Dear Theophilus

My thoughts on the DNC tonight: Julian Castro A public school teacher??? That is awesome… DNC has better music J … but does this matter? Castro’s speech begins a little like a highschool graduation speech. “My family’s story isn’t special. What’s special is the America that makes our story possible. Ours is nation like no other… the chance for your children to do better than you did… ” – As I said with the RNC, I do not like this American exceptionalism and I do not like the promise of “more” for the future generations. The difference between the RNC and Castro’s speech here is that the RNC’s focus was privately directed, talking about people pulling their selves up by their bootstraps and making something out of their selves. Castro’s emphasis seems to be bit broader (but only a bit), about the people as a whole and not just individuals succeeding. Castro emphasized building bridges and fighting for rights. Of the two “this is what makes America great” speeches,...

You only live once (YOLO) is becoming big with kids these days! If you are "cool" you will know exactly what I am talking about. I hate to be that guy but not a single of the world's dominant religions believe this - Christianity not in the least bit. You will live again. This life is but the passing of a season. You will die. You will live again. This body is perishing, constantly dying, constantly getting sick, cut, bruised, beat up but you will get a body that is not perishing or fading. For I will reveal a mystery to you... this body will pass away but we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye to receive a resurrected body. After this life our bodies will sleep. After that sleep comes the renewal of all creation and the resurrection of the dead. You will live twice. And let me tell you, your second life bears the consequences of the first. What you do now has a great impact on the second. 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul's magnum opus on the resurrect...

I have to make myself clear at the front. I am a Christian. I have some very close Mormon friends, closer than family. And I am not fighting for who is "right," I am merely trying to explore the truth claim that Christianity and Mormonism are the same. It is my contention that they are different in hugely significant ways that make it untenable to say that they are one in the same. Jesus is another significant source of contention between Christians and Mormons. First, the term 'Christian' seems to be a source of contention here. Christian is derived from the greek and means 'little Christs.' People have been called Christian since the book of Acts, (ch. 11). These are people who both (1) claim that the Christ has come and (2) imitate and follow his teaching. For Christians, the Christ has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; hence Jesus Christ. So, in one sense, Mormons are Christians. Their sacred writing depict a Christ coming to both I...

There is a rumor going around that people think Mormons and Christians are the same. This could not be further from reality. I have heard this many times and it usually comes from Mormons and people who overvalue tolerance at the expense of truly understanding. President Hinckley of the Mormon church personally taught this to all of the Mormon church and is it found on their official site . Let's get a few things straight at the start. I love my Mormon friends. I consider some closer than family. I think they are mistaken about some things, but love certainly triumphs over differences here. Second, this post is completely unpolitical. I could care less if a Mormon is president. I could really care less about politics at all in this point in my life. Ok... that being said, there are some huge differences between Orthodox Christianity and Mormonism. Differences that cause each group to be outside of the others tent - if that makes sense.   The biggest and most...