Joseph Smith, Jun. wearing the Nephite breastplate with the Urim and Thummim attached to it by a rod.
“He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted Seers in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.”
I thought that instead of a birthday cake this year, we’d get an image of Joseph wearing the breastplate. All my life I have searched for and waited for some artist to depict this, in vain. So, I guess this non-artist (me) will have to take the first step, using Microsoft Paint. (Yes, I already know it looks like crap!) If anyone else would like to try their more artistic hand at drawing a better Urim and Thummim and breastplate, be my guest. The above image is based upon descriptions made by members of Joseph’s family.
Five years old and still growing
In case it wasn’t already obvious, two more contributors have been added: liv435 and Elder Chantdown.
Elder Chantdown sneaked into the blog roster through the backdoor. dyc4557 kept posting his articles, so I figured we might as well make him a fully-fledged contributor since he kept contributing anyway! He’s been visiting this blog for some time now and we’re happy to have him on board.
liv435 is a fairly recent blog visitor who has made an impact already with her comments. She is unique among all the blog contributors in that, well, she’s a she! Our first female blogger! And it’s about time. The blog needed a female touch, (though I don’t expect to change the red Anarchy is Order symbol to pink any time soon…)
These two have already put out some great stuff so we look forward to more.
7 October 2007
That’s the day it all began. So, if you want to celebrate it, perhaps you could eat some red and black jello or something. I’d list the blog’s stats, but really, who cares? If you want to express your opinion about this blog, how cool it is or how bad it sucks, you can either leave a comment below and/or use the poll I set up for just that purpose:
LDS Anarchy Blog Readership Poll
One last thing…
I’m publishing this post the day before the blog’s birthday, on 6 October 2012, because it just seems right to me that this picture of Joseph Smith wearing the breastplate and Urim and Thummim ought to go out on Saturday, the first day of General Conference. Also, because I thought I’d give everyone a heads up in advance so that they had time to prepare their anarchy jellos and cakes for Sunday, the actual day of the birthday.
Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist
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Happy birthday! Looking forward to another great year.
You know what? I’ve changed my mind. Here’s a birthday present from me: the blog’s stats.
Total Visits By Year
2007: 7,164 (from Oct. 7 to end of year)
2008: 72,933
2009: 74,918
2010: 73,410
2011: 84,331
2012: 66,405 (year is not finished, yet)
Average Per Day
2007: 83
2008: 199
2009: 205
2010: 201
2011: 231
2012: 236
Top 10 Posts
Joseph Smith’s Daguerreotype – An Appeal for Help (13,491)
Why do LDS still circumcise their boys? ( 10,861)
How I get out of jury duty (9,361)
The hollow earth theory, the plasma model and Mormon theology (6,580)
The Apostasy of the LDS Church (4,854)
What did Jesus Christ look like? (4,213)
Extended fasting: a cure for all spiritual AND PHYSICAL ailments (4,052)
My extended fast journal ( 3,799)
Introducing a new bartering currency—the first coin: 1/2 Troy oz pure silver .999 fine (3,531)
The Keys to Prophecy VI: A Great Star (3,438)
Total Number of Hits (counted up to this very moment)
379,156
Day With the Highest Number of Views
March 27, 2008, with 914 views.
Top 10 Views by Country (since Feb 25, 2012)
United States: 44,126
United Kingdom: 1,315
Canada: 1,300
Australia: 1,249
Philippines: 936
Switzerland: 674
Spain: 407
Belgium: 386
Brazil: 315
New Zealand: 262
Top 10 Referrers
Search Engines: 28,378
Wordpress.com: 1,817
mormonblogs.org: 1,448
en.wordpress.com: 1,087
wheatandtares.org: 1,031
Facebook: 1,014
Google Reader: 1,011
templestudy.com: 841
onewhoiswatching.wordpress.com: 809
mormonmatters.org: 708
Top Ten Clicks (from the blog
ldsanarchy.files.wordpress.com (2,548)
scriptures.lds.org (1,835)
en.wordpress.com (1,487)
ourhollowearth.com (1,024)
WordPress.com (894)
gravatar.com (808)
threewatches.blogspot.com (771)
ldsendowment.org (699)
readandpostpb.proboards101.com (613)
lds.org (567)
Top 10 Search Engine Terms
anarchy (13,054)
lds anarchy (5,522)
how to get out of jury duty (2,659)
joseph smith (1,279)
canopic jars (1,151)
get out of jury duty (885)
ldsanarchy (850)
mormon circumcision (801)
lds anarchist (738)
circumcision lds (605)
Views by Author
LDS Anarchist (198,522)
anthonyelarson (20,926)
Justin (14,996)
onewhoiswatching (8,306)
dyc4557 ( 5,012)
rodneycluff (3,163)
spektator (2,896)
Elder Chantdown (1,370)
liv435 (292)
illmatic253 (162)
There have been
370 posts,
6,454 comments,
78 categories,
3,726 tags,
68 blog followers (they sign up to follow the whole blog) and
131 comment followers (they sign up to follow a particular post.)
Average Comments Per Month
163
Most Commented Posts
CHI #7 (177)
Why do LDS still circumcise their boys? (164)
The Concept of Race, in the Gospel (118)
The Apostasy of the LDS Church (111)
Body modesty is not a principle of the gospel (105)
An alternate view of the keys (101)
Establishing the tribes of Israel: the real reason for plural marriage (100)
Introducing a new bartering currency—the first coin: 1/2 Troy oz pure silver .999 fine (88)
Deep Waters: How many wives? How many husbands? (82)
Joseph Smith’s Daguerreotype – An Appeal for Help (82)
The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel (70)
Total Shares (122)
Facebook (74)
Email (14)
StumbleUpon (13)
Twitter (11)
Digg (6)
Press This (3)
Reddit (1)
Top 10 Posts (and Pages) by Shares
About (17)
The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel (9)
CHI #5 (5)
Gimme some a that Mormon-hippie love, with a side of anarchy. (4)
The Priesthood (4)
My extended fast journal (4)
Abrahamic Concubinage as an Inter-Tribal Function (3)
Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender (3)
Isaiah Explained: Isaiah Institute Translation with audio commentary by Avraham Gileadi (3)
Manasseh’s future leadership role (3)
Extended fasting: a cure for all spiritual AND PHYSICAL ailments (3)
Top Rated Posts
Spicing up your church experience: Women’s edition 5/5 (11 votes)
Spicing up your church experience 5/5 (10 votes)
Taking our Myths Literally 5/5 (6 votes)
Intimacy as the Opposite of Sin 5/5 (6 votes)
An alternate view of the keys 5/5 (5 votes)
Why do LDS still circumcise their boys? 5/5 (4 votes)
LDS Anarchist’s Posts Are “Open” Copyright 5/5 (4 votes)
Selections from the Book of Laman 5/5 (4 votes)
A Mystical Look at the LDS Restoration Movement 5/5 (3 votes)
The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel 5/5 (3 votes)
Top 3 Rated Comments
This one (15 for, 1 against)
this one (14 for, 0 against)
and this one (12 for, 0 against)
Highest Hits In a Month
January 2011 with 8,679 hits.
Highest Average Daily Hits
November 2010 with a daily average of 285 hits.
Now, did I leave anything out?
The top rated comments are all on circumcision? Interesting. Happy fifth! Here’s to the next five years impacting a whole lot of people the same way I have been.
When I first looked I thought you drew Joseph Smith snorkeling and was very curious what the point was…but once I knew what you were trying to depict I decided you probably couldn’t do much better than that.
Also, according to my daughters, red is a girl color. So no need to change.
I laugh that “anarchy”, “circumcision”, and “jury duty” are our top-3 draws.
Top 10 Views by Country (since Feb 25, 2012)
Philippines: 936.
I don’t know of anyone else in the Philippines who reads this blog so I am forced to conclude one thing. I spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME looking at this blog!
Yeah, dyc4557, I thought you’d get a kick out of that.
Just a note to all the blog contributors. This blog is listed on the Mormon Blogs Aggregator, so if you want more exposure for any particular post, make sure you use tags that fit into that aggregator’s notice system. Just use whichever Mormon Blogs tags fit for your particular post and as soon as you hit publish it will appear on their posting board, under the Categories that pertain to the Mormon Blogs tags you used. It sounds confusing, but just check out the link and you’ll see what I mean.
Thank you for all!
I really love going through the posts!
Wanted to express my appreciation for those that contribute here, both the authors and those that drop a comment on posts.
I was on a path that has lead me to where I am now. I think I would have arrived here eventually, but some things I experienced here helped me. Kinda like learning to surf with someone else in the water and they help with a little push when you are trying to catch a wave, you get it much quicker.
I don’t come by here as much anymore, the place I am at is no longer a path but more a way. I love all of you. For all that we are distant and separated, I say that with actual feeling and connection to several of you.
I decided to give Twitter another try. So, for any who are interested, here is my new Twitter account: @LDSAnarchist
This is a call out to the other contributors of this blog. I was thinking that it would be interesting to get everyone’s take on the King Follett Sermon. If anyone feels so inclined to expound it in a post or series of posts, I think that would be quite interesting. Most people read the sermon in the very same way. I’d be curious to see if the contributors of this particular blog interpret it like other Mormons do.
I’ve become a Dvorak convert. To make the transition easier and quicker, I’ve set my computer to Dvorak and removed its Qwerty setting. My top speed was 56 wpm on Qwerty. I hope to double it on Dvorak. (Currently it’s probably at 5 wpm. But I’m hopeful it’ll improve rapidly.)
15 wpm now, no errors, with Dvorak.
I’ve been watching the earthquake swarm in the Solomon Islands with interest for days now, wondering whether these were foreshocks of a coming great quake. Well, apparently that’s what they were. A magnitude 8.0 earthquake just occurred in the Santa Cruz Islands region in the last hour. It will likely be downgraded in magnitude as seismologists study the data and take more accurate measurements.
Apparently, this earthquake generated a tsunami. Also, a CME may be heading our way, caused by a C9-class solar flare that just occurred. I wonder if this has anything to do with the large comets in our solar system?
ive started working on my take on the king follet discourse
speaking of the solar system..
http://news.sky.com/story/1048633/asteroid-to-pass-earth-in-record-near-miss
so this asteroid is predicted to pass earth at about 17000 mi (27000 km). the closest flyby ever recorded before this (that im aware of) was at 26700 mi (43000 km). http://www.astrometrica.at/default.html?/images/200404.html
geostationary satellites of which there are about 300 in orbit are at 22000 mi (35000 km)
http://www.satbeams.com/satellites
the moon is on average about 238000 mi (384400 km) from earth
so this asteroid is going to closer than any earlier record flyby by about 40% (i think im pretty bad at math) and 30% closer than the satellites. things might just get interesting soon. this is definitely close enough to throw a lot of satellites out of orbit
just happens to be the same day as a huge novelty spike
http://www.fractal-timewave.com/timewave_calculator.php#content
I thought this was interesting. Winter storm “Nemo” had a hurricane-like eye.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=123
26 wpm with Dvorak, no errors, nearly half my former top speed. Dvorak is so much easier to use than Qwerty, but my brain keeps wanting to type Qwerty. It is very difficult to unlearn Qwerty. I wish I had never learned it. My children, who never learned Qwerty are now learning with Dvorak and they have it so much easier than I do. They say that when I sit down to type, my facial muscles go into contortions. They can totally tell my mind is fighting itself.
is it worth the effort to retrain?
I believe so. There’s hardly any finger movement with Dvorak, so even though my speed has decreased, it feels like once I master this keyboard, my accuracy and speed should go through the roof. Initially I’m hoping for double my Qwerty speed, since that is typical of people who switch, but because it feels so natural, with practice I bet I’ll be able to get even faster, while keeping accuracy at 100%. The problem I’m having is not with Dvorak. I memorized all the keys in the first sitting. So did my wife and children. Nor are the finger strokes difficult. They’re actually much easier than Qwerty keystrokes. The problem, then, is merely my Qwerty habit. I want to overcome it in the shortest possible time, which is why I have elected to go cold turkey by removing the Qwerty setting from my computer.
28 wpm, no errors, exactly half my former top speed. Still struggling, but not as much.
33 wpm, no errors. Inching up.
38 wpm, no errors. Whoo-hoo!
42 wpm, no errors. Passed the 40 wpm barrier!
Been thinking about a new [Ordered Tribal Anarchy - Tribal Order Anarchy - Tribal Anarchy Order - Anarchic Tribal Order - Anarchy Ordered Tribe - Ordered Anarchy Tribe] symbol. Came up with this:
Just wish I was an artist and could make it cooler-looking. I think I’ll call this the “Tribal Anarchy is Order” (TAO) symbol. I like the symbol because if you turn it one way, the tribe comes first. Turn it the other way and anarchy comes first. Either way, though, there is order. To me, both directions look like someone holding a stick. One way, a tribal warrior holding a staff or a spear. The other way, a guy on a boat (“anarchy established on a tribe, even on the ‘t’ of ‘tribe’, which bends to support the weight or modifies itself accordingly, as a semi-rigid structure”), holding a long stick or paddle. The tribal warrior suggests defense and strength, perhaps even the threat of war, while the boatman suggests a journey and peace. Both have the Sun (the Son of God?) behind them or always in the picture. It can be used one way as an emblem of peace and turned upside down as an emblem of war, depending on the circumstances. Anyway, I like the symbol. It captures my imagination.
Yeah — I like it too — I think I may make a variation of it for myself. If I like it, then I’ll post it here too.
TAO image, Version 9
Obviously, the GEMTAM and LDS letters can be removed to make it a pure TAO symbol. Feel free to use and modify, as anyone wishes.
TAO symbol, Version 2
My kids like this one. I can do this one better, though. This was a first try.