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LDS Miscellany through a Berkeley Lens
Episodes
Saturday Oct 31, 2020
Saturday Oct 31, 2020
‘Tis the season for a show about politics! Join us as we look at political polarization in the 50s and 60s and trace its effects all the way forward to 2020.
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, by Gregory A Prince and WM Robert Wright
https://www.amazon.com/David-McKay-Rise-Modern-Mormonism/dp/0874808227
The Law of Consecration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_consecration
The United Order
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Order#cite_note-Clark04-1942-26
Diogenes was searching for an honest man (and may have been earth’s first green lantern):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes
https://twitter.com/jdp_writes/status/1321901575535812609
Fearreantum
https://irreantum.associationmormonletters.org/17-1-top/
This Scary Statistic Predicts Growing US Political Violence — Whatever Happens On Election Day, by Peter Aldhous
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/political-violence-inequality-us-election
Whoops, the quote attributed to Jimmy Carter about if you don’t want your tax dollars to help the poor then you don’t want a country based on Christian values, was actually said by comedian John Fugelsang!
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jimmy-carter-helping-poor/
Arthur Watkins’s memoir is called “Enough rope: The inside story of the censure of Senator Joe McCarthy by his colleagues, the controversial hearings that signaled the end of a turbulent and a fearsome era in American public life”
Folding Ideas: In Search Of A Flat Earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTfhYyTuT44
QAnon Is a New American Religion, by Caroline Mimbs Nyce
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2020/05/qanon-q-pro-trump-conspiracy/611722/
Newt Gingrich Says You're Welcome, by McKay Coppins
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/newt-gingrich-says-youre-welcome/570832
And just for fun, a J. Golden Kimball quote on politics:
Saturday Oct 17, 2020
Saturday Oct 17, 2020
Ever heard of the baseball baptisms? Missionary Work during David O’Mckay’s presidency has some swings! Come for the crazy stories and stay for the embarrassing ones.
We continue reading “David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism,” this time chapter 10, “Missionary Work”.
Whence the Early Baptismal Challenges, by Angela C.
https://bycommonconsent.com/2019/08/06/whence-the-early-baptismal-challenges/
Saturday Sep 26, 2020
Saturday Sep 26, 2020
During President McKay’s tenure, the church tripled its membership. The reorganization of the church to handle this unprecedented growth was known as ‘correlation’. How did this process affect the church, its quorums and auxiliaries? What were some of the side effects? We again use David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism as a reference for today, focusing on chapter 7, “Correlation and Church Administration”.
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, by Gregory A Prince
https://www.amazon.com/David-McKay-Rise-Modern-Mormonism/dp/0874808227
Useful wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priesthood_Correlation_Program
Article on women healing: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&context=mormonhistory
“There Is Always a Struggle”: An Interview with Chieko N. Okazaki, by Greg Prince. Dialog 45, no. 1 (Spring 2012).
https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V45N01_CO.pdf
“What have the Joseph Smith Papers taught me?”, by Steve Evans
https://bycommonconsent.com/2020/08/24/what-have-the-joseph-smith-papers-taught-me/
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Welcome to season 3! We introduce our themes for the year, and after that take a deep dive on baptism.
This year we’ll be focusing on change in the church, and how our expectations of true doctrine clash with the realities of a people-led church.
Notes:
“I’m coming to the conclusion that 1933 was the hinge upon which modern Mormonism pivoted: It was the year BH Roberts died and J Reuben Clark joined the First Presidency, thus marking the sunset of one potential Mormon trajectory and the dawn of another.” -Benjamin Park
https://twitter.com/BenjaminEPark/status/1299770339971526656
Wikipedia for B. H. Roberts and J. Reuben Clark:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._H._Roberts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Reuben_Clark
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, by Gregory A Prince
https://www.amazon.com/David-McKay-Rise-Modern-Mormonism/dp/0874808227
Comic on B.H. Roberts, from The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl, Part One, by Scott Givens (click ‘look inside’ and search for doubts)
4th article of faith
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1.4#4
Gospel topics: Baptism
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/baptism
D&C 76
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/76
Eric’s lecture on the first vision:
Gospel topic on the vision, or D&C 76. See especially the vido linked therein:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/the-vision-dc-76
D&C 19:15-19
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/19.15-19#15
Sin Does Not Exist: And Believing That It Does Is Ruining Us, by S. Richard Bellrock
https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/sin-does-not-exist/
A Monopoly on Exaltation, by user Ziff
https://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2020/08/24/a-monopoly-on-exaltation/
The Mediator, by Boyd K. Packer. ← Powerful atonement talk
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1977/04/the-mediator
Twitter thread on the Mediator, see several links here:
Thursday Jul 30, 2020
Thursday Jul 30, 2020
The second season of Face in Hat concluded with the previous episode regarding Christopher Columbus and Black Lives Matter. We'll be starting our third season this fall with more episodes, continuing as part of the Dialogue podcasting network.
In the meantime, enjoy Eric’s lecture, "Triangulating God: Eighty-seven Angles on the First Vision." In it, Eric approaches the question of "how to explain an experience no one shares? Joseph Smith struggled throughout his life to explain the First Vision and now Latter-day Saint artists take up this impossible mantle.” Part of an ongoing series on the First Vision through the Oakland California Stake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFSicnZ3B3k
Tuesday Jun 02, 2020
Tuesday Jun 02, 2020
“Bioshock Infinite can make you feel uncomfortable.” - Kevin VanOrd. So will 2020. We talk about civic religion in the video game Bioshock Infinite and how it relates to the apotheosis of Christopher Columbus and racism in the church. We end with a discussion of the current nationwide protests and affirm that #BlackLivesMatter.
We thank @BenjaminEPark for two twitter threads that inspired this episode and we cite him extensively. See https://twitter.com/benjaminepark/status/1164696231634976768 and https://twitter.com/BenjaminEPark/status/1267489043840827392.
Bioshock infinite trailer: https://youtu.be/EsJ55BzIvkE
Bioshock infinite review by Kevin VanOrd review from GameSpot: https://youtu.be/jSA9AsdBh00
The Apotheosis of Washington vs. Bioshock Infinite’s Garden of New Eden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apotheosis_of_Washington
https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Garden_of_New_Eden (see the Entryway to Eden)
Benjamin Park’s thread
https://twitter.com/benjaminepark/status/1164696231634976768
Land of Promise in The Book of Mormon, by Tyler Livingston (note, on the show I said Orson Hyde added the footnote to 1 Ne 13:12, but it was Orson Pratt)
https://www.fairmormon.org/blog/2010/09/16/land-of-promise-in-the-book-of-mormon
Christopher Coloumbus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
Visit of eminent spirits to Wilford Woodruff (include Ezra Taft Benson quote)
https://josephsmithfoundation.org/wiki/eminent-spirits-appear-to-wilford-woodruff
References for Book of Mormon commentary by George Reynolds
https://gospeldoctrine.com/book-mormon/1-nephi/1-nephi-13
George Reynolds: Loyal Friend of the Book of Mormon, by Bruce A. Van Orden
Columbian Exchange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange
Americapox: The Missing Plague, by CGP Grey
https://www.cgpgrey.com/blog/americapox
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond Ph.D.
Protests thread by Benjamin Park
https://twitter.com/BenjaminEPark/status/1267489043840827392
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, by Gregory A Prince and Wm. Robert Wright
Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War Paperback, by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Book of Mormon for the Least of These, Volume 1, by Fatimah Salleh and Margaret Olsen Hemming
The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories, by Don Bradley
Racism in the Church:
https://twitter.com/TaranTrinnaman/status/1267837998751776771
Melodie’s request:
Sunday Apr 26, 2020
Sunday Apr 26, 2020
We love the Fall. Adam, Eve, fruit, the whole thing. Today we talk about the LDS perspective on the Fall, including what LDS scriptures bring to understanding this monumental event. Nifty poetry too!
A Harmony of the Creation Accounts, from the Pearl of Great Price Student Manual
The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism's Most Controversial Scripture, by Terryl Givens
https://amzn.com/dp/B07WNK63SY
Aaron’s concordance between Genesis 3 and Moses 4
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PsZXaUJ_hAbsGzhS0vC5s-UP4A94pf0V8oGci4ZSXQM/edit?usp=sharing
Adam and Eve (LDS movement, wiki)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Eve_(Latter_Day_Saint_movement)
Gospel topic: Fall of Adam and Eve
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/fall-of-adam-and-eve
The Fulness of the Gospel: The Fall of Adam and Eve, Ensign June 2006
Gospel Classics: Adam’s Role in Bringing Us Mortality, by President Joseph Fielding Smith
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2006/01/adams-role-in-bringing-us-mortality
Perelandra, once again cited!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perelandra
The Redemption of Eve, by Jolene Edmunds Rockwood
http://www.mormonmonastery.org/PDF/TheRedemptionofEve.pdf
Moses 5:11
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/moses/5.11#11
“UTopia” by Laura Nielson Baxter, collected in “Fire in the Pasture: 21st Century Mormon Poets”
What Was Left of the Stars, by Claire Åkebrand
Eric’s comments on Claire Åkebrand’s poem, “‘First Actors”, from the above collection
https://motleyvision.org/2017/09/05/claire-akebrands-what-was-left-of-the-stars/#more-12058
Witchy Eye, by D. J. Butler
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
We take a break from our LDS miscellany to discuss the current pandemic using the recent conference as a backdrop. Please note the upcoming world-wide fast on Good Friday.
“We will conquer the coronavirus, apostle Holland says”
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/04/05/latest-sundays-lds/
April 2020 World Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSqT1bPmYb8
Mosiah 4:16-19
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/4.16-19#16
Crowd-fight COVID-19: an initiative from the scientific community to put all available resources at the service of the fight against COVID-19:
https://crowdfightcovid19.org/
President Nelson Invites World to Participate in Fast on Good Friday
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Spoilers ahead! We welcome David, a fellow Berkeley Wardian, as guest to the show today to talk about the final episode of the Good Place and its parallels with LDS views on redemption and exaltation
The Good Place
https://www.nbc.com/the-good-place
Sacred time vs. profine time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return_(Eliade)
The Seven Deadly Heresies, by Bruce R. McConkie
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie/seven-deadly-heresies/
Fair mormon question
Eternal Misfit, by Roger Terry
https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V43_N03_188.pdf
Gospel Principles, Exaltation (includes President Joseph Fielding Smith quote)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation
Apotheosis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apotheosis
Michael Schur: “As long as you’re trying, you’re on the right path.”
https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-good-places-moral-message-changed-as-much-as-the-ch-1837096810
Stormlight archive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stormlight_Archive
No exit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Exit
Nothing in Heaven Functions as It Ought, by X.J. Kennedy
Monday Feb 10, 2020
Monday Feb 10, 2020
He was lookin’ for a podcast to steal. He was in a bind, ‘cause he was way behind, but we wouldn’t accept him as a sponsor for this episode, so neener neener.
Here’s some references!
Gospel topics article
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/satan
Wiki!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan
Recency bias
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
LDS General Conference Corpus
https://www.lds-general-conference.org/
Huckabee Is Not Alone in Ignorance on Mormonism, by Laurie Goodstein
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/us/politics/14mormon.html
Twitter thread from Eric
https://twitter.com/thmazing/status/1217670280069279744
Michael Ballam 4 lyfe!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ballam
BD: devil
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/devil
The Screwtape Letters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters
There must needs be opposition in all things
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2.p11#p11
Perelandra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perelandra
The Tragedy of King Leere, Goatherd of the la Sals, by Steven L. Peck
https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-King-Leere-Goatherd-Sals/dp/1948218011
1 Corinthians 10:13
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/1-cor/10.p13?lang=eng#p13