“In Honor of William J. Hamblin – ‘Warfare in the Book of Mormon'”

I was pleased to learn a day or so ago that Nick Galieti and Jared Riddick, joined by Stephen Smoot, recently recorded an installment of their Rare Possessions Podcast in memory of William J. Hamblin that was devoted to a topic to which Bill made significant contributions.  (One of his principal areas of academic focus was ancient and medieval military history.)  The podcast runs slightly more than twenty-eight (28) minutes:

In Honor of William J. Hamblin – “Warfare in the Book of Mormon”

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Curiously, there are a few out there who seem to care about what I’m teaching at any given time.  So here, for their convenience, is my teaching schedule for the winter semester that is about to begin at BYU:

9:30 AM – 10:45 AM (TTh) — Middle East Studies – Arabic (MESA) 467R (Topics in Middle East Studies) = Philosophy 360R (Non-Western Philosophy)

12:05 PM – 1:20 PM (TTh) — Integrated Humanities (IHUM) 242 — Introduction to the Humanities of Islam

2:00 PM – 2:50 PM (TTh) — Middle East Studies – Arabic (MESA) 425R — Classical Arabic Texts

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Here’s an amusingly unexpected story out of Indonesia:

“All-Girl Heavy Metal Band Achieves Fame By Dominating National Stages in Hijabs and Leather Jackets”

And these two are encouraging:

“Church and Mosque Joined Forces to Feed Poor Families and Offer Free Health Screenings for Christmas”

“Scientists Use Recycled Sewage Water to Grow 500-Acre Forest in the Middle of Egyptian Desert”

The latter item especially caught my interest because I’ve been struck by recent articles on the importance of planting more trees in order to improve our environment:

“Don’t yell. Don’t demonstrate. Plant some trees!”

“Trees”

“Growing greener: U.S. cities are losing trees and their life-giving benefits. The scramble is on to replace them:  Folks who think trees are just pretty don’t know how vital they are to survival. They’re a city’s hedge against pollution, flooding and heat islands, among others benefits.”

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On a less positive note — but an urgently necessary one — here are some links that I’ve been accumulating and that are overdue for sharing:

“Internet Sleuths Are Hunting for China’s Secret Internment Camps for Muslims: The country is using high-tech methods of repression, but even the simplest tech may be enough to expose them.”

“China and its creepy facial recognition technology targets Uighur Muslims”

“Why evangelical Christians — and all of us — should stand up for the Uighurs”

“US Muslim leaders call on China to end persecution of Uighurs”

“Neighborhood Watch: Will Asian Countries Turn a Blind Eye to Uyghur Issues in China?  Will any of China’s neighbors speak out against its abuses at home? A major UN review offers a sobering assessment.”

“The Uyghur Emergency”

And, for some background, a piece that Bill Hamblin and I published in the Deseret News on 30 August 2019:

“How Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and more have been associated with the Uyghurs throughout history”