🧵I wanted to share some thoughts and historical insights on changes to the Endowment in light of some posts I’ve seen recently asking about, or even criticizing, recent changes. In particular, I saw one post lamenting the loss of “light and knowledge” from the Endowment. 2/ I consider that a pretty absurd comment, but even in the 7.5 years since I received my own Endowment, the ordinance has changed pretty dramatically in some ways, not to mention being cut in length by nearly half.

Because I feel like it, a 🧵on the former positions held by presidential nominees.

There have only been two former Secretaries of State nominated for president by major parties since Buchanan, and both lost:

James G. Blaine (R) - 1884
Hillary R. Clinton (D) - 2016

https://twitter.com/PrezWisdom/status/1691268568103473152

By far the most common previous office held by major-party nominees is state governor, with 22.

James K. Polk (D - TN) - 1844
Horatio Seymour (D - NY) - 1868
Rutherford B. Hayes (R - OH) - 1876
Samuel J. Tilden (D - NY) - 1876
Grover Cleveland (D - NY) - 1884
cont.

Not going to reply to or QT this because it's utterly revolting and I don't want to amplify it, but this does need a response, especially because I've seen a disturbing number of #LDS accounts who I normally respect amplifying it as if it's doctrinally sound. 1/🧵 2/ Let me start by saying that any time a marriage ends in divorce, it’s a tragedy. A marriage is a very sacred and serious commitment, and the Lord views the breakdown of marriages as one of the great evils of our day. But divorce is sometimes very necessary.

We forget about this incident today, but President Truman firing General Douglas MacArthur is one of the bravest things a president has ever done and is a much bigger deal than we give it credit for being. Random political history 🧵 time:

https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1649120450234941441

2/ Douglas MacArthur was one of the most famous and popular national heroes in America by the early 1950's. He was a veteran of both World Wars, a Medal of Honor recipient, and the General of the Army--basically, he was the most prominent military officer in the country.

🧵I agree with some, but not all, of this author's conclusions. I definitely experienced the "joys" of serving in a chronically low-baptizing mission. Tracting was essentially useless in Missouri--in two years I never got invited in a door through cold knocking. NOT. ONCE.

https://twitter.com/CriddleBenjamin/status/1648515256141119489

2/ That said, missionaries' priority should, at all times, be to invite others to come unto Christ. While service shouldn't be seen as cynically transactional (we help us, you listen to our message) we need to remember that missionaries aren't able to completely fulfill

I love Harry Potter. I've read the entire series (most of them many, many times) and love the movies as well. In a sense, this is really exciting.

That said, there are multiple problems with this proposal. 🧵 time, because I'm a nerd and need to get this off my chest.

https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1643035502570876928

2/ The first and most obvious issue is casting. The Harry Potter movies are pretty much flawlessly casted. There are those who will debate the merits of the two Dumbledores (though Richard Harris's death meant that someone would have to fill nearly impossible shoes),

Note: this thread is REALLY long, and the link to the unrolled “article” version is in a reply to this tweet.

I’ve decided to go ahead and post this. In talking about a mass shooting, I want to be sensitive and come at the subject from a place of concern, not political animus. 2/ I have a personal stake in this issue. My parents are both high school teachers and my grandmother is a retired pre-K teacher.
We have a lot of mass shootings in America. Like, a LOT. America is a statistical outlier in many areas, but it's not often as stark as this one.

Well, just in case anyone cares, I guess I'll throw in my two cents about the whole Ensign Peak-SEC blowup. 🧵 time, because this stupid app still has a character limit.

First and foremost, it's worth pointing out that the Church had already identified a problem in its reporting 2/ well before the SEC became involved or even before that "whistleblower" from Ensign Peak said anything. Back in 2019, it corrected its reporting practices to bring them in line with SEC policy.

Herbert Hoover is a highly underrated president. The Great Depression started on his watch, and yes, he should have handled the situation better. But both before and after his presidency, he was among the great humanitarians in US history, and his work is worth knowing about. 🧵

https://twitter.com/LGHendersonUtah/status/1627734409247088640

2/ When World War I broke out in 1914, Hoover was in London, where he had been living for the last twelve years. Concerned for the nearly 100,000 American citizens trapped in Europe, he and some other American businessmen established a committee,

🧵 Re: The incident where ACU stopped recruiting an LDS recruit specifically because of their religion -

1/ Look, ACU had every right to do this. They're a private religious institution and they can set whatever attendance standards they want. But please, let's quit pretending 2/ that their actions are even remotely comparable to BYU's Honor Code. The Honor Code is very restrictive...of behavior. You can believe whatever you want, so long as you follow the rules. I roomed next to a guy my freshman year in Helaman Halls who was an evangelical Christian

This frustrates me. A 🧵 on why our current system for prosecuting domestic violence is broken.

1/ I remember as a missionary when my comp and I got a call one day from a pair of sister missionaries in our zone who were absolutely frantic because their downstairs neighbors,

https://twitter.com/DavidBOstler/status/1615765676039208976

2/ a young married couple, had been loudly fighting and then the young woman had come running up to their door, completely terrified and with a bloody wound on her head where her husband had hit her with a pan. It was pretty clear he intended to kill her.

Yes, we may end up with a speaker tonight, and for various extremely important reasons related to national security and the function of House committees, that would be a very good thing. 1/ But at what cost? McCarthy will be a speaker in name only, assuming he's made enough concessions to lock up the votes. He will be totally beholden to a tiny slice of extreme Republicans--lying, conniving, election-denying nut jobs who don't want to legislate at all. 2/

I think those criticizing Pope REALLY need to take a step back and look at what he's dealing with. A thread:

Pope took over a very, very lost program in 2019. Dave Rose is a great guy but my goodness, toward the end there the man couldn't recruit worth beans. 1/ The result in 2022 is that the group that should be the upperclassman backbone of this roster has really been whittled down to just Trevin Knell. He's Dave Rose's last, only really significant legacy player, and he's out at least until early WCC play. 2/

@BlackBlessedLDS 1/ I have mixed feelings about this. No prophet--Brigham Young included--ever called it revelation. In fact, I believe every prophet since and INCLUDING Brigham Young indicated that it would be lifted later on. To me, that indicates that it was a policy choice by Brigham Young. @BlackBlessedLDS 2/ That said, I find it very interesting to read the statements of Heber J. Grant and David O. McKay. They both expressed privately that they hated the ban and felt it should be lifted but didn't feel like they had the Lord's permission to do so. Even President Kimball

1/

A thread with regard to tonight's referees:

I want to make something clear: I've been a ref. I was a soccer ref ages ~12-17 and it's by far, bar none the worst job I've ever had. I was massively undertrained and underpaid for dealing with the crap I put up with. 2/ I did my best but I definitely made mistakes and took serious criticism, some deserved and some undeserved. So I usually hesitate to criticize refs--I've been in their shoes and it's a hard job that loses you more friends than it makes you.