Think Again

This pinch-hit topic has come up a number of times over the last couple of years. Some people have asked "Do guns make us safer?" and "What is the fascination with guns?" On Tuesday we will explore these and other questions. Jay Griffith and Tiffany and Mitch Spence will lead the discussion. Jay has arranged for his brother-in-law, Tony Latham, a retired Fish and Game Officer and 19-year firearms instructor to join by phone to contribute to the discussion. Prep Materials : Listen to a 45-minute interview with Dan Baum , a writer and Liberal Democrat who is the author of an article in this month's Harper's Magazine called "Happiness is a Worn Gun" about his love of guns and his life as an atypical carrier of a concealed weapons permit. Read "Do Guns Save Lives?", a short Time article from 1989 that succinctly captures some of the key points of the debate. OPTIONALLY, you could do some quick wiki reading on the 2nd Amendment and gun politi...

Friends, this is Carri. My apologies, but I have the topic in August and I will not be able to attend because of work. I need someone to fill in. We could come up with a new topic, or switch with another that is upcoming. September's topic is " Depression in Utah " and Emily is the topic host. October is " Half-Baked and Happy " and I am the topic host (Carri). November is " The Creative Spark " and Tyler is the topic host. (December we do not have a topic. Instead we mix, mingle, and discuss topics for 2011.) Tyler or Emily could trade with me for September or November, but then I would be hosting two months in a row and that is not fun for anyone. My preference is to take August's original topic - "Bowling Alone " about the breakdown of the American community - and do it in October instead of "Half-Baked and Happy." That would mean some brave soul could prepare an entirely new topic for August 3. Any takers? Submit your idea...

“The world I am trying to understand, is one in which men think they want one thing and then upon getting it, find out to their dismay that they don’t want it nearly as much as they thought or don’t want it at all and that something else, of which they were hardly aware, is what they really want.” -- Albert O. Hirschman July's topic is going to explore the idea that in this blessed age of abundance, too many choices can paralyze our ability to be satisfied and happy with our decisions...and perhaps, like the anonymous girl said in the teaser video above, prevent us from making decisions altogether. Were we happier and more easily satisfied back when we had one option when it came to the fit of our jeans? When there was only one movie playing at the local theatre? When your cell phone was a single function device? This topic is inspired by Barry Schwartz's book "The Paradox of Choice." Please come prepared having watched/read the following: 1. Barry Schwartz's TED...

A disturbing trend in our society is that of intelligent people who decide to abandon belief in religion and God. Too often the culprit of such decisions is that the faith communities of which they are a part do not look upon doubt as a virtue, leaving these people to feel as if there is no place for them. What would happen if these faith communities decided to decriminalize doubt? How might a religious community and its members be affected if they began to emphasize doubt as an important, even necessary, component for increasing one's faith? READING #1 An article from the summer 2009 issue of Sunstone Magazine will form the basis of our discussion. The paper is written by Boyd Petersen, a religious studies professor at Utah Valley University and the son-in-law of Hugh Nibley, a prominent Mormon scholar recently deceased. Boyd's article is based on conversations and surveys he has done with his students over the years. Their stories are stunning and will tug at your emotions a...

How does a well-played bit of humor immediately disarm an opponent? Why does laughing actually make you feel better? Why are viewers of comedy shows the most informed citizens in the country? It turns out that there is a lot to explore about what is going on in our cognitive and physiological functions when something tickles our funny bone. Humor Heals Humor & Immunity and Humor & Pain by Rod A. Martin (2007) Read pages 317 - 324 (note that some of the text is missing because it's on google books, but the available information is really interesting and enough to get us started in dialogue). Is it true that laughing is good for your health? Half-page article from the University of Wisconsin-Madison MyHyena.com - an example of a handful of web sites I found dedicated to the idea that humor heals. Just peruse the site a bit for some interesting anecdotal information. Humor Persuades The Power to Persuade by Kevin Dutton (Scientific American Mind, March/April 2010) Pages 24 -...

Topic Host: Ed Iversen I will be leading a discussion on radical ideas in the Sermon on the Mount and how they might relate to world and personal conflict and materialism. Please read Matthew chapters 5-7 from the New Testament and come prepared to share your ideas and feelings relating to 1) personal, community and world conflicts; and 2) materialism. This book , written by E. Stanley Jones in 1931, is part of the inspiration for this topic.

Topic Host: Tyler Asman In March we will be discussing the ins and outs of divorce (and consequently, of marriage, too). Some questions to explore include: - When did the rising trend in rates of divorce begin, and why? - Divorce may be more acceptable, but is a change in societal norms too simple an explanation? - If we're so bad at staying married, why do we keep getting into it in the first place? - What are the biggest contributors to divorce? - How can divorce be avoided? - How to marry well and do a good job staying married. Please post a comment if you have any interesting resources you would like to share. Or, if there is a particular angle/question you'd like explore, let's hear it! Here are some background materials to review: A very brief outline of an Austrian study http://www.divorcereform.org/why.html - why divorce rates increased http://www.divorcestatistics.org/ - quick stats http://www.divorcereform.org/cor.html - correlation of other factor (age, religi...