Newly posted today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: The Heartland Versus Mesoamerica Part 13: Some Final Comments , written by Brant A. Gardner. I regard this series as a very important contribution to studies of the Book of Mormon, and a useful corrective.
Is the Interpreter Foundation officially pledged to a limited-geography for the Book of Mormon that is centered in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and (perhaps) adjacent areas? No, it is not. Am I myself fundamentally committed to a Mesoamerican geographical model for the Nephites and the Jaredites? I am not. I’m open to alternative proposals. To this point, though, and at least since my first reading of John L. Sorenson’s seminal 1984 book An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, the “limited Tehuantepec” model has struck me as plausible and, in fact, as the best proposal (or family of proposals) on the market. However, if advocates of “Heartland models” can present solid evidence and rigorous arguments in support of their positions, I will listen. Other than having been a friend of John Sorenson’s and counting other Mesoamericanists among my friends, I have no personal investment in a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon. I have to honestly confess, though, I haven’t found Heartlander arguments persuasive thus far.
After a rather lengthy period of incapacitating ill-heath, the Pulitzer Prize-winning formerly Latter-day Saint political cartoonist Steve Benson has passed away. (That name may still mean something to some of you.) To the best of my recollection, I had only one in-person encounter with him. It was . . . umm, complex. I wish the best to his family and, yes, to him. Because there still is a “him.”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photo by Jack Borno)
As noted by the small coven of my anonymous online monitors, only my customary attacks on racial minorities and gays occupy more of the attention of this blog than do my restaurant reviews and my lengthy and rapturous hymns to gourmet dining . So here are a few more thousand words on local eateries in the Canadian Rockies:
- I’m happy to report that civilized living is, indeed, possible in Canmore, Alberta, because it has at least one good Thai restaurant. We had dinner there, in the Thai House, on Monday evening.
- And then, in Banff, there’s The Grizzly House: My wife and I have been there about four times, I think, over the decades. We haven’t come to Banff as often as I would have liked, but we’ve always tried to make our way to The Grizzly House, which is fairly expensive but very distinctive and memorable. Late this afternoon, we brought two of our sons and a grandchild. My sons remembered it from a family trip up here that we took twenty-seven years ago. Today, we had appetizers of French onion soup (which we remembered as some of the best that we’ve ever had) and fondue neuchâtel (an hommage to my mission in Switzerland), and all manner of fondue meats, and then we finished the meal off with assorted fruits in a chocolate fondue. (I may not need to eat for the rest of this trip. And I can already imagine the indignation and mockery that my description will elicit from my anonymous online monitors over at the Obsession Board.)
The last couple of times that I’ve been in Banff, though, I’ve been really put off by the crowds. This contrasts markedly with my impression from the first time. I remember loving Banff and regarding Canmore as nothing more than a cut-rate substitute for the Real Thing. The last couple of times, though, I’ve thought Banff overrun with tourists. Not only that, however: I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of Canmore as well as its relative quiet. It’s a spectacular place.
In miscellaneous news, here are a couple of interesting items:
- “IRS says churches can now endorse political candidates” Would you like a prediction? I predict — unless, say, President Russell M. Nelson seeks the American presidency — that my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will not endorse a political candidate during my lifetime or the lives of my children and grandchildren. I’ve always found it amusing that my church is regularly accused of meddling in politics while evangelical pastors have commonly endorsed Mr. Donald J. Trump and Democratic presidential candidates have routinely spoken in Black churches without much if any criticism for it.
- A couple of days ago, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Donald J. Trump that Israel had nominated Mr. Trump for the Nobel Prize. I wouldn’t have given Mr. Trump very good odds of winning that prize until I saw this. Now, for his having arranged such a notable gathering, I’m inclined to regard Mr. Trump’s receiving Nobel Prize as a sure thing.
Some will receive this as absolutely terrible tidings. But it must be faced. As the saying goes, “Life is tough, and then you die.” And then you go on living again. And you have to deal with it: “A Year Unlike Any Other: The Church Reports Record Global Growth: From July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, convert baptisms were the highest in Church history”
If the Church continues to grow, alas, there will be even more horrors and depredations such as these, accounts of which are preserved in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:
“Pop-Up Market Brings Relief and Community Spirit to Vernon, British Columbia”
Posted from Canmore, Alberta, Canada
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