i hate bob bennet and i hate the i-think-i'm-so-damn-cool-at-byu-idaho clique

the problem of god and sacraments. part 1: salvation

this is something that i've prepared for mine and my friend johnny's blog, the mormon left.

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This is the first of several posts where I will point out a contradiction that exists in Mormon (and much of traditional Christian) theology between the nature of God and the common understanding of the soteriological value of sacraments. After pointing out the contradiction which exists between the two, I will offer a different understanding of sacraments which has scriptural (and historical) precedence that not only avoids the contradiction, but is also more align with the teachings of Christ.

Put simply, the understanding of God as a supremely loving and moral being is contradictory to the understanding that certain sacraments are necessary for salvation. By this I mean that the statements “God is an absolutely loving being” and “certain rituals are necessary for salvation” cannot both be true. If one claim is true, the other must be false. For ease of discussion I will use baptism as the example of a necessary sacrament, however other rituals such as confirmation, endowment, and temple marriage are equally susceptible to this criticism.

The initial criticism against the notion of an all-loving God and necessary sacraments is the criticism often laid out by Mormon missionaries and apologists. (1) God is all-loving. (2) If 1, then God would want all of humanity to have the possibility of salvation. (3) Throughout the history of humankind, the total number of persons who have not had the opportunity to be baptized far outweighs the total number of persons baptized (or who have had the opportunity to be baptized). (4) Baptism is a necessary sacrament for salvation. Because of 3 and 4, (5) the total number of persons who have no possibility for salvation far outweighs the total number of persons who have the possibility of receiving salvation. Assuming that (6) God has power to choose what is requisite for salvation, then either 1, “God is all-loving,” or 2, “Baptism is a necessary sacrament for salvation,” is a false proposition.

Premises 4 and 6, however, can both be possibly contested. In the next post I will show that while post-mortem sacraments (ie. baptism for the dead) may avoid the initial criticism of God’s love and necessary sacraments, the contradiction between the two still exists.

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please leave any comments here.

fun on provopulse.com

i periodically post and comment things on provopulse.com (which is actually a pretty great site, despite all the crap i give its owner, mason). recently there has been this lunatic, who goes by the name of rahall (real name, richard alexander hall), who has been posting some of the most ridiculous arguements. i had some fun with him and apparently drove him insane...literally. this byu art student is crazy.

here are a few of his recent posts to me...

the_narrator's extremely crass and personal verbal attacks to me, followed by a very serious invitation to get together with him after I have repeatedly and very explicitly disengaged from talking to him, shows that he is dangerous. He is attempting to breach a barrier I have forcibly put up. First, it shows that he can't handle being left alone to his verbal abuse, second, it shows that he won't take rejection, third, it shows that he will cross barriers he really shouldn't cross even when (maybe especially when) they are forcefully set up. He is an abuser, and I earnestly forbid anyone to meet with him. I'm dead serious folks. Stay away. He's dangerous.

-and-

I know that I sin, but I, Richard Alexander Hall, truly and deeply hate you, "the narrator" a.k.a "project mayhem" a.k.a. Tyler Durden a.k.a Loyd Ericson (your four different aliases are enough to set me on edge) and in my limited, narrow, overly-judgemental mind, YOU ARE THE MOST IDIOTIC PIECE OF BULL SH*T GOD DAMN MOTHER F*CKING BITCH ASS ANYONE HAS EVER SEEN ON ANY FORUM!! Whew! That was a pretty good trip! Come on, people! Everyone reading this! You've run across the_narrator's incendiary words elsewhere! And now he goes and psychoanalizes me and posits childhood abuse? Is that far beyond the boundary of appropriate, or what? I know I can be an overbearing jerk, but isn't he, too!?

So much for my prayers for charity.

But I really don't care what anyone else says or thinks here anymore. There's no way I'd expect anything good here anymore. Call me a martyr. I'm not looking back at this thread anymore. Swear your head off at me and say more of the ludicrously foul things you've said before - but at least admit it's a sin, like I do, for Chris's sake.

the first one is my favorite. i think i'm going to have it framed. the funniest part is that this kid is totally serious. he really is that much of a nutcase.

for this and other wonderfull comments from him to me, click here and scroll down through them. they are pretty hilarious.

what a crazy kid. if any of you know richard alexander hall, get him to a counselor.

millions

i know i say this quite a bit, but this time i really really mean it.

GO SEE MILLIONS.

or rent it. it's available on dvd. i haven't been this touched and affected by a movie like this in a long time. i'm serious. go rent it. go buy it. steal it. whatever. GO SEE IT. the story, music, cinematography, themes, heart, and even the cartman bobble-head doll all had some connection with me.

wow.

new chick tract of the week

here's another excerpt from one of my favorite chick tracts.

click and enjoy.

free speech 101

my friend joe vogel's new book is available for pre-order at amazon.com. the book details his experiences as the student body vice-president at utah valley state college during the whole michael moore controversy.

here is the blip from amazon.com

When the student government of Utah Valley State College heard about Michael Moore’s 2004 Slacker Tour, they thought he would be a great speaker that would create the intelligent debate that is the mainstay of college campuses across the U.S. They knew their choice would stir controversy in one of the most conservative counties in America, but they felt they could handle it. They were completely surprised, however, by the tremendous anti-liberal reaction to their choice — a reaction that threatened violence, used bribery, applied political pressure, and ultimately failed to stop the student government, UVSC students, and the community from hearing Michael Moore.

the book at pre-order price is only $10.36 through amazon. click the image above or to the right to reserve your copy.



also, this divided state,the documentary that covers the whole controversy is also available through amazon for $14.99. you should also get that, cuz i'm in it for about three seconds.

i need your help

BYU is having doing a summer seminar/fellowship that I want to get accepted for. see http://farms.byu.edu/sumsem.html. if any of you have the skills/knowledge of these applications, look over the essay i'm including here and give me some pointers on what you think needs to be added/deleted/changed. also, if you have read any of my papers, which one should i include with my application. it is due on wednesday.

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I am currently attending Utah Valley State College where I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Philosophy with a minor in Religious Studies. I was recently awarded a Presidential Fellowship at UVSC to assist in their growing Religious Studies and Mormon Studies Programs. I am currently a research assistant for Dr. Brian Birch and am an assistant editor for the next upcoming issues of Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, as well as the upcoming volume of proceedings for the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. After graduating in December 2006, my goal is to attend Claremont Graduate University where I can study the Philosophy of Religion and participate in their establishment of Mormon Studies.

Though I have always been interested in Mormon Studies, my interest grew significantly during my mission in Hawaii (98-00) and has been increasing ever since. Besides institute classes and scripture study, I have done much reading in Mormon history, culture, theology, and philosophy (including works by Bushman, Quinn, Givens, Bergera, Van Wagoner, Arrington, Anderson, Ostler, McMurrin, etc).

One of the issues of Gospel study that I am particularly interested in is the relationships between Mormon culture, theology, and organization. I find particularly interesting the roles and effects that these different aspects of Mormonism have on each other, both within the Mormon community and in the interaction with other religious (and non-religious) cultures. How do certain beliefs shape the lives and actions of Latter-day Saints? And vice-versa, how do certain aspects of Mormon culture shape LDS theology? Similarly, how does the organizational Church affect (and how is it affected) by culture and theology?

Another Gospel study of interest is in how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some of its members/leaders have attempted to approach the Gospel “by study and also by faith” through scientific, intellectual, and/or philosophical methods (for example: the attempts by Orson Pratt, B. H. Roberts, and James E. Talmage).

I wish to participate in this fellowship because it is an opportunity to further pursue these interests and increase my understanding of the Gospel as it has developed in the lives of Latter-day Saints. I will also be able to take the skills and knowledge gained from the fellowship into my further graduate studies and involvement with Mormon Studies.

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any help is greatly appreciated

whitehouse - the sitcom.

last year our president choked on a pretzel, passed out, and hit his head on a coffee table.

yesterday, our vice-president accidently shot his friend in the face with a shot gun while quail hunting.

only this presidency could pull this shit off. perhaps they're trying to give the press something to write about besides that whole mess they started in iraq.

these things should only be happening in sitcoms. balki and cousin larry (perfect strangers) couldn't get away this. yet, somehow bush and cheney pull it off, and the american people just fall in love with it even more.

these guys don't belong in the whitehouse. they belong in the time slot between fullhouse and family matters.

vagina monologues

i really really enjoyed the production of the vagina monologues tonight. while at some moments it was humorous and in your face, at others i found myself deeply moved and making a conscious effort to hold back emotional tears. to say i was touched is an understatement.

for an hour or so, i was presented a world in which i have never experienced nor will i ever experience. i am not a woman. i am not a female. i am not a girl. i am not any of these. while the distinction and seperation is somewhat obvious at the biological level, it goes much deeper than that. of course i don't know (nor will ever know) what it's like to have a vagina. but more than that, i don't know (nor will ever know) what it's like to be a person with a vagina. there is a whole cultural/social experience out there that i cannot know, but can only be told of and anecdotally shown. (and no, my few hours as a woman does not count).

what hit me even more tonight was the realization that, while i cannot have and know this other world, card-carrying vagina-toting women who do have this shared experience have been largely culturally banned from sharing their experiences with eachother. these very real and very important aspects of their lives have been compartmentalized and stored away behind a re(op)pressed barrier of taboo. this prison of female sexuality and experience leaves the phallic powers (who have been given free reign for the past several millenia) with largely uncontrolled and uncontested power.

i could go on and on, but i'm going to stop here.

just finished rough stone rolling

joseph pulled the trigger six times into the hall, dropped the pistol on the floor, and sprang to the window. with one leg over the sill, he raised his arms in the masonic sign of distress. a ball from the doorway struck his hip, and shot from the outside entered his chest. another hit under the heart and a fourth his collarbone. he fell outward crying, "oh lord my god!" landing on his left side, he struggled to sit up against the curb of a well and died within seconds

that's when i found myself crying.

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more in the next couple days...

those immature and radical danish bastards!

this is a quick post i wrote up last night in response to someone claiming the muslims who are violently protesting the recent danish muhammed cartoons as immature loonies on provopulse. you can see the whole discussion here. it wrote it up rather quickly and i'm not sure if it all makes sense. enjoy.

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when the warsaw signal printed articles considered abusive by joseph smith and the latter-day saints, how did he and the church respond. they complained. they asked them to stop. then they violently tore the press down. this was not the only violent reaction by joseph smith and the saints. it happened on several occasions, especially during the missouri wars. this is the assessment of not only anti-mormon or secularist historians, but of faithful historians such as richard bushman.

the apologists defense today? it was a different time. that's how they dealt with things back there and then. without a historical/cultural reflection, the saints are just as easily classified as immature radical loonies.

understanding why many muslims are reacting this way takes more than taking a quick i'm a cultured democratic american and you are a semi-retarded fanatic approach. you need to understand the most of these muslims are coming from a culture very much like early 19th century america, living amidst a daily scene of death and violence. furthermore they have have strong traditions of tribal seperation (something rather unknown in white america, but closely related to ethnic and religious seperations). they also have a very strong tie between their religious and public lives, such that the distinction is virtually non-existent (something the latter-days saints once had but lost over the last century).

while to many of us, to get all hot and bothered over so seeming trivial as a cartoon of muhammed is a sign of stupity, that is only because most americans have a very different (and largely lutheran-influenced) understanding of religious life. the islamic ban of blaspheming muhammed via artistic depictions is very similar to the hebrew ban of the name of Yahweh, with very similar penalties for blaspheme. why most jews do not take blaspheme to the same extent anymore is largely due to their merging into the larger western civilizations...something most of middle-eastern muslims have not done (nor do they want to).

as i mentioned already, many of those who are seeking violent retribution do so because they live in a society of violence. there are several factors that go into this, but one of the major ones is that they in many ways are forced into lives of violence, because they see that as their only means of fighting against american and international super-powers that they see as not only attacking their lands and people, but also imposing western culture, capitalism, sin, and etc on them. (b young felt this very same way about eastern culture tainting the utah mormons). also, they are suffering the results of many american/europian foreign policies that are enacted to use them for the resources floating in a sea of black below them.

should they not be so violent, in my view, yes. there are better ways to go about it. however, to call them loonies, etc is just childish and ignorant banter of someone who is not willing to try to really see things they way they are seeing things.

of course there was a very simple and non-violent way to end all of this. the danish newspaper could have apologized for being intolerant of people's deepest religious beliefs.

the super fast and testimony bowl sunday drinking game

every time someone bears his/her (usually her) testimony about not watching the super bowl, do a shot.

mormons and conspiracy

last night steven jones from byu was at uvsc arguing that the world trade center towers collapsed on 9/11 because of explosives at the base of the towers and not because of fires from the planes that hit them. though it was pretty interesting, it lacked the rigorous scientific arguementation that i was hoping for. he further argued that 9/11 was a result of a conspiracy (or secret combination) involving bush and his neo-conservative cohorts. the lecture hall was completely packed and seven overflow rooms were filled. you can read about last night's presentation here and read a more detailed version of his explosives theory here.

this morning, i sat down with a documentary film crew from los angelas for a forty minute interview and explained why utah county, while being so conservative, was also over-flowing with so many people interested in a conspiracy in the government. they seemed to like a lot of what i had to say. now i just get to wait and see if i make it into their dvd. they should have a website up in the next week or so with some of the footage. i'll update ya'll if that ever happens.

why i love byu

i just can't stop thinking about how funny this quote is from the daily universe...

"But you should always follow your bishop. At least that's what my bishop tells me."

classic. just gosh dang flipping classic.