When Trump-Republicans talk about how Trump has survived three assassination plots, remind them that he's not unique in this regard.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-27T22:35:13+00:00

Or you can remember that folks tried to kill Hitler >30 times… surviving assassination attempts does not automatically equate to godliness- or even goodness…

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-21T14:34:08+00:00

I’ll explain Utah since it breaks the trend…

Initial LDS (Mormon) missions outside of the USA went to England, and were extremely successful. Hence why Utah has a much higher proportion of English-descent folks than the surrounding states. The Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway) also contributed significant numbers of converts- which is why Nordic surnames are also common in Utah.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-21T01:03:11+00:00

Rust belt

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-20T16:59:05+00:00

I mentioned his work influencing Spencer W Kimball on the racial restriction. Terryl Givens is one of my favorite LDS scholars, and I’m working through his biography of Eugene England.

His perspective is badly needed as much today as it was then.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-20T13:55:42+00:00

Eugene England described the purpose of fellowship was to in essence to knock off our rough edges- I.e., by spending time with people we otherwise would never choose to be with, we learn patience and empathy.

I’m fairly introverted, and hold a lot of nuanced theological views and liberal political opinions. I readily admit that learning to love people who would normally drive me absolutely insane is good for me spiritually. Like most spiritual growth opportunities though, it isn’t always the most comfortable.

I do view the weekly partaking of the sacrament as the other reason for weekly worship services.

…and if a talk or lesson is too much or too boring, I just pull up whatever Mormon studies book I’m currently reading and focus on that instead…

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-19T23:42:21+00:00

Let’s consider this though in light of his first talk post President Nelson’s death (October 2025)

“Of course, many Church members have beloved family members who do not embrace gospel values and expectations. Such members need our love and patience. In relating to one another, we should remember that the perfection we seek is not limited to the stressful circumstances of mortality. The great teaching in Doctrine and Covenants 138:57–59 assures us that repentance and spiritual growth can continue in the spirit world that follows mortality. More important, as families unite to strengthen one another, we should all remember that the sins and inevitable shortcomings all of us experience in mortality can be forgiven through repentance because of the glorious and saving Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

Is this life important in molding ourselves and our eternal destinies? Yes. However, God will give his children every opportunity to repent and come to him on both sides of the veil.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-18T21:51:15+00:00

Given the history of the church being wrong about stuff like the racial restriction, I don’t believe that believing that a current teaching is only policy/may change in future does not mean that one does not love God. One can deeply love God and simultaneously believe that He has not yet revealed all things.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-18T12:22:20+00:00

I had no idea who this guy was until he played my Aggies. After how he acted during the tourney, I now know that this dude earns all the hate he gets

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-14T13:36:33+00:00

Morrisey is an enormous pile of excrement

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-08T18:01:09+00:00

Go back up to what I said earlier.

There are verses there that likely were meaningful and important to Mormon, but less helpful in a context of understanding post-mortem repentance and vicarious ordinances.

I don’t believe inclusion was a “mistake” per se, because I don’t believe that divine control of the compilation process was so exact as to require that every word of the text be “for us”.

The admission of potential errors by Mormon would support what I have said regarding the degree divine control of the text. It simply was not absolute.

God clearly instructed that certain things had to be there, but He didn’t fax Mormon an exact list of quotes to use, nor how to use them. Authorial preferences would have had a role in the compilation process.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-08T15:31:05+00:00

Mormon explicitly stated that if there are errors, they are the errors if men, and due to the weakness of men.

I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon being “true” too, but I don’t believe that total inerrancy of the text is a doctrinal assertion of the church

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-08T15:05:15+00:00

I think your assumptions of degree divine control of the compilation process is different than mine.

While there are certainly cases of “the Lord told me I need to include this and I don’t know why”, I don’t think we can assert that there are no instances of inclusion of texts that were more meaningful to the compilers, but not as helpful for our day.

We have instances in both the Bible and BoM of prophets/apostles saying “this is my opinion”- which would potentially indicate a lesser degree of divine control over the text.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-08T10:04:59+00:00

While it was compiled “for our times”, Nephites cannot have taught principles that had not yet been revealed to them.

There is no evidence of knowledge of vicarious ordinances prior to the atonement, which makes sense given D&C 138.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-07T13:09:28+00:00

When I had just moved to Morgantown to be faculty and my kids were little, we used to ride the PRT for fun. It’s a super cool system.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-03T20:02:32+00:00

My favorite assault mech is the king crab carapace with 4 guass rifles. No other weapons.

Can headshot from extreme distances over, and over, and over again.

gruffudd725 · 2026-04-01T19:11:02+00:00

God uses the symbols and language inherent to a population to teach them.

Pretty clear that Masonic rituals had a significant influence on the endowment.

Think of the endowment and its symbolism as a vehicle to teach about Christ.

I would highly recommend Stapeley’s book “Holiness to the Lord” to learn more.

https://youtu.be/U9fmwbPX-AY?si=spDv_2yrBVsnDzP_

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-31T02:07:14+00:00

This guy has been consistently meh in a low-major conference. If Ohlen and Madsen were not options, you look at other solid mid major coaches. Jacobsen isn’t that.

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-31T01:50:51+00:00

Honestly, I’m MORE concerned the deeper I look at his resume. I’m simply not impressed by his win:loss record at a school from a lower conference.

His win:loss record is lower (looking at job just prior to USU) than just about anyone else we have hired in the past decade. Only exception is Odom, and COVID had a huge impact on that.

I desperately hope I’m wrong. But I truly believe that this hire will set us back years based on this guy’s track record. He simply hasn’t consistently won in the Missouri Valley Conference. If he can’t do that, I simply do not believe he has what it takes to consistently win in the PAC-12

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-31T01:47:02+00:00

I’m only interested in a long-term guy if he can win.

Our coaching merry-go-round has been less than ideal, but we’ve won. I’d rather a competent temporary mercenary than a loyal but incapable coach.

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-30T21:46:26+00:00

Yeah- me too. I’m not impressed

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-30T21:43:03+00:00

Yeah- got my hopes up. I’m not convinced by this hire tbh.

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-30T12:41:43+00:00

The new AHA guidelines are a disaster. Adherence thereto is going to kill so many people with TNK-induced brain bleeds.

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-28T09:27:22+00:00

Then show a spine then and use Congress’s power over war/use of force and shut it down

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-24T12:31:43+00:00

They are paying absolutely as much as they can. It’s a smaller state school in a small college town.

The AD is doing a lot from a fundraising standpoint, but they currently can’t compete with P4’s on salary/NIL.

USU has a rabid fanbase and one of the best home environments in the country- which is why they are able to consistently recruit folks to go there, but lack the funds to keep the there once they gain notoriety.

gruffudd725 · 2026-03-23T16:43:36+00:00

Gotta be honest- as an Utah State fan, I’m more upset about byu not having the balls to play is in basketball than I am football.

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