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Flunking Sainthood

I’ve been reading The Big Jewish Book for Jews: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Really Jewish Jew. Written by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman, who brought us the equally hilarious Yiddish with Dick and Jane, the book pokes fun at all aspects of American Judaism, from gefilte fish to klezmer music to…

Earlier this month I sat down with Claudia Bushman in Salt Lake City, where I had the pleasure of interviewing her about the latest of her many projects: an oral history of Mormon women in the twentieth century. Claudia, a historian who now teaches at Claremont Graduate University, began the project at Claremont last year…

It’s time. It’s finally time! This fall, I am going to buy an e-reader.  I want your advice. Kindle or Nook? Or — wallet gulp — iPad? I know a lot of book people believe in their stout paper hearts that digital books will never take the place of paper, but I think we’ve reached…

A number of people have contacted me this week to tell me that someone else has started tweeting out the Bible a chapter a day, news that was carried on CNN and aol.com. A British man, Chris Juby, has just started his own three-year Bible project on Twitter (you can follow him at Biblesummary.) His…

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I’m counting the days until Tuesday’s release of Mockingjay, the final installment in Suzanne Collins‘s Hunger Games series. Apparently I’m not the only one, because the book is listed as the #1 bestselling book on Amazon, days before its release. I’ve been thinking a lot about what to…

Do you believe in hell? 59% of Americans do, including 92% of weekly churchgoers. If you do believe, what does hell look like for you? Sharon Baker, a professor of theology at Messiah College, found out she was going to hell when she was 26 years old. She listened, transfixed, as a pastor described the…

Anyone who has ever had a miscarriage knows that well-meaning people, people who love you, will sometimes say things that they intend to make you feel better but actually have the opposite effect. I asked Elise Erikson Barrett, author of the outstanding new book What Was Lost: A Christian Journey through Miscarriage, to offer some…

Last month I posted what proved to be a controversial opinion piece about five reasons I feel that Mormon sacrament meetings are not spiritually engaging. Thank you to everyone who read the piece and took the time to offer feedback. Also, my thanks go to Glenn Ostlund and Bridget Jeffries for inviting me to discuss…

We have a short Twible post this week as I’ve been on vacation …. This week’s Twible entries showcase Solomon’s increasing decadence and life of luxury. Since I’m just coming back from a lovely warm island where I’ve eaten ridiculously good food and enjoyed time with extended family, it would probably be unbecoming of me…

Did you see this article in USA Today yesterday? The upshot is that Protestant teens are skipping church in record numbers. They rarely even come for the pizza anymore. This development didn’t come out of nowhere. Throughout the last decade, sociologist Christian Smith has published some fascinating research about religion and the American teenager, most…
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