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Ted Cruz's Sunday School Lessons and the Future of the World

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may…

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A Change of Pace is as Good as a (Day of) Rest

Last month I posed the question to BCC readers “What would bring you back to church?”  It was a fantastic discussion, and I’ve been thinking about your responses ever since. Although American LDS/Mormons who identify as such report a 67% attendance rate, those of us who have seen attendance statistics know this is overly sunny. In my experience, a high attendance rate is 50% in the places I’ve…

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The Power to Declare War

Now is as good a time as any to remember that, under the U.S. Constitution, the president lacks the power to declare or pursue war. Article I, sec. 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to “declare War.” What power does the president have? Article II of the Constitution gives the president authority as the commander-in-chief of the military. Donald Trump just joined Israel in its war…

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The Mike Lee Conundrum

In case you haven’t heard (but of course you’ve heard, including on this very site!), over the weekend, Utah Senator (and Latter-day Saint) Mike Lee tweeted false conspiracies about the man who (allegedly, since he hasn’t been convicted yet) murdered a Minnesota state representative and her husband, shot and attempted to murder a state senator and his wife, and had a list of other Democrats he…

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Mike Lee Goes to Church: a Dick and Jane Reader

Mike Lee is a Senator. Mike Lee has a family. Mike Lee took his family to a parade. Smile, Mike, smile! Good times at the parade with family pic.twitter.com/LXHSXP1mmO— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 15, 2025 Mike Lee is a Mormon. Mike Lee1 goes to church. Mike Lee thinks about Jesus at Church2. Mike Lee thinks about Joe Biden at church3: Name a president who behaved more like a king than…

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Mike Lee Goes to Church: A Dick and Jane Reader

Mike Lee is a Senator. Mike Lee has a family. Mike Lee took his family to a parade. Smile, Mike, smile! Good times at the parade with family pic.twitter.com/LXHSXP1mmO— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 15, 2025 Mike Lee is a Mormon. Mike Lee1 goes to church. Mike Lee thinks about Jesus at Church2. Mike Lee thinks about Joe Biden at church3: Name a president who behaved more like a king than…

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Joseph Smith and The 1995 LDS Proclamation on the Family, part 4

[Part 1: https://bycommonconsent.com/2025/03/29/joseph-smith-and-the-1995-lds-proclamation-on-the-family-part-1/. Part 2: https://bycommonconsent.com/2025/04/20/joseph-smith-and-the-1995-lds-proclamation-on-the-family-part-2/.Part 3: https:/bycommonconsent.com/2025/05/28/joseph-smith-and-the-1995-lds-proclamation-on-the-family-part-3/] Instead of discussing more of the Utah theology that built a…

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Let's See Your No Kings Day Posters!

Wednesday I wrote about the pro–democracy No Kings Day demonstrations that are going to happen all around the country today. Today the demonstrations are no longer theoretical—they’re happening. All around the country, people are going to be in the streets, peacefully demonstrating against the Trump administration’s invocation of the unitary executive theory to accrete presidential power, at the…

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Joseph Smith and The 1995 LDS Proclamation on the Family, part 5

As promised, one more detour from the path of Joseph Smith to the 1995 Proclamation on the Family. The Influence of D&C 132 upon Succession in the Church When Joseph Smith was murdered in Illinois, church members shared deep anxiety over the future of their institutional church and their own relationship to Deity. In August 1844, members in the Nauvoo area gathered to hear claimants to…

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The Dead Fathers: Grief and Poker in the West Desert

The Dead Fathers: Grief and Poker in the West Desert A new novel by John Bennion, from BCC Press Continue reading The Dead Fathers: Grief and Poker in the West Desert

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No Kings Day and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Saturday, June 14, is No Kings Day, a national day of of pro-democracy demonstrations against the increasingly authoritarian aspirations of Donald Trump. (If you’re interested in participating, you can find new you on this map. I count at least 12 in Utah alone.) No Kings Day has particular resonance for U.S. members of the church, on at least a couple grounds. The first is, scripture is at…

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Funeral Potatoes Recipe Contest - July 1 deadline

I was at BYU the first time I heard of funeral potatoes, and I thought it was part of some sort of macabre joke that I didn’t have context to understand. Still do, to be honest. Turns out funeral potatoes are no joke in Utah, macabre or otherwise. Crackers or corn flakes? Tots or hash browns? Canned or scratch cream base?  It’s serious stuff, and the competition got so serious in one Riverton…

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Guest Post: I was raised without religion. My husband is Mormon.

The following is a guest post by Rachel Liewer. Rachel is a full-time Social Worker and manager at the 988 Crisis Helpline. In this post, she reflects on her own nonreligious upbringing and relationship with her Mormon husband Taylor, a “permablogger” at BCC. I was raised without religion. My husband is Mormon. Mormons have the lowest rate of interfaith marriage compared to other major religious…

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What do we think about garments?

Photo credit: New York Times Last Friday, the New York Times ran an article about women’s new garment styles, which led to a wide-ranging conversation about garments on the BCC backlist. Conversation lightly edited for clarity: MDH Garments in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/us/mormon-undergarments.html Russell The article says “While women in the church often repeat the adage ‘modest…

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The Missionary as Fool

About to walk off a cliff? Yes, this guy seems to be a fool. But in the Marseilles tarot, this foolishness is less perilous: Which gets you thinking: are fools always foolish? According to St. Paul, some fools are wise: “If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise” (1 Cor 3.18) So with the missionary: he is young, naive, foolish but also…

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Joseph Smith and The 1995 LDS Proclamation on the Family, part 3

[Part 1: https://bycommonconsent.com/2025/03/29/joseph-smith-and-the-1995-lds-proclamation-on-the-family-part-1/. Part 2: https://bycommonconsent.com/2025/04/20/joseph-smith-and-the-1995-lds-proclamation-on-the-family-part-2/.%5D The Utah church faced increasing opposition to the practice of “plurality.” Polygamy served as an early engagement point for Protestant critics of Mormonism. The…

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Thank God Someone Found the Elephant

Image courtesy of parts of the elephant in the room | Wrong Hands It’s Memorial Day in the United States, where we remember those who have died in service to their country. Currently, blessedly few of us personally know someone who was killed in war – certainly compared to when this holiday was founded in 1868. But the generational legacy lives on.  I’ve been thinking for a few months now about…