The Mormon Monk

. . . to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). This is not, I suspect, the most popular of Jesus Christ's teachings, but recent studies from the Harvard Business School have provided empirical evidence suggesting that the Lord knew what he was talking about. Harvard professors Roy Y. J. Chua and Xi Zou conducted a study in which 87 undergraduates were shown pictures of shoes and watches before being asked to make hypothetical business decisions. Half of the students were shown simple, functional items; the other half viewed high end luxury goods. Those who viewed luxury goods--items which almost invariably surround the wealthy---were significantly more likely to make immoral business decisions in pursuit of personal profit and at the expense of others: "They were more inclined to OK the production of a car that would pollute the environment, the release of bug-riddled software, and the marketing of a vide...

From my good friend Orson Scott Card: Well Paired Team You don't arrive at marriage, lonely hearts. The wedding's where the lifelong journey starts , Forced to travel with a clumsy fool Or trot along behind a receding dream (You had to stop and help me when I tripped, While you  would never stick to my passionate script), Using one another like an ill-made tool, Like ox and antelope yoked in a single team. And yet . . . somehow, together, we managed to pull An empty cart straight uphill; And look--the creaking, rickety thing is full Of crockery, old rags, a child or two. At the start, knowing nothing, we said, 'I will,' And now look at all the things I made with you, All our baggage, all our breakage, art By unskilled artisans, yet beautiful, Yours and mine, no matter how peculiar; New and strange, no matter how familiar. Some passages were merely dutiful. Who could know, on our ignorant starting day That, pulling such a long and weary way, Th...

Quick: How many democratic nations can you name in the Middle East? You should be able to identify at least two: Israel and Iraq. The  massive protests in Egypt  suggest that there will soon be a third. What, you ask, does this have to do with Isaiah? It might help to remember that Iraq is the political entity currently located in the land that Isaiah refers to as Assyria: "In that day [Isaiah-speak for the last days] shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance" (19:24-25). In other words, Isaiah prophesied that in the last days these three countries (Egypt, Israel, and Iraq) would share something in common that would identify them as "a blessing in the midst of the land"--democracy, perhaps? This prophecy concerning Egypt, Iraq, and Israel as a trio will only be fulfilled after t...