http://projectdeseret.com Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:20:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I will begin this post the way I have begun almost every other: I am sorry for not writing in so long. I have been in an unusually cryogenic deep freeze. Here is the first thaw. I told my friend Matt today that I have a deconstructionist testimony of Mormonism. For starters, ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=145 I am old quickly. One day, I thought I would live and live; questions of after were as pointless and needless as questions of before. There was just this, the present, and me inside it. Now I know that I will die. It occurred to me while watching a John ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=139 For the past three months, I have been nesting. Or, rather, I have been making a nest out of anything I could find, pulling bits of ideas from here, strings of words there, fine feathery thoughts and the discarded cores of used-up conclusions. I have been making a nest because ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=137 Reevaluating John Thomas' demands, we can see that his suggestions are not escapist but necessary. We cannot simply legislate more rights; we must regain our imagination and believe in the transformative power of words and rituals. It is not that Thomas is merely arguing that we should exercise private forgiveness ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=135 The politics of beauty and mercy seek what all great reforms (and reformers) have sought: to universalize their radical subjectivity through the fundamentally unfounded logic of the State. So what does this all have to do with Elizabeth's post? What does it have to do with religion being of use or ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=132 In other words, the politics of ‘rights' breaks down as soon as we realize the rights exist merely as buffers between different freedoms ‘to' and ‘from'. Classical politics contradicts itself when the rights it gives people to be free from others' demands for mercy clashes with the freedom it gives ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=129 I wanted to post Elizabeth's reflections because I've had so many thoughts on the things she talks about and I desperately need a starting point. These thoughts intersect and diverge in so many ways that I don't know how to keep them together, so I will simply start writing and ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=127 My friend Elizabeth is getting her Masters in Divinity at Yale. As part of her job, she interviewed John Thomas of the United Church of Christ about the role of religion in addressing social injustice. I am posting her response to her interview (which deals with the topic in terms ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=125 ...in hopes that you will embrace me and put bangles on my feet. As is always and forever the case with me, I refuse to write when I have the most to say. I have spent the last two weeks on a speaking tour for the Nader campaign, and I have ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=120 No one else had any experiences with the challenge? Write in about them! Post on! http://projectdeseret.com/?p=118 Okay, everyone, time to report on your experiences with food and gentleness. I'll start by admitting something. I have put off writing this response post because I keep on failing my own challenge. I have tried to so hard to do what Ann made possible, but--for reasons I will explain--I keep ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=115 My friend Tristan told me once that he believes everyone is a survivor. He told me he looks at his cousin--who is hip and suburban and nothing like him--and sees a survivor. I once saw people that way, and I am learning to see them that way again. I have spent the ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=108 Monday Breakfast: Fruit Smoothie & Banana Wheat-Germ Muffin Lunch: Southwest Salad Snacks: Fresh fruit or nuts (almonds, cashews, anything you like) Dinner: Zucchini Pasta If you have a sweet-tooth like me, you can have a couple squares of fine dark chocolate for dessert. Make sure to read the label ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=96 This How Can I Help post is from my dear friend, Ann Whittaker, who has taught me how to make the whole world a home and who is the best gift-giver--save one Mom Sanders--I have ever known. Here is Ann's manifesto. Our joint challenge to you is to eat vegan for ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=89 Once, three months ago, Terry Tempest Williams visited our class. I remember when I was little I wanted to be a woman who wore brocade scarves across loose-fitting linen ensembles; I wanted bright square glasses with beaded strings to hold them put and white, wild hair that said "What?" and, "So ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=88 One and all,  Please write in about going without cars a la Micah. I will write more tomorrow about my own. http://projectdeseret.com/?p=86 Sorry guys, I have been in Denver organizing a super-rally so I haven't had time to respond to your many good comments. I will soon. Here is the last part. I want to say that my attempt to articulate these thoughts was intended as an experiment; I did not want ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=85 I first encountered this phenomenon when I first read the Book of Mormon. I would read, for example, the account of Korihor and find that I agreed with most things he said—that he was making a good argument. Then Alma/Amulek would come in and counter the argument using circular reasoning, ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=84 Being a person who was psychologically traumatized at BYU (a strong phrase but true), and feeling a consuming indignation and sorrow for the stories I had read, I tried to use my talk at Sunstone to explain what it felt like to live under the honor code—under any system, including ... http://projectdeseret.com/?p=83 If any of you are interested in watching my speech at the Nader rally, here is a link. I will put up the rest of the links as soon as they are available.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPbJY2rs0QI http://projectdeseret.com/?p=82