By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog

If I met Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on the street, he would probably have had me killed, or done the job himself. News reports say that he personally decapitated people, and was directly responsible for thousands of civilian deaths. Zarqawi violently thwarted the rebuilding of a war-torn country, and he had to be stopped. But he was our brother, and I mourn for him and for his family.

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Matt Bowman appears to be the new guest blogger at BCC. He has a masters’ in history from the University of Utah and is currently preparing to take PhD exams in American history at Georgetown. He occasionally presents papers on things like Bigfoot at MHA. Thanks to Ronan for the invitation to appear in this space.

This school is bound into the web of my family. My sister attended and two cousins graduated. I have relatives both on the board and active in the alumni association. Additionally, a couple of friends from graduate school have held positions on the faculty.

The reports I have received are mixed. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently lost someone very important to me. My cat, Oscar.

Now, in the grand scheme of things, the fact that I’m so distressed over losing Oscar is something many people just can’t feel a lot of sympathy for. Plus, there are quite a few virulent cat haters out there. I’ve decided that cats need to chip in and hire a crack PR team, because cats have lower approval ratings than President Bush in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Read the rest of this entry »

The prophet counsels us to attend the temple often. What does this mean for you? Read the rest of this entry »

Okaaaay. So, new topic. Pregnant women and designer clothes. Yay or nay? Read the rest of this entry »

I feign Mormon Studies erudition. That said, I am working on about 5 different research projects that I hope to publish in various journals (and a book). While I have made the pilgrimage to the LDS Church Archives, and will do so repeatedly, it is now easier than ever before to be a student of Mormon Studies from afar. Much of this has to do with the recent explosion in digitization. In celebration of purchasing the recently released Journal of Mormon History DVD archives, I thought I would review some of the essential and esoteric e-tools for the enthusiast. Read the rest of this entry »

ALL CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS POST — EVEN THOSE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE — ARE ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ALL CELEBRITIES ARE IMPERSONATED…..POORLY. THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE AND DUE TO ITS CONTENT IT SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY ANYONE. Read the rest of this entry »

I just got back from a trip to Capital Reef National Park (now officially my favorite Utah National Park) and, as has become my habit, I went running around the park by myself in the early morning, taunting the various cougars and rattlesnakes I may have witlessly encountered. While doing this, I listened to a collection of random talks that I have collected from the website ldsvoices.com, which releases a talk (usually a conference talk or a BYU devotional) to the web daily for your listening pleasure. On one such morning, I was listening to a wonderful talk by Elder Faust on the role of women, entitled “To my granddaughters.” I assumed that it had been given at the most recent General Young Women’s meeting (as he had spoken at that event). When I got back, I gave it to my sister-in-law to listen to (it was that good) and she pointed out that President Faust referred to “President Kimball” and “Governor Bangerter” without a former in front of either of those titles. It turns out that this talk, which I found fascinating, was over twenty years old. Read the rest of this entry »

The Prophet proclaims divine approval of gay marriage tomorrow, and he instructs all Mormon men to enter into gay marriages. Given this new commandment, and assuming you get your pick of the litter, to which BCC permablogger would you most like to be betrothed? Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Bat Mitzvah for the 13 year old daughter of my friend, a former neighbor. Yarmulke-less, my wife and I sat down in Temple Emanu-El, waiting for the service to begin. Immediately I regretted declining a complimentary kippah (yarmulke is Yiddish; kippah is the Hebrew equivalent; kippot is plural) offered to me at the entrance, although I wasn’t entirely sure if I was supposed to wear it as a gentile. But, either way, no one cared except me. The many colorful kippot seemed to move about in the room like flowers in a breeze, their colors ranging from serious black to cheerful watermelon. To my surprise, many women wore them, a more recent egalitarian development.[1] Read the rest of this entry »