I wrote about A Theory of Justice a week ago. Today, I share with you their brand new trailer!
At times like this, I wish I was not currently one of the least-well-off. I would totally love to visit Oxford just to see this.
From late March of 2012 through November 2012, I ran for the United States House of Representative.
Many of you know that already.
However, I have not really told my story. There were many times on the trail that I thought “I am totally going to write about THAT some day.” Well, it begins here.
The campaign was a transformative experience. It helped me realize who I am. It helped me discover a deeper faith and a deeper love of my family.
It also caused a lot pain.
Overall, I gained more than I lost. Oh, and I totally lost the election.
Some of the issues that I will be tackling include:
The list will grow I am sure. I am writing this as a larger project. I am blogging about these experiences as a means of getting my thoughts and experiences organized. As a result, the posts may not follow a particular order.
As a creature of twitter, my campaign posts will have the hashtag #campaignchronicles.
(Note to my wife, parents, and concerned friends: yes, I am working on my dissertation as well!) 
The Brigham Young University campus honored Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday in a variety of campus activities.
With classes cancelled for the national holiday, students participated in service activities during the day in and around the Wilkinson Students Center. The activities ranged from making quilts and toys to donating blood.
The day was wrapped up with a march…always a fitting way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. The candle-light walk started at the Carillon Bell Tower. The march ended at the Wilkinson Student Center.
The symbolism of the march ended at the Wilkinson Center is deep since the late-BYU President Ernest Wilkinson was an ardent critic of the Civil Rights Movement.
“In 1965, BYU featured the film _Civil Riots_ in the Varsity Theater,” noted BYU English Instructor Margaret Young in an interview with FPR. “It depicted the civil rights movement as a Communist plot.”
Yet, the events like those held on campus Monday are a sign of positive change on the campus of BYU, said Young who along with Darius Gray brought us the documentary Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormon.
“Though we work with a grossly inadequate budget as we honor Dr. King in 2013, the fact that we do it at all–and that many of us teach Dr. King’s works–is a sign of enormous growth and even repentance,” said Young.
The keynote speaker at the Monday night’s vigil was the amazing Cathy Stokes.
The events were sponsored by BYU’s Multicultural Student Services and BYU’s Center for Service and Learning as part of a larger Community Outreach Day in conjunction with Utah Valley University and the United Way of Utah County.
I am having an open thread over at FPR for the State of the Union. Join me at FPR!
I do not have time for a full post today. However, with the Iowa Caucus kicking off 2012, I wanted to share with you some of my social network projects.
Follow me on Twitter at chrishenrichsen.
Also, I have a Facebook page which includes my Tweets and additional comments on religion, politics, and the Bloggernacle. Please like the Chris H. Review of Politics and Religion.
Of course, you do not need to actually like me or agree with me. Either way, I welcome your comments on Twitter and Facebook.
Times and Seasons has opened voting for the 2011 Mormon of the Year. Such contests are always to a degree exercises in silliness, however, I want to argue for one of the people that I nominated. (I also nominated Matt Bowman, I hope he forgives me)
Joanna Brooks is Associate Professor and Department Chair of English at San Diego State University.
While Joanna has long been a familiar figure to the Bloggernacle, during 2011 she became the leading Mormon public intellectual on Mormonism. She has primarily done this through her regular columns at Religious Dispatches. However, Joanna has also become the voice of Mormonism on Public Radio with appearances on Talk of The Nation, All Things Considered, and On Being.
There have been others as well who have broken into this Mormon public intellectual realm. Of particular note, Matt Bowman’s essays in The New Republic have stood out to me. If anything, I have loved seeing Mormon scholars discussing Mormonism in my favorite venues such as NPR and TNR.
While I disagree with Joanna on many things, in particular her approach to Open Mormonism, she has become the intellectual face of liberalism Mormonism. For that, I must give her credit. I hope to follow her lead.
I am not quite sure if this is really “The Mormon Moment” or not. However 2011 was surely the @askmormongirl moment.
Author’s note: Originally posted at FPR on 12/17/2010.
Ghost of Christmas Present
Starting today we will have a number of posts about Santa Claus. If you have something that you would like to add to this series, let me know in the comments. Here is my attempt. Merry Christmas.
I like Santa Claus. He is not real, but he has spiritual significance for me. In this way, Santa is like Job. I do not think that Job was a real person, but I do think that Job is one of of the most powerful books of the Bible. Symbolic meaning sometimes has the greatest impact.
Watching A Christmas Carol (the George C. Scott version…of course) last night, I realized that, for me, Santa Clause is the Ghost of Christmas Present. Now, I am not an expert on Dickens as a literary figure, but I have always loved this story and I have grown to appreciate it even more in recent years.
The Ghost of Christmas Present (GCP) focuses on two things: the merriment which we have as family and friends at during the holidays. This is symbolized by the joy which nephew Fred has with his wife and friends. It is also symbolized by the joy which the Cratchit family has despite the their poverty and worry about tiny Tim. Yet, they are together.
The GCP also draws attention to those who are suffering. Not only are they suffering at Christmas, they are suffering while Scrooge has much. He also introduces this suffering to Scrooge to show the cruelty of his own comments about the poor and disadvantaged. Ebenezer Scrooge is the embodiment of 19th century Social Darwinism. Christmas is the cure for this vile outlook.
What does this all have to do with Santa? Santa Claus is the symbol of holiday cheer and giving. While he has become the symbol of Christmas consumerism, it is not Santa Claus that is the problem. Our society is the problem. It is our greed that is the problem. The mall has ruined Santa in the way the it has ruined Che t-shirts. But, we must not give in.
Santa has also been given the God role of deciding who is good and who is bad. I reject this view of Santa…much in the way that I reject this view of God. What about those children who receive nothing for Christmas because of poverty? Well, let us do away with poverty.
Like the story of Job, I think that the meaning and principles, not the myth itself, is what we should preserve. The best part about my children getting older is that the older ones now get to be part of the fun. They know that Santa does not come down the chimney. However, they now realize the joys that can come from being Santa in the lives of others…particularly their little sister.
I am reclaiming Santa. He is about giving to family and friends, He is about connecting with our fellow humans at the coldest time of the year. Now we could probably do these things without the symbol of Santa Claus, but I think that symbols are useful in bringing us together. They are also worth fighting for.
Who will you be this year? Ebenezer Clause or Santa Claus?
Does Santa distract from the Christian themes of Christmas? If you serve the Cratchits and the family living under the viaduct, you understand Him who came. That is what Santa Claus did. That is what Jesus Christ has taught us to do. Go and do likewise.
