There’s been a lot of moaning and groaning in the Bloggernacle of late.  Much of it has revolved around a certain nostalgia for a more youthful Bloggernacle of months past, when the community was smaller, and tighter, and supposedly more accessible.  People actually used to respond to each others’ comments!  People used to read all the comments!  The place didn’t used to seem so elitist.  There weren’t so many trolls hiding behind cowardly pseudonyms.  (Yes, this means you, Ms. McPrude, whoever you are…).  T&S has probably born the brunt of these criticisms.  However, I think many of the complaints are misplaced.  Yes, there is a growing dissatisfaction in the Bloggernacle, born of the realization that there was once a special quality to the community that has now been lost.  But in my view, everyone has misdiagnosed the real source of the problem.  What does the Bloggernacle really need to bring it back to its former greatness?  Simple: 

More posts about GAYS.

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We’ve had the good pleasure of conducting a brief interview with Dr. Brian Birch, Director of the Religious Studies Program at UVSC. As you may know, UVSC has a vibrant Mormon Studies program, involving top-notch academics from a variety of fields. This week, on Feb. 3rd, the program presents its annual Eugene England Lecture, delivered this year by D. Michael Quinn on the topic: "’To Whom Shall We Go’: Historical Patterns of Restoration Believers with Serious Doubts." March 3-5 this year, the program will host a Mormon Studies Conference, touching on themes of mormonism and social justice. Like the Eugene England lectures, the conference promises to be of great interest.

We asked Dr. Birch about the program, its goals and aims, as well as challenges facing Mormon Studies. Rumor has it that he may reply to some commenters, time permitting.
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We who are LDS believe that the President of the Church is God’s official spokesman on the Earth. It is widely assumed that the Prophet may, at least on occasion, speak directly with God, face-to-face. There are, of course, 1001 arguments as to what the prophetic mantle really entails. We could spend countless hours debating de facto prophetic “infallibility” whether and in what ways the prophet could ever “lead us astray,” the parameters for prophets having their own “opinions,” in what contexts prophets are or are not “acting as such,” etc. etc. etc. We could discuss the Proclamation and debate its “doctrinal” status with respect to gender and marriage, or Pres. Hinckley’s apparent endorsement of the Iraq War, and debate whether he was speaking only for himself, or for God Almighty. But wherever you all come down on these specific issues, one thing seems undeniable: There is a presumption in Mormonism that, at least some of the time, the Prophet is giving us insight into how God Himself feels about certain pressing issues. And I see no reason to reject the presumption just because the issue being addressed is arguably “political.”
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