When I was growing up, although we assumed that other planets existed out in deep space we actually knew of none until 1989.  Now, almost 3500 have been catalogued.   But only ten of those, thus far, have been classified as potentially habitable.   Why so few?   I’m glad you asked:   http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-its-so-hard-to-find-the-next-earth-even-if-youre-looking-right-at-it/     Read more

    Since the subject of alleged Mormon neglect of the poor and the needy has again been raised, ironically fueled by accounts of Mormons helping the poor and the needy in Louisiana, the venerable issue of “The Mall” has also (predictably) resurfaced.  What kind of “church” would build a mall?  Shouldn’t that money have all gone directly to the poor?   My former student Nate Oman took a calm, reasoned, grown-up look at this issue back in 2012, and... Read more

    This is a very good piece by Ryan Larsen, quite apropos to a time when critics are vigorously attacking the Church over its humanitarian aid programs:   http://mormonpuzzlepieces.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-critics-chair.html?m=1   The situation reminds me of two favorite passages from very distinct places.  The first of them was already mentioned by somebody today, but, unfortunately, I can’t recall who it was.  I think of it in connection with the folks who fault us for doing no charity if we don’t... Read more

    “Don’t allow your tongue to utter the fault of another person, because you are covered in faults and everyone else has tongues, too. Don’t allow your eyes to fall on the faults of others. Turn your eyes away and say to your eyes, ‘Oh eyes, other people have eyes too.’” Imam al-Shafi‘i       Read more

    It’s time to get back on track with my little commentary on the Book of Mormon.   In earlier entries on Alma 54 and Alma 60, I’ve commented on the Nephite military commander Moroni’s “spirited nature,” which makes him a wonderful warrior but perhaps a less than optimal diplomat.   We see a quite different personality in the Nephite chief governor Pahoran, a politician rather than a military man, as he appears in Alma 61.   Notice, for... Read more

    In the region of the ex-Mormon web that I watch, I’m seeing fierce disapproval of the humanitarian efforts of the Church.  The occasion for what seems to be a recent spike in such denunciations is the massive clean-up effort mounted by the Church in the wake of flooding in Louisiana.   The Church doesn’t do enough, say the critics.   Its volunteers typically wear yellow vests or tee shirts saying “Mormon Helping Hands,” which, the critics say, shows that... Read more

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-muslim-federal-judge_us_57cf2cfbe4b03d2d45970d3a   I know nothing about Abid Riaz Qureshi.  In terms of sheer legal credentials, though, he seems quite well qualified:   https://www.lw.com/people/abid-qureshi     Read more

    “We were born to die and we die to live.  As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.” President Russell M. Nelson   I attended a wonderful funeral yesterday, honoring a friend whom, I now realize, I’ve known for very nearly half of my life.  She was one of the finest people I’ve ever met, and her unexpected and premature departure leaves a vast hole in our neighborhood.  The quotation from President Nelson above was... Read more

    The Economist reports on a new kind of “space race” that I would not have expected even a few years ago:   http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/09/faith-space   Famously, it’s often been claimed that Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), the first man in space, said after his historic flight of April 1961,  “I looked and looked and looked, but I didn’t see God.”   However, he very likely didn’t say those words.  They probably originated with Nikita Khrushchev, who was, at the time, the ruler of... Read more

    I didn’t really finish my entries from Norway, because I ran into both time constraints and, out in the countryside, limited internet access.     But I did want to record what always thrills me most about my trips to Norway, when I can get to it.  (I’ve now been there five times, I think.)   This was my fourth visit to the area of Jølster (or Jølstravatnet), where my grandmother grew up.  She left at the age of eighteen... Read more