Epithalamion
April 25, 2018(Marriage Song for DJ. and N.J.)
I. Before Sunrise
Artemis,
too faint for shadows,
wanes over the western sands.
DiaBLOGue
Hit the Frolicking, Rippling Brooks
April 25, 2018Religions is for women. Says Madeleine, Portuguese-Catholic, chunky in her black pleated skirts, cackling always, nudging God. Women believe it. Women practice it. When pews are filled they are filled with women. Men eh they…
Social Science and Religious Beliefs: Some Misconceptions
April 25, 2018In this century the controversy between science and religion has shifted from natural science to social science. The conflict is less heated because religion is culturally less important now than it used to be. Still…
Belief Systems and Unhappiness: The Mormon Woman Example
April 25, 2018Institutions, structures and traditional roles provide necessary meaning, support and direction in people’s lives. Chaos occurs when they are wholly lost, and yet too much structure and constricting roles, out-of step with a changing culture, contribute to problems which may require psychiatric treatment.
Negative Social Labeling: Some Consequences and Implications
April 25, 2018Eliciting commitment while maintaining participative membership is a major consideration for organizations such as the LDS Church. Relatively few Mormons, for example, formally leave the Church, but many “fall away” from participation and commitment. In…
The Coniunctio in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
April 25, 2018From at least the seventeenth century and perhaps from as early as the writings of the pre-Socratics, Western thought has been plagued with a radical dualism which has severed one area of activity and experience…
Freud as Friend of the Gospel
April 25, 2018When the church orator poses his rhetorical question, “Who’s on the Lord’s side, who?”, no one thinks to suggest Sigmund Freud. Most Mormons associate Freud with lustful sexuality, primitive drives and (somehow) biological evolution. Psychoanalysis,…
And We Were Young
April 25, 2018I will tell you now that words come hard for me. Perhaps that is why I value them so highly. And I make no apology for being simple where most men are complex and complex where many men are simple.
Spitting Mad | Ben F. Mortensen, If You’re Mad, Spit! And Other Aids to Coping
April 25, 2018Dr. Mortensen’s book is readable; it has a flowing style and is brief. The author is entertaining, effectively using case vignettes to illustrate his points. Perhaps because of the brevity and ease of reading I…
The Hinckley Institution | Robert H. Hinckley and JoAnn Jacobsen Wells, “I’d Rather Be Born Lucky Than Rich”: The Autobiography of Robert H. Hinckley
April 25, 2018Robert Hinckley is clearly one of Utah’s most distinguished sons. In a career spanning over a half century, both in Utah and on the national level, he has worn a number of different hats—politician, government…