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The mind/body connection
There has been an interesting discussion about complementary and alternative medicine between bloggers Lynn and #1 Dinosaur. One thing I’d like to point out in this discussion is why the mind/body connection is not alternative medicine. By alternative medicine, I mean therapies that patients pursue that have little to no scientific backing. It is not because doctors or…
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President Hinckley passes on
My sister just emailed me. I hadn’t watched the news in the last two hours, and so I ‘missed’ the report of the death of the prophet. I don’t think we could classify this event as sad. It is simply a time of change. As David G. from the Juvenile Instructor said, “The prophet is dead. Long live the prophet.” …
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The ultimate centrism
If you’ve ever watched the movie Contact, based on the book by Carl Sagan which is itself a great read, you might remember the last phrase, something that Ellie had said before in the movie. “I’ll tell you one thing about the universe, though. The universe is a pretty big place. It’s bigger than anything…
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Repentance
I’ve always thought it somewhat unfair that we “learn from our mistakes”. Mistakes being the euphemism for sins, for doing something wrong, immoral, inethical. We do something wrong, and gain from it. I realized in communicating with a friend that this isn’t quite true, and then the concept made a bit more sense. Anyone can ‘make a mistake’.…
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Remembering George
A good friend of our family died last week. His funeral was today. He was a companion to my dad when they were in Mexico on a mission during their early 20s. We called him Uncle George, growing up. My mom and dad couldn’t be here, so I went to represent our family. I would have…
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Teaching religious tolerance to children
In the comments section of Sarabeth asked: But, Ami, doesn’t it (secularism) have to seep into our private lives in order for our children to become non-judgmental about others’ beliefs? No. We should love and respect others, no matter their beliefs, but I don’t think we should be ‘non-judgmental’ about their beliefs. It is our duty to…
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Secularism Revealed
A while ago I wrote a piece about secularism, where I received some interesting and stimulating comments. In particular, Clark Bartram addressed my remarks on his blog. Because of PGR, getting a job, and other commitments, I have been unable to reply until now. First of all, I would like to return the respect that…
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Religion on the Rise?
Picked this on up in the NYT. Apparently, college students are becoming more religious. Why? The article speculates on social issues and trends, such as the religious right both sending more kids on to college and that the RR has sparked religious discussion causing questioning. September 11th has also made us aware that religion is…
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I don’t believe in “god of the gaps”
I knew I would be swamped and that getting this part of my response to Clark’s intimation of dead end faith would take a while, but not quite this long. For that, I apologize. For what it is worth, this is not so much a rebuttal as an explanation as to why I believe he…
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The Problem of Suffering: Christianity vs. Mormonism
Many Christians are fond of pointing out that I am not Christian. I used to rebel against this, since as a Mormon, I share with them a foundational belief in Jesus Christ and the Atonement. But as I came to learn more about those sects of traditional and especially fundamental Christianity that excluded my belief,…