Meridian Magazine : : Ideas & Society Archive

Abraham Lincoln and God
Modern revisionist historians like to state their case that Lincoln was not a Christian, but his many eloquent statements of faith give a truer picture. We remember him on this 200th anniversary of his birth.
By Chris Brewer

The Obama Administration and Faith-based Programs
Should the Obama Administration let faith-based programs that receive government grants discriminate against those they hire or serve?
By Michael Otterson

Did Abraham Lincoln Ever Meet Joseph Smith?
This fascinating article outlines the parallel events in the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Smith that may have brought them together, and then ends with a surprising punch line?a fact so interesting, you'll want to pass it on.
By David H. Leroy and Nancy A. Leroy

Going Green without Losing Your Mind: Better Stewardship of Your Own Backyard
Here is the next in Darla Gaylor's series on ?going green without losing your mind: better stewardship of your own backyard.? How do you maximize the blessing of plastic, while minimizing its bane to the environment?
By Darla R. Gaylor

Utah 's Six ?Common Ground? Initiatives
The ?Common Ground? initiatives being pushed by activists in Utah represent a slow erosion to traditional marriage.

The Little Emperors of China
The One-Child Policy
It is a policy that is unthinkable to us in the West, but how does China's one-child policy affect every day life and the social structure of the country? Here are the first-hand observations of one of our Meridian writers who is currently living there.
By Steve Orton

Is More Government the Answer?
As the government balloons in size and scope, the question arises, what would the Founders think?
By Spencer Anderson

Goodbye President Bush
Statement of Senator Orrin G. Hatch
Before the United States Senate
Regarding the presidency of George W. Bush
President Bush enjoyed the highest approval rating in late 2001 and nearly the lowest in late 2008?which is a reflection of political life in America. How does Senator Orrin Hatch view the Bush presidency? Here's what he told the Senate.

Text of Barack Obama's Inaugural Speech
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. Read Barack Obama's inaugural address.

Our Wish for President Obama
Whether we voted for him or not, Barack Obama is now our President. We tire of the mean-spiritedness that has been dividing our nation for too long, and hope that his call for a united people, which is typical of the call of a new President, will be fulfilled. Here is our wishes for him.
By Maurine Proctor

Pigs at the Trough
Like pigs waiting in line to get their snouts in the feeding trough, come many of the nation's governors -- on the heels of the mayors -- asking Washington for bailout money.
By Cal Thomas

2008 Ending on the Road to Disaster
"As 2008 draws to a close, for each of us this should be a time of cheerful season festivities and spirited anticipation for a bright new year. Regrettably, I am having a hard time with either ? as I watch our great nation slowly commit economic and moral suicide."
By Stephen M. Studdert

Elder Bruce D. Porter in Newsweek: No Case in Bible for Homosexuality
In response to a recent Newsweek cover that claims the Bible makes a case for same-sex marriage, Elder Porter has co-authored this hard-hitting response.

Going Green without Losing Your Mind
I need to give you some background before I give you some good information on Going Green. In the end, I want to influence your decision to make some meaningful changes, but I want you to do it because it is the right thing to do.
By Darla R. Gaylor

The Mormon Work Ethic
Why Utah's Economy is soaring above its neighbors.
From The Economist

A Look at the Family in China
It will come as no surprise to Meridian readers that family is important in China. Meridian's Steve Orton is now living there and he gives us a view of the family, with photographs, that may give you some insights and views you have never had. Come and see.
By Steve Orton

How People of Faith Voted in the 2008 Presidential Race
With the nation's longest election campaign ever finally completed, and Barack Obama emerging as a 53% to 46% victor over Sen. John McCain, a new election analysis survey by The Barna Group provides the details of how people of faith voted in 2008.
By The Barna Group

In the Face of Hatred
The controversy in California regarding Proposition 8 built to a frenzy in the days leading up to Tuesday's election and then exploded into anger and violence in the aftermath of Prop 8's slim passage into law as thousands seiged the temple. Numerous photos are included in this article of the demonstration.
By Paul Bishop

Proposition 8 and California 's Schoolchildren: A Primer on Falsehoods
Perhaps the most hotly-debated question about Proposition 8 is the measure's impact on schoolchildren. If Proposition 8 fails, will young children be taught that same-sex marriage is equal to traditional marriage? Opponents of Prop 8 have adamantly -- and falsely -- claimed this will not happen.
By Lowell Brown

Upholding the Constitution
On one extreme, we have the idea that the Constitution is a written document that can only be altered by a deliberately time-consuming process of amendment. On the other extreme, we have the idea that the Constitution means whatever a group of judges says it means.
By Orson Scott Card

The Presidential Candidates and Family Values - Where Do They Stand?
Six weeks ago we published a scorecard on the candidates' stands as to family values. Now, as we approach Election Day, less than one week from now, we publish this again so you can be intelligent and informed on your vote for President. A letter from the First Presidency dated September 11, 2008 on political participation has been included at the end of the article.
By Maurine Proctor

California 's Proposition 8: Open Season on Mormons?
You may be amazed and disgusted at the attacks on people of faith who are only expressing their religious consciences through the ballot process, and are doing so in the most all-American ways ? grassroots organizing and small financial donations.
By Lowell Brown

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
Author, newspaper columnist, and registered Democrat Orson Scott Card writes an open letter to the local daily paper ? almost every local daily paper in America.
By Orson Scott Card

Temple-Era Inscription Found Reading ?Son of the High Priest?
Palestinian leaders frequently make the claim that there never was a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. They also insist that there never even was a Jewish commonwealth in the Land of Israel.
By Ralph B. Kostant

Is Anyone Really Listening?
As Rome burns, our elected national leaders remain locked in self-serving partisan bickering and inexcusable gridlock. You think it can't happen? Think again.
By Stephen M. Studdert

Way To Go Jordin Sparks! Standing Up For Chastity
Can I just say how infinitely impressed I am with Jordin Sparks. It's her courage and her conviction that has me cheering. I'm sick and tired of people bashing that which is good and decent. I'm sick and tired of people acting like there's no one left in the world who actually thinks it's a smart idea to save sex for marriage.
By Laura M. Brotherson

Elder Bruce D. Porter Responds in Religious Journal: Is Mormonism Christian?
How do we answer the misconception that Mormons aren't Christian? Elder Porter has a chance to do that in a prominent religious journal.
By Maurine Proctor

Evergreen to Hold 18^th Annual Conference
Evergreen International, the oldest and largest organization for faithful Latter-day Saints dealing with same-gender attraction, will hold its 18th annual conference on September 19 and 20, 2008 in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City.

Happy Constitution Day!
Honoring and Preserving the Constitution
Celebrate the constitution by getting a free pocketsize copy and seeing why preserving it matters so much.
By Spencer Anderson

Mormons and Catholics: What It Means to be a ?Saint?
There is sometimes a great deal of misunderstanding about the Roman Catholic position on saints and their role within the Church and salvation.
By Alonzo L. Gaskill

No One to Go Away Empty Handed
What did Brigham Young say about how to handle your food storage in time of want? Do you share with others when you have very little, and if so, what are the consequences?
By Ronald P. Millett

Timely New DVD Helps Answer Hard Questions about Race and Equality in the Church
Issues of equality and race continue to surface regarding the Church. When people ask you about the history of blacks in the Church, and why the the priesthood was only extended to black males after a revelation in 1978, how will you answer?
By Dana King

Open Letter from a Former Pornography Addict
A former pornography addict learns the virtues of spiritual exercise.
By Geoff Steurer

A Need for Unity ? as Citizens and as Disciples
In this election year, we would do well to consider two ways how God would have us work with one another and how we may make wise decisions in the civic arenas.
By Stephen M. Studdert

Global Warming ? Latest Excuse for the War on the Family
Global warming cultists are starting to blame religion and family as a big source of what they see as climate change?and in a recent article, the Latter-day Saints were mentioned by name.
By Don Feder

Promoting Pornography? LDS Consumers and the Apparel Industry
Most parents wouldn’t let their children wear pornographic brand clothing. Or would they?
By J. Scott Askew

Why Mccain Should Pick Romney
John Nance Garner IV, the nation's 32^nd Vice President, once described the office of the vice presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm spit." This year things are different. At a time when our homeland security, economic health, and national condition are being daily assaulted, who McCain picks as his running mate really does matter.
By Stephen M. Studdert

New Book to Help Victims of Pornography Find Hope: A Call for Submissions
Submission are being sought for a book that talks about the effects of pornography on society and how families have battled pornography and won.
By Cherilyn Bacon Eagar

An LDS Washington DC Insider Says America is in Danger
Steve Studdert, who has been a White House advisor to three U.S. Presidents, says that ignorance is not bliss when it comes to understand ten major dangers looming on the horizon for America.
By Maurine Proctor

New Religious Survey Reveals Youth Swelling Ranks of Unaffiliated
“If you want to understand America, you have to understand religion in America.” A new survey shows some fading in religious affiliation.
By Maurine Proctor

Religious Bias and Mitt Romney
Super Tuesday is behind us and watching Mitt Romney’s inability to penetrate the South — he consistently came in third place after McCain and Huckabee — raises the question that has haunted his campaign from the beginning.
By Maurine Proctor, Editor-in-Chief, Meridian Magazine

Mitt Romney Hits a Home Run
Mitt Romney hit it out of the ballpark yesterday at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, as he delivered the speech about how his religious faith will affect and inform his presidency.
By Maurine Proctor

It's Not Too Late to Say Thank You
There are people in our lives who bless us, and yet their kindness is so constant or so much time has passed that they go unrecognized and unthanked. It's not too late to let them know that what they do is noticed and remembered gratefully.
By Orson Scott Card

Mormonism and American Politics
The Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University is bringing historians, political scientists, philosophers, legal scholars, award-winning journalists, documentary filmmakers, and noted public intellectuals from a variety of faith traditions to discuss the contested intersection between religion and American politics as this issue is playing out currently on the national stage with regards to Mormonism.

Romney Wins Value Voter Straw Poll
All nine Republican candidates for president tried to convince values voters they were the man this weekend at the Washington Briefing.
By Maurine Jensen Proctor

How to Civilize a Child
If you don't think your child can be civilized, you're wrong. Here is a method that can turn chaos into civilization. The success of this program only depends on you, the parent.
By Orson Scott Card

Does Civilization Begin in Sacrament Meeting?
Parents train their children to be irreverent. For children by nature can be both attentive and inattentive, obedient and disobedient, and — wittingly or not — parents choose which behavior to reinforce at different times.
By Orson Scott Card

How to Know Your Neighbor
How do you make your neighborhood so inclusive and h appy that nobody wants to move? By Whitney Johnson

The Dangerous Lure of Stuff
It took 45 years of marriage to accumulate all the trappings of family life. But now a recently-retired man realizes that the time has come to let go of those worldly possessions and move on to other things.
By Steve Orton

How Music Reflects our Values
Once we become accustomed to particular forms of entertainment, the values embedded within that entertainment begin to become enmeshed with our own.
By Loran Howard Blood

The Aftermath of Tragedy
When things go terribly wrong, it is only natural to want to find someone to blame. But assigning guilt to others isn't always possible. And even when it's possible, it may not be the right thing to do.
By Orson Scott Card

Being in the Politically Correct World but Not of It
What we think about ourselves, our relations with others, and about the great and greatest questions of life depends to a great extent upon the way we use language. As our language is altered and corrupted to reflect the agendas of the world, we begin to confront the world more upon its own terms than upon the gospel's.
By Loran Howard Blood

When a Handshake Isn't Enough, Part 5
To the Wife of the Grieving, Depressed, or Traumatized Man
If you want a husband to lead in love, then you must follow in love. If you want him to listen and remember, then you must listen and remember. If you want gentleness and tenderness, you must give gentleness and tenderness. If you want a husband whose life is centered around gratitude, service, love, and sacrifice for his family, then you must return it in kind; otherwise you will be telling him that you no longer wish these things from him.
By Bruce T. Forbes

Lessons Children Learn from Sports
I'm glad that people who love sports have had a good time with them. But don't ever, ever say, "This is a life lesson that you just can't learn any other way." There are no life lessons that you can't learn any other way.
By Orson Scott Card

Science Takes a Leap of Faith
Is faith scientifically irrational? Scientists say yes because it involves feelings. However, when we put the microscope to faith, we discover more than meets the eye. Faith, like science, is a quest for truth involving the unseen world.
By Donald M. White and Marcus C. White

Life after Surviving the Storms of Grief, Depression, and Trauma
There are two types of people who make it through the storms of life — the ones who believe they battled their demons alone, and the ones who give credit where credit is due.
By Bruce T. Forbes

Sources of Tension between the West and the Islamic World
There will always be some stress between the historically Christian West and the world of Islam, if only because of normal and predictable religious disagreements. But shared theological territory exacerbates the doctrinal differences between them.
By Daniel C. Peterson

Music to Calm the Beasts of Depression, Grief, and Trauma
When human beings are grappling with depression, music can literally save their lives. Here is one man's perspective, along with a fascinating tidbit that explains why the use of a conductor's baton may make all the difference in the quality of music in your ward.
By Bruce T. Forbes

Liberty in Law
Those who gave us our freedom were the sort "who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life." They sacrificed. Thousands died. Thousands more were maimed for life. Wives and children wept. Homes burned to the ground. Fortunes were scattered to the wind. Poverty and disease ran rampant. This was freedom's heavy cost. It always is.
By Steve Farrell

One Man?s Journey through Grieving, Depression, and Trauma
All men are different. Because we are all different, we all react differently to negative events in our lives. Don't let stereotypes tell you how you should react and then make you feel a failure because you didn't measure up.
By Bruce T. Forbes

The Nation's Top Journalists Question Richard Bushman about Mormonism
Mitt Romney's candidacy has put Mormonism in the spotlight—sometimes in ways laced with misconception and bias. The Pew Forum recently invited Richard Bushman to field the toughest questions of the nation's top journalists. This is a transcript of his talk and his answers.

Know Your Neighbor and Beautify Your Community
Does it really matter what the media say about members of the Church, if people who live among Latter-day Saints don't like us? It may be possible that the early Saints suffered because they became enemies with their neighbors instead of friends.
By Whitney Johnson and Roger Johnson

When a Handshake Isn’t Enough
How to Help the Grieving, Depressed, or Traumatized Man
If you think a man doesn't suffer, think again. That wall around him may be about to fracture, leaving him vulnerable and unprotected. There are ways to help.
By Bruce T. Forbes

Peterson's Rule
It isn't necessary, in considering another system of beliefs, to accept it. But it is necessary, if you truly want to understand it, to try to imagine how someone else could believe it, could find it emotionally appealing and intellectually satisfying.
By Daniel C. Peterson

A Letter to the Pastor
This letter was written by Margaret Blair Young to a pastor friend after he watched the PBS documentary The Mormons and was still unsure what members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really believe.
By Margaret Blair Young

How to Help Troubled Children
What about the child who plays with fire, self-injures or sneaks out the bedroom window in the middle of the night? Who will give the primary caregiver respite and love such a child?
By Deborah Atkinson

So Why Know Your Neighbor?
Even after all the publicity of the Salt Lake Olympics, a poll revealed that the first thing most people think when they hear the word "Mormon" is polygamy. As individual members of the Church, we have the power — and the responsibility — to change that image.
By Whitney Johnson

Dinner and a Mormon
Why don't people try to understand Mormons? Can't they see that we are really good people? If we could only offer those people who think negatively about Mormons the chance for "Dinner with a Mormon," how quickly their thinking might change.
By Whitney Johnson

Modern-Day Stripling Warriors
The stories of the young women who have and are choosing modesty don't make the front pages of the popular worldly magazines, but as the angels above are writing the history of the world, their headlines may include the efforts of these modern-day stripling warriors.
By Keith Halls

The Secret Curse of Hollywood 'Stars'
For every self-destructive superstar who dies a sad, early death, there are hundreds of celebrities who live profoundly dysfunctional, conflict-ridden lives. These people seem to possess everything most of us secretly covet — talent, fame, good looks, wealth, adoration. So what goes wrong? What secret curse afflicts them?
By David Kupelian

All in a Good Cause
What if you made up a lie? What if other people believed that lie and turned it into a religion?
By Orson Scott Card

Mitt Romney Makes It Official
Yesterday, Mitt Romney returned to his roots in Michigan, where he was born, to make his formal announcement and declare his candidacy for president of the United States, running as a Republican and seeking to strike an inspirational note as he called for innovation and transformation in creating a new and renewed future for the country.
By Maurine Proctor

Thinking Above the Line: How Our Thoughts can Affect Teen Behavior
If you and your wayward child are at an impasse, it may help you and your child if you lift your thoughts "above the line."
By Anne Hinton Pratt

Loving the Prodigal Child
Adam and Eve had a wayward child. Lehi had a couple of them. Alma the Elder had one. Alma the Younger had another one. Some of these wayward kids turned their lives around. Some didn't. How does a parent cope with the possibility her child might not work things out in the end?
By Deborah Atkinson

What Do We Do For Our Kids?
Most of what our children need to learn to succeed as adults, they learn simply from being in a well-functioning family.
By Orson Scott Card

Romney Raises $6.5 Million for Early Momentum
Mitt Romney gathered nearly 400 of his supporters into the Boston Convention Center on Monday for a unique National Call Day that generated $6.5 million and put contenders on notice that this is a campaign with muscle and energy.
By Maurine Proctor

Keith Halls takes on Fashion Industry
With Beautifully Modest Clothing
At Meridian, we believe in standing for something and we try to highlight people and organizations who will stand for the values that we all share. Keith Halls is one of those individuals who has taken on a whole industry with great zeal and vision, whose business is not profit driven but cause driven. Don't miss this remarkable story. Your daughters and granddaughters will be glad you read this article, and so will you.
By Maurine Jensen Proctor

A Romney Candidacy: What To Watch for in the Press
With Governor Romney's announcement of a presidential candidacy comes a wave of religious prejudice directed against Mormons. In a Q and A with Meridian, Mitch Davis, who heads Run Mitt Run, tells us what might lie ahead.
By Mitch Davis

Why a Mormon Can Be President
The media can't stop talking about Mitt Romney's religion. Will that put a damper on his presidential aspirations?
By Maurine Proctor

Building Better Children
If you want your children to get ahead, flash cards are not the answer. The best tactic in a parent's arsenal may be to stand back and let the child learn at his own pace.
By Orson Scott Card

Today?s Elections and the War on Terror
Although the moral issues at home should be enough to convince any American voter to go to the polls today, here is another reason why the stakes in today's election are so crucial.
By Orson Scott Card

Why Do We Still Get Homework?
Children and parents should start every day of every week of school assuming that unless something important comes up, there won't be any homework. So that when there is homework, it's important. It's something so major that it really can't be completed on school time.
By Orson Scott Card

Homework ? The Worst Job in the World
We made laws abolishing child labor, yet we tolerate burdening our children with a steadily increasing amount of homework at night, on weekends, and during holidays and vacations.
By Orson Scott Card

Addiction Affects Us All
The mortality rate from indulgence in tobacco, alcohol and drugs is now exceeding 500,000 deaths per year in the United States. But that's not all. People can get just as addicted to gambling, pornography, money, and other facets of modern life, creating exactly the same symptoms as addiction to chemical substances.
By Dr. Dean W. Belnap

A Brain Gone Wrong
Pornography: Molesting the Minds of Our Youth
Today's society is spinning downward into such a culture of bizarre mindsets, beliefs and practices. Sex is paraded about like the ice cream truck on a Saturday afternoon. The result is being recorded — we call it imprinting — on the brains of the young.
By Dr. Dean W. Belnap

Abuse: When Home Isn't a Haven
Abuse in the family is a complex and painful tragedy. It is important to remember that the power of the gospel can greatly help both the abuser and the abused, freeing them from the pain, sorrow, and captivity they may feel.
By M. Gawain Wells and Leslie Feinauer

Da Vinci Doubts and Reason?s Rebuke
There are so many errors of reasoning in The Da Vinci Code that no believing Latter-day Saint should get caught up in its webwork of lies.
By Karen Boren

IT'S FOUR-TWENTY
DO YOU KNOW WHERE OUR YOUTH ARE?
Okay, let’s have a show of hands out there. How many parents know what the number 420 stands for in current popular culture? Anyone? No? Okay, what if we break it down into it’s common parlance, four-twenty? Still nobody? With paucity of parental hand waving, perhaps the better question is how many of our teens recognize this term. Don't be surprised to find out that many of them know all about four-twenty.
by Paul Bishop

LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program Guide
If you know someone who is battling addiction to pornography or to harmful substances, find out what you can do to help.
By Dr. Rick Hawks

The Lure of the Web
Many parents fret about video games, but blogging has made the X-Box the lesser of the two evils. Written by a police detective, this is the internet article your blogging teenagers do not want you to read.
By Paul Bishop

?A Brain Gone Wrong?
How the Brain/Body Reacts to Anxiety and Stress
Understanding the truth about what occurs in the brain and body when the stress cycle remains unchecked is the first step in empowering us to break the debilitating cycles of worry, alarm and anxiety.
By Dr. W. Dean Belnap

Creation and Evolution in the Schools
Evolution and Darwinism have been treated as synonyms for so long that too many people think they're the same thing. But they're not, and never have been.
By Orson Scott Card

Espousing Politically Incorrect Doctrines ? Counsel to Unwed Parents
Despite the threat of being viewed politically incorrect, there are six points of true doctrine that, if understood and followed, would heal the pains and misfortunes of millions of children.
By Kevin Broderick, M.S., LMFT

Plain and Precious Things Restored: Margaret Barker and the Queen of Heaven
The Mother of God, Wisdom, the Queen of Heaven. Are all the same? And what significance to they have to LDS theology?
By Kevin Christensen

Missing the Mark with Religion, Part 1
Modern Liberalism
One of the most controversial and confusing of all issues for many is, just what is the proper role of religion and morality in public life?
By Steve Farrell

Pornography: Molesting the Minds of Our Youth
Sex is paraded about like the ice cream truck on a Saturday afternoon. And the result is being recorded — we call it imprinting — on the brains of the young.
By Dr. W. Dean Belnap

Window of Faith: God in Modern History
In your quiet moments, have you ever wondered why things happen the way they do? Is there an overriding purpose in the affairs of men?
Edited by Roy A. Prete

Window of Faith: Latter-day Perspectives on God in History
In a time of devastating natural disasters, including tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes, what could be more meaningful than to consider the role of God in history?
Edited by Roy A. Prete

The Children of Divorce
Divorce is an ever-present possibility in the world all of our children live in, no matter the condition of our own marriage. Thus every divorce makes every child at least a little less certain of the permanence of his own home.
By Orson Scott Card

Plain and Precious Things Restored: Margaret Barker and Wisdom
The Biblical prophets Joseph and Daniel have some interesting parallels to the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi.
By Kevin Christensen

Connecting Saints with Mental Health Services
So much of what traditional mental health professionals preach is contrary to what Latter-day Saints believe that Mormons often assume there isn’t any help for them in the medical community. Fortunately, they’re wrong.
By Kathryn H. Kidd

Sexual Offenders — Serpents Amoung Us?
Thanks to Megan's Law, we can often know who sex offenders are — knowledge which can be used to save or destroy families.
By Paul Bishop

The State of American Culture and What can be Done about It
The culture war must be fought more and more by organized groups, not just individuals griping or writing letters to their congressmen.
By Robert Bork

An American Litmus Test
Either life matters, or it doesn't. Either life is a right, or it isn't.
By Steve Farrell

Is Same-Sex Marriage No Big Deal?
Evidence from Massachusetts
People who say that legalizing same-sex marriage won't affect our world aren't aware of the grave consequences already evident in Massachusetts and Canada.
Excerpts from a talk by Scott Fitzgibbons

10,000 Californians Needed to Protect Marriage Now
If you are from California or know anyone to pass this article on to in California, please read this important message.

Massachusetts Marriage Petition Drive Needs You
If you are a citizen of Massachusetts, this article is very important for you.

Meridian Announces the Family Leader Network
Please join us to stand up and be counted in the great causes of our time. We've formed a new organization "Family Leader Network” so that you can stand fast for the principles of family, faith and freedom.
By Maurine Proctor

Horace Mann's Balanced Vision for Public Education
The fundamentals of what was once considered vital to a public education, here in the United States, have spiraled dangerously downward over time more than some of us care to admit, or even realize.
By Steve Farrell

Plain and Precious Things Restored: Margaret Barker and Josiah?s Reform
The lifetimes of Jeremiah and Lehi were punctuated by profound changes. Methodist scholar Margaret Barker explains the beliefs of a time in a way that bolsters Book of Mormon scholarship.
By Kevin Christensen

Education Series, Part 14: Joyce Kinmont, Homeschooling Pioneer
I don't believe Latter-day Saints can continue to send their children to schools that teach false doctrines and not put them in spiritual danger. The enemy is closer, more sophisticated, more dangerous than ever.
By Darla Isackson

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Physician-Assisted Suicide Case
As I helped her into our car, she said, “He wants me to kill myself!” She and I were devastated. How could her physician, her trusted physician, subtly suggest to her that she take her own life?
By Kenneth R. Stevens Jr., MD

Plain and Precious Things Restored: Spiritual Blindness
Biblical prophets who lived at Jerusalem described spiritual blindness. By comparing their words, we can get a better view of what defines the condition, what wisdom was lost at the time, and what the contrasting condition of vision should be.
By Kevin Christensen

Partial Birth Abortion Fight Gears Up
The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a federal ban on partial birth abortions. This will serve as the first significant test of how willing Chief Justice John Roberts is to overturn precedent.
By Austin Ruse

War on God Continues
So the courts have struck down The Pledge of Allegiance in three Sacramento, California elementary schools. What else is new?
By Steve Farrell

Plain and Precious Things Restored: Why Margaret Barker Matters
What does a female Methodist preacher from England have to say to LDS scholars?
By Kevin Christensen

Californians?Easier Instructions to Stand for Marriage
Californians: Please call or email this morning to take a stand for marriage.

Californians-Take Five Minutes to Stand for Marriage
A same-sex marriage bill just passed the California Senate on Thursday and will be voted on on Tuesday in the California Assembly. Your help is urgently needed. If you know anyone in California, please pass this on.

Virginia, Maryland Meridian Readers?We Need You
If you live near Washington D.C., you can help make a stand for family and religious freedom next week.
By Maurine Jensen Proctor

The NEA & God: A Partnership in Denial
The NEA has done an about face since it published its 1941 American Citizens Handbook.
by Steve Farrel

Constitutional Myths and Realities
As a people, we know that the Constitution is an inspired document. As John G. Roberts is soon to come before the Senate for Supreme Court confirmation hearings, are there any myths you might believe about the nature of the Supreme Court?
By Stephen Markman. Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

New Research May Point to Moral Procedure for Obtaining Stem Cells
Scientists at Harvard may have found a way to produce embryonic stem cells without destroying human embryos.
By Austin Ruse

What?s Happening in Your School?
Blindly trusting that your children's school is making good decisions regarding what they are being exposed to is not simply a foolish mistake, but a serious danger. What we don’t know could hurt our children.
By Gary and Joy Lundberg

What Even Good Kids Need to Know about Date Rape Drugs
Choosing this topic for Meridian may surprise some of our readers. However, the problem is more prevalent than most people know. We hope the knowledge shared in this article will alert parents and youth to a growing problem and spare some in our reading audience great pain.
By Paul Bishop

The Forbidden Book
When your business is communizing America, it is vital that access to the truth about America's founding be denied to every student of American history, culture and law.
By Steve Farrell

God & Country in 1941: An NEA ?Coming Out? Party
If the Second Coming were to occur in a public classroom today, the NEA would insist that a cadre of psychologists swarm in on the community to undo the damage to children, teachers, and family before the school could open again.
By Steve Farrell

Steel in the Book of Mormon
The concept of "steel" (the metal) seems to derive from "steel" meaning hard or strong, not the other way around.
By William Hamblin

New Study Shows Access to Contraceptives Doesn?t Stop Unplanned Pregnancies
According to a new abortion study from the research arm of Planned Parenthood, widespread access to contraceptives does not stop unplanned pregnancies, not by a long shot.
By Austin Ruse

Spiritual Healing of Mind and Body: The Brain Gone Right
I never expected to find myself in a testimony meeting of psychiatrists in the Ivy League Halls of Harvard.
By W. Dean Belnap M.D.

The ?Right? Not to be Offended
If you want to watch human reason descend to its lowest form, tune in and observe the finger wagging parade of "experts" on the evening news.
By Steve Farrell

Teaching Vocabulary and Teaching Moments
The elderly sister just thought we were forbidden to drink alcohol, not to avoid it completely. To her, drinking an alcoholic beverage out of a glass was not the same thing as sipping it from a spoonful of fruit pieces.
By John A. Tvedtnes

Education Series, Part 13: ABCs of Homeschooling
If one of my children is being difficult, it helps me to realize that he is better off with me. I think: "If I feel annoyed, how would a school teacher feel?"
By Darla Isackson, with Diane Hopkins and Heidi Hanks
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

Videogames and Other Brain-Training Adventures
After five weeks of training, twelve out of twenty ADHD kids no longer met the clinical criteria. In other words, while they might not be "cured," they could no longer be diagnosed as ADHD.
By Orson Scott Card

The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers
"In nearly every area, using a variety of measures, Mormon young people showed the highest degree of religious vitality and salience."
By Romney Biddulph

The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is the world's last surviving god-king, a ruler thought to have special relationships to the heavens.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Is It Bad to Be Fat?
We are a society on diets, but what do the studies really tell us about being fat?
By Orson Scott Card

The Great Pillars of American Liberty
American school children are not being taught something critical about the nation's founding--the central role of Christianity in the underlying principles.
By Steve Farrell

Shinto: the Way of the Gods
The traditional national religion of Japan is Shinto. In many ways it is more than a religion: Shinto is a reflection of Japanese sensitivities, culture, attitudes and nationalism. In some ways it could be described as the veneration of Japaneseness.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Education Series, Part 12: To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool?
Have the public schools become less supportive of the values we cherish? No doubt.
By Darla Isackson
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Always Choose Life
Is the government fulfilling its duty to protect life?
By Geoffrey Biddulph

The California Mission System
It was the very economic success of the missions that led to the end first of Spanish and then of Mexican control.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Riots of the Faithful
The greatest asset that Osama has is the fact that a new religious movement "politically correct puritanism" is perilously close to seizing control of the governments of most of the major nations of the West.
By Orson Scott Card

What Think You of Terrorism, Mr. Jefferson?
Adams was being honest. He never had a hand in it. Can we say the same of ourselves?
By Steve Farrell

Religious Commitment Is Lead Voting Indicator
Church attendance is a greater indicator of how one voted in the 2004 presidential election than "such demographic characteristics as gender, age, income and region" and is "just as important as race."
By Austin Ruse

Silencing the Truth for the Sake of Party
We all need an occasional reality check. It's hard not to take sides with party, when party is what defines all too many of us.
By Steve Farrell

Hillel, a Founder of Rabbinic Judaism
When Peter and the apostles were on trial before the Sanhedrin for blasphemy, Gamaliel?s plea for tolerance ? undoubtedly based in part on the teachings of his grandfather ? saved their lives.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Descent of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem
Symbolically the descent of the Holy Fire commemorates the moment of the resurrection, when the power of God descended into the tomb of Christ, transforming death into life.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Education Series 11: Mom Schools and Co-ops
Classroom teachers can only tell children about how plants grow or what a policeman does for the community. Mothers and other interested persons can show them and give them hands-on involvement.
By Darla Isackson
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Bastiat?s Christian Defense of Morality in the Law
A man's life, then, is not simply what resides in his heart, as important as this is, but how his heart reflects in his speech, his moral choices and his labor.
By Steve Farrell

Rabi?a, A Woman and a Saint to Muslims
It is said that, when death was near, she asked her friends to leave and to make way for the messengers of God. As they departed, they heard God’s voice welcoming her into Paradise.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Natural Family: A Manifesto
Finally, an Agenda for Us
"The only real perils our future faces are the forces eroding the foundations of marriage and family. The Family manifesto is not only a blueprint for survival, it is a bugle call."
By Maurine Proctor

Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are
One thing leads to another. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Actions have consequences. These all sound self-evident. But they're not self-evident — particularly to a young person trying to understand life.
By David McCullough

Christianity's Debt to the Vatican
What should Latter-day Saints make of such a man, and of the institution that he led? As worldwide attention now shifts to the selection of his successor, what should be our attitude toward the Church of Rome?
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Why I Miss Karol Wojtyla
He was a hero of mine. I felt better and safer about the world because he was in it, and I feel that we are just a little worse off, in a little more danger, because he’s gone.
By Orson Scott Card

A Republic, Not a Democracy
What, then, is the real object of a national educational establishment that has rewritten our history books and imposed curriculum mandates that teach the rising generation that the American Founders gave us a democracy?
By Steve Farrell

Quetzalcoatl
The conquest of Mexico was in part stimulated by the perfect faith of the Aztecs that Quetzalcoatl would one day return as promised.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Jewish Sect Finds Their Messiah
Although Schneerson apparently never made any explicit statements on the matter, many of his followers came to believe that he himself was the promised Messiah.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Saints Seek Solutions to the Education Dilemma
I was amazed at the titles and stated purposes of their textbooks. For example, a math book is titled Applying Mathematics; Learning How to Self-Govern Using Correct Principles.
Featuring Alison Holmes and Gary Arnell
Introduction by Darla Isackson
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Whose Life Is Worth Living?
Nobody would suggest euthanizing a person because she’s suffering so terribly about choosing a table and chairs. No, we’re still slightly careful about whom we can kill and then feel noble about it.
By Orson Scott Card

Blessed Tolerance: The ?Virtue? of a Republic in Decline
Inevitably, we reap what we sow — andd so, a culture defined by selfishness breeds a nation of idlers and infidels, drunkards and dependents, scoundrels and sluts, power-hungry politicians and apathetic citizens, and by and by, a nation ripe for tyranny.
By Steve Farrell

A Brain Gone Wrong: The Essence of Agency
Part Five of a Ten-Part Series
Inner conversation can paint a new internal picture of us: What we would like to be, we can be.
By Dr. Dean W. Belnap

Cosmic Optimism
The great religions of the world are united in declaring that there are great and good things in store for the faithful, and even, in some versions, for all or virtually all of humankind.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Why Making Choices Is So Hard
Why is it that even though we live in the richest country in the world and have an enormous number of choices we can make every day, we Americans show signs of being unhappier than we were thirty or fifty years ago?
By Orson Scott Card

Religious Art: Symbols of the Divine
Throughout most of history the vast majority of art has been based on religious themes and patronage.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Denying Spiritual Man
Despots have always known that disconnecting man from God has been vital to holding him down.
By Steve Farrell

"How Can You Believe That?"
Every religion that has appealed to large numbers over extended periods of time has contained elements that appealed to intelligent people.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

America's Health Burden from Promiscuity Three Times Higher than Others
Some 7.5 percent of Americans suffer a negative health incident resulting from sexual activity, and that 1.3 percent of all deaths in America can be attributed to sexual behavior.
By Austin Ruse

In Memoriam: Hugh Winder Nibley (1910-2005)
Professor Nibley had the rare gift, not of telling his students what they should know, but of inspiring them to learn for themselves.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Ashura
Reenactments of his brutal death whip devout Shi'ites to a high pitch of religious enthusiasm, reminding them of all the injustices and usurpations they have suffered over the centuries.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Religion and Presidential Politics
If a Latter-day Saint were a serious contender for the presidency, would his religious affiliation trouble substantial numbers of American voters? Evidence and intuition both argue that it would.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Fact, Fable, and Darwin, Part 2
Darwin himself once wrote that he could not understand how anyone could even wish that Christianity were true, noting that the doctrine of damnation was itself damnable.
By Rodney Stark

Fact, Fable, and Darwin, Part 1
I write as neither a creationist nor a Darwinist, but as one who knows what is probably the most disreputable scientific secret of the past century: There is no plausible scientific theory of the origin of species!
By Rodney Stark

A Brain Gone Wrong.
The Brain Believes What You Tell It
Part Four of a Ten Part Series
Put simply, the brain believes what you tell it most. What you tell it about you – what you like, what you do, what you want, what you need ? will create you as your brain sees it.
By Dr. W. Dean Belnap

Desert Monasticism in the Judean Wilderness
When Christianity became the popular and prestigious religion of early Rome, thousands of monks fled to the Judean wilderness to practice what they felt was a purer version of Christ's teachings.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Evolution vs. Creationism
Perhaps the most educated man in this nation's history, Thomas Jefferson, saw in the Universe what your children and my children are not permitted to hear, to consider, or endeavor to prove.
By Steve Farrell
Liberty Letters, Thomas Jefferson, Letter 20

G.K. Chesterton's Modern Relevance
“The next great heresy,” wrote G.K. Chesterton, “is going to be simply an attack on morality, and especially on sexual morality. The madness of tomorrow is not in Moscow, but much more in Manhattan.”
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Education Reform from the Bottom Up
What changes at school would it take for our children to become passionate about learning?
By Lynn Stoddard, with Introduction by Darla Isackson
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Check Evil at the Door
A slumbering giant is awakening. But why did it take so long? The Founders would call our wait-for-a-crisis approach, foolish.
By Steve Farrell
Liberty Letters, John Dickinson, Letter 16

Showdown on Judicial Nominations Set for February
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is set to deploy the "nuclear option" of disallowing the filibuster if Democrats try to once again block President Bush's judicial nominees when they are brought to the floor.
By Austin Ruse

Self-Esteem and Encouragement: A Different Twist
"My siblings and I had the advantage of being raised by the champion praiser of all time. My mother is a one-woman factory of encouragement, not just to us but to everyone around her. Yet she never flattered anybody."
By Orson Scott Card

The Largest Religious Gathering in the World
The annual Islamic pilgrimage, or Hajj, has just ended. Estimates for participation suggest that more than two million people converged on Mecca from approximately one hundred nations.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

President George W. Bush?s Second Inaugural Speech
Thursday, January 20, 2005, Washington, D.C.
"On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed." The full text of the President's speech.

The Journal from Ground Zero Ohio, Part Two
I kept thinking, "I've toured and performed on stage with some mighty famous folks and celebrity just doesn't faze me. They're real people. But I've lived all these 54 years and have never really been this close to a world power – a U.S. President – and for this length of time in such a close setting. I know he's going to turn around any moment now and speak to me. If this never happens again in my life, what can I possibly say of any import?"
By Cherilyn J. Bacon

The Journal from Ground Zero Ohio 2004
Meridian helped recruit volunteers for both parties for the last election. Here's a first-hand report from a volunteer who worked in the election hot spot--Ohio.
By Cherilyn J. Bacon

A Brain Gone Wrong. Who is This Child?
Part Three of a Ten Part Series
Initially, the stimulation tickles the brain. But for some, far too many, just that one adventure is enough to lock in an imprint that begins the downward spiral.
By Dr. W. Dean Belnap

A Classic Book on Religion
One of the world's most eminent authorities on the varied religious life of mankind says we have written science "a blank check" and dismissed spirituality.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

A Brain Gone Wrong: Can Negative Imprinting be Reversed?
Part Two of a Ten Part Series
Initially, the stimulation tickles the brain. But for some, far too many, just that one adventure is enough to lock in an imprint that begins the downward spiral.
By Dr. W. Dean Belnap

A Letter from a Foreign Student in the U.S.
"As I was growing up, some of my relatives and friends went to the United States to pursue advanced degrees or to seek working opportunities. Many of those who went to America have never come back. I wondered why."
By Orson Scott Card

Ancient Rome: A Merging of Religious Ideas
Rome—one of the great empires and cultures of antiquity—was as important in the development of world religion as it was in many other spheres.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Religious ?Neutrality? & the Lemon Test
They'd like to say that their approach to religion in public life is what our Founders gave us, what the Constitution meant in the Bill of Rights – but they'd be lying.
By Steve Farrell

A Brain Gone Wrong: Why Today's Teen is in Trouble
Part One of a Ten Part Series
The twenty-first century faces a war with no name and no marked battleground. The casualties are our youth. They come from every address and ability and they are being squandered in what was once considered the lifestyle of only a degraded few.
By Dr. W. Dean Belnap

The Legacy of Classical Civilizations
Classical Greece and Rome have been gone for centuries. But their legacy lives on in many ways, great and small, in the cultures that have succeeded them.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher
For most Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem – the traditional site of the crucifixion, burial, andd resurrection of Jesus – is the most sacred place on earth.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Moral Law is Fixed ? and Always Has Been
Liberty Letters, John Jay
One of the ‘enlightened’ positions I can assure you your kids have been taught is the Communist evolutionary answer to faith. Some of you may believe it yourself, and don’t even know it.
By Steve Farrell

Bethel, an Ancient Israelite Shrine
Located about ten miles north of Jerusalem, Bethel functioned as an important patriarchal and early Israelite shrine, generally associated with the modern archaeological sites of either Tell Beitin or el-Bireh.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Excommunication in Judaism and Christianity
Excommunication for both moral failures and for doctrinal errors has deep roots in Judiasm and Christian history and scripture.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Why Do We Believe in God?
The relationship between psychology and related disciplines, on the one hand, and religion, on the other, has not always been a happy one.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Anxiously Engaged in the Post Election Political Process:
What Really Won the Election?
Pundits were surprised when they saw how important moral values were to the American electorate, but a close-up from the ground shows why they played such a big role.
By Cherilyn Bacon

The Popularity of C.S. Lewis
Christians who lament the low state of the culture around them might take a break from television or the latest film hit and read C.S. Lewis.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Myths: Falsehoods, or Sacred Truths?
For believers, which myths you accept as historically true often determine membership in a given religion.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Pilgrimage: A Sacred Journey in Search of God
Just as the pilgrim undertakes a great and difficult journey in search of a hallowed shrine, so each individual must undertake his own spiritual quest to find the sacred in his own life.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Wisdom of the Electoral College
The Founders gave us a republic – not a democracy. And with that republic comes a system of mixed representation with mixed electoral methods that rejected the one person, one vote philosophy.
By Steve Farrell

The Rise of Buddhism
Even as Buddhism was finding great success throughout Asia it was declining in its homeland. It had virtually disappeared in India by the thirteenth century, and only small Buddhist communities survive in India today.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Providential Destiny & Duty ? or Not?
Liberty Letters, Federalist 1, Letter 15
We have a Divine mandate to keep the good ship America going, to patch her up where necessary, to return to and defend her inspired Constitution
By Steve Farrell

New LDS Federal Judges Share Common Values
The scriptures warn against pride. These judges are models of accomplishment without vanity.
By Mark W. Cannon

The Power of One
You'd be surprised at the list of elections that have been won or lost by one vote.
By Cherilyn Bacon

The Case Against a Random Universe
The notion that the universe arose and that life originated by chance is less reasonable than expecting a Boeing 747 to emerge coincidentally when a typhoon hits a junkyard.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Record Six New LDS Federal Judges Appointed
Part 2
Though six new LDS Federal Judges have been appointed in the last two years, the number of judgeships still do not equal the percentage of Latter-day Saints in the U.S. population.
By Mark W. Cannon

The Candidates? Divergent Views on the Judiciary
The candidates for President have widely divergent views on the judiciary and they know that their most lasting legacy will likely be the influence they have over the direction of the federal judiciary. After all, presidents are only elected for a maximum of eight years, while federal judges are appointed for life.
by Timothy B. Lewis

Record Six New LDS Federal Judges Appointed
Part 1
An unusually large group of six new LDS Federal Judges were nominated by President Bush, confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in during 2002 and 2003. What's surprising: this is about a third as many active Latter-day Saints as were appointed by all previous Presidents of the U.S.
By Mark W. Cannon

Anxiously Engaged in the Political Process:
The Family as the Fundamental Unit of Public Policy
Could this little handbook really be a blueprint for public policy and a rallying point for Latter-day Saints to become a people described in Mosiah 18:21?
By Cherilyn Bacon

What is Religion and How do Religions Begin?
How do religions spring into existence?
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Judicial Interpretation and ?the Consent of the Governed?
When you look at the record, it's clear that the major issue in the Revolutionary War was this principle of the 'consent of the governed.' The colonists thought they were entitled to it. The British didn't want to give it to them. And that's why they went to war.
By Gene Schaerr

The Judiciary
The Courage of Self-Restraint
The people’s willingness to abide by the decisions of those in power depends absolutely on their trust that those who wield power are dedicated to upholding, not altering, the democratic nature of our government as well as our individual freedoms.
By Kent A. Jordan

Reflections on the Holocaust
Jews were by no means the only victims of Hitler's grisly Final Solution and of the war into which he plunged the world.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

How Does Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Hurt Marriage, Children and Society?
We always hear that legalizing same marriage will not hurt our marriages, our children and our society, but that is a smokescreen to disguise what is a radical social experiment with long-term seismic consequences.
By Sharon Slater
President, United Families International

Largest Buddhist Temple in the Western Hemisphere
To step onto the grounds of the Hsi Lai Temple is to leave the often hectic and materialistic world of suburban California and to enter an ancient culture, exotic, fascinating, and friendly.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William Hamblin

Republican National Committee Reaches Out to Latter-day Saints
The Republican National Committee is looking for a few good Latter-day Saints to help in this 11th hour. Why would they target us? Are the Democrats doing the same thing? Read on.
By Maurine Jensen Proctor

How You Can Become More Anxiously Engaged in the Political Process
Part 2 in the Anxiously Engaged Series
Some of the most frequently asked questions of Meridian and the Family News Network are, "What can I do and how can I be more involved politically--especially when the future of the family is at stake?" Here are some ideas.
by Cherilyn Bacon

Nathan the Wise-An Allegory of Religious Toleration?
The play “Nathan the Wise,” by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781), is now playing at BYU. At one level, it is a rather convoluted tale of mistaken identity, but at another level the play is an allegory of religious toleration.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

What It Means To Be Anxiously Engaged In The Political Process
The United States and nations of the world are at a critical, cultural crossroads. Decisions made on Election Day November 2nd in the United States. will bring global consequences for years to come. You can make a difference in your community and nation by standing for something good for the world to model. We hope that principles of responsible citizenship will resonate, motivate and translate into action wherever you live.
by Cherilyn Bacon

Ancient Divination and Chinese Oracle Bones
The practitioners of bird divination, known as “augurs,” attempted to determine the proper times and places for sacred events; our modern term “inaugurate” derives from this ancient practice of divining the most auspicious time for beginning any great enterprise.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Creative Combining of Options: Could Dual Enrollment Be Your Solution?
Some parents solve their children's education needs by having them in public school part-time. Readers share their experiences.
By Darla Isackson

Is Grief an Evil?
Jefferson and Adams Dialogue
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson discussed this point in personal letters between them. Does grief in God’s wisdom, have its uses?
By Steve Farrell

Petra: Sacred City of Temples and Tombs
Petra, located south of Amman, Jordan, is one of the great archeaological treasures of the world.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Life Lessons from the Constitutional Convention
Each year, Sept. 17 through 23 marks National Constitution Week, a time for Americans to celebrate our Constitution, which has stood the test of time better than any other similar document in the history of the world.
By Steven W. Allen

Constitution and Law Series #14:
What Can Be Done About Judicial Usurpation? State Checking Forces
If we are ever going to reclaim our 10th Amendment rights, it will probably have to start at the state level.
By Timothy B. Lewis of the Constitutional Freedom Foundation

Charter Schools
What are charter schools and why are so many parents excited about them?
By Darla Isackson

Lay Your Hammer Down
Hate speech and incivility are bubbling as the U.S. elections are heating up. The head of a Washington D.C. think tank says we can do better.
By Edwin J. Feulner

Constitution and Law Series #13:
What Can Be Done About Judicial Usurpation? Congressional Restriction Of Appellate Juristiction
If judges run amuck, can Congress stop them?
By Timothy B. Lewis of the Constitutional Freedom Foundation

New Religious Movements
Today new religions are being created at an ever-increasing pace—possibly hundreds a year. In one sense, the modern world has been described as the age of new technologies, but it could just as easily be viewed as the age of new religions.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Constitution and Law Series #12
What Can Be Done About Judicial Usurpation? The President's Powers
How can an out-of-control federal judiciary be reined in? This article discusses possible, but little-used checking powers held by the executive department.
By Timothy B. Lewis of the Constitutional Freedom Foundation

Back to School: Readers Open Talk about Public Education and Tough Choices
Should you home school your child? Become the PTA President and be involved at the public school? Should you look for a private school? Meridian readers share their experiences and concerns about school options.
by Darla Isackson

How Can an Out-of-Control Federal Judiciary Be Reined In?
This is the 11th article in a series designed to help Meridian readers better understand the Constitution of the United States so that, informed, we may recognize how far we are wandering from its original principles.In this article Professor Lewis addresses what is becoming a more urgent question, “What can be done about judicial usurpation?
By Timothy B. Lewis of the Constitutional Freedom Foundation

St. Simeon the Stylite: Religious Devotion or Excess?
In his fervor to find God, St. Simeon lived atop a column, surviving only by food that devotees brought him.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Who Was On Watch As the Dark Age Approached?
What we can never forget is that civilizations all die. Some of them can last for centuries; some flourish and disappear in a few generations.
By Orson Scott Card

The Holiest Shrine in Shi?ite Islam
At the time of writing, members of a militant Iraqi Shi?ite militia remain holed up in the Imam ?Ali Mosque in Najaf?a mosque to which news reports continually refer as the holiest shrine in Shi?ite Islam.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Can Parents Counterbalance the Negative Influences in Public Schools?
You can make a positive impact on your child's education, but you have to take some important steps.
By Darla Isackson

A Medieval Muslim?s Timeless Search for Truth
Among Muslims, al-Ghazali is considered by many to be second only to Mohammed. Following a crisis of faith, he finally found peace in a place that may sound familiar to Latter-day Saints.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

A Look at John Calvin?s Institutes of the Christian Religion
Calvin's Institutes are rarely read. There is “an odd sort of social pressure” not to read him. Yet his ideas lie at the very root of American republican democracy.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

Public Schools vs. the Fundamental Purposes of Education
In order to truly see what the Lord would have us do in regard to the education of our children, we must first understand why education is so important after all. We must be clear about what we lack in order to improve.
By Darla Isackson

The Great Religious Books of Early Judaism
The Torah, the Mishnah, the Apocrypha--these are familiar names, but what part did they play in Jewish history?
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

The Author of Liberty or Not?
Just try mixing God and government in the same breath and get ready for the snickers, sneers, hisses, and guffaws
By Steve Farrell

Mary, the Blessed Virgin
For hundreds of millions of Christians around the world, the adoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary forms a fundamental part of their religious life.
By Daniel C. Peterson and William J. Hamblin

“Judge Your Higher Judges” (Mosiah 29:29)
The Federal Marriage Amendment has been the hot topic this week in the U.S. Senate, a reminder that the Book of Mormon teaches us deep lessons for such a time as this.
by Benjamin C. Olsen

It's Not Too Late to Become An Apologist!
DNA and the Book of Mormon, Masonry and Mormonism, origins of the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith, protestors, horses, plates, language. Have you ever been questioned about these hot topics by a friend or neighbor? Had you wished that you had the answer at your fingertips?
by Justin Hart

Mani: Gnostic Prophet of Dualism
Although the religion founded by Mani—known as Manicheism—is dead, its influence is still with us in subtle and indirect ways.
By Daniel C. Peterson
and William J. Hamblin

The President of the United States Speaks Up for Marriage
George W. Bush Urges an Amendment to the Constitution
The debate about a constitutional amendment begins this week in the United States Senate. The President used his weekly radio address on Saturday, July 10, 2004 to speak strongly in favor of an amendment to protect the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The Marriage Amendment is the Only Way
Next week the Senate is voting on the Federal Marriage Amendment and now is the time to raise your voice. Meridian gives instructions on how to contact your senator and Senator Hatch updates us on the latest developments.
By Senator Orrin G. Hatch

The Misplaced "Wall" Between Church and the Federal State
The current hostility toward religion in the public square would have distressed America's Founders.
by W. Cleon Skousen