constant counsel to get out/stay out of debt and the encouragement to get the best education possible. There is often friction between the focus on personal revelation and the command to unquestionably follow the directives of our church leaders. I’m sure there are numerous other examples, but I think you get the point.

What are your methods for reconciling these (and other) teachings? Is there anything to learn from the experience of Adam and Eve?

Finish reading post.

The "God Gap"

The theory of the "God gap" suggests that religious Americans are conservative and will vote Republican while non-religious Americans are liberal and will vote Democratic. This theory has been prominent in press reporting and political maneuvering in the 2004 presidential race. At their recent conventions, both parties seemed to grapple with faith dynamics and respond to the perceived God gap in interesting, unexpected ways. For example, the Republicans tried hard to keep faith out of the primetime convention speeches, while the Democrats were determined to give religion its share of the limelight.

Stephen Waldman, a former editor for U.S. News and World Report, and co-founder and CEO of Beliefnet, has followed the election closely and argues that the "God Gap" is a myth. Recent polls have shown that while there is a divide between those who go to church more than once a week and those who don't go at all, the percentage of americans for whom religion, prayer and a relationship with God is important divides between the parties.

All this brings me to an experience I had recently; Janelle and I were visiting Doug and Katrina in DC this weekend and the sunday school teacher, as sunday school teachers are unfortunately wont to do, expressed her political opinion that people should vote according to how "religious" the candidate is. Apart from the fact that being "religious" in the sectarian sense of the term doesn't necessarily make a good leader (Lincon never went to church, but was a very spiritual man), you really can't tell look into someones heart to see how genuinely faithful they are.

I would hope that whoever is in power acknowledge (implicitly) a spiritual aspect to their life, but making overt religosity a part of politics only encourages people to fake it. Is faith important for me? Yes. Do I want a moral president? Yes. Do I want someone who does a great job at pretending to be both religious and moral as president? Of course not. Do I care to know whether as president, a candidate will pray in a certain way, or to a certain God? Not at all.

Finish reading post.

My Beef with Blackberrys

I’m convinced that the motivating force behind the creation of the blackberry was to create a device that would give people a polite way to avoid conversation in the elevator. You can say all you want to about wireless access to email and the ability to be in near-constant contact with your co-workers, but I know the truth: you just don’t want to talk to me.

Case in point: This morning I was in a particularly good mood when I arrived at work. I was on time, I had gotten a seat on the subway, and I had made the very rational decision to wear flip-flops while commuting instead of painful, pointy-toed (but oh so cute) high heels. In other words, I was one very shiny, happy person. As I got into the elevator I looked around smiling, eager to share my good mood through a well-placed comment about the weather (crisp and beautiful) or the current Jewish holiday (a happy New Year to you and yours). But, alas, every single other person in that elevator was completely absorbed by their blackberry. I was surrounded by ten pairs of thumbs, all frantically flying as they rushed to respond to the correspondence that, apparently, couldn’t wait the 90 seconds it would take them to reach their desks. As a member of the administrative staff (cough, secretary), I am not the lucky owner of such a device and was therefore left to focus on resisting the urge to make faces at myself in the shiny elevator doors. Ah, forget resisting. Everyone is reading their email anyway.

Finish reading post.

New Look

Fellow bloggers -- I thought we could use a makeover. I'm no computer genius, nor do I claim any aesthetic authority over online color-schemes. However, I thought I'd take a stab at livening up our blogger. I added a couple of links on the side (nothing official, of course). If anybody has any good ideas, go ahead and make them. If you'd like to add more links (or change the current ones) go to the bottom of the template code and follow the directions. If anybody is really attached to the old "Blue Minima" style, we can revert back with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Finish reading post.

A little bit about us...

Due to the frequency of the “who are these guys?” comments we’ve been receiving lately, I thought I’d take a minute and introduce us.

Basically, we’re all friends (or friends of friends) who thought that a blog would both be a good way to keep in touch and help keep our minds from turning to mush. Most of us are in our early twenties. Many of us went to BYU (we also have some people from UCLA, Yale and Columbia). Lots of us are Mormon. A few of us are not. Some of us are still working on our undergrad, some are in graduate school, and some are trying to figure out what to do with our lives while working jobs that could be done by a brain-damaged monkey.

Anyone else have anything to add?

Finish reading post.

We've been discovered!

Check it out:
http://mormoninquiry.typepad.com/mormon_inquiry/2004/09/who_are_these_g.html

Finish reading post.

Foriegn Policy Meanderings......

B/c of the recent attacks in Chechnya and elsewhere, russian pres. putin has invoked the "made in the USA" idea of pre-emptive strikes against possible terrorist outfits (i.e. ''As for carrying out preventive strikes against terrorist bases . . . we will take all measures to liquidate terrorist bases in any region of the world").

Now, I'm not one to take hard stances on things, but this foriegn policy doctrine that started with the U.S. invasion of Iraq seems to be nothing but bad news. Assume, for argument's sake, that the U.S. Government recieved intelligence adequate to justify preemptive invasion on a certain country; assume too that they only invoke this doctrine when it's absolutly essential. Even with these generous, though not implausible, assumptions the doctrine just fails. Here's why:

1.) We can't impose a double standard on other countries who might not have justifiable motives. Say, for example, China invades and annexes Mongolia because they have received "intelligence" that Mongolia is a threat. What international agency (like the U.S. would subscribe to that anyway) is going to determine what qualifies as a justifable threat? But, it's circular (not to mention dangerous) to say a threat is what any government determines its threats to be.

2.) Assessing threats that need to be preempted belongs to the intelligence community; and until we can be assured that only "good" intellegence will be taken into account for such decisions, there's no way to tell whether preemptives strikes are really necessary.

The problem is that, in some cases, I can see why a preemptive attack could be necessary and even good, but can anyone come up with a way to justify this doctrine without letting in those pesky, and very dangerous, side-effects?

Finish reading post.

Gmail

Oh, sweet success. After spending two hours on Friday surfing the web in an attempt to finagle an invitation to join "gmail", Google's new email service that's still in testing, I am now the proud owner of an email address that ends in gmail.com. I am also the proud owner of four invitations to allow others to join gmail. SO, if anyone else out there shivers at the thought of one gig of storage space or emails being filed by conversation rather than date, let me know and I'll send you an invite.

Finish reading post.

The Constitution as Scripture?

I've found a credible reference to the "hanging by a thread" statement we were wondering about earlier. Rex E. Lee, the Solicitor General under Regan, talked about it in a speech at BYU in the early 90s. I'll put the quote at the end of this post. Another interesting thing he mentions in this speech is the belief that some LDS people have that the Constitution is "inspired" and therefore on par with scripture- i.e. infallibe and eternal. Lee doesn't agree that it should be seen that way, but this leads me to another question- why does a large part of church members seem so optimistic about our country and the supposed virtues of the founding fathers and at the same time subscribe to this "hanging by a thread" notion? Along these lines, I also can't help but wonder if LDS members are too trusting of political authority, b/c we are so trusting of our religious authorities. The whole article is here.

"A final area of constitutional interest unique to Latter-day Saints finds its source in the well-known "hanging by a thread" statements by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Similar statements have been reiterated by no fewer than six of his successors, including the current prophet. In a forthcoming book to be published by the Religious Studies Center, Professor Donald Cannon lists over forty instances in which these seven presidents have either used the "thread" metaphor or something like it. But in none of those quotations cited by Professor Cannon has any Church leader ever been very specific as to the metaphor's meaning. "

Finish reading post.

More Instructional Falsehood...

Inspired by Jason's comments on etymology and instructional falsehood, I started to remember some (what I call) “faith-promoting lies”. My favorite is the prophet Joseph’s supposed comment that if we could see the glory of just the telestial kingdom, we would kill ourselves to get there sooner. No one seems to have a reference for that one.

I hope that the recounting of such fables wouldn’t weaken one’s belief that miracles are real. Can one be guided to the truth by inspiring half truths? I feel that the difference between a testimony and an anxious belief of incredible tales is the manifestation of the spirit. For me, the myths serve a comedic purpose. I would be interested to hear some of your favorite faith-promoting lies, including prophetic misquotes, gospel gossip, and unexpected appearances of any of the three nephites.

Finish reading post.

Olympic Madness

I really don't know what we're going to post on now that the olympics are over, but in a final attempt to hang on, here's this.

In one of the posts I hypothesized about GDP correlating with winning medals. Well, if you couldn't tell from the start, that was oversimplifying things a bit. Andrew Bernard, a Dartmouth Economist, worked out a formula for predicting medal totals. In 2000 he predicted the exact number of medals the US won, and for the Athens olympics he was an amazing 97% accurate.

Bernard writes that four factors determine where the medals go:
1. Population
2. Per Capita Income
3. Past Olympic Performance
4. Host effect

Here's the article, it's an interesting read.

Finish reading post.