My Ghosts
April 13, 2018When I was twenty and dewy-eyed, I visited Auschwitz. I found ghosts there. The red bricks of the camp were gritty with the black soot which was all that remained of four million people, gassed…
DiaBLOGue
Is There Such a Thing as a “Moral War”?
April 13, 2018As anti-war demonstrations gained in size and frequency throughout the Western world during the Gulf War, it is doubtful that many Latter-day Saints took part, if experience during earlier conflicts is anything to judge by.…
The Moral Failures of Operation Desert Storm
April 13, 2018The successes of Operation Desert Storm hardly need to be mentioned. The media have joined forces with politicians to praise the superior fighting ability of the United States military, the diverse international coalition that was…
The Thoughtful Patriot — 1991
April 13, 2018During the first few weeks of January this past year, I suspect the thoughts of most Americans seldom moved for very long from the subject of war. Most of us felt hopeful and fearful, stimulated…
Mechanics
April 13, 2018They tell us now
That the darkness of space
Is what’s left over,
Hallelujah!
April 13, 2018I took my violin and my music from the back of the car and listened to my heels tap on the asphalt as I walked across the parking lot. It was an icy December night,…
Fatherless Child
April 13, 2018As I stood in the receiving line at my daughter’s wedding last May, a neighbor drew me aside. “Have you seen Janet recently?” she asked, referring to her eldest, unmarried daughter. “No,” I said. “Well,…
A Jew Among Mormons
April 13, 2018In the fall of 1990, I was asked to speak to an undergraduate honors seminar at Utah State University about being a Jew among Mor mons. I warned the student assigned the task of recruiting…
The Hero Woman
April 13, 2018When the days drag on like TV reruns,
The Hero Woman conies.
She walks in with long strides from the hips.
She keeps her eyes on the horizon.
Bearing Out Crosses Gracefully: Sex and the Single Mormon
April 13, 2018In the more than five years I have served as bishop of a singles’ ward, sexual transgression has been the most pervasive, persistent, and painful problem I have had to deal with. Scarcely a week…