A Few Mini-Rants

Noneof these subjects deserve a full-fledged rant of their own, and/or some of them are the subject of previous rants, so I've edited down these additions to four bite-sized chunks.Mini-Rant #1 - The Earth Isn't Getting BiggerI could write - and have written - dozens of global warming-themed rants, because global warming alarmism ... Read more

A FairMormon Rant

I'ma big fan of Fairmormon.org, an LDS apologetics website that confronts some of the thornier issues in Mormon history and theology. So I joined their official Facebook group in the hopes of having some interesting conversations.Be careful what you wish for.One of the threads focused on controversy surrounding past Mormon racism.  One member asked ... Read more

A Prequel Rant

I'veneglected this blog. I know I have. I feel just awful about it. Well, not really, but I ought to pretend I do.I don't want to abandon this blog. Yes, I write columns and such for the Deseret News, but I can't let loose there the way I can here, and I don't want to ... Read more

Dear Hank

(Asa reminder to those of you who are not Hank, Hank slammed me pretty hard yesterday. You'll need to read his comment for this reply to make sense.)Dear Hank,I'm pleased to know you don't hold a grudge, but it leads me to wonder how much nastier you could have been if a grudge were part ... Read more

On Being Hated: Seven Years Later

Inreviewing an incident about which I posted early in this blog's history, I realized this blog is now in its seventh year. That strikes me as being a very long time to be writing politicalrants and bowel jokes, even if I don't update it as often as I ought.Yet this blog still survives because I ... Read more

Loving the Prick Kickers

Thatphrase has a naughtier connotation now than it did in 1839 when Doctrine & Covenants section 121 was written. But verse 38 describes the phenomenon of those who try to exercise their priesthood unrighteously:
Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to
... Read more

Mormon Apocalypse Not

Sothe editor of a virulent anti-Mormon website, which I will not link to or reference here, has filed a legal complaint in England against Thomas S. Monson under the British fraud statute passed in 2006. According to the suit, Monson has deliberately perpetuated seven separate lies for the intent of bilking two British citizens out ... Read more

Sustaining the Fallible

Mybriefly resurgent acting career led to many backstage discussions on a variety of topics, but religion usually came to the forefront. On one occasion, I was asked how I could support a church where the policy is that "when the prophet has spoken, the thinking has been done."I responded by saying that wasn't the policy, ... Read more

The Settling of Science

Inmy real life job, I teach prisoners and parolees to identify the consequences of their behavior. To illustrate that some consequences are non-negotiable, I propose a bet.In this bet, I hold a book, and I say that I'm going to let it go. If the book falls down, they have to pay me fifty bucks. ... Read more