My friend Dr. William Hamblin wrote these two blog-reactions to Professor Benjamin Park’s new Journal of Book of Mormon Studies review in complete independence of my own bitter, obsessive, slanderous, mean-spirited, and dishonest little blog entry on the topic:   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmaticmirror/2014/12/12/youre-a-plague-and-we-are-the-cure/   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmaticmirror/2014/12/12/clarification-on-parks-view/   Posted from Orlando, Florida     Read more

    “Amazing fine tuning occurs in the laws that make this [complexity] possible. Realization of the complexity of what is accomplished makes it very difficult not to use the word ‘miraculous’ without taking a stand as to the ontological status of the word.”  (George F. R. Ellis, South African  theoretical physicist and cosmologist)   Posted from Orlando, Florida     Read more

    It being Friday, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture has — of course — published yet another article:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-integration-of-temples-and-families-a-latter-day-saint-structure-for-the-jacob-cycle/   Posted from Orlando, Florida     Read more

  I still vividly remember the exquisite thrill that went through me when, many years ago, I first heard Es ist ein Ros entsprungen.  The sheer beauty of it entranced me. I love the melody.  But I also love the lyrics, the message.  And, alas, I’ve never seen an English translation that does them justice.   But here, anyway, is a nice version of the piece by a German quintet:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA4pBDNZDx0 There was a time when Europe was still,… Read more

    I like this.   But can anybody explain it to me?   What’s going on?     Read more

    In response to my posting of a photograph, a couple of days ago, showing Muslim men forming a protective ring around St. George’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Sohag, Egypt, a few people have written in (on Facebook, in the blog comments section, and directly to me) to assure me that such a thing is impossible.  All Muslims always want to destroy churches and obliterate Christianity, and no Muslim would ever defend a Christian church.   This is flatly… Read more

    I know the place shown above quite well.  It’s St. Mark’s Cathedral, the seat of the Patriarch of Alexandria and the foremost house of worship for the Coptic Orthodox Church, located in the El-Abbasiyya sector of Cairo.   (My thanks to Nicol Sorenson-Legakis for bringing this item to my attention.)   Posted from Cedar City, Utah   Addendum (17 August 2013):   I stand corrected.  The church depicted in the photo above is apparently not St. Mark’s Cathedral… Read more

Here’s a conference that I would very much like to attend, and not only because I’m officially involved with the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, which is co-sponsoring the event.  Alas, though, a major exhibit of Islamic art is opening at the very same time in Brigham Young University’s Museum of Art, and I need to be in attendance for that. Read more

A very worthwhile project, an orphanage in El Salvador that provides a home for 140 persons with disabilities, desperately needs volunteers this summer:http://help-international.org/hogar-del-ninohttp://hogarproject.blogspot.com/Students typically make up the bulk of the volunteers.  If you’re interested, you can contact Rachel Nielson.Even if you can’t go, please spread the word to others. Read more

My economic views tend strongly in the libertarian direction, so this little ditty appealed to me .  (With thanks to Stan Barker, who brought it to my attention.) Read more