Category: Uncategorized

The impetus for this post came from a conversation that started here. Since the blog administrator won’t publish my response, I wanted to raise the issue in a more general setting. (Personal attacks on the author of that post will not be tolerated in this thread. Anything that encroaches on an ad hominem–or is overtly condescending– will be deleted.)

As religious people we are interested in religious things. This interest, for the most part, extends beyond our own tradition and into larger issues of world wide religiosity. Comparing our tradition with other traditions is a natural part of this interest and interaction. The larger issue underlying this post is how to do “responsible” comparison. As a way of getting into that conversation I want to offer a critique of the kind of comparative studies we (meaning members at large and not necessarily those doing academic work, although the latter sometimes do it as well) all too often engage in. Continue reading “The Perils of Parallel-o-Mania”

I think that we Mormons help people transitioning from Fowler’s stage 2 to Fowler’s stage 3 remarkably well. I think saying we are in the top 5 or 10% here would not be exaggerating. For those who are not familiar with Fowler’s stages I’ll give a brief summary of stages 2, 3, and the transition in between, followed by why we as Mormons do so well.
Continue reading “Where we succeed: Mormon Pedagogy and Fowler’s Stages of Faith, Part Two”

This bounced into my in-box this morning… 

————-

The emails we have sent out to faculty across the country to date have all dealt with current issues in the academy. It has always been our intention, however, to provide occasional lessons about AAUP history, especially when the past is still with us.

This year is the tenth anniversary of one of the AAUP’s more remarkable cases–the 1998 censure of Brigham Young University. The full report is on our Web site. Let me give you a few highlights in the hope they will draw you there.

A young faculty member was up for tenure at BYU. Though there was some discomfort with her feminist interests, her department gave her a strong recommendation based on her teaching, research, and citizenship, and that view was endorsed by the college. At the next level up–the University Faculty Council–the tone changed. Objections were voiced that she had violated the tenets of the Mormon Church, most notably by publicly acknowledging that she prayed to “Heavenly Mother as well as Heavenly Father.” Hardly a confession that would earn you a newspaper headline in most American cities, but at BYU it led the Council to claim she had weakened the moral fiber of the university. They recommended against tenure and the BYU president concurred.

Continue reading “AAUP 10 years later”

Over at By Common Consent there is an article on Mormon pedagogy. The article is actually just a quote from Kevin Christensen, and the salient part is just Kevin Christensen quoting Louis Midgely. Anyway, the substance of the quote is that church pedagogy tends towards ignoring the scriptures and just using the scriptures as a way to “divert attention away from the message and meaning in the text under consideration, and back towards what we already know.” The purpose of teaching this way is to inculcate orthodoxy, if the scriptures conveniently teach orthodoxy, great! If they don’t, one can just use them as a diversion to orthodoxy. In either case you don’t have to gets your hands dirty with the messiness of texts and can just pretend that what you think and are taught is what has always been thought and taught. Up to a point this is a simple and satisfying view of the scriptures. That is until it isn’t.
Continue reading “Mormon Pedagogy and Fowler’s Stages of Faith, Part One”

Sometimes I feel that LDS sermons book reports Sacrament Meeting talks come a little short, whether in enthusiasm or mental stimulation or whatnot. But I guess it all depends on what you’re comparing it to.

Single word changes in a scripture text can make a big difference. As an example, one of President Monson’s favorite scripture passages has to be Jeremiah 8:22, he seems to quote it every other time he talks.
Continue reading “Just a Single Word Changed”

In 1219 Francis of Assisi traveled to Damietta, Egypt, in order to convert Sultan Malek al-Kamel and avoid the Fifth Crusade.  He did not baptize the sultan but he did work out a peace treaty which was later rejected by his fellow Christians.  He also spend time in Egypt and in the Holy Land ministering to the needy regardless of creed.

After Francis returned he drew up a Rule for those who were to join him as Franciscans.  This document is called the First Rule, or, because it was rejected by Pope Honorious III, the regula non bullata (Rule not ratified by papal bull).  According to official reports, the pope rejected Francis’ first effort because it was too austere.  The real reason, however, may lie in the way in which his experience among the Muslims was reflected in the First Rule.
Continue reading “I Desire to Dwell Among This People”

And you thought I was going to say something about Mountain Meadows, right?

Nope.  I am not feeling serious today.
Continue reading “Religiously Motivated Coverups”

Peter Enns is an evangelical scholar of the Old Testament. Until recently he taught at Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Enns and the seminary recently reached an agreement for him to step down from his position. Westminster is a conservative theological seminary in the reformed tradition.
Continue reading “The Case of Peter Enns”

What is it about suppressing an idea that seems to draw attention to it? I’m not sure, but when a text goes from being suppressed to being championed, it perhaps suggests that the ideas it contains are all the more important.

Two cases in point:

Continue reading “Suppressed texts that bounce back”