Starting tomorrow, Friday (13 August):
Announcing Special Screenings of “Witnesses” During BYU Education Week
And here’s another new item from the website of the Interpreter Foundation:
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A note regarding the comments section here at Sic et Non:
Sometimes, comments don’t appear immediately but are marked with something like “pending approval.” I don’t do this. Disqus does it. In some cases, this happens because a word occurs in the comment that Disqus fears or doesn’t like (e.g., Hitler, Nazi, or Islam). In other cases, it happens for no discernible reason. Nothing, anyway, that I can discern. It has happened to me, in fact, more times than I can count. It may also occur — though I don’t know for certain that it does — because some reader has flagged or complained about a comment. Typically, I need to come along and manually “approve” the comments that are “pending approval.” Sometimes, because I’m traveling or otherwise away from the computer, this doesn’t happen for several hours or even, rarely, for a day or two. You should read nothing into what seems to be a chance event or a glitch.
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Another advisory note:
If you want to communicate with me, my email address ([email protected] or, now, [email protected]) is far more reliable than Facebook Messenger, or whatever it’s called. I have never gotten into the habit of looking at Facebook messages on a regular basis, and I’m sure that I have missed some important communications that way. Sorry. I try, but I forget. And there’s only so much time in a day. I miss some emails, too. I receive scores of them every day. But I do fairly well with emails, and not at all well with Facebook messages.
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“Why refusing the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t just immoral – it’s ‘un-American’”
I was absolutely delighted, having already put together the list of coronavirus- and vaccination-related links above, to see this official statement of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was issued just today:
See also
And, although this is their most explicit statement (and their most global), the leaders of the Church have been quite consistent on this matter from just about the beginning. Let those with ears to hear understand:
“Timeline: Church leader actions and statements on wearing masks during pandemic”
Just get the @#$%&%$#@ vaccine already!
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Adam was a prophet, first one that we know.
In a place called Eden, he helped things to grow.
Adam served the Lord by following his ways.
We are his descendants in the latter days.
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[Chorus]
Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet; don’t go astray.
Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet; he knows the way.
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Enoch was a prophet; he taught what was good.
People in his city did just what they should.
When they were so righteous that there was no sin,
Heav’nly Father took them up to live with him.
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Noah was a prophet called to preach the word,
Tried to cry repentance, but nobody heard.
They were busy sinning—Noah preached in vain.
They wished they had listened when they saw the rain.
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Abraham the prophet prayed to have a son,
So the Lord sent Isaac as the chosen one.
Isaac begat Jacob, known as Israel;
Jacob’s sons were twelve tribes, so the Bible tells.
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Moses was a prophet sent to Israel.
He would lead them to the promised land to dwell.
They were slow to follow, or so it appears.
They were in the wilderness for forty years.
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Samuel was a prophet chosen as a boy.
Hannah promised God her son would serve with joy.
In the tabernacle, Samuel heard his name;
He was called by God and answered, “Here I am!”
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Jonah was a prophet, tried to run away,
But he later learned to listen and obey.
When we really try, the Lord won’t let us fail:
That’s what Jonah learned deep down inside the whale.
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Daniel was a prophet. He refused to sin;
So the king threw Daniel in the lion’s den.
Angels calmed the lions, and the king soon saw
Daniel’s pow’r was great, for he obeyed God’s law.
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Now we have a world where people are confused.
If you don’t believe it, go and watch the news.
We can get direction all along our way,
If we heed the prophets—follow what they say.
Throughout my adult life until just recently, it has overwhelmingly been left-leaning “progressives” who have found political reasons to reject the leaders of the Church. Now, to my astonishment, some people ostensibly on the political right have been doing so.
The late Elder Neal A. Maxwell was fond of quoting William Law (1686-1761): “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first,” said Rev. Law, “it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”
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Being a free-market conservative doesn’t entail rejecting science. Neither does being a believing Latter-day Saint.
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And, finally, there’s this, from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File©:
“LDS Church builds playground for children at Butte Rescue Mission”
Posted from St. George, Utah
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