A history of the LDS garment. Another interesting history is the evolution of the LDS prayer circle.
What a religious debate on Facebook would look like in the Mayan pre-Columbian America.
Sincere devoutness is sometimes indistinguishable from good satire. Case in point: this Stake President’s blog. I hope it’s a spoof, and I’m pretty sure it is. But wow, it’s a very convincing parody—and funny! My favorite post is his awkward and euphemistic discussion of oral sex. [Edit: I initially thought this was real, but some commenters convinced me otherwise.]
The Scientific American on why we’re suckers for stories of our own demise.
The Vatican released a strongly-worded report demanding decisive and dramatic action to curb the effects of global climate change. The Vatican also invited AIDS experts for a two-day symposium to discuss prevention methods, including condoms.
The Catholic Church has received incredibly negative press due to the priest abuse scandal (which is still developing). But I think the Catholic Church is due some credit for tackling substantive issues like global warming, poverty, etc. One of my long-standing complaints about the LDS Church is its focus on relatively petty concerns (double piercings and flip-flops come to mind).
It’s time to reconsider graduation prayer in public high schools, writes Bruce Ledewitz for Religion Dispatches.
Greta Christina argues that all religious are equally crazy. I maintain that some religions are demonstrably more implausible than others, but I agree that religious folks should be slow to find the crazy in other religions lest they forget the crazy in their own.
It’s easy to mock Harold Camping’s failed prediction that the rapture would occur on May 21st (Camping has rescheduled the rapture for October). But Jesus was also a failed doomsday prophet, and Joseph Smith believed that the Second Coming would happen in 1890 or 1891.
A survey of nearly 15,000 people suggests that atheists have the best sex lives. Perhaps were there more atheists in Utah, it wouldn’t be the most stressed state. Relatedly, the US reports far lower levels of happiness than similarly developed but more secular nations.
MRI tests reveal that Apple triggers a religious reaction in its fans’ brains. I wrote about a similar study last summer.
An Islamic theologian and scholar says the Prophet Muhammad probably never existed.
Santa Monica residents may vote on a ballot initiative in November 2012 that would ban circumcision.
I saw a Craiglist job ad for Java engineers that was restricted to LDS applicants only. It specified further that the applicant must be temple-worthy. Unless the job posting is with the church directly, isn’t this illegal?
Nearly two-thirds of Americans now support legalizing same-sex relations, a new record high.
The top 10 myths about the brain.
Some drama in the Reddit Exmormon community: A poster is threatened by another member with being publicly outed as ex-Mormon for not being pro-gay enough.
The Mormon Chronicle writes that the public education system is antithetical to LDS teachings, and that Mormons must only be taught by other Mormons.
The far right has lionized Ayn Rand for decades, and Republicans are again giving her a lot of lip-service. What a strange bedfellow Rand makes for the Religious Right though, given how virulently anti-Christian she was.
A Saudi woman is arrested after campaigning for the right to drive.
French postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida becomes an internet meme.
Despite the church’s past with polygamy and its entrenched, traditional gender roles, there is a feminist strain within the Mormon tradition—one that may be enjoying a resurgence. The Salt Lake Tribune recently published a piece about Mormon women’s historical ability to administer priesthood blessings. And Mormon blogger Joanna Brooks suggests that the LDS concept of Heavenly Mother may be making a comeback.
Why people stick by scandal-plagued pastors.
Sam Harris sketches out a morality without free will and its implications.
Philosophy professor Andrew Fisher of the University of Nottingham contends that philosophy needs to be taught much earlier. He has started teaching at primary schools in disadvantaged areas, teaching kids the fundamentals of logic and critical thinking.
Seventy percent of science award finalists are the children of immigrants, showing that immigration is a boon to science and math.
I’ve written at length about BYU’s use of aversive therapies (including shock therapy) in its treatment of homosexuality. In the interest of fairness, I’d like to share a more sympathetic view of this part of BYU history.
A recent neurological study finds that powerful religious experiences may actually contribute to atrophy in the brain.
A radical new birth control injection for men promises to be 100% effective for 10 years. What’s more, it has no reported side effects and is completely and quickly reversible.
How to argue on the internet.
After his mom won the lottery, an atheist converts to Christianity. Fox carries the story as ‘news’.
CNN compiles a list of popular Bible misattributions—phrases and ideas people think are in the Bible, but are not.
Is atheism just a ‘sexed-up’ version of agnosticism, or are the two terms distinct? And if the latter, are they complimentary or incompatible? Talking Philosophy analyzes the competing definitions.
Newsweek calls 2011 ‘the Mormon Moment’. Two presidential candidates belong to the faith, the Senate leader Harry Reid is Mormon, and Mormonism is the subject of a critically-acclaimed Broadway musical.
The latest presidential election poll has Mitt Romney as the Republican frontrunner, with most not caring about his Mormonism.
BYU Studies identifies the many LDS themes in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga.
Richard Dawkins and 13 other academics launch a new private humanities college.
Skeptic Mormon shares some troubling facts about Mormon polygamy and debunks popular myths about the practice.
American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi made up a guru character and a phony religion, then filmed a documentary as he developed a following. The documentary illustrates just how credulous our species can be.
