Let us be frank. Genocide is not all that uncommon throughout history; it has been effectively employed for millennia. However, something happened after WWII that changed the modern world’s perspective. The Holocaust has been iconized to the extant that it almost a Brand. There is a general consensus (again, in modern societies) that genocide is humanity at its worst, a crime against itself. I believe this is correct.

That said, I believe that there is a huge disconnect in the Judeo-Christian tradition in general and the Mormon faith in specific. Popular secularists, such as Christopher Hitchens (who I love to read, by the way), readily point out that the God directed (in the case of the Israeli occupation of Canaan) and God executed (in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah) genocides of the OT are not consistent with modern ethics…and they are right – they are not. (more…)

I’m going to be traveling a bit this next week, so I won’t be as attentive to the blog as I normally would be. In hind sight, I should have launched it then. C’est la vie.

…and I still need to fix the settings to accomodate IE (comment box and comment text size).

So I admit to reading LDS-Phil and wishing that I had the wherewithal to participate, but alas, I do not. The folks on the list are kind to not spank me whenever I make some sort of wannabe comment. J Wilhelm recently wrote on a thread about sin: (more…)

Below is how I have defined belief, knowledge and faith. I have written the most on faith (too much really, but I needed to finish the thought), probably because it is the most complex. I would love any criticism. (more…)