I have a weirdly vivid memory of the early 1990s moment when I first learned that some people frown on interracial marriages. I was approximately five years old and living in Florida. While playing one afternoon, I stumbled upon a wedding invitation for a mixed-race couple in my ward. The invitation included an engagement photo, and said the wedding would be held in a few weeks at the chapel.
Peace and Love to Charlottesville
August 13, 2017 by 5 Comments
I love Charlottesville. For nearly a decade, Charlottesville has been my favorite retreat from the chaos of big cities. I have family who live, just barely outside of cell-signal range, in the breathtaking rolling hills west of town. My fiancé, Brad, attended – and I seriously considered attending – the University of Virginia Law School. I love visiting. I’ve explored its romantic colonial streets; hiked its peaceful mountains; day-dreamed about living there forever.
But this year Charlottesville has become a flashpoint for racial tension. After years of studied discussion, the City Council voted in February to remove confederate statutes and rename two confederate-honoring parks. (One of those parks, Stonewall Jackson park, was built after the city in 1914 seized land from private citizens in order to destroy a burgeoning black community.) The parks have since been renamed, but plans to remove the statute stalled when the City was sued under a state law protecting historic monuments. A month ago a small KKK rally at Justice Park (formerly Stonewall Jackson park) was overwhelmed by a thousand counter-protestors. When a “Unite the Right” group applied for a permit to hold a further rally, they had to obtain a federal court order protecting their right to free speech. Counter-protestors again rallied to flood the streets.
If she asks for tacos, give a salad?
August 8, 2017 by 47 Comments
“Ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent…For behold, are we not all beggars?” (Mosiah 4 16:19)
Lived Christianity is … difficult. In a multitude of everyday encounters, I either genuinely don’t know, or my natural instinct is not to follow, how Christ would act.
I’ve dubbed these my moral “dilemmas of the day.”
Take yesterday. The poor often congregate near where I work. My office is in a gentrifying area — upscale cafes serving business professionals are popping up next to downtrodden public housing and shelters. Nearly every day, someone asks me for help.
Airing My Dirty Laundry
July 22, 2017 by 17 Comments
[B]y love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Galatians 5:12-13
Our Sacrament Meeting theme last week was on service. The Primary President spoke about how her summer enrichment with her kids has been setting a goal to serve others every day. She spoke about how opportunities appeared as they sought them, describing with amusement the giggles of her children as they concocted a plan to stealthily pay for the car behind them in a fast food drive-through.
The high counselor then related an old Clay Christensen story, where Clay had discovered one summer day that an elderly woman in his ward had an ancient iron fridge in her basement filled with rotting food. So Clay, as a good home teacher, took it upon himself to dispose of the fridge – and invited a neighbor to help. As they’re dying in the heat, halfway up the stairs, the neighbor asks, “Clay, could you tell me a little bit about the Mormon Church?” And Clay said, “Don, frankly, this is the Mormon Church, right here.” [Read more…]
How would Jesus play board games?
July 7, 2017 by 23 Comments
I love board games. I have for my entire life. The more strategic, the better. I’m not sure whether it’s because my family and friends consist of nerds, boring adults in their 30s, or Mormons, but they all play along with my obsession.
(Pictured: my game shelves as of 2 months ago. They’ve grown since then.)
The Supreme Court and Religious Liberty: The Plot Thickens
June 26, 2017 by 52 Comments
The last day of the Supreme Court term never disappoints on drama. And this morning, the drama related to the First Amendment and religious liberty. Religious school funding, bakery objections to same-sex weddings, and President Trump’s Travel Ban — major action on all three fronts happened today.
And There Was No Sick Among Them
June 24, 2017 by 26 Comments
“And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.” D&C 52:40
I remember the day – 10 years ago this month – I first realized that government-sponsored healthcare might not be inherently evil.
A British friend and I were engaged in an impromptu debate on social policy. I started lecturing him on the defects of British healthcare compared to true red-state and Mormon principles of self-reliance. Any form of welfare, especially government-sponsored healthcare, perpetuated a cycle of dependence. If an individual legitimately needed help, family, friends, and nonprofits should step in. Government involvement was wasteful, anti-capitalistic, and coercive – it could never heal society.
He offered a pithy response: “I can think of nothing more barbaric about America than that you let people die because they can’t afford healthcare.”
“Barbaric” hit me with a jolt. What an absurd word! And yet, one with truth. [Read more…]
A Crash Course for America on the Psychology of Harassment
June 9, 2017 by
“You’re big. You’re strong. But why didn’t you stop and say, “Mr. President, this is wrong. I cannot discuss this with you?’”
“It’s a great question. Maybe if I were stronger, I would have. I was so stunned by the conversation that I just… took it in.”
“At the time, did you say anything to the president about — that is not an appropriate request?”
“I didn’t, no.” [Read more…]
Fourth Circuit Strikes Down President Trump’s Muslim Ban 2.0
May 25, 2017 by
This afternoon, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Richmond, VA, just held that President Trump’s second travel ban Executive Order (which superseded his first one) is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause.
Key quote:
The Government has repeatedly asked this Court to ignore evidence, circumscribe our own review, and blindly defer to executive action, all in the name of the Constitution’s separation of powers. We decline to do so, not only because it is the particular province of the judicial branch to say what the law is, but also because we would do a disservice to our constitutional structure were we to let its mere invocation silence the call for meaningful judicial review.
The deference we give the coordinate branches is surely powerful, but even it must yield in certain circumstances, lest we abdicate our own duties to uphold the Constitution. EO-2 cannot be divorced from the cohesive narrative linking it to the animus that inspired it. In light of this, we find that the reasonable observer would likely conclude that EO-2’s primary purpose is to exclude persons from the United States on the basis of their religious beliefs.
Threats to Religious Freedom, at Home and Abroad (A BCC Discussion)
May 22, 2017 by
“It is our duty to raise our voice for the voiceless.” ~Kristina Arriaga, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (May 17, 2017).
Last week, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (“USCIRF”) hosted a discussion on their most recent annual report, which details the “countries of particular concern” regarding religious freedom. The State Department periodically issues a similar International Religious Freedom Report. As does the Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life.
The international threats to religious freedom are serious. Although colloquial use of “religious freedom” varies, encompassing a wide variety of public and private actions that in some way implicate religion, I propose limiting our discussion to a more precise definition. Religious freedom is violated by official government action targeting the peaceful expression of religious belief.
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