BYY pulled off the victory today against the UNLV Rebels but it was a close call. The final score was 42-35. I suppose we shouldn’t complain about 42 points scored bust I thought the offense looked just slightly above average. The defense is looking painfully slow these days. It appears that BYU has traded the “bend don’t break” defense for a “bend and break” defense. Not a good sign. In the past two years BYU has gotten better and better throughout the season. This team doesn’t appear to be getting better from game to game. If the Cougs want a chance at winning the MWC they had better fix that problem pronto.

The website Mormons for Marriage (which opposes the church in its support of Proposition 8) has failed (or refused) to post my response that I wrote to Morris Thurston, so I decided to post it here:

Mr. Thurston: I have read your document responding to the Church’s 12 points. Let me say that I appreciate your taking the time to write, but ultimately find it to be misleading. Let me elucidate. First, a little about my background. I have practiced in the areas of Constitutional litigation and education law for approximately 23 years. I have represented LDSFS in several cases, though I haven’t done so in the last 10 years. I believe that I can assess your arguments based on my experience and knowledge of these areas. Let’s take them one-by-one: (more…)

Mormons really have no business sneering at the ideals of socialism.

What is socialism? We get this from the wiki:

Socialism refers to an economic theory of social organization advocating social or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society where one’s labor is the only important, individual factor of production. …

Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism by nature concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, and creates an unequal society. All socialists advocate the creation of an egalitarian society, in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how, and to what extent this could be achieved.

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Feel free to discuss the game in progress.

[Update] Well it is over. BYU got their butts handed to them in Fort Worth by the TCU Horned Frogs. The final score was TCU 32 BYU 7. TCU was simply better tonight in all facets of the game. This game is the culmination of the disconcerting trend for the Cougs that started with Utah State and continued with New Mexico. BYU didn’t look nearly as strong as their ranking would have indicated in those games and they showed that tonight.

At least BYU will not have as much pressure on them going forward. It will be interesting to see how the team responds over the next several weeks.

Discuss.

Today is the ten year anniversary of my baptism. Forgive me for being sentimental.

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As a Business Analyst, the mantra I try to remember every day while I try to figure out how the company is doing, why it is the way it is, and what we can and should do, is that correlation is not causation. Sometimes logical fallacies are put forth by well-intentioned people and actions are taken based on that faulty logic which could have been more effective if superseded by a nice dose of common sense. In our LDS setting, let me put forth a few examples, having to do with conversion and retention.

1. 50% of youth are inactive before they reach the age of 12, Therefore Primary Teachers are the most important calling in the Church.
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Yeah sure, BYU did beat the Utah State Aggies 34-14. Sure, it wasn’t ever really close. Still, based on expectations it seemed like a moral victory for the Ags rather than another blowout for the Cougs.

Reminds me of last night’s VP debate. Sure, Biden won handily but Palin stayed scrappy and got a moral victory of sorts out of it.

It is probably a very good thing for BYU. It will humble them. The BYU offense was fairly weak (by BYU standards). The kicking game was weak (two missed field goals??). And the defense gave up two late touchdowns. BYU needs work still. But getting humbled in a win is always better than being humbled by a loss so the Cougs roll on. I expect a better game next week.

Thoughts on the game?

The game today was sort of a letdown after BYU annihilated UCLA 59-0.

BYU only beat Wyoming 44-0.

Ok, kidding aside — BYU is going to be in the top ten this time tomorrow and with good reason. To me the most memorable image in the game was Max Hall throwing yet another touchdown pass to Austin Collie and simply turning to walk toward the sideline with an almost “ho-hum” demeanor about him. Seriously, it is getting that way. Throwing touchdown passes is just what Max Hall does. And he seemingly does it at will.

Now having said that, the offense was a bit off kilter this game. In the first quarter Max was not very accurate but he and his team mates really got things rolling in the second quarter. The third quarter started off great but then the offense was forced to punt twice. I’m sure Max and his pals would have liked to get back on track but Coach Mendenhall pretty much had to yank them with route being on and all.

The defense gave up plenty of yards but they seem to have the “bend but don’t break” thing really working for them. Every time the Cowboys got close to scoring the Cougs forced a turnover. In fact the defense scored two touchdowns of their own this week. As a result the first team defense (and the backups starting in the third quarter) notched their second shutout in a row. That is impressive. The combined score of the last two games is BYU 103, opposition 0.

It’s a good time to be a BYU football fan.

… and 59-0 as a final.

BYU steamrolled UCLA today. It was total domination in nearly every aspect of the game. I’d say all the annoying carping about the way the last game ended ought to fade away after today.

It wasn’t a perfect game but it was nearly perfect. It’s a fun time to be a Cougar fan.

This post was an experiment in whether concentrating on the issues in my previous post would enable me to better put forth a discussion of the atonement. Your input and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

First to give context, I recently read a blog post about a “Reductio ad Hitlerum” film put on by BBC regarding the problem of Evil [1]. At the same time, I was listening to the Book of Job on my commute to work, slowly working my way through the Old Testament for the first time. As I dealt with these two items simultaneously, it renewed my interest in the way the church has dealt with the problem of suffering and evil. It is my opinion that the Church uses its particular theological tenants regarding the Atonement and the way things are as our own theodicy, and that this theodicy is strong.

Now perhaps theodicy is the wrong word, some may argue, but here I am taking theodicy to simply mean a defense of God’s goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil [2]. And again, perhaps atonement is the wrong word, as this can sometimes be construed to mean everything between the act in Gethsemane and the entirety of the Plan of Salvation. [3] For my purposes here I am going to initially begin by framing the problem in the whole of the plan and hopefully drill down to examine the event in Gethsemane in context of that plan.
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