Benjamin Pacini

BYUI Faculty in Ed. Dad. Nerd. Pretends to know things. Civility. Too happy. Inusfferable. So belssed. Views mine. Memes not.

Aspiring muppet.

Normie/Mormie

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

Because 1) someone asked, and 2) I have work that I'm trying to avoid.

Benjamin Pacini's brief guide to twitter civility for Latter-day saints.

Thread.

[Robert Pondiscio @rpondiscio]

Yesterday I ordered an obscure book and a 20 pound bag of dog food on Amazon. Today it was delivered to my house in rural upstate New York. Remind me again why Jeff Bezos doesn’t deserve to be a billionaire?

[Clint Teeples @TeeplesCY]

Teachers can’t compete with screens that parents handed their kids.

[McKay Coppins @mckaycoppins]

I know it's fashionable now to panic about trends like this because it's evidence of antisocial behavior, phone addiction, the teen loneliness epidemic, etc. but my bold, counterintuitive take is that fewer children drinking alcohol is a good thing.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

@mckaycoppins BUT WHAT IF THE DROP IN THE MID-NINETIES WAS BECAUSE OF WIDESPREAD SOCIAL MEDIA USE MCKAY DID YOU THINK OF THAT HUH DIDYA

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

Data centers: the new NIMBYism

[William Meservy @WilliamMeservy]

One of the reasons you know that data centers are a good thing is that—similar to vaccines, immigrants and nuclear power plants—their detractors lie so much about them.

Stop scapegoating good things, people.

[William Meservy @WilliamMeservy]

One of the reasons you know that data centers are a good thing is that—similar to vaccines, immigrants and nuclear power plants—their detractors lie so much about them.

Stop scapegoating good things, people.

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

New newsletter: MODERN FATHERHOOD WOULD BE UNRECOGNIZABLE TO A 1950'S DAD

Compared to their Boomer parents, childcare time among Millennial dads has more than doubled.

Compared to their Silent Generation grandparents, it’s nearly quadrupled.

You will be hard-pressed to find any part of day-to-day modern life that has changed more in the last half-century than the way today’s parents—and fathers, in particular—spend their time.

The new American dad is more present and more exhausted—but also, more satisfied with life. What's behind this half-century transformation? Today's piece combines history, economic analysis, and gorgeous charts galore from @AzizSunderji

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

Also, I think Saunders’ analysis is great, and mostly right. And I think that Clayton Christiansen’s prediction that 50% of colleges might be up for closure could be more right than people think.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

This was fantastic.

https://t.co/EnwuExh6FE

My takeaway: in the argument between “higher education is a dinosaur” and “new schools are just diploma mills” Saunders is arguing that both sides are quickly becoming true. Students are finding ways to “hack” and “speedrun” college.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

If you don’t like the new fast programs, I have bad news for you: they are here to stay. And if you’re in higher ed, you need to decide where your value proposition is.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

@DailyShakeUSA Then you don't understand the word "sustain."

There is no implicit oath of loyalty, there is no "obedience first, think later."

It's simply hoping that the politician succeeds, because their success is the success of the whole country.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

Today in #generalconference, we got to raise our hands to signify our support of our church leaders. We promise to support them, to root for them, to work with them faithfully, and to see the best in them.

How would US politics change if we did something similar?

[McKay Coppins @mckaycoppins]

This talk contained the outlines of a profound civic theology that @OaksDallinH has spent much of his life developing and articulating. I’m excited for more people, inside and outside of our church, to hear more of it.

[Michael Strong @flowidealism]

When brilliant teachers emerge, they disappear. Jaime Escalante created one of the finest AP calculus programs in the country. He could not scale it. Marva Collins founded an exceptional school. She could not replicate her excellence across ten other schools.

The question is not why these teachers are geniuses. The question is why we have no system to transmit their genius.

If Escalante had been a martial arts master, he would have founded a school. His best students would open branches displaying their lineage. Over generations, a coherent tradition would spread. This happens in martial arts, music, dance, and craft traditions.

It does not happen in education.

I call this absence The Missing Institution. In the absence of government monopoly, we would have seen the spontaneous creation of hundreds of pedagogical lineages, each designed to transmit the artistry of a master teacher.

Instead, teacher training is controlled by education professors who publish research papers, not by virtuoso teachers who practice their craft daily.

Montessori and Waldorf escaped the system. They created their own teacher training lineages outside government control. KIPP Academies created an internal leadership program. Hi Tech High licensed its own teachers. The moment schools escape government domination, they spontaneously create The Missing Institution.

For underprivileged children, this absence is catastrophic. They need schools that transmit cultural capital through immersion in a living tradition.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

I am blown away by this.

Amidst the backdrop of "religion is failing," more people decided to join our church in the last year than ever before.

A joy!

[Clint Teeples @TeeplesCY]

2025 was the strongest year in Latter-day Saint history.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

– Seminary and Institute enrollment: Highest ever

– Convert baptisms: Highest ever

– Missionaries serving: Highest ever

– BYU System enrollment: Highest ever

– FSY participation: Highest ever

[Clint Teeples @TeeplesCY]

2025 was the strongest year in Latter-day Saint history.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

– Seminary and Institute enrollment: Highest ever

– Convert baptisms: Highest ever

– Missionaries serving: Highest ever

– BYU System enrollment: Highest ever

– FSY participation: Highest ever

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

Also, I will be ignoring snarky comments. Only love this weekend.

[Benjamin Pacini @benjaminpacini]

Happy Easter and Happy Conference!

[Clint Teeples @TeeplesCY]

Krister Stendahl was the Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm and former dean of Harvard Divinity School.

He proposed rules for understanding other faiths that prioritize integrity over tribalism: ask adherents about their faith instead of its enemies, and never compare your best to their worst. He also urged us to leave room for "holy envy," appreciating something beautiful in another tradition that you wish your own had.

Stendahl lived these rules when he defended the opening of a Latter-day Saint temple in Stockholm in 1985. He argued that in the eyes of God, we are all minorities. He even published scholarship affirming that the Latter-day Saint practice of baptism for the dead has a legitimate basis in the New Testament. He noted that the most straightforward reading of 1 Corinthians 15:29 points to an actual proxy ordinance. To Stendahl, the practice was something the earliest Christians actually did.

The assertion from @LutheranAnswers that Mormons "actively lie" is exactly what happens when you compare your best to their worst. It is a failure of character and a violation of Stendahl's second rule.

I refuse to judge all Lutherans by the hostility of a single account. Instead, I choose to judge the Lutheran tradition by the fairness and intellect of Krister Stendahl.