Creation, Gathering, and Temple Architecture

Two new items went up today on the (evidently) not yet quite dead website of the Interpreter Foundation:

Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 13: “Jesus Christ Will Gather His People” D&C 29

The discussants for the Interpreter Radio Roundtable on Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 13, “Jesus Christ Will Gather His People,” on D&C 29, were Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen. This roundtable was extracted from the 14 February 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show. The complete broadcast program has been archived and may be heard at no charge (but very much at your convenience) at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-february-14-2021/. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Come, Follow Me — D&C Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 13, March 22-28: Doctrine and Covenants 29 — Jesus Christ Will Gather His People

And I may have failed to call this item to your attention.  It went up on Saturday last:

“Book of Moses Essays #46: Moses Witnesses the Creation (Moses 2): The Days of Creation and Temple Architecture (Moses 2:1-27)”

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And now it’s time to share a few things from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File:

“Latter-day Saint Charities donates $20 million to global COVID-19 vaccine campaign: Church’s grant is biggest private sector donation to ‘largest immunization campaign in history’”

“Blood Drives Are a Lifesaving Draw for Latter-day Saints: Partnerships with the American Red Cross and ARUP Blood Services of Utah and others have saved tens of thousands of lives”

If you want to garner a quick and immediate sense of how theism has damaged our cultural life, there is probably no better way to do that than to listen (if you can endure the horror of it) to George Frideric Handel’s most notorious oratorio.  Set your calendar and steel your nerves for a free online performance later this month:

“The Tabernacle Choir to Stream Handel’s Messiah: Watch a previously recorded performance on Friday, March 26, at 7:00 p.m. (mountain daylight time)”

But don’t forget how religious belief has also impoverished our spiritual lives.  Here’s an example:

“New video invites all to hope and renewal this Easter season — #StartingToday: ‘We can repair, repent, reconcile … He left the tomb behind. We can leave our past behind.”

A summary article:

“2021 Easter Initiative Begins: Invitation offers message of hope and renewal in Christ”

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Maybe this endorsement will finally have a bit of impact on the folks who refuse to be vaccinated:

“Trump urges all Americans to get COVID vaccine: ‘It’s a safe vaccine’ and it ‘works’: The former president and first lady Melania Trump received their vaccines privately in January at the White House”

For what it’s worth, by the way, I’m about 32 hours into my second vaccination against the novel coronavirus.  No side effects whatever.  Just an optimistic sense that there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel — if enough people will sign up for their shots.  Among other things, I want the temples to re-open.

Get your injection!