I recently picked up an English translation of the Quran. I’ve heard lots of mixed messages on how Christianity and Islam relate. I’ve heard that Allah is a monster who calls his followers to sacrificial jihad against infidels (including Christians). I’ve heard that Mohammed was a prophet after the pattern of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus and simply extends the tradition of the People of the Book. I’ve heard that Islam is peaceful, that it’s extreme, that Mohammed was a pedophile, that he was a hero, that the Quran teaches compassion, and that the Quran teaches hatred.

In Echoing Halls
What is this room, replete with crucifixions,
Nativities, a dozen "Madonna-and-Child"'s?
The Renaissance. Who else shows Roman soldiers
In full knight's armor, Mary in Italian gown?
But note that sparkling reflection -
The gilded Bethlehem Star
Echoed in gilt embroidered dresses
And haloes framing faces, eyes cast down,
Or else lifted with hands towards heaven's heights.

Archaeoastronomy is a field that studies how the ancients saw the stars – and how they used their knowledge of them. Ancient people in Egypt, Ireland, Greece, and the Americas were capable of determining the times of astronomical events with great accuracy, and incorporated this into their architecture. The Greeks used advanced knowledge of geometry to study the heavens, but even the Mayans, who had no written language, were able to gain advanced knowledge about the heavens and studied the movement of Venus.

There is an old fable that tells of a few blind men and an elephant. One feels the tail; he thinks an elephant is a flyswatter. Another feels the leg, and thinks an elephant is like a tree trunk.

A third blind man feels a tusk; to him, an elephant is a spear. To the blind man who feels an ear, an elephant is a fan. And to the blind man who feels the elephant's side, it is a wall.

[this piece has been redacted for publication in my school's literary journal!]

In the last part of this essay, we analyzed the accuracy of The Book of Mormon using the external test. In this next part, we will move on to examine the Mormon scriptures through the second test: the internal test. We will use this test to determine whether or not the Mormon scriptures* agree with each other. After all, if they contradict each other, at least one, and possibly all, of them lose much of their credibility.

We are weak and human and frail. 

But He has been here and walked these sands

He has made everything with His hands.

He sees the pain and can give us healing

but what do we do with our needs and feelings?

We bring them to the world, dirty as it is,

we should bring it to Christ since we are His.

We ask it for help, and He cries.

We ask it for peace, and He closes His eyes.

We ask it for freedom, and He dies.

We ask it to build us, and He sighs.

It's far from over and not too late,

**Before I start I want to ask that you please, please don't make your comments into a debate. Just keep it friendly and respectful. Etc.**

In regular school, this feeling I'm having right now was very familiar. Sweating palms, pounding heartbeat, a kind of rush in the ears that after a few minutes I realize is the sound of my own heavy breathing. This happens whenever I am a combination of scared and impassioned, when I find that I must raise my hand and say, No, this is wrong! And then, class would end and I would turn to writing as my outlet.

What are the foundations of a civilized society? Must it have a certain system of government? A predetermined level of technology? A written language? Advanced weapons?