Saturday, April 27, 2013

Professor of False Doctrine

A BYU-I religion professor's "Documents List."  Holy crap.  And the ratemyprofessor reviews confirm the crazy.  I was under the impression that BYU got rid of this kind of religion professor with the retirement of Joseph Fielding McConkie and Randy Bott, having replaced them with very excellent, doctrinally-sound professors who actually aren't total idiots.  Apparently BYU-I has a bit of keeping up to do.

A bit worried, I dug up a course list of BYU-I's Biology Department, and a list of required courses for Biology majors.  Whew.  At least their Biology Department is on the right track, teaching real science even if some members of the religion department can't handle it.  If only that religion professor knew as much about biology as those biology professors know about religion...

In any case, here's hoping BYU-I can get rid of the CES-type religion professors and hire religion professors with a bit more credibility.

A fun side-note--my wife actually took a class from this guy.  This class permanently soured her on religion courses, and not because of the false doctrine, but because of the poor teaching method.

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

What in the World Happened in the 1940's?

Directly from the church website at https://www.lds.org/callings/young-women/leader-resources/history/history-of-young-women-recognition?lang=eng

"History of Young Women Recognition:


Requirements of 1915 included:
  • Care successfully for a hive of bees for one season and know their habits.
  • Cover 25 miles on snowshoes on any six days.
  • During two weeks, keep the house free from flies, or destroy at least 25 flies daily.
  • Without help or advice, care for and harness a team at least five times [and] drive 50 miles during one season.
  • Clear sagebrush off of one-half acre of land.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, Beehives earned emblems to sew onto a Beehive bandalo. Some of those requirements included:
  • Strive to get your full nine hours’ beauty sleep each night this month. Make it a habit.
  • Increase your self-confidence by acquiring a good posture (sitting, standing, and walking).
  • Politeness in all things is the mark of a lady. Practice at home being considerate and polite. Learn to accept directions graciously.
  • Make the dinner hour joyous by improving table manners of the entire family.
  • Look for something beautiful every day for two months."
I'd love to say this is a joke.  It sure sounds like one.  But unless someone's hacked the church website and is having some major fun, it's sadly not a joke.

What happened in the 1940's?  Seriously.

Also, no woman spoke in the regular sessions of General Conference between 1946 and 1984.  http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/we-shall-now-call-on-some-of-our-sisters-lds-women-and-general-conference-participation/

Again, what happened in the 1940's?  Thank goodness those days are over...