Thesis Defense --1 Nephi 19: 6

"Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred. And now, if I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would excuse myself because of other men, but because of the weakness which is in me, according to the flesh, I would excuse myself." (1 Ne 19: 6)

During my thesis defense on Thursday, I talked about how I've tried to use my blogs to suggest a certain interconnectedness that permeates the world (see my recent Caucajewmexdian post). I went as far as to say that maybe having blogs that focus primarily on humor and ethnicity interconnected with a blog about Mormon scriptures might help dispel some negative stereotypes about Mormonism--stereotypes that even some bright Mormons tend to accept.

I did enough to talk up the interconnectedness of my three blogs, however, that one professor asked: "If showing people the multiple parts of your identity is so important, why separate them into three different blogs in the first place?"

My answer was this: even in the internet, I believe that we can strive to create more reverent and sacred spaces. Even Nephi kept two separate sets of plates: one for politics, another for religion. Separating the religion into its own space, perhaps, elevates both reader and writer. Spirituality is never totally independent of history, of course, but the concentration of reverent energy onto a separate set of plates can still serve, I think, to change the way that writer and reader alike approach the record. The separation allows the sacredness to happen.

Would Nephi have also kept a separate religious blog?